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Kat called. Flora called. Even Ivy called Sheriff Everett. The rain paused, opening up cell reception, but their calls still didn’t go through.
“Maybe the storm didn’t stop at Willis Bridge,” Flora suggested,
“Yeah, well, we can’t just sit here and wait for perfect weather. Lydia would have checked in by now if she were okay,” Kat argued.
The sound of three cell phones, receiving numerous texts, at the same time, rivaled a swarm of wasps targeting an arcade from the 1980s. Every child in the house came rushing over, except Enoch. He wailed from his bed. Scout accompanied Eloise, hoisted on the teen’s hip.
“Will someone make it stop?” Eden hollered over the electronic cacophony.
Flora pet her daughter’s head as she passed her and headed straight for Enoch. She lifted him to her shoulder and started swaying him into a lull. Kat hurriedly silenced and checked her phone.
“It’s her!” Ivy announced. She shuffled through the messages, her eyes growing larger with each photo.
“Where is she? What is she doing?” Flora needed more information. Her son needed his lunch. She snuggled up on the couch with Enoch. “Don’t leave me hanging.”
Kat pushed in her chair. “Little ears, Flora. Little ears.”
The children clumped between the mothers. “I’m not little,” Eloise said.
“Neither am I,” the rest chimed.
“We know. We know,” Kat said. “But I bet you’re all hungry!” The short crowd cheered their response. “Pizza? Burritos?” Again, the crowd jostled and hollered.
“I guess I'm heading to Pizza Palace. My treat. Is that good with you, Flora?” Kat called into the living room.
Flora responded with a thumbs up. “And hurry!”
Kat had her keys in one hand and her purse in the other in milliseconds. She was out the door just as quickly.
Ivy retrieved Scout from Eloise and joined Flora on the couch. “Was Kat a little too eager to snag lunch? Or is it just me?”
The grin that stretched Flora’s face bordered on the maniacal. “Oh yeah, she’s up to something.”
***
KAT ALMOST FELT GUILTY. She was 100% up to something. Ivy and Flora were sharp. They were on to her. Her only advantage was speed, and she’d snagged it.
She called in her pizza order and settled into the front seat of her van. Kat couldn’t leave to chase Lydia, yet. But if Lydia didn’t arrive at Flora’s, with Penny, before the end of lunch, something drastic had to be done.
Privately, she scrolled through her messages. Each one made her more frustrated. “It’s just a bunch of barns,” she said to herself. “What are you trying to tell us?”