by Willow Rose
I called Morten, thinking if anything bad had happened anywhere on the island, he would know.
"Hi, babe. Nice to hear your voice," he said, picking up.
He sounded cheerful. That was a good sign.
"You too. How are things at work? Busy today?"
He exhaled. "Well, no more than usual lately. We have all these people from Copenhagen here still to help with the investigation and they do take up space, but they're nice people, so we'll get by."
He was being friendly. I knew he was annoyed at them. It was always the same when the teams came out from the capital to help. They didn't understand the island mentality and hated how slowly things went here. They needed it to be a snap and for people to be efficient. Plus, they looked down on Morten and his colleagues for being small town cops out here in the boonies. On top of that, the police station was really small and they didn't have enough desks for everyone, so that meant Morten and his colleagues had to sit wherever they could and were pretty much reduced to coffeemakers and treated like interns by the big shots from Copenhagen. I knew he hated it, but he was trying to keep a good tone. I respected him for that.
"What's wrong?" Morten said. "You sound upset."
He knew me so well. I sighed and bit a nail. "Maya hasn't come home from school yet."
"Ah, I see, and normally you wouldn't worry, but since…wait a minute," Morten said.
I could hear yelling on the other end.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"I need to talk to someone now," a distant voice yelled, sounding alarmingly desperate. "My daughter is missing!"
"I gotta go, Emma," Morten said.
"But…?"
"I'll call you later, okay?"
"Okay," I said, but he had already hung up on me. I stared at the phone, my heart pounding, my throat feeling tight.
Someone’s daughter is missing!
As I stared at the phone, it suddenly started to ring. It was Maya. I felt a huge relief and picked it up.
"Where are you?"
"Easy, Mom. I’m fine."
"What's going on?"
She went quiet. "Someone is missing. A girl from my class. Susan Ludvigsen. She's been gone for a week or so, but her drunken mother didn't notice until now. We’ve been out searching for her on the beach, me and my classmates."
I sat down. "Oh, dear God."
"I know. It's bad," she said. "I'm scared."
Chapter 22
As darkness fell upon the town, we all formed a search party. My neighbors Sophia and Jack joined in, along with most of the parents from the high school. Even my mom and dad joined in and took Victor with them. Victor loved spending time with my dad. Meanwhile, I had brought both Kenneth and Brutus. I figured since Kenneth had found Asgar, maybe he could help us find Susan too, only this time I would prefer her to be alive.
We walked the beach areas for hours, searching every dune, calling her name, and looking behind all the bushes and lush landscape. We shone our flashlights into all the small summer cabins that were usually vacant at this time of year, knocking on the windows and calling for her, in case she had crashed in one after getting high or drunk. Susan was known by everyone as quite the party girl, and I hoped and prayed that she had just partied a little too hard this time or maybe still was partying somewhere. Like her mother, she could go off on a bender for days in a row.
"A-a-anything?" Jack asked as he came up to me.
I shook my head. I had just looked inside my third cabin, but it was just as empty as the rest of them.
"No sign of her anywhere. I just wish we could get inside these cabins, you know, to search them properly."
"If we c-c-can't get in, then s-s-she can't either," he said.
His stuttering had gotten a lot better the past years. I was glad to see that he was making progress since it was a problem for him, one that often kept him from socializing with the rest of us. Jack was such a great guy. A bit of a loner because of the stuttering and because he took care of his sick sister who demanded his attention constantly.
"You're probably right," I said and left the porch of the wooden cabin. The wind was howling outside, and my cheeks were freezing. I couldn't help thinking there was no way Susan could be outside in this cold weather. If she was in this area, she had to be sheltered in one of the summer cabins along the beach.
I saw a sea of flashlights flickering in the darkness ahead of me and could hear many voices calling her name. Where could a seventeen-year-old girl disappear to? Had she left the island? I had called Morten earlier to tell him we were all coming down to the police station to help with the search, and he told me he had talked to the personnel on the ferry and to Linda, who sold the tickets down there. No one had seen Susan.
"And Linda would know," he said. "She knows everyone around here, plus she has a son in Susan and Maya's class. She would notice if Susan had bought a ticket or entered the boat."
Jack and I walked to the next summer cabin that was a lot bigger than the ones surrounding it. I shone my light through the window into a spectacular living room with high vaulted ceilings. It looked just as dark and empty as the rest of them.
"Susan!" I called. "Susan, are you in there?"
Jack shone his flashlight into another of the windows, then shook his head, returning to my side. I could hear Sophia yelling somewhere in the darkness. She couldn't stay out much longer since her mother couldn't look after her kids past nine o'clock.
"N-n-o one is h-ere," Jack said.
I exhaled and turned to walk away when suddenly the door to the cabin opened and a face peeked out. Kenneth started to growl as a figure appeared in the doorway.
"Who's there?"
I shone my flashlight at him. Kenneth barked. I pulled him back. The man in the doorway was very old and his face and hands were wrinkled. He was pale but had unnaturally red lips.
"I am so sorry, sir," I said. "We thought the cabin was empty. I didn't know anyone was here. We're looking for a girl, her name is Susan Ludvigsen. Here. This is her."
I showed him a picture of her from my phone. Charlotte Ludvigsen had sent it to all of us.
"Have you seen her around here?"
The old man looked down at the picture, putting his glasses on, then shook his head.
"Never seen her before."
"All right, but if you do, please call the police station. We are all searching for her."
"Of course," the old man said. "What a terrible tragedy. So young and such a pretty face."
"Yeah, well…we still hope to find her alive."
"Oh, good. Let's hope you do, then."
Jack and I left his porch, me with an uneasy feeling in my stomach.
"M-maybe we should have knocked first," he said.
"I know," I said. "We'll do that from now on. But in our defense, the house looked empty like the rest of them. I never thought anyone would be here at this time of year. These are all summer residences. People don't usually come out here in January. Plus, who on earth sits inside a dark house? Why hadn't he turned on any of his lights?"
Jack chuckled. "Maybe he was asleep."
"Or maybe he’s a vampire," I joked, "and just sits there in the darkness waiting for his victims to come by."
Jack chuckled again. "T-that's why you're the bestselling author and I am n-not," he said.
We walked on, Kenneth pulling on the leash, Brutus trotting along behind me, being so silent I almost forgot he was there. I needed no leash for him because he always stayed close to me, unlike Kenneth, whom I didn't trust not to run off without a leash anymore. My heart couldn't stop beating fast when I thought about my joke and the fact that Asgar's body had been drained of blood. Who would do such a thing? Who in their right mind killed someone by draining them of their blood?
Chapter 23
Sophia left us just before nine, when my parents also caved in and said they would go back to my house and stay there with Victor till I got back. My mom was getting frostbite on her face, sh
e said as she shivered. I was about to make a comment about the way she had dressed in high heels and just a light jacket but then decided against it.
Jack and I continued for yet another hour, when we too had to give in to the cold and the fatigue. We walked across the beach till we could see my house from the ocean side, warm lights gleaming from inside of it. This house always made me so happy. At the end of my yard, Jack gave me a hug goodbye and left to go home to his own house. I walked up the yard, Kenneth pulling me ahead, Brutus right behind me.
As we walked between the tall trees I looked up at them, wondering how long they had been here and how much they had seen. I had grown to love those trees almost as much as Victor did. At first, when we moved in, I had considered cutting them down since they blocked a big part of the view of the ocean from the house, but once I realized how much Victor loved them, there was no way I could do that. Now, I couldn't believe I had even thought about it. The trees were gorgeous. So magnificent, almost royal.
Kenneth was pulling forcefully as we approached the house, probably dreaming about the warmth and coziness just like I was at this point, when suddenly, Brutus made a sound.
Everything stopped. Brutus was always silent. He never made a sound. Yes, one deep bark had come out of his mouth. I gasped and turned around. He had stopped at a tree and was looking up at it.
"What is it, Brutus?" I asked and approached him.
Had this been Kenneth, I wouldn't have lifted an eyebrow since he barked and growled at everything and especially at trees if there was a bird or a squirrel in them, or maybe just because he could. But this was Brutus. This was the big silent dog that never ever made a sound even when he walked, even if a squirrel jumped right down in front of him. Not even the neighbor's cat could get his attention, but this had. Something was up in that tree and he needed me to see it.
I walked closer and patted Brutus on the head. "What's up there, buddy? What did you see?"
The dog didn't move. He was still staring up at the branches and now I saw it too. On top of one of the thick branches sat a girl.
"What the…?"
I shone my flashlight at her. She was sitting on top of the branch, barely holding on, her legs dangling.
I stared at her, startled. "What are you doing up there, little girl?"
She tilted her head. Her long hair was messy and her face dirty.
"Come down here before you fall and hurt yourself."
Much to my amazement and terror, the girl let go of the branch and jumped. Just like that.
I panicked and let out a loud scream. But in the same second, I realized I didn't need to be afraid. The girl wasn't falling. She wasn't heading towards the ground, head first. She was floating right above me, her face grinning. She stayed like that, hovering above me, for what felt like minutes but was probably just seconds. I couldn't breathe. I watched her make a summersault in the air, then land in front of me, feet first in the snow.
Chapter 24
My mom and dad were sitting together on the couch, holding hands when I entered from the yard, the girl right behind me, trotting along with Brutus. Kenneth ran to my dad and growled at him, making him laugh.
"Emma?" My mom said, concerned. "Who is the girl?"
I shrugged. "I don't know."
I closed the door behind us and took off my snow-covered boots and my jacket. I stared at the girl, who was shivering with cold. I grabbed a blanket from the couch and wrapped her in it.
"I found her in the yard, sitting in a tree," I said to my mom.
"You did what? But…how? Where did she come from? Where are her parents?"
I sighed, annoyed. "I don't know, Mom. Yet."
"She needs something warm, she must be freezing," she said. "I'll make some herbal tea."
"How about some hot chocolate instead?" I said. "She might like that a little better."
My mom looked dissatisfied, then nodded. "All right then."
The girl stared at the living room, eyes big and a little frightened. "Go on, sit down," I said and pointed at the couch next to my dad. "We'll get you warmed up real fast."
My dad smiled like the gentle giant he was. I rushed to my mom in the kitchen to make sure she didn't make some tasteless organic non-fat, non-dairy chocolate milk with soy instead of sugar.
"Where on earth did this girl come from, Emma?" she asked.
"I don't know. I told you she was sitting in the tree outside, freezing like crazy."
"What's her name?"
“I don't know."
"Have you even asked her?"
I sighed, annoyed. My mom had a way of sounding like she blamed me for everything. "I have, but she didn't answer. She just stares at me with those big green eyes of hers like she doesn't understand."
"That's odd."
"You ain't seen half of it," I said.
My mom paced to the fridge and peeked inside. "Where's your almond milk?"
"I guess I ran out. Use normal milk," I said.
My mom grumbled something I knew I didn't want to hear, so I blocked it out. With the milk in her hand, she turned toward me.
"Why was she out there? At this time of night? Where are her parents?"
"I don't know," I said. "As I just told you, she hasn’t said anything. I just hurried to get her inside before she froze to death."
My mom put the chocolate powder into the milk and stirred while staring at the box of Nesquik. "Oh, dear, I didn't know it had that much sugar in it. Do you drink this stuff…you don't…do you? You give this to the kids?"
"Yes, Mom. I let my kids have sugar every now and then, big surprise."
She put the cup in the microwave and turned it on. "No need to take a tone with me."
I exhaled. "I'm not. But come on, Mom, a little sugar every now and then won't hurt them."
She gave me a look that immediately saddened me. I knew how she felt about me, I knew she was thinking, maybe not them, but you. I knew she thought I had gotten fat and that I needed to be more careful. And I knew she was right. I just wasn't very good at it.
The microwave dinged, and my mom took out the cup. As she was about to leave with it in hand, I stopped her. I grabbed the whipped cream and put in a big clump.
"There. Now it's perfect."
My mom looked at me like I was crazy, then shook her head and left. I followed behind her. Inside the living room, we saw my dad and the girl. He had found Victor's old chess game and had set it up. He looked at us when we approached him.
"She's really good," he said with a chuckle.
I smiled and sat down. The girl looked at her hot cocoa and used the spoon to shovel it into her mouth. Then she smiled, whipped cream stuck to her upper lip.
"That's great, Dad," I said. "It really is, but now we need to talk to her for a little while, and try and find out how we can help her."
"What is your name, little girl?" my mom took over.
The girl tilted her head like she had done when she was up on the branch looking down at me.
"Oh, dear Lord," my mom said. "It's like she's a cave person. She doesn’t understand what I’m saying, does she?"
"Maybe she's a tourist," my dad said. "My guess would be German. Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" he asked. "No? How about English? Or what about Swedish? Pratar ni svenska?"
Still, the girl only stared at him, her pretty eyes blinking.
"Skye?"
It was Victor. He was standing in the doorway, still in his PJs. For once, he was looking up and not at his feet when speaking.
I stood up with a light gasp. "This is Skye?" I chuckled, relieved. "Of course, it is. It's her."
Victor approached us. "What is she doing in here?"
"She was freezing outside, Vic," I said. "If I hadn't brought her inside, she would have frozen to death."
"She sleeps in the shed," he said. "I gave her blankets and pillows and everything."
"So, this is Skye," I said. "Huh. Does she have a last name?"
Victor shrugged. "I don't k
now. I call her Skye because she fell from the sky one day while I was in the yard."
"She what?" my mother asked.
"She jumped down from a tree, just like she did to me," I said, leaving out the part where she had floated in the air above me for several seconds without falling.
"Oh."
"But, Victor," I said. "We need to find her parents. Do you know anything about her?"
Victor looked at the floor again. "I know that she can fly and that she is nice."
If it were humanly possible, my mother's eyes would have fallen out at this point. My dad grabbed her arm.
"You know Victor has a huge imagination," he said.
"Has she spoken to you, Victor? Has she said anything at all?" I asked.
"She speaks to me in my mind sometimes. She puts in a word or a picture."
"Oh, dear Lord. The boy is losing it," my mom said. "You need to take her to the police station. Have Morten search for her parents."
"Of course, I will, Mom, but for now I’m just trying to help her, okay?"
"Maybe we should go home. It's getting late," my dad said. He poked Skye lovingly on the shoulder. "I'll get my revenge next time, okay? Promise me a rematch?"
The girl didn't understand a word he said but gave him an endearing smile that made him laugh. He turned to Victor and put his hand on his shoulder. My dad was the only one who could touch my son without it ending in him screaming or throwing a fit.
"This one is special," he said. "She's a keeper, my boy. Don't you mess this up, you hear me?"
Chapter 25
Maya and her friends didn't stop searching till ten thirty and the cold finally made them give up. She and Samuel walked together through town. They knocked on all the doors and asked if anyone had seen her, but so far, they had no luck.
She and Samuel rode their bikes home and he followed her up to her front door.
"I'm sorry," he said. "That we didn't find her."
"Yeah, me too."