Chapter 2♥The Strangest Game of Twenty Questions
The drive home was mostly silent. Elinor was hoping for the best case scenario—that they’d come home to little rabbit poops around the house to clean up. Or better yet, that Babbity was feeling especially lazy tonight and hadn’t left her cage at all.
Greta hopped out as soon as Mom parked, and Elinor took the keys and went to unlock the front door. She cursed the little doggy door, which was even now, flapping open and closed in the breeze. Because it wasn’t large enough for a human to get through, they hadn’t worried about securing it just yet. There had been more important worries, like getting the sticky bathroom door to wedge open and replacing the missing toilet seat.
The old house was free, but it wasn’t flawless.
“Babbity?” Greta ran to her cage, which was, in fact, empty. Elinor’s stomach tightened as she watched Greta wander around flipping on lights and calling for her rabbit. The chances of an outside search were getting higher and higher. Time to get a flashlight. Elinor threw her half-melted cone in the garbage so she could use both hands to rip open a box that had the contents of their old junk drawer in it.
Success. There was a flashlight towards the bottom with working batteries. She found another one and handed it to Marianne. “I’ll take front yard if you’ll take back. Mom can stay here with Greta and look inside.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to search together?” Marianne gave Elinor a knowing look. Elinor’s fear of the dark was not exactly a secret, considering she’d created a night running group back home just to try and conquer it.
Elinor shook her head. “I can do this. Let’s get going.” She held up her phone on her way out, and Mom and Marianne did the same with theirs, an unspoken agreement to call if they found anything.
It was a shame Greta couldn’t have remembered her rabbit before the sky darkened to night, and not just because Elinor hated going outside in the dark more than she hated warm milk in her cereal or the tell-tale crunch of a fender-bender.
There wasn’t more than a sliver of moonlight, and the rural area they lived in apparently didn’t believe in street lights either.
She checked the front bushes first, and then the overgrown grass, going through it in systematic lines and stopping occasionally to listen. If she focused on the task at hand, her mind couldn’t go other places.
Unfortunately, rabbits weren’t like dogs. They didn’t come when they were called. Their natural instinct was the opposite—to hide when approached, to stay silent and still.
“Babbity,” she whispered. “Where are you?” This was hopeless, but she wouldn’t give up without giving it her best effort, however inadequate.
The lot next to them was empty except for weeds, so she checked there next, startling every time she heard a rustle or felt a blade of crabgrass brush against her calf. Stupid capris. They should rename them unprepared pants. No good in an emergency, just there to make you feel fancy on bowling night.
An owl hooted and she whirled around, clutching her chest as if it would make her heart beat a little slower. She glanced across the way and saw Marianne’s flashlight bobbing in their backyard, darting back and forth aimlessly. No luck there.
Crossing the front yard to the other side, she searched the bushes that bordered their property with the new neighbors. Mom had knocked earlier in the day, but no one answered despite the car parked out front.
Elinor flashed her light underneath the bumper, but didn’t venture closer. She could almost hear the voiceover fromUnsolved Mysteriesnow.It all started on a February night in the quiet little town of Datefield, California. Two sisters went out to search for a beloved family pet…
Nope, nope. She would not play that familiar game. This was for Greta, who would be out here herself if Elinor decided she was too chicken, and the thought of Greta out searching in the dark kept Elinor going.
She flashed her light around and stopped on the hedges outlining the yard of the house across the street. If she was a rabbit, that’s where she’d hide for the night. Even the leaves looked delicious.
Elinor crept slowly, keeping her flashlight down at her feet until she was closer. Then she flashed the light into the hedge and heard a large rustling sound, followed by the sight of a fuzzy streak taking off across the grass and up the neighbor’s porch.
She couldn’t believe that worked. “Babbity! You bad rabbit.” Elinor ran after her, afraid she’d miss the rabbit’s next move. There were hedges in the backyard matching the ones in the front, but luckily, they backed up to a panel fence. Unless there was a rabbit-sized hole in the wood, Elinor had a good chance of catching her. She turned off her flashlight and started at one end of the hedge, working her way to the other, peering intently, searching for something solid among the leafy pattern. And listening, always listening.
At least, she thought she was.
“Elinor?”
“Shitzu puppies!” Elinor threw her hands in the air like an inflatable carwash noodle dancer and her flashlight went flying. She backed up from the dark shadow behind her so fast she tripped and fell on her bottom. How did this murderer/stalker know her name? No one here knew them. Well, except for…
“Edward?” She was relieved that it might be him, but also deeply embarrassed. And suspicious. Did he follow them from the ice cream place?
He came closer, holding a hand out to help her up, and when she knew it was him, and his face matched the same hesitation she was feeling, she let him pull her to her feet.
Zing. There it was again, her undeniable attraction to him, magnified by the feel of his strong hand around hers. But Elinor didn’t trust zings. You could be attracted to the wrong person. To someone not good for you. Like someone you talked to for a few minutes who decided to follow you home and sneak up on you.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, crossing her arms.
“Standing in my yard.”
She glanced up at the back porch and saw the door was now cracked a little bit, showing off a thread of light from inside. Well, this was just fantastic. She was the one being a stalker. Edward was their neighbor. Marianne would flip when she heard the news.
