"second star to the right, and straight on till morning!"
PROLOUGE
It was quiet at night, as it was on most nights. That's what Jenna Barrie loved about her town. The whole area was silenced when the sun dipped behind the houses on West Sherwood.
Jenna thought the best way to enjoy a perfect night was to take a midnight stroll through the winding streets of her town. The highlight of her walks was tapping lightly on the second window on the side of the one-story Raymond residence that faced the moon. The room that the window belonged to was shared by two sisters.
There was her friend Madison and Madison's older sister, Jackie. Madison would let Jenna climb through the opened window and the two would talk for a while. They were always careful not to wake Jackie, who was now seventeen and did not like being deprived of her beauty sleep.
Mrs. Raymond was a deep sleeper so she never heard the girls. Mr. Raymond, on the other hand, was thought to be the lightest sleeper in the world and he could easily hear the girls whispering. He would usually open the door quietly and send Jenna home. Sometimes when Mr. Raymond started talking Jackie would toss and turn. Once she muttered something nobody could understand.
Jenna was a little afraid of Jackie. For starters, Jackie always looked at the downside of things. She didn't physically look down, but her attitude towards everything was negative. She once told Jenna that she hated birthdays. Jenna found that a ludicrous comment and had asked why but was shooed away.
Jackie had dark green eyes and her frizzy brown hair floated around her head as if there was no gravity. Jackie was one year older than Madison and it showed in their personalities; but they looked almost exactly the same. The only critical difference between the two was Jackie had more freckles around her eyes.
………………………………………………………………
CHAPTER ONE
It was eleven minutes after midnight; Jenna had started her walk a minute before midnight. The heels of her feet were beginning to feel numb because her fuzzy purple slippers only covered half of her feet.
She didn't even have to tap on the windowpane. Madison forcefully opened the window as soon as she saw Jenna's light blue robe swaying in the midnight breeze. Jenna was unaware of the worry her friend was feeling. She smiled brightly; glad to be greeted so promptly.
Madison waved at Jenna frantically. "Jenna, I can't find her!" Madison was acting like she was having a panic attack. Jenna automatically tried to calm her down as she climbed through the opened window.
"Who, Jackie?" Jenna looked around the shared room and noticed that Jackie's covers had been whipped off the bed. She assumed Madison had done that. They were lying on the floor next to the nightstand.
Madison pulled at her messy hair and closed the window. "Yes, Jackie. I woke up and she wasn't here!" She paused a moment and threw her hands out in front of her. "God knows where she is. Where could she go? There's nothing around this stupid town but woods!"
Jenna moved in front of her panicked friend and grabbed her bony shoulders. She kicked some of the blankets away from where she was standing. Madison stopped talking and pulling at her hair.
The air became still again. Jenna let go and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know where she is either. But you can't panic."
Madison took a deep breath. "I hoped you would come, you didn't see her on your way here, did you?" She was trying to settle down.
"No, I didn't. But she'll probably be back in a few minutes." Jenna guessed.
"Yeah, she might have gone for a walk like you do." Madison plopped down next to Jenna on the bed.
"After all, she also has access to the window." Jenna gestured over to the right. She was glad she had calmed her friend, but in her gut she knew that Jackie Raymond was not one for midnight walks.
The two girls sat quietly for a few minutes, the room was comfortable at night. They wanted sleep but knew they had to wait. The pink lava lamp on top of the bookcase illuminated Madison's stressed face. Jenna stared at the newly carpeted floor. She thought she heard Tiffy, her little black dog, howling. But she knew this couldn't be true because Tiffy only howled when there was commotion.
There was a short tap on the window and for a moment, Jenna's whole body froze. Madison immediately jumped up from the bed, practically knocking Jenna over. They rushed over to the window and saw the annoyed looking face of Jackie.
Her hand was on her hip as she watched Jenna and Madison get the window fully opened. She crawled through and stumbled a little; pushing her bangs back with her hand and trying to pretend she didn't fall.
Jackie looked even more annoyed when she saw Jenna standing there. The last thing Jenna wanted was trouble; but Jackie quickly disregarded her.
Madison was back in panic land. "Jackie, where the heck did you go?"
Jackie put her thin hands out in front of her as if to push Madison away. "Jesus Christ, Madison." She paused hesitantly and shook her straightened bangs back out of her eyes. "I just went for a walk around the block. Don't have a cow." Jackie lay down on her bed and pulled the covers up halfway.
"Oh I won't have a cow, but mom might. Where are your pajamas?" Madison leapt to the foot of Jackie's small bed and pried the covers back down. Jenna noticed she was wearing a navy blue t-shirt and jean Capri's, not something to wear as pajamas.
Jackie thought on her feet. "I don't want to change with you two staring at me!" She pushed her little sister away and stretched the blankets all the way up to her chin. Jenna tried to get Madison to back off.
Madison's eyes turned to slits. "I'm gonna tell."
Jenna stood by awkwardly.
Jackie was appalled. "About what?"
"Dad said he doesn't want you outside the house, you're grounded, remember?" Madison spat out.
Jenna knew that Madison hated being a tattletale; she could see it in her friend's eyes now.
"Oh please. Just leave me alone." Jackie turned her face the other way.
Madison would not obey. "Fine, I'm telling." But as soon as she spun around the gold doorknob turned and the wooden door opened. A crack of light from the hallway spilled into the room, making the girls squint. It was Mr. Raymond.
He saw Jenna first thing. "Jen, you sure are causing a racket tonight. I can hear you girls all the way down the hall. Should I call your mother?" He still held the doorknob in his huge hand. Jenna stared blankly for a brief moment, then shook her head and barely made it to the window before he closed the door.
Jenna climbed through and Madison followed to close the window behind her. When the glass was just halfway down Madison whispered, "Bye, Jenna."
CHAPTER TWO
Luckily, when Jenna arrived at her home she found all of the lights off except the little one in the kitchen that was always on. This gave her a sign that both of her parents were upstairs, probably asleep.
As she walked past the back door she noticed that Tiffy was scratching lightly on the screen. She opened the door, grabbed the dog's collar and picked it up. The sound of the jingling dog tags might have woken someone up.
Since Jenna had taken a detour, she passed by the kitchen table. All of the four chairs were pushed in and there was a bowl of fruit in the middle. Jenna noticed that there was a yellow post it note on her place mat. It read:
Dearest Jenna,
You are grounded, tomorrow, on Sunday, July 14
because you snuck out to Madison's.
Hope you had fun. Love, Mother
Jenna let out a smile and tossed the post it note into the nearby garbage can. Tiffy rested her head on Jenna's shoulder as she walked out of the kitchen. Jenna quickly forgot about the note. Jenna's parents had gotten used to their daughter's midnight strolls a while ago. They cared about where she was, but they knew she was safe at the Raymond's.
She made it all the way up to her small, childish-looking room without being heard. Jenna set Tiffy down on the end of her big bed that took up most of her room. Then, she slowly opened her desk drawer and felt around in the dark for a small pad of paper. She found one shaped like a flower and pulled it out. Then she got her orange Crayola marker and wrote 'OK' on the yellow center of the flower.
The hall was still quiet as Jenna set the paper in front of her parents closed door.
She walked back to her bed to find that Tiffy had already made a comfortable place at the foot of the huge bed. Jenna slid into her bed gingerly. The springs underneath her mattress always made a racket as she tossed and turned throughout the night.
Early the next day Jenna woke up to the sweet song of the little birds that liked to fly back and forth between the two evergreens in her backyard. Tiffy was already outside in the backyard, lazily yawning in the shade. Like a lion waiting for it's lunch to come by, even though Tiffy was a little smaller than a lion. Jenna got out of bed and washed her face in the bathroom with the blue walls.
On her way back to her room she discovered that her flower shaped note was gone.
She walked down the stairs and turned left to enter the kitchen. Jenna loved her kitchen. Everything in it was wooden, besides the appliances.
Sitting at the kitchen table were her mom and dad. Her mom was already dressed and her short blonde hair was in a low ponytail. Jenna's dad was wearing jean shorts and a blue t-shirt.
"G' morning." Jenna went to the pantry and pulled out three cereal boxes and a packet of hot chocolate mix. She set the boxes down and got a mug and a bowl from the cabinets next to the microwave. Then she poured leftover hot water from her parents' coffee into her mug and sprinkled in the hot chocolate mix.
Jenna's dad got up from his seat and picked up his own mug. "Good morning, Jen." He put his mug in the dishwasher. "Madison called for you but I told her you couldn't do anything today."
"Can't I talk to her on the phone for just a minute?" Jenna pleaded.
He gave her a look and closed the dishwasher. "Fine. But just for a minute. Any longer and you can't go over there tomorrow either."
Jenna smiled at her dad and dashed out of the kitchen, down the hall, and to the computer room phone. She dialed Madison's phone number and waited a moment.
Madison picked the phone up as fast as she could. "Hello?"
Jenna felt relieved she had managed to get a hold of her friend. "Hi, it's me. Heard you called?"
"Yeah, I was wondering if you could come over but you can't." Madison seemed stressed out still.
"No, I can't. What did you tell your parents?"
"About what?"
Jenna rolled her eyes. "About your sister's disappearing act, what else?"
"Oh! Sorry. I didn't tell them yet. Jackie asked me not to."
"You should. It's not that big of a deal. I leave my house all the time." Jenna almost wanted to tell the Raymond's for Madison.
"Yeah, maybe I should. I might wait a while though. My parents just left to go to the store."
Jenna's dad walked in and raised his eyebrows. Jenna cut the conversation short. "Oh. Well I have to go now or else I'm grounded tomorrow too."
"Ah, I see. Jackie has soccer practice in an hour too so I can't really tell my parents when she's not here- "
Jenna sighed. "Bye Madison."
"Bye."
Jenna hung up the phone quickly and turned to her dad. "Was I over a minute?"
He smiled. "Two seconds but I'll let you slide."
Jenna got up from the chair next to the phone and smiled. She skipped down the hallway and into the kitchen where her mother was just finishing her coffee.
The rest of the morning was moderately boring through Jenna's eyes. It consisted of a shower, an outfit decision, and reading.
Jenna was currently finishing up the Alex Rider Adventure series. She found that Anthony Horowitz was an inspirational writer. She was on page one hundred and twenty when her mom walked in.
"Hey kid, I'm going to Sam's Club to pick up those pictures we left there yesterday. Coming with?"
She thought about it for a bit. A grin appeared on Jenna's face and she tried to hide it. "No, thanks. I want to finish this book. It's captivating."
Her mom fished around in her purse and pulled out jingling keys. "Okay. There are noodles in the pantry. Have those for lunch. Let Tiffy in soon, I don't want her tearing up the garden."
A thought appeared in Jenna's head. "Hey, doesn't Dad have that Sox game to go to with his friends?" Jenna gripped the edge of her book.
"Oh yeah," Her mom paused for a moment, "you'll be fine. Just don't leave the house."
"Alright." Today things were working out well for Jenna. (Even though she was grounded.)
Freedom. Jenna loved when she had the house to
herself. When she was left alone she usually sang to herself gleefully and worked on the story she was writing. She enjoyed making it even though nobody had even read it.
Freedom.
Jenna spotted her dad walking around the house. He looked peeved.
She went up to him and followed in his footsteps. After a few minutes had passed and he hadn't said anything, she decided to leave.
"I can't find my list." He stood up straight and scratched his head. "Have you seen it?"
"What color is it?"
"What? White of course!" His brown eyes searched the room. "I thought I left it on the coffee table."
"Can I ask what was on this special list?" Jenna said as she flipped book pages and shook them.
Her dad sighed and started to explain. "I haven't seen my old friends for awhile. I don't really remember all of their names. They probably look different."
"No way!" Jenna was dumbfounded. "How can you not remember their names?"
"I remember some," Her dad defended himself.
"I don't think I could ever forget my friends' names."
"Think about it, when you're my age, the friends you have now will be your old friends. A lot of time passes."
"Still!" She knew he was right.
"It seems weird to you now. But it happens to everyone." He said matter-of-factly.
"Mom too?"
"I don't know." He was loosing interest in the conversation.
"Well…" Jenna's mom walked into the room. "Just two, Peter and Charlotte. They were my best friends." She had her cooking apron on. There were bits of seasonings on it that were probably part of some disgusting lunch she was making for adults only.
Jenna raised her eyebrows. "Well, Madison is my one best friend so I'll most likely remember her."
Her parents gave each other knowing looks and left the room.
CHAPTER THREE
Before she knew it, Jenna was eating a bowl of Ramen noodles for lunch and both of her parents were gone. One of them would be back in an hour and the other would be back at eleven. This gave Jenna plenty of time to do what she wished.
It started to rain. Jenna could tell early that morning that there was going to be a storm. It was just a matter of waiting for that first drop.
It was a pleasure to hear the little raindrops drumming against the sliding glass door. She was staring at the raindrops sliding down the glass when she noticed Madison running through the rain in her pink tank top. The newly formed puddles splashed around her ankles. Jenna opened the door when Madison got close enough.
Madison looked around Jenna's house, confused. "Are they here?" She whispered.
Jenna laughed. "No, I'm all alone. Did you tell your parents?"
"No, they're still not back. Jackie is home though. She seemed excited to see me leave. I hope she doesn't tell that I'm here."
"Me too. If she told your parents, they would tell mine and I would be grounded tomorrow." Jenna opened a cabinet above the sink and handed Madison a bag of Doritos. They went and sat in Jenna's room.
"I really don't want Jackie in trouble." Madison still looked scared.
"I don't think she would get in big trouble, Madison." Jenna stared out the window.
"No, not for leaving once. But it's happened before. That's why I freaked out so bad last night." Madison rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand and shook it to get little drip of water off.
Jenna suddenly felt pity for her friend. "How many times?"
"Three."
There was no time to react to that statement. "Oh shoot!" Jenna remembered Tiffy. Her mind raced, she hadn't seen the dog since that morning.
"What?"
"I haven't seen Tiffy for a while."
She dashed down the stairs and out the back door. Something in the back of her mind made her think the worst. After just a few minutes out in the rain Jenna's bright red running t-shirt was already soaked. Madison kept up with her as best as she could.
Out of the corner of her eye, Jenna saw Madison start to slow down. She turned around; her dripping hair flew in a circle. "Do you see Tiffy?" Her eyes looked pleadingly across the lawn.
"No," Madison shook her head, "I see a guy over there on the sidewalk."
Jenna peered over the top of the blooming bushes that hugged the corner. On the sidewalk was a thin young man fully clad in ivory colored clothes. He walked slowly and stayed in the shadows. (Not that it did much help anyway because the sun was staring to reappear.) The fact that he was trying to hide made a shiver run up and down Jenna's spine. But the only other thing that struck her as odd about this person was that he had an emerald green feather clutched in his hand. Jenna turned away from the bushes. "Madison, right now I do not want to find people, I have to find Tiffy!"
She walked forward some more until she reached the long gravel driveway. Madison followed farther away, taken back by her friend's harsh comment.
Jenna's heart leapt. "I found her!" Jenna spotted Tiffy pressing up against the Barrie's full-size wooden mailbox, trying to use it as protection. Her fur was dripping and she smelled like wet dog. Tiffy's little eyes welcomed the embrace of Jenna's arms.
Madison ran up to Jenna and grinned. "I thought she ran away."
"Me too." Jenna led the way to the back door.
They got out a towel and a small hair dryer and walked upstairs to the bathroom. Madison plugged in the hair dryer and Jenna went to the drawer next to the sink and got Tiffy's comb. The three sat on the bathroom floor and blow-dried, rubbed, and combed Tiffy. The hair dryer was kept on Tiffy's hair until every last drop of water was gone.
"Well, I probably should get home before your mom gets here," Madison said after everything was put away.
"Yeah," Jenna looked out the bathroom window, "it stopped raining."
Madison got up from the linoleum floor and brushed all the dog hair off of her shirt. "I'll let you know if anything happens."
"You better." Jenna stood next to her and did the same. Jenna walked to the back door with Madison and waved good-bye.
When Madison walked through the Barrie's backyard. Jenna noticed that the boy with the green feather was gone. A wave of relief came upon her.
CHAPTER FOUR
Just as Jenna plopped down on the lumpy old couch in the family room, she heard a car door slam and a few seconds later the front door jiggled and her mother walked in.
"Hey, Jen. I have those pictures!" Jenna's mother marched in waving an envelope in the air.
Jenna climbed off the couch with glee and ran to her mom. "Yes! Lemme see 'em!"
Jenna's mom held the envelope higher in the air; a little teasingly. "Hold on!"
Jenna crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Fine."
Mrs. Barrie ran her fingers through her blonde hair and fished through her cotton purse. "You know, I think you're spending too much time over at the Raymond's. You're starting to act like Jackie."
Jenna swiped the envelope from her mom and opened it while continuing to talk. "You mean Jackie acts rudely, how so?"
Mrs. Barrie walked through the front hallway and Jenna followed. "Jenna, sometimes that girl can be a pain."
Jenna did a sharp turn from where she had sat down at the kitchen table. "How could you say that? I've been best friends with Madison and Jackie since forever!"
"Two weeks ago, at Madison's birthday party. Jackie spent the entire time locked down in the basement. I think it really hurt Madison's feelings. Just look at these pictures."
Jenna settled down, her mother had a point. "Well, yeah, but Madison cries easily."
Mrs. Barrie sat down across from Jenna. "I don't think you've ever caused her to cry, have you?"
"No."
"Then she doesn't cry easily at all," Jenna's mom gave a short high-pitched laugh, "because you can make anyone cry!" This was followed by many more high-pitched noises.
Jenna was offended. "Thanks mom." She stormed out of the room.
Jenna plopped down into her reading chair and grabbed another Alex Rider book. She flipped through a couple of pages quickly but could not keep her mind on the words in her book; she was too occupied by the ones in her head. Jackie was not a pain.
She thought back to Madison's birthday party. Jackie wouldn't come out of the basement throughout that day. Madison had come to Jenna for comfort.
"Hey, Jenna."
"Hi. Did Jackie come up yet?"
Madison shook her head in sorrow. "I wonder if she's mad at me."
"What did you do? Is it a crime to celebrate a birthday?"
"No, but yesterday I told her that she better not bother my friends."
"Oh, that might be it."
Madison shook her head again. "It can't be that, I was just teasing her. All my friends like her."
Jenna remembered a comment Jackie had made. "Last year at your birthday party she told me she hated birthdays. That could be it."
"Yeah, she told me that a while ago. But who could really hate birthdays?"
It still seemed impossible to hate such a happy time. Jenna was just getting back to the thoughts of her book when the phone rang downstairs. Nobody answered it after three rings. Jenna was about to get up when her mom walked in.
"Phone." She set it on the armrest and walked out.
"Hello?" Jenna got up and shut the door her mom had left open.
"Hi, Jenna? Jackie's gone again."
"You're kidding."
Madison sighed. "Nope. I walked in through the back door and made some lunch. I thought she was up in our room, but I just went up there."
"Lord, she didn't leave a note?"
"Hold on. I'll go check," Jenna waited until Madison came back to the phone. "No message."
"She was there before you left for my house, right?"
"Yes. I-"
"Jackie!" Jenna flattened herself against the wall.
"What? This is Madison."
"No, no! I see Jackie. She's walking through my backyard!"
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah… she just started running." Jenna turned around to make sure that her door was still shut.
"Is she coming back to my house?" Madison went to the front window of her house.
"Most likely. What are you going to say to her?" Jenna sat on her bed.
"I don't know, I have to think about it." Madison sighed again.
"What? Call your mom!" Jenna found this ridiculous.
"Bye Jenna." Madison hung up.
CHAPTER FIVE
It was a little past noon, the hungry students gathered like a swarm of sea gulls around freshly spilled french fries into the noisy cafeteria. Madison ran to get a good seat that didn't have slimy remnants of leftovers from the lunch period before them while Jenna got her piece of pizza and tater tots.
"Ugh, it looks disgusting." Madison looked at the table. A few of the kids that they sat with looked up at her and grinned. She grinned back and sat down as she wiped some of the crumbs off her place.
She reached back into her bag and pulled out her brown sack. "Hey Carrie, are you ready for that history test?"
Carrie Hamston looked up from her notes and nodded. "Oh yeah! I'm acing this one for sure. I know all there is to know about the French Revolution. Try me."
"Alright, what sort of rights did women want?" Jenna poked a hole in her Tropicana juice box.
"Tough one. There are a few. But just one? I'd have to say divorce rights."
"Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!" Madison sat next to Jenna with her red tray.
"Gimmie some tots!" Jenna held out her hand. Madison laughed and plopped one in her palm. "Thanks."
Carrie twirled her number two pencil. "Speaking of divorce. Donna Reed's parents just spilt up last month. She's in my art class; all of her paintings are gloomy. I would see why. I think her mom moved to New York."
Piteous looks found their way to poor Donna. She was sitting one table to the right hunched over a book. It looked good. Jenna saw a green feathery bookmark coming out of one end. She was far.
Lunch was almost over. They threw their garbage out and waited for the bell to ring.
Jenna walked into Spanish still thinking about Donna. She saw Jackie sitting in her assigned seat and parked herself next to her for a little bit before the bell rang.
"Hey. What's up?" She tried to see what Jackie was writing.
Jackie looked up and snapped her notebook shut. "Nothing interesting."
"How are you? I haven't talked to you in awhile." Jenna was prying.
"Fine." Jackie cracked. "Listen, I really don't want my parents to know about my outings."
"If that's what you call them." Jenna said sarcastically.
"I don't want you or Maddy to be worried. I'm fine."
"I think that as long as you don't tell Maddy where you're going. She'll be worried. She cares about you." Jenna was a little worried herself.
Jackie leaned in. "I'm not doing drugs or drinking or getting into that sort of trouble. If that's what you're thinking, trust me. I wouldn't." She said in a lower voice. "Can you let Maddy know? She's not talking to me much lately."
"You should tell her. It would be better. I think she might tell your parents, though." Jenna warned her.
The tardy bell rang and Jenna scurried to her seat. Jackie stirred in her seat the whole hour.
Jenna jiggled the key and walked in the back door. Tiffy was there, waiting for her. The dog followed Jenna around as she took off her shoes and backpack and retrieved a new bag of Doritos from the counter. She sat down at her spot at the kitchen table and looked through the comics. She had already looked through them that morning but she liked to read them twice to really get the jokes.
She saw the new pictures underneath the comics and flipped through them. They were from Madison's birthday party that summer. There were a lot of Jenna in there. She chuckled at the one of Maddy smiling next to the pin the tail on the donkey poster. Her tail wasn't even close to the poster.
Jenna came across a picture of Madison, herself, Jackie, Carrie, and and few other girls in sleeping bags on the floor in the girls' bedroom. Jenna looked closer. Behind Jackie, sitting on her nightstand, was a bright green feather.
Previous moments raced into her mind. The lurking boy, Donna Reed's bookmark. Green feathers. Something was up and it had something to do with the feathers.
She grabbed some shoes and slipped them on. The door slammed behind her as she speed walked down the street with the envelope clutched in her hand.
The sun caught sparkles in the puddles and Jenna splashed through them. She ran across the Raymonds' back yard and peered in the window. Madison was in there, obviously vacuuming. She didn't see Jenna waving her arms around or knocking on the window. She was happily humming with the vacuum.
Jenna decided to go around the house through the front door. It was freezing in there. Jackie was resting on the edge of a couch in the white living room with a pen in her hand. Her fingers were combing through her thick hair. Jenna slid the envelope behind her back.
Jackie heard her. "Jenna? How do you say afternoon in Spanish?"
"I think its tarde. Are your parents home?" Jenna wanted to make sure they had some privacy as she slipped her shoes off.
"No. They went to go get a new thermostat. Ours is wacked. Maddy's in our room." Jackie tore off a piece of paper as Jenna found her way to the bedroom. She walked in and flickered the lights to get Madison's attention.
Madison looked up and turned off the vacuum. "Hi."
Jenna made sure the door was closed behind her and pulled out the pictures. "Look, my mom brought these home a few days ago."
Madison smiled. "These are from my birthday party! They are so cute."
Jenna waited until Madison pulled out the one of them on the bedroom floor. "Notice anything?"
"Yeah, I look like a raccoon in the middle of the night. It's scary."
Jenna shook her head. "Look closer. On the nightstand." She pointed. Madison's eyes followed.
"Feather! Hey, it's like Donna Reed's." Madison stared at it.
"…Or that lurking boy's." Jenna's voice scared Madison.
"Why do they have feathers? Is that some sort of clue to lead us to where Jackie is going?" They set the pictures on the floor behind them and studied the other ones for more shots of the feather.
There was a bang at the door that made them jump and push the pictures under Madison's bed by the old Barbie box. It was Jackie.
"Are my shoes in there?" She waited outside the door. The smell of cleaning supplies made her gag.
Madison looked around frantically for shoes. "Nope. Try the front closet."
Jenna continued to examine the pictures.
"Thanks." Jackie walked away from the door.
Madison let out a sigh of relief and spread the pictures back out. "I don't see anymore with a feather."
"Yeah, me neither. I should go home to do some homework." Jenna picked the pictures up and stuffed them in the envelope.
"Wait, can I keep the one with the feather?" Madison looked at the envelope.
"Sure. Here's the one of me and you, too." Jenna held them out.
Madison took them and stuck one on her picture board. The other she hid back under her bed. "Bye." She sat against her wall and stuck her legs out.
Jenna made her way back to the front door and held on to the doorknob for support while she put her shoes back on. She looked around the corner into the living room to say goodbye to Jackie. But she wasn't there.
Jenna called out. "Bye, Jackie." She waited for a response.
And waited some more.
"Maddy. Where did Jackie go?" She made her way back to Madison's room.
Madison zoomed past her and ran into the kitchen. Her fuzzy socks slid on the linoleum floor. Her eyes searched the front of the silver refrigerator. There was a note.
"She is at Megan's house. She says she'll be back by six." Madison leaned on the counter.
Jenna gingerly took the ripped piece of notebook paper out of her friend's hand. "Do you think she's really at a friend's house?"
Madison looked at the note. "No. Megan lives in Blue Haven. Too far to walk."
"We can catch up to her. Where do you think she's going?" Jenna knew they could find her.
"Lets hurry." Madison waved Jenna to follow her.
They reached the intersection of West Sherwood and Piper Lane. They stood for a moment at the corner until Madison started jogging left. Jenna stayed close behind. They followed the twisted path of Piper until they saw her. Walking with her hands in her trench coat pockets. Not on the sidewalk but on the street. The two ducked behind a green van.
"She's heading towards the woods." Madison said in a soft voice. A gust of wind blew her thick curly hair back.
"We have to stop here and tell your parents, Maddy." Jenna held back as Madison tried to stand back up.
"Come on, we can find where she's been going!" Madison looked at Jenna with her hands out in front of her.
"We could just wait until she comes back out! Not put ourselves in danger."
"Jenna! Jackie is in danger. She's not your sister, so you don't need to care about her!"
"You don't have to be such a brat. I know she's not my sister but I do care about her, a lot! And you should too. We should not take this into our own hands. It's not our job!"
"What if she's been doing drugs or something like that? Shouldn't we go get her before it's too late?" Madison's forehead wrinkled as she raised her eyebrows.
"She's not doing drugs, Maddy." Jenna looked to the ground.
"How would you know?" Madison put her hands on her hips and looked just like Jackie did on that first night Jenna knew about all this.
"She told me not to worry, she isn't. Didn't she tell you?"
"No. You're lying. I'm going after her." Madison stood up straight and turned away. She looked back and saw Jenna sitting on the edge of the curb to wait.
She entered the dark concrete path with the bright yellow line running down the center. Madison looked down at the line with disgust as she walked along side it. It was one bright streak in that dense pool of emptiness. Madison was one with kind care amongst people who only thought about themselves.
"Why don't you just run past all this beautiful dread filled wilderness? Go away and join the rest of your discontented peers." Madison spoke to the stripe out of loneliness.
A discontented peer. Madison cooled down much quicker after a fight than Jenna did. But after awhile the two would get back together. It was a bond. An inseparable bond that put them in each other's pocket. Always thinking about the other.
The cool spring breeze rushed past Madison as she checked, once again, to see if Jenna was coming to catch up. But by doing that Madison was just getting angrier and angrier with Jenna so she faced forward and continued strongly on. She was going to find her sister without any help. Do something for herself.
Madison threw her head back in aggravation and closed her eyes. Somewhere in the distance a loud thump caused Madison's neck to bounce up tall. Her eyes darted. Her hands perspired and soon became clammy. She paused for a moment, trying to get her body to agree with her mind.
A chill of danger ran its fingers through her veins. Danger. Something to accept, something to run away from. A reason to hate life, a reason to love it. Madison ran and thought.
Maybe Jackie wanted to just do something by herself. The solitary freedom that came with being in the woods was evident. It was a natural feeling that makes everything seem adventurous and hidden. But why didn't Jackie let her know she wasn't getting into trouble like she told Jenna? She could trust Madison with the truth. She just wanted to get closer with her sister, tag along.
Madison jumped over a fallen branch. Even if she found Jackie, what next? She couldn't make Jackie confess. Jenna wanted her to tell someone. She scrunched her face as she began to slow down. She wouldn't have had a fight with Jenna if she had realized she was thinking too hard and pushed Jackie to tell.
And how would Madison tell her parents? It was a gamble. Jackie couldn't. She wouldn't want to. Sure she would answer all the questions, but Madison had to give the game away. Loosing points with her sister's trust but getting a few spaces ahead with her parents; not that anyone was keeping score.
It all depended on where Jackie was going. Definitely somewhere in the woods. Somewhere her parents wouldn't want her to go. Something she wouldn't want to talk about.
Madison walked slowly and calmly down the curb, expecting Jenna to still be on the curb behind the mailbox.
Still, she wasn't.