The Dark Divine
Page 28

"I don't know. He really likes the horses at the MacArthurs' stables."
"Don," Daniel said. "Go get as many people as you can and search the route toward the Mac Arthurs farm."
I knew I should go, too, but I waited for Daniel.
He wiped the blood on his sleeve. "Pastor," he called into the open window. Dad held Mom to his chest. "He'll be okay," he said, and cradled the back of her head with his hand.
Mom was usually so on top of things. Seeing her act so helpless made me shake with anxiety.
"Pastor," Daniel said.
Dad glanced at us. "One of you go call the police. They'll organize a search party." I started to move.
Daniel grabbed my arm. "No." He looked at my dad. "The police can't help us." Mom whimpered.
Daniel let go of my arm. "I'll find him for you." Dad nodded. "Go."
Chapter Eleven Revelations
INTO THE WOODS
Daniel launched himself over the porch railing and flew around to the backyard. I stumbled down the steps and went after him. Pete and Leroy inspected the wood fence Dad had had installed after Daisy was killed. It shielded our yard from the encroaching woods. Daniel stopped where the fence ended in a narrow gap. It was the same section that blew down whenever there was a windstorm like the one this morning. He scanned the ground as if searching for tracks. I didn't see any.
Daniel squeezed through the gap. "Go help Don search the way to the Mac Arthurs'," he said through the fence. It sounded like a blanket order to all three of us. I started after Daniel. "Grace?" Pete asked.
"Go call the shelter," I said. "Tell them to send Jude home as soon as he gets there. Then take Leroy and help Don." Pete nodded.
I slipped through the fence.
Daniel was up ahead. He scratched at the dirt near the hiking path we used to explore as children. I rubbed my arms for warmth, wishing I'd grabbed my coat. My thin sweater and cotton slacks would have to do.
"You really think he's in the woods?" I asked.
Daniel dusted off his hands and grunted. "Yes."
"Then why did you send everyone down to the farm? Don't we need them here?"
"I don't want them mucking up the trail."
"What?"
Daniel grabbed my hand. "Doesn't this path lead to the creek?" I swallowed hard. "Yes."
Daniel wrapped his fingers around mine. "Hopefully, it's dry by now." We jogged down the trail for what felt like half a mile. The farther we went into the forest, the muddier the path became. And the more my feet sank into the earth, the more I doubted that James could have toddled this way.
Daniel stopped. He turned in a small circle like he'd lost his bearings.
"We should turn back." I pulled off one of my flats, and thanked my lucky stars I hadn't worn the stupid kitten heels Mom had wanted me to wear to dinner.
"This way." Daniel stepped off the narrow path into the brush. He drew in a breath and closed his eyes, as if savoring the taste. "James is this way."
"That's not possible." I flexed my foot. "He's not even two yet. There's no way he could have come this far."
Daniel stared into the dark of the woods. "On his own, no." He rocked up on the balls of his feet.
"Stay," he whispered, and bolted into the thicket of trees. He was there and then gone.
"Wha ...Wait!"
But he kept moving.
And I'm apparently not very good at doing what I'm told.
"He's my brother!" I yelled, and crammed my foot into my shoe. I could barely see Daniel as I followed. Only flashes of his back in the distance as he wove through the trees. He was like an animal, running on instinct without even looking where his feet landed. I, on the other hand, lumbered and crashed into trees that seemed to leap right in front of me. Branches cracked under my shoes, and I stumbled over rocks and roots as I tried to catch up to him.
It seemed like he'd picked up on a scent or something. Was that even possible? All I could smell with each stabbing breath were decaying leaves and pine needles. Those smells reminded me of only one thing--it was nearly winter. And if Daniel was right, Baby James was out here somewhere. The temperature fell as the sun sank below the tall pines. Looming shadows made it even harder to pick my way through the woods. I caught my heel in the root of a large pine and toppled forward. Pain slammed up my arms as i hit the ground. I pushed myself up and brushed my hands off on my slacks, leaving a bloody smear on the fabric.
i looked around. Daniel was nowhere. And another few steps would have taken me down a deep ravine. If I hadn't stumbled, I would have fallen a sharp thirty feet. Was that what had happened to Daniel, or did he veer left or right? i grabbed a branch of a nearby tree and leaned out over the steep slope. I could only see more rocks and dirt and thick ferns at the bottom.
"Daniel!" I shouted. All I got in return was my echo. Wouldn't I have heard something if Daniel had fallen? Wouldn't I be able to make out his path if he'd climbed down?
A half-moon would rise soon to replace the sun. I didn't have a flashlight, and I'd never ventured this deep into the woods before. How would I find James, or Daniel, or even my way back now?
Maybe I deserved to be lost. It was my pie that had burned, and I was the one who had opened that window. It was so stuffy in the house from the two ovens going all day; Charity wouldn't have noticed that it was still open when she put the baby down for his nap. How can I go home without James?
A howl filled the void below, echoing off the walls of the ravine. Only an animal could have made that noise. But it was like a shout of frustration. Like a wolf anxious to capture its prey. I had to find a way down. I had to find my brother before that animal did. Parts of the ravine wall were much steeper than others--a sheer drop-off in some places, but where I was seemed like a somewhat doable incline for climbing down. I grabbed at the roots protruding in the eroded hill and climbed, with my back to the open air, over the side of the steep slope. The toe of my shoe slipped in the mud, and my chest hit the earthen wall, knocking a scream right out of me. I slid several feet before I was able to claw my hands into a tangle of roots above my head. I held on with desperate force, the roots searing like lightning in my injured hand. I tried to determine with my dangling feet how far I was from the bottom. Please be only a couple of yards. I couldn't hold on much longer.