The thinnest sliver of it.
She’d discovered something.
A shape in the dirt, an edge of a thing, a rough ridge.
Her bare foot had caught on it on one of her many revolutions in the dank room, a whisper she would have missed if not for the dark amplifying her other senses. She’d dropped to her knees and dug until her fingernails were peeled back and raw, until she was as exhausted as a starved dog.
She’d fallen asleep slumped against the wall, but she was ready to get back to the digging. It meant something.
Down here, everything meant something.
CHAPTER 19
It took until after supper that evening to recall where I knew the man from, the scrungy Abe Lincoln with the mustache-less beard who I’d almost biked over in the haunted section of town.
I’d seen him at the county fair.
He’d been working one of the midway booths, his facial hair hooking him to my memory.
He shouldn’t have been in Pantown, this far from the fairgrounds.
By the time I remembered all this, we’d already canceled tonight’s show. Brenda’s parents wanted to keep her home until Maureen turned up. Brenda’s dad was at the fair right now searching for Maureen. I was glad some adult seemed worried that she was missing. My dad wasn’t home from work yet even though it was a Saturday. Mom was in her room sleeping.
It was me and Junie in front of the TV for supper, watchingThe Muppet Showand eating the latest crop of TV dinners, fried chicken for us both.
“I wanted to play tambourine again tonight,” Junie said. She was pushing her chicken around, wearing herDADDY’SFISHINGBUDDYT-shirt. I knew it needed to be washed. “What if Maureen is there right now, waiting for us?”
“If she is,” I said, “Mr.Taft will tell her where we are and why, and we’ll all be happy because she’s safe.”
Junie nibbled the edge of her drumstick, made a face, and dropped it. “Ed said he’d buy me a corn dog after the show tonight if I came back.”
My fork froze halfway to my mouth, pearls of sweet corn dropping to the tray. “Ed who set up the show?”
“Yeah. The one who looks like Fonzie.”
“You shouldn’t be talking to him. He’s old.”
“He’s nice,” she said. “He said I was pretty.”
I gripped her elbow so hard that she squealed. “Junie, don’t you talk to him. Do you hear me?”
She jerked her arm away. “You’re jealous.”
“I am not. A grown man shouldn’t be talking to a twelve-year-old girl. When did this happen?”
“Last night.”
I ran through our movements. “Were you alone with him?”
She smiled her secret fox smile but didn’t answer. I grabbed her again and shook her. “Junie, were you alone with him?”
“No!” She started crying. “Brenda was walking me to Dad, and on the way, the man who runs the ring toss wanted to talk to her. Brenda and him went into the back of his booth. That’s when Ed showed up. He promised me cotton candy. I told him I didn’t like cotton candy, that I liked corn dogs, and he thought that was funny.”
I released her, trying to settle my pulse. “I’m sorry, Junie. I’m worried about Maureen is all. And I think Ed’s bad news.”
“Youhang out with him.”
I thought of what Brenda had said about being done with Ricky. “Not anymore. Promise me you won’t, either.”
