Even in shock, Jonas had thought of others.
“How did you get here?” Annie asked.
“I ran to theOn Time. Then up here from the pier.”
They stood and sat, not speaking as, overhead, “Jingle Bells” persisted.
“I can’t call Francine,” he added quietly. “She’s pregnant.”
That’s when Annie knew they had to act.
She stood up, grabbed her purse, and told Jonas to get up. “We’re going to find her,” she said, and turned to Lucy. “Run over to Winnie’s booth. See if someone’s there. Ask if they can unpack for us. We should be back before the gym closes. Then come outside. And hurry.”
Clutching Jonas’s arm, Annie zigzagged around people, cartons, and dollies until they reached the side door. As soon as they stepped outside, she called John.
“Bella’s lost,” she said, then spewed out the news. “She must be at the Inn. But we don’t know where. I’m sure she’s okay, but can you help?”
John replied in the authoritative voice she’d often heard when he was on duty. “When a two-year-old’s missing,” he said, “we take it seriously. Especially in this case, with the Inn so close to the water.”
Annie wished he hadn’t said that. She hadn’t yet thought about the path that led straight from the patio down to the beach. She hadn’t thought about how Bella had trailed Francine and Annie and probably Jonas, too, down that path countless times to walk along the shore or have a picnic on the beach. She hadn’t thought about how every time they’d gone there, they’d had to remind Bella to keep a safe distance from the water.
And she didn’t want to think about those things now, either.
“Point taken,” she replied curtly. “We’re heading to Chappy. Lucy’s with us. I’ll keep you posted.” She rang off before he could say anything else she didn’t want to hear.
* * *
They reached the Jeep; Annie started it and let it run to get the heat cranked up and circulating. A damp chill blanketed the afternoon; the sky had grown grayer since they’d been in the school. It would be dark soon; it was, after all, almost winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Chappaquiddick was farther east than Boston, so darkness came even sooner there. In reality, Annie knew it was only a couple of minutes sooner, but at this time of year, she often felt as if she lived in Iceland, where the longest amount of daylight was something like four hours.
Tapping her fingers on the steering wheel, she stared out the windshield. She saw two women dressed as elves with pointed ears, green felt hats, and strings of multicolored, mini flashing lights dangling around their necks rush past while singing “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.”
Annie turned her head away. She put the gearshift in drive, wheeled over to the exit, and parked, blocking access. The engine idled, her foot twitching with impatience to step down on the gas. Next to her, Jonas rubbed his hands together. Over and over.
“There’s an extra pair of mittens in the glove box,” she said.
He opened the latch and slipped them on. He must have been too upset to think of gloves when he’d raced over from Edgartown.
Finally, Lucy sprinted out the doors and jumped into the back seat. She announced that Winnie’s sister-in-law, Barbara, would finish setting up the booth.
Annie barely heard her as she slalomed the Jeep around cars and SUVs and pickups, then fishtailed off the school grounds, aimed for theOn Time, and hoped that the little ferry was in its berth on this side of the channel, because she had no patience for that, either.
Once out of the lot, she stomped down on the gas pedal. The three of them stayed silent, as if speaking might slow them down. But as soon as Annie reached Main Street, where she needed to turn right, the traffic was backed up. Of course it was. The fact that Christmas in Edgartown had begun gave rise to flashbacks of July and August.
“Crap,” Lucy expelled from the back seat.
After only a minute, her blood pressure surely rising, Annie saw a chance to sneak between a Volvo SUV and a station wagon dressed up as a reindeer with antlers on either side of the roof and a big plastic nose on the grill that was lit up bright red. A speaker from the passenger window blasted the old Gene Autry tune, “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Annie wondered if anyone celebrated the holiday like ordinary people anymore.
Then she wondered if Bella would be there to celebrate Christmas with them this year . . . to open piles of presents from her island family beneath the tree. A tiny lump rose in Annie’s throat. She prayed that Bella was at the Inn, that she was warm, that she wasn’t hungry. Maybe she’d been hiding from Jonas, thinking she was playing a game.
Yes, Annie thought.I’m going to believe that. For now.
After inching the few feet to Peases Point Way North, Annie took a quick left toward the shortcut to theOn Time. But traffic was backed up there, too, as the driver of an oversized van was attempting to parallel park.
“Jonas and I should make a run for it,” Lucy said. “We’ll get to the ferry before you will.”
“Go,” Annie replied. “Maybe someone on the other side can bring you to the Inn.”
Both Lucy and Jonas were out of the vehicle before Annie finished her sentence. And she was left to continue drumming her fingers on the steering wheel, trying to stop her thoughts from going into overdrive.
