Against her better judgment, Abbie did as Ana asked and left her alone for the night. She peeked out of her bedroom door a few times, but the light in Ana’s room remained dark. She didn’t know what to say to her or how to explain Emmett’s temper and the long saga behind it. She didn’t know how to talk to Emmett either, so she decided to give in to her routine.
She headed downstairs to start breakfast. Eggs, toast, homemade jam, and a cup of blackberry tea were Ana’s favorites. She busied herself and waited to hear the footsteps upstairs. Still, she heard nothing. By the time the food was ready and she checked the time, she knew something was wrong. She hadn’t heard the alarm clock go off either, so her mind began jumping to conclusions. She ran through the back door and out to the barn. Emmett’s lights were on, so she knocked on the door.
“Hello,” he grumbled in the doorway, his face hanging, his eyes barely open, the smell of scotch on his breath.
“I don’t want to talk about last night,” Abbie said. “Just come with me.”
“Why?”
“Because Ana hasn’t come downstairs and I’m worried.”
“Probably overslept. Has a tendency to do so . . .”
“Just come with me.”
He reluctantly followed, shushing Dolly’s barking. They crossed through the garden—Abbie quickly, Emmett struggling to keep up—and into the house.
“Listen,” Emmett said, leaning against the counter. “I don’t know what happened yesterday but . . .”
“Not now.”
Abbie continued up the stairs and to Ana’s door, knocking on it once and then twice, but there was no answer. She slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open. The early morning light was dim, but it was enough to see that Ana’s bed was made and she wasn’t in it. “Oh my God,” Abbie said. She pushed the door open all the way and went inside. “Oh no.”
“What is it?” Emmett asked, making his way into the room and sobering up at the implications.
Abbie began systematically checking under the bed, in the armoire, and behind the curtains as if Ana were playing a cruel game of hide-and-seek.
“She’s gone,” Emmett said.
“No, she’s not.” Abbie darted to the bathroom, checking behind the shower curtain. She ran to her own bedroom and checked in every possible place including out the window before running downstairs.
“She’s gone,” Emmett said at the top of the stairs as Abbie shuffled around the living room making a frantic mess, her hands holding on to the sides of her face. “She’s gone,” he said again, the words drifting away and then sinking back in.
He walked over to Ana’s bed, picked up her sketchbook, and began flipping through it. He stopped at a detailed drawing of a house—Garber Farm—with Abbie standing in front surrounded by a lush garden sprouting wildflowers and vines of pickles. There were empty jars of marmalade rooted to the ground and a chicken pecking at a shriveled tomato. On the porch, seated in a rocking chair, was Emmett, Dolly seated dutifully by his side. Upstairs, in the window, watching over it all, was a solitary shadow barely shaded in. At the bottom of the paper, written in needlepoint print, was the word “sweet,” with blank lines on either side of it, as if waiting to be stitched together to read “Home sweet home.”
“You’re going through her things at a time like this?” Abbie shouted frantically from the doorway.
“Look at this,” Emmett said. He turned the page to another drawing. It was a pencil sketch of two interlocking women’s bras—one small and black with messy triangles, the other sturdy and straightforward but covered in a pattern of what looked like backward threes. It was an odd drawing, Emmett thought, even if it was astonishing in its skill. At the bottom of the page, written out in graffiti, were the letters BFF.
“We’ve shattered her heart,” Abbie said, on the verge of tears.
Emmett closed the notebook. “Honestly? She either snuck out to see Rye or, if my hunch is correct, Cole Brannan. Either way, I’m calling the police.”
Emmett headed downstairs to the phone. Abbie paced in Ana’s room. She opened up the armoire and sitting on the Frida Kahlo book at the bottom of it was a map of Hadley and surrounding areas. She grabbed it and ran downstairs.
Emmett hung up the phone, his hand lingering on the receiver. He took a deep breath, trying to both compose himself and keep from passing out. “Cole’s gone too,” he said as Abbie leaned against the counter in semirelief. “His mother called last night and reported him missing. Said he’d taken his father’s motorcycle. The police haven’t started a search because they figured it was just a teen boy doing what teen boys do, only he’s doing it with, well . . . our Ana.”
Abbie held up the map.
“I think she’s gone for good.”
• • •
It was midmorning when Alder Kinman showed up at the front door of Garber Farm with a paper bag in his hand. Abbie ushered him into the kitchen where Emmett and Manny were talking to the sheriff and two policemen. “Heard what happened, gentlemen,” he said. “Brought some honey and some news.”
Abbie rested her hand on his arm and whispered, “Not now.”
“We’ve already searched the woods behind the house but still have a few of our guys doing a final sweep,” the sheriff said. “There’s not much more we can do since it hasn’t been twenty-four hours and, technically, it looks as though both parties left willingly like most kids in love do, like a few others I know have done in the past,” he said, clearing his throat and nodding knowingly at Emmett.
“We need to find her,” Emmett said.
“I understand that, but usually in cases like this, the kids come back and apologize and continue doing what kids do in the parking lot of Hadley High. I wouldn’t worry.”
“But she’s our responsibility. What are we supposed to do?” Abbie asked.
“Wait. If she’s not back by tomorrow, give us a call.”
The officers shook Emmett and Abbie’s hands and headed out the front door. Emmett paced back and forth, shaking his head. “This isn’t enough,” he said. “We have to do more.”
“Got honey, got news,” Alder Kinman repeated.
“Kind of you to bring it by,” Abbie said. “We’re just in the middle of a crisis at the moment.”
“Heard all about it, whole town’s talking.”
“We’re just trying to figure out what to do,” Abbie said, Emmett still pacing across the room, Manny sipping a cup of coffee at the kitchen table. “But we appreciate your concern.”
“I’m concerned all right, especially with that storm coming. It’s set to hit hard this afternoon. Worried about those two kids being up north.”
“What are you talking about?” Emmett asked.
“They went up north to the state park.”
“How do you know that?”
“Eli told me.”
“Who’s Eli?” Abbie asked.
“A friend.”
“Where is this friend and how does he know where Ana is?” Emmett said, raising his voice.
“Emmett,” Abbie said, gesturing for him to calm down.
“Well, he lives in the forest and makes it his business to patrol the areas up north. I saw him this morning and he said they’re up there.”
“Did he see them?” Abbie asked.
“No telling. He has a strong intuition.”
“Where is this man?” Emmett said. “I want to talk to him myself.”
“Well, that’s going to be difficult because he’s got other things to do this afternoon. He lives by his own credo, as most bears do.”
“Are you telling me that Eli is a bear?” Emmett asked.
“Yeah, boy.”
Emmett ran his hands through his hair and went out the back door.
“Can you tell me more about what Eli said?” Abbie asked Alder politely. Manny raised his eyebrows.
“Well, he said they were up somewhere near King’s Pass. I say we gather all the folks we can and get a search going before the rain hits.”
Abbie looked at Manny, who looked back at her.
“Emmett!” she shouted.
• • •
It was a quick drive to the Moons’ house down the road, but to Abbie it felt like an eternity. She bit the side of her cheek, not caring that she was chewing a hole through it, and went over everything she’d handled poorly. As far as she was concerned, this was entirely their fault. Ana was the reason she and Emmett were getting along again. She was the reason the workers stayed and seemed to enjoy coming to work more than ever before. And though he was unable to see it and would never admit to it, she was the reason Emmett was breaking his wicked spell.
Abbie parked in the Moons’ driveway. She walked across the gravel and thought of Ana out in the woods somewhere, hopeful that she was smart enough to know that she was wanted, that she was loved, and that there were people coming to get her.
“Come in,” Della said, opening the door, her face uncharacteristically tense.
“Thank you,” Abbie said, holding back a wave of tears. “I have something for Rye. I thought she might be of help—that is, if she wants to be involved. Ana has run away.”
“We heard.”
“Della . . . I don’t know what to say other than I’m sorry. I should have called you the other night, I should have told you what happened yesterday morning when I brought Rye back. I . . . I’m not good at this.”
“I accept your apology,” Della said, opening her arms, the two old friends embracing. “That girl has been beating herself up all morning and is still grounded.” Della walked to the foot of the stairs and called up to Rye, who was already on her way down. “What do you have to say to Abbie?”
“I’m sorry for what I put you through the other night.”
“It’s quite all right.”
“And I’m sorry for lying about Ana.”
“What do you mean?”
Rye looked to her mother, who nodded back. “I lied to my parents and told them Ana forced me to take the mushrooms, but she didn’t. She wanted nothing to do with it. But I think that’s why she ran away.”
“Well, we can’t do anything about that now.” She handed the BFF drawing to Rye and watched her face as it lifted and fell.
“I’m going to kill her when we find her,” she said. “I mean that in a good way.”
• • •
They decided to form teams with Emmett as the lead and head contact. One group fanned out along the southern border of the park, while another headed farther up north to the park’s main entrance. Will Carson joined Abbie and the Moons. Manny rounded up the boys to accompany Emmett, with Rolo in particular wanting to get started as soon as possible. Alder Kinman suggested they check local campgrounds too. “Something tells me that’s where you’ll find them.”
Manny drove with Emmett in the passenger seat of the truck. He’d known his boss for a very long time, had learned to gauge the ever-shifting moods. But in all the years, through all the circumstances and heartbreak, he’d never seen Emmett this thoroughly unsettled.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Manny said. “We’ll find her.”