Cries of the Children(7)

Now Bettina noticed the two suitcases Lorraine was carrying. Could there be a clue in them? There were no tags on the outside.

“May I look into the bags?” she asked.

Trustingly Lorraine nodded. That was another thing that indicated she didn’t belong here. No child bom in this area would trust a complete stranger.

Bettina looked around to be certain they were alone. She, too, had noticed the gang earlier.

One bag held more of the same type of clothing, the stuff only rich people dressed their kids in. And the other bag proved Lorraine really was rich, while adding to the mystery of this lost child. What on earth was she doing walking around the Lower East Side of Manhattan with a suitcase stuffed with twenty-dollar bills? Bettina gasped at the sight of the money. There had to be more than a thousand dollars in here!

Quickly she closed it. Temptation was coming down on her, making her want to steal this from the innocent child. Bettina didn’t want to burn in hell, so she stood up and put her dirty hand gently on the child’s.

“You stick with me, sweet Lorraine,” she said. “You stick with old Bettina. She’ll take care of you.”





5


NIGHT HAD FALLEN by the time Samantha saw the exit sign for Ashleigh Creek. Soon she’d be back home, where she could begin to piece together the missing days.

She had spent the better part of the drive questioning Julie. The child answered as best as she could, which usually meant a shrug or an “I don’t know.” Julie’s past was a mystery. The only information she could provide was that she had lived in an orphanage. Somehow, even the names of the people who had cared for her (other than Mr. Henley) had been blanked from her mind. Most disconcerting about all this was that the child took it so readily. Samantha thought a normal kid would be very upset. But Julie seemed to accept being with Samantha as if it were the most natural thing on earth.

When Samantha pulled up to her garage, she sensed the danger she’d felt the last time she’d been here. Much as she wanted to push the frightful thoughts from her mind, she welcomed them instead as a way of getting to the truth. She aimed the garage-door remote and tried to make its actions bring back memories of that day. But everything in the garage was as it was supposed to be, mundane and nonthreatening.

Everything but the shattered back-door window. Leaving Julie sound asleep, Samantha turned off the engine and got out. Her feet crunched on bits of broken glass. There was an ax lying on the floor just inside the door. Samantha picked it up carefully. The feelings that came to her were instantaneous, and so frightening she threw the tool down. She had a brief flash of memory, of swinging the ax at the door in a desperate attempt to get away from . . . something.

She tried to push her fears away and let the ax help her remember what had happened. But at that moment Julie suddenly began to scream.

“No! Don’t put me in that!”

Samantha hurried to the truck. Julie was sitting as far forward as her seat belt would allow, staring at something Samantha couldn’t see. Her arms were flailing, as if she were fighting someone.

“No! No! No!”

“Julie!”

Samantha reached around the wildcat child and unfastened her seat belt. It took all her strength to control her. Julie screamed and fought, seeming unaware of her real surroundings.

“Julie, wake up!”

The girl took in a huge gulp of air. She began coughing, focusing at last on Samantha with wild eyes. Then she blinked a few times, and Samantha understood that the little girl was finally seeing her.

“You had a bad dream, sweetie,” Samantha said. “But it’s over now.”

“Someone was trying to put me in a box,” Julie said.

Samantha shivered at the image. What kind of dream was this for a little girl? Had her previous life been so terrible that she forced it out of her memory?

Julie snuggled against her.

“It’s okay now,” Samantha said. “Look, we’re home now. Let’s go inside.”

Julie stopped at the door, staring for a moment at the broken window. Finally she said, “You did that.”

“How do you know?”

But Julie was already walking down the path to the house. The outside light worked on a timer, and it had come on a short while earlier. Julie didn’t continue on the path, but veered in the direction of the kennel. Samantha was suddenly reminded of her dogs. They’d been left alone for almost two days!

“The dogs need you!” Julie called. “Hurry!”

“Damn,” Samantha said. “How could I have forgotten them?”

She hurried into the kennel.

“Lady! Sunday!”

Her calls were answered by soft whimpering. Samantha opened the inner door and gasped. Sunday and Lady, two chocolate Labradors, were huddled on a pile of hay in the corner of the room. Samantha hurried to them and stroked their matted fur.