Rosalind looked up from her recipe book, eyes tired. None of the recipes had seemed just right for Tommy, and daylight was fading fast. I should check on Batty, she thought. It's been too quiet around here. Closing the book, she searched the house from floor to rafter; eventually going up to the roof on the off chance Batty had gone up there. Rosalind didn't see her, but did see Skye, who was sitting cross legged with a thick math book on her lap. Brow furrowed, she didn't seem to notice Rosalind sitting down next to her.
"X equals 2.5 so Y must be…" she trailed off, mumbling.
"Skye? Have you seen Batty?" Rosalind looked directly at her sister, instead of the ground. Though she loved climbing the pear tree in the front yard, the roof had always given her a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. The sooner she got off, the better.
"No, not since she went off with that stupid red wagon of hers. I could hear it all the way up here." Shaking her head, Skye turned her attention back to the complicated algebra problem she had started.
"Which way did she go? It's getting dark and if she was playing outside she would have come in by now," Rosy said, getting increasingly worried with every second.
"I don't know; go ask Jane. She might have gone to Quigley Woods pretending to be a silly secret agent or something." After Skye turned her attention back to the textbook, Rosalind left, taking a jacket off the hook in the kitchen before she left for Quigley Woods. Summer was quickly turning to autumn and the nights were getting colder and colder.
Firstly though, she went to see Tommy and Nick, on the off chance that they might have seen Batty. Rosalind opened the door, footsteps echoing. The door was always open for her, after Mrs. Geiger had gotten tired of the doorbell and considered it a pointless formality when Rosalind and Tommy were so close.
"Hello?" Rosalind strode into the kitchen and was greeted by the sight of the entire Cameron High School Football team. They were joking around, crumbs from their sandwiches spilling all over the floor. Mrs. Geiger isn't going to be happy about that, she thought. Rosalind shook her head; she wasn't here about a football team's manners and eating habits; she was here about Batty.
"Rosy!" Tommy exclaimed, hugging her. "Want a sandwich? They're peanut butter and jelly." His eyes twinkled in time with his smile, sending a warm feeling through Rosalind which lasted seconds before she thought of Batty.
"I'm actually looking for Batty. I haven't seen her all day and neither has Skye. I was going to ask if you've seen her." Rosalind's worried expression caused Tommy's grin to drop off.
"I haven't seen her, but I'll help you look for her. Batty can't have gone far and Hound will keep her safe." Rosalind gave him a weak but appreciative smile and they set off for Quigley Woods to see Jane.
Batty cried until she couldn't cry much more. Hound licked the last tears from her cheeks and, with renewed energy, the two walked in a random direction, up a hill and around the corner. They came face to face with the edge of Quigley Woods.
"I know where we are, Hound! Let's go find Jane's rock." Hound's tail wagged and Batty bounded into the forest, careful not to trip but extremely happy to be in someplace familiar. A small bubbling creek was in front of Batty and in her joy, she tried to jump it like she had seen Skye do on the way to a MOPS once, but fell in. She waded out and sat on a hollowed out log.
The wind picked up and she shivered, leaning against Hound for warmth.
Jane looked up from her blue notebook, mind still swathed in epic romance and saw two figures, holding hands and laughing. The chill wind knocked her out of her reverie and Jane was suddenly faced by two people, both worried.
"They stared up at her with mixed emotions, though one was ultimately clear: pure and undisguised worry. So what are you two doing? I was going to head back to the house soon." Jane closed her notebook, her author sense picking up on the tenseness in Rosalind's eyes. She looked like she was getting closer and closer to tears.
"We're looking for Batty. Rosalind hasn't seen her all day but Skye knows she had her red wagon with her, as well as Hound," Tommy answered. His curls were lying a little flatter than usual. Jane squinted, trying to remember if she had seen Batty. She shook her head.
"I haven't seen her since breakfast, when she tipped over her oatmeal onto Hound and both had to get a bath. How can I help?" Jane hopped down from her rock.
"We're going to search Quigley Woods. It's getting colder outside and Batty's probably really hungry," Rosalind said, much more calmly than she felt. Stay calm, Rosy, she told herself. You'll find her. But her mind kept running over all the things that could go wrong. What if someone kidnapped her? What if she's hurt? What if?
"I'll search toward the house; you and Rosy can look along the creek. From my Sabrina Starr novels, she's got to know that water is essential to finding your bearings," Jane said, readying her determination. Sabrina Starr was back to find the missing sister.
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