I had planned to run away at eighteen, but never got that chance. I don’t know what happened, or why I failed, but it must have been Mom—Mother.
I read about a boy named Tucker. He had been special to me. One flower said:
Tonight, you will give Tucker a flower that tells him you love him. Look for the yellow daffodil that will tell you what he said back.
I sorted through the dozens of flowers strewn over my floor. I had five or six yellow daffodils, but none of them told me what I wanted to know. Who was this Tucker? And what had he said when I told him I loved him?
Could he help me? Was he out there looking for me?
My heart hammered in a way I’d never felt before. I wasn’t dying. I was more alive than I’d ever been. I could feel the blood in my body, running hot and telling me to go, go, go.
I had to start my own adventure. Maybe I did have a scarecrow and a tin man out there somewhere. Maybe Tucker was one of many people my mother kept from me. A history she didn’t let me learn.
I began packing. The flowers. The folder. What clothes would fit in my duffel bag.
I would not confront my mother. She had a power over me I did not understand. She scared me. I realized how little I knew about anything. But my eyes were open.
I would have to leave my mother behind. She’d recognize if I was scared, or if I had an expression on my face like the wizard. I was now the girl hiding behind the curtain.
I put on my best shoes, my favorite dress, and a jacket. I crept through the house while my mother slept. As the sun spread its rosy light on the fields, I slipped out the back door.
Then I ran.
CHAPTER 18
Tucker
The day I learned about Ava’s escape started out the same as every other.
I got up, and like every morning for one hundred and eight days, I typedAva Robertsinto a Google search.
I was used to the links that always came up. The doctor. The actress. The microbiologist.
But, on this Saturday, something spectacular happened.
A police alert. Ava Roberts, a special-needs adult, aged eighteen, was reported missing by her mother.
I jumped out of my chair. She had gotten away.
How?
I circled my room, punching at the air. This was great.
But where was she?
Gram came to my door. “What’s got you in such a fuss?”
“Ava ran away. They were living out in the country near Wimberley.”
Gram peered at the screen. “Do they know where she’s gone?”
“No. But I have to find her.”
“Do you think she lost her memory?”
“She must have. She would have left on her birthday months ago if she remembered me. We always talked about what to do. They weren’t so far away that she couldn’t have gotten to me.”
She nods. “You have any clues where she might be now?”
