I parked at the PD and asked her to wait. Bonita was nodding off, her face looking more and more as though she'd been hit by a freight train. Duluth, she told me, had been bellowing about how his civil rights were being violated, then calmed down. I gave her the bag and reminded her that Les had the key to the handcuffs and I had the key to the cell, so there wasn't a damn thing she could do even if a delegation from Amnesty International came through the door.
"I'm going to run Rachael out to their cabins and make sure Anthony is there. As soon as I get back, you're headed for the torturous confines of Woantell Motel. You can write your own letter to Amnesty International in the morning."
Rachael had pulled off her sandals and was massaging her feet as I got back into the car. "You'd think I'd be used to it by now," she said with a self-deprecatory laugh. "I was a third-grade teacher for fourteen years, so I spent a lot of the day standing in front of a blackboard."
"And now you're a waitress."
"I considered joining the army, but I don't look good in khaki."
I did not mention that her present appearance wasn't all that alluring. "I promised that we wouldn't talk about Deborah, but I'm a little bit puzzled about some of Ruth's actions. Are you going to fling yourself out of the car if I ask you?"
"There's not much I can tell you. Ruth was a bitch. Maybe it wasn't her fault, but it wasn't ours, either, and we're the ones who had to put up with her. That's why I didn't say anything when…"
"When she made a couple of telephone calls from the café?"
"Making calls was against the rules. We knew it before we ever arrived here. Sure, I've been tempted to call my mother and let her know we're safe."
"Safe from what?"
"The big bad world. We have adequate shelter and meals. The children are keeping up with their schoolwork. Before I started at the café, I sat down with Naomi and we individualized lesson plans for every child. I thought you wanted to know about Ruth."
"So she broke the rule?"
"Tuesday or Wednesday, I think. She came by late in the afternoon, asked for iced tea, then ducked around the corner. Guess she thought I wouldn't notice-or if I did, I wouldn't say anything to Judith."
I knew the answer, but I asked anyway. "Who'd she call?"
"Her mother, for one. About all she said was that she was all right and would be leaving shortly. Then she called somebody else and asked him to bring her some cash. It couldn't have been her ex-husband, could it? He'd be the last person she'd call."
"You didn't hear any details?"
"No, Merle put a quarter in the jukebox, then Anthony came out of the men's room and said the toilet was backed up again, and Francine started screaming because she saw a mouse run behind the refrigerator. One of these days she's going to set out the garbage and have a heart attack when she sees rats the size of raccoons."
"Did you know that Ester made long-distance calls while she was working for Willetta Robarts?"
She looked down at the floorboard. "A while back, whenever, Anthony came by the café and offered me a ride home. He told me Ester'd called a number in Florida several times, and he wanted to know if she'd said anything to me about having friends down there. I said that Ester and I never talked about anything personal, but he might do better if he asked Ruth. I also pointed out that all he had to do was call his long-distance carrier and dispute the bill."
"Refuse to pay it, you mean?"
"No," she said as if speaking to a third-grader destined for social promotion, "simply demand to know who was called. My ex-husband used to do that with every long-distance call I made. It took him years to learn that my brother lives in Boise and my roommate from college in Memphis. He even had trouble with the weekly calls to his own mother. He may be able to raise bail, but he's never going to raise his IQ."
"Do you think she might have gone to Florida?"
"As far as I'm concerned, she went to hell in a handbasket."
We drove in silence the rest of the way. I parked behind Corporal Robarts's car and was climbing out of the station wagon when Naomi and Judith dashed up.
"Thank gawd you're here," said Naomi, gulping for breath. "Anthony's been trying to call you!"
"This is serious," added Judith.
Rachael stared at them. "Did someone else get killed?"
Naomi collapsed in the mud and began to sob. Judith put a steadying hand on her shoulder and said, "No one's been killed. It's just that, well, that Naomi's children have disappeared."
16
Corporal Robarts appeared from between the cabins. He wasn't panting, but his shirt was sticking to his body and his deodorant was less than effective at fifteen feet. At three feet, I wanted to cover my nose and mouth, but, as Ruby Bee was fond of reminding me, I wasn't raised in a barn. I didn't know anybody who had been, for that matter.
"Glad you're finally here, Chief Hanks," he said between gasps. "I called the PD and Bonita said you were on your way. I just came back from the lodge. Les is gonna check along the road that leads to the lake, and some teacher fellow agreed to search the cabins where your group's been staying. You think I ought to call Sheriff Dorfer? I got my cellphone right here. We might could call the state police as well."
"Let's calm down. Naomi, pull yourself together and tell me how old your children are and how long they've been gone."
She dried her face on her sleeve, leaving a smear the color of dried blood. "Adam's eight and Lizzie is five, and I don't know for sure how long. After Mrs. Coldwater left, I dismissed all of them until suppertime. Judith's girls agreed to watch the little ones in the schoolhouse."
"What about Damon?" demanded Rachael. "Is he at the schoolhouse, too?"
"He's in the children's cabin, reading, as are the rest of them. My children are the only ones we can't find."
I looked at Judith. "You implied that the children were permitted to play in the woods."
"Usually they are, but after what happened yesterday, they were all told to stay within sight."
"We left about two hours ago," I said. "No one's seen them since then? Are you sure they're not sitting in the kitchen of the lodge, having pizza and cherry cobbler?"
Corporal Robarts jerked around. "You don't think I made sure of that? I looked in every room and closet, under beds, and in the shed out in the garden. I went down to the basement, even though the steps were covered with an inch of dust and spiderwebs were getting in my hair. I'm not stupid, you know."
Naomi collapsed into Judith's arms. "How are we gonna find them? It's so dark, and there are paths all over the place. What if they went down to the lake and-"
Judith gave her a shake. "They're safe," she said firmly. "You stay here while the rest of us fan out. Your children are old enough to realize they might be taken away by Mrs. Coldwater. The obvious explanation is that they ran away and are hiding in one of the uninhabited cabins." She shot me a dirty look. "I told you that they were fragile. If you weren't so enamored of your role as an egotistical, authoritarian-"
"Stop it!" wailed Naomi. "Just find my kids. They're liable to be terrified. I used to make them sleep in my bed. I walked them to school and waited in the playground until they were let out. One time I agreed to have them sleep over at my sister Letitia's house, but I knew they'd start crying so I went and picked them up. I thought I'd protected them by bringing them here, but now-"
The wails were getting progressively louder and downright eerie; if Brother Verber could have heard them, he would have been scurrying down the road toward the gate, a handkerchief in one hand and a bottle of sacramental wine in the other. "Take her inside before she frightens all the children," I said to Judith. "Rachael, get Sarah and stay with the other children. Corporal Robarts and I will find these other cabins. If the children aren't there, I'll call in backup."