part0020

Blake pulled up to the house. Christa’s car wasn’t in the driveway. Neither was Gwyn’s for that matter, but that was no surprise. It was just as well. He wasn’t looking forward to breaking the news that Lucy wasn’t with Owen. Their absence would give him a little extra time before he would have to deal with it.

As he rolled along the gravel, Blake noticed Lucas standing in his usual spot. Blake waved, but Lucas didn’t notice. He was engrossed in his wristwatch.

Blake got out and approached his new friend.

Lucas looked up from the display.

“Hi, Mr. Blake. It’s time for my walk.” He directed his attention back to the display.

“I like to walk, too,” Blake said. “Do you mind if I come with you?”

Blake wasn’t sure how to take the response. In Lucas’s dialect, there were so many meanings to the word.

“Yeah, you mind? Or yeah, I can come with you?”

“You can come with me. Sheffield’s cove. Nineteen seconds.”

“Okay then,” Blake said. “I’m ready.”

Blake walked around the hedgerow and joined Lucas on his lawn. He hadn’t noticed if the old woman was watching from the window. Now, he had no line of sight to the second-floor window where she usually planted herself. He preferred it that way. As ridiculous as it was, he wanted to avoid the visual scolding he would have received.

Without any verbal warning, Lucas dropped his arm and started walking.

The term walking was a bit of a misnomer. It was more of a shuffle. With the heel of each foot barely clearing the toe of the other. Blake kept pace but had to limit his steps to the point that he felt like he was mimicking a slow-motion movie sequence.

“I haven’t gotten a chance to explore much,” Blake said. “I’m looking forward to seeing this Sheffield’s cove.”

Lucas left the grass and stepped into the side street that ran along his property. He crossed to the right side of the road.

“Me too,” Lucas said. “I like to walk.”

Blake had to admit, it was nice to take a walk. And Lucas was good company.

They strolled in silence for a couple of minutes. As they reached the end of the street, the tall grass of a salt marsh was visible in front of them. Beyond that was a narrow body of water. Blake assumed it was Sheffield’s cove.

“Now we go this way.” Lucas turned right onto a dirt road that ran along the marsh. Blake followed.

The dirt road ended at a small beach, maybe ten feet wide. Blake could see why it attracted Lucas. It was gorgeous.

To the left was the body of the cove. The water was still. Sandbars protruded from the center of the saltwater pond. Ahead, across the water, was a lush, uninhabited landscape. Large bird’s nests had been built atop tall man-made posts. To the right, the pier of the West Ferry and the outhauls along its edge were visible. From that angle, the low sun glimmered off the water between the moored boats of Dutch Harbor like a picture on a postcard.

“This is beautiful, Lucas. Thank you for showing it to me.”

“Yeah. This is beautiful.” Lucas looked at his watch, then gazed out toward the west.

Blake did the same, letting his mind wander. He thought of Haeli and how much she would have liked it there. In this moment of quiet, this serene setting, Blake realized for the first time since he arrived that he missed her. It wasn’t Anja that permeated his thoughts, it was Haeli. He longed for her, the intensity of which took him by surprise.

Blake felt the urge to call her. To share the moment with her, even if it were by voice alone. But he was there for Lucas, and it would have been rude. He would call her when he got back to the house.

Lucas remained still, staring into the distance. Blake wondered what he was thinking about. What went on inside his head? Was it all numbers and figures? Deep existential pondering? Or was he simply punching the clock?

The pressure of the silence began to weigh on Blake. He felt the need to say something. Luckily, Lucas beat him to it.

“I like you Mr. Blake. You’re my friend.”

“I like you too, Lucas. And you’re right, I am your friend.”

“Do you live here now?” Lucas said.

“No, I’m still just visiting. I’m here to help with something, then I have to leave.”

It was something Blake hadn’t thought of before. By befriending Lucas, he may have been causing more harm than good. If he became attached, would he understand when Blake had to leave? Would he feel deserted?

Lucas looked at his watch, then turned and began shuffling away from the beach. Blake took an extra-long step to catch up with him.

“What are you helping with?” Lucas asked.

“I’m helping find something that’s lost.”

“Are you finding the girls that were stolen? Like Lucy?” Lucas said.

Blake couldn’t believe what he just heard. Did Lucas just say what he thought he said?

It wasn’t just that Lucas knew Lucy was missing. It wasn’t even that he seemed to know there was more than one. It was the fact that he used the word ‘stolen.’ What did he know and how in the world would he know it?

“Lucas, stop.” Blake reached out and touched Lucas’s arm.

Lucas stopped and faced him.

“We’re going to be late.” Lucas said.

“Listen to me. I’m your friend, right?” Blake said.

“I need you to tell me how you know girls were stolen.”

Lucas laughed loudly. “That’s easy.”

“Good. Then you can tell me?”

“My doctor told me,” Lucas said. “He said the girls were mean and bad, and that’s why they were stolen.”

“Your doctor told you this?” Blake said.

“He said they do sex with boys. And that’s bad.”

“Okay, Lucas, this is very important.” Blake looked Lucas in the eye and waited until Lucas’s irises snapped toward his. “What is your doctor’s name?”

“Good,” Blake leaned in. “What’s his last name? Doctor John what?”

“Doctor John.” Lucas said. “He’s nice, he helps me with my conditions.”

“Is Doctor John the one you go to see in Newport?”

“Do you remember where his office is?”

Blake held his breath. If Lucas could tell him where to find this Doctor, it could mean finding Lucy. At the same time, how much faith could he put in Lucas’s recollection of a conversation? It was possible that the doctor was talking about something else entirely. Or he had heard about the missing person cases and was spouting off some misguided conjecture, not considering that Lucas soaked it up. Whatever the case, he was so desperate to find a lead, he was willing to try anything.

“I go straight and right and right,” Lucas said. “Then on the brown stairs. Then count five doors.”

“Do you know what street?” Blake asked.

Lucas shook his head. “He’s not on the street.”

Blake reminded himself not to get frustrated. Lucas was trying. But Blake needed a different tactic. “You go every Tuesday and Thursday, right? So, you’ll see him tomorrow?”

“Can I go with you?” Blake said.

“No.” Lucas answered. “Doctor John wouldn’t like it if I brought a friend. He says it’s private talking.”

“Maybe he wouldn’t mind,” Blake pressed.

“No. No. No.” Lucas closed his eyes. His voice rose in volume and pitch. “Doctor John will be mad at me.”

“It’s okay, Lucas. I won’t come with you. I don’t want Doctor John to be mad at you.”

Lucas opened his eyes and settled down. “Here they come.” He pointed over Blake’s shoulder.

Two teenage boys on bicycles skidded around the corner, leaving a dust cloud over the dirt road. They slowed as they were about to pass. One boy hollered to the other.

“Hey, look, it’s the retard.”

The other boy answered back. “Don’t get too close, you’ll catch it,” he laughed.

Blake stepped into the road and motioned to the two boys.

“Come here,” Blake said. He pointed to the roadway in front of him.

The boys stopped their bikes ten feet short of Blake. Their mouths hung open. It was the look of someone who knew they were in trouble but were still holding onto hope that they could play dumb to weasel their way out of it.

Blake put his hands in his pockets and sauntered toward them.

“Now, is that the way to treat another person? Don’t you think you owe this man an apology?” Blake said.

The boys looked at each other. One mustered the courage to speak.

“Who are you, his bodyguard?” the kid said.

Blake had to hand it to them. The kids around this town had no fear. Probably because they had nothing they needed to fear. Until now.

Blake walked between the two boys, who still straddled their bicycles, and pivoted so that he stood behind them. He wrapped a hand around the back of each of the boys’ necks and pushed them together until their heads were an inch apart.

“Get off me,” the mouthy boy said. “You can’t touch us.”

Blake leaned in between them and spoke. Soft enough that Lucas wouldn’t be able to hear.

His message delivered, he let go. Their heads sprung apart under their own tension.

The two boys looked at each other in a nonverbal exchange of resignation. Then they pushed their bikes toward Lucas with their feet.

“I’m sorry,” one said.

“We didn’t mean anything by it,” the other added.

“Are we cool?” the first asked.

“Yeah,” Lucas said.

The boys looked back at Blake. Blake nodded. They stepped onto the pedals and pumped as hard as they could. And then, they were gone.