CHAPTER 37
Tuesday
In a well-appointed property on a quiet road by the south fork of the Stillaguamish River in Arlington, about an hour north of Seattle, Petra Huntley opened the door of her parent's spare bedroom. She stared at the tiny, wild-haired girl sitting in a pile of blankets, exactly where she'd left her last night after the battle of Fifty Seven Delaying Tactics Before Bedtime, which Miss Darcey Rose Grey had most definitely won. The wide, red eyes said the little girl had either been crying or awake all night. She gave a sob.
"I want my Mommy."
"Jesus, change the record, kid," Petra sighed. "It ain't going to happen. Not until he says so, anyway. Look, I brought you some breakfast." Petra placed the tray down on the floor by the bed. On it were a bowl of cereal, a jug of milk and a glass of juice. The girl merely stared at it.
"Well, go on, eat," she encouraged. "You didn't eat what I gave you last night."
Darcey Grey shook her head.
"So, you don't sleep and you don't eat? Are you a vampire?" Darcey blinked. "It's Lucky Charms. What kid doesn't like Lucky Charms?"
"My tummy hurts."
"Of course it does, you're hungry, stupid. Eat something and it won't hurt." Petra picked out one of the coloured marshmallows. "Mmm… lovely. My favourite. I bought them 'specially for you."
Darcey wrinkled her nose.
"Well, it's all you're getting. So eat 'em or starve. Your choice."
The little girl didn't move, so Petra turned to go, seeing a gray streak dash through the small space where the door was ajar. It darted under the dresser.
"Shadow, come here!"
"Kitty!" Darcey clambered off the bed.
"Oh no you don't!"
Petra lunged back to the door, pushing it shut and locking it. But Darcey wasn't interested in the door. She went straight to the dresser and squeezed herself under it.
"Jesus," Petra sighed. She walked to the TV and switched it on. It was on a news channel and the little girl's face was on TV. As expected, the kidnap of Ana and Christian Grey's daughter was headline news. Petra watched the loop of video. It was from her brother's birthday party a few days ago at the Seattle Sounders ground. Then, there was a live feed of Christian Grey arriving at Seattle's Police Headquarters to help with the search. He was clutching a pink rag doll.
"They're talking about you. Your Daddy and probably the whole of the Seattle Police Department are looking for you. But they won't find you out here."
There was no response from under the dresser.
"A word of advice, kid. If you pet him, he'll scratch you. He's a rescue cat and I think his last owner was Satan. I should have called him that."
Again, there was nothing. Petra crouched down, placing her cheek to the floor and looking under the piece of furniture. Darcey Grey was scratching Shadow's head and the malevolent cat was enjoying it.
"Traitor," Petra muttered and stood up, flicking the TV over to a channel that was a little more suitable for kids, settling on one that was showing familiar characters. "Hey, Rugrats is on." She stood mesmerized for a moment, slipping back into the brightly coloured cartoon world. She shook her head as if to dislodge a thought and looked back at the dresser. Neither cat nor girl emerged.
"OK. You have food, the TV's on, there's a bed for you to sleep in, I've put out some paper and crayons, the window vents are open to let some air in and the bathroom is through that door. Plus, you now have a cat for company. I have met all your needs. Oh and don't think about screaming because no one's going to hear you. This house is on the edge of actual nowhere." Outside the room her phone rang. "Better get that. I'll be back for the cat later." Petra exited the room, locking it again after herself.
Under the dresser the gray cat was purring loudly as Darcey scratched the soft bit of fur behind its ear.
"My name's Darcey. I'm nearly four."
Shadow looked at her. He appeared to be smiling, but he said nothing. Not even a meow.
"I want my Mommy."
Shadow rolled onto his side, exposing his fluffy tummy. Darcey ran her fingers through his fur and Shadow seemed to like it. She moved her fingers up to his chin, jingling the little bell around his red collar. Abruptly, Shadow got to his feet and left the safety of the dresser. Darcey followed, wriggling out on her tummy and following the cat down the room as he investigated the food.
"It's Lucky Charms."
Shadow sniffed the bowl of cereal but didn't take any, he was more interested in the milk. Darcey laughed when the cat pushed his head into the milk jug.
"Don't do that, silly!"
But Shadow wasn't for stopping and managed to get his head in to lap the milk. Darcey picked a pink marshmallow heart from the bowl of cereal and popped it into her mouth. She took another and then was attracted by the babyish children's voices coming from the TV. She turned to look at it. They were spying on an older girl eating cookies. The older girl was called Angelica. She was bossy, like Darcey's sister Phoebe. She missed Phoebe. Angelica had a doll with her that looked like Amelia. Darcey missed her doll, Amelia. Was that right? Daddy was looking for her? He'd find her. Daddy had a helicopter and was good at finding lost things. Especially shoes. Thinking about Daddy made her lip quiver and her eyes tear up. She wanted him to come and rescue her and she wanted him to bring Amelia.
Darcey retreated back onto the bed, sitting in the exact middle of the pile of blankets, as if she'd constructed a nest. Shadow pulled his head out of the jug, licking his face as milk dripped from his chin. Spying the bed he jumped up and using Darcey to lean up against he settled down. Giving a loud sniff and wiping the back of her nose along her sleeve, Darcey wriggled under what she could get of the blanket, snuggling up to the cat and resting her head on a ball of blanket. Across the room another episode of the cartoon about babies started. This time Angelica was eating ice cream. Darcey wanted ice cream. She looked again at the bowl of cereal with its brightly coloured pieces and wrinkled her nose. No, she wouldn't eat it and the cat could drink the milk.
She slept a little, but spent most of the time watching TV and trying to make Shadow be Amelia. The cat had enough of that and slunk off under the dresser again. During the day the bowl of cereal disappeared and was replaced by a sandwich. She didn't eat that, because it had crusts on and she only ate cheese. This was ham. The woman encouraged her to draw some pictures, but Darcey didn't want to draw. It wasn't any fun if there was no one to draw pictures for. Mommy always loved getting Darcey's pictures. She took them to the office with her. Daddy stuck the ones she did for him in his office at home. The babies weren't on TV now, it was a cartoon about a dog who rescued people. The door was unlocked and the woman came in again. Shadow ran out.
"For the love of God, girl, you need to eat something!"
"I don't want it," said Darcey.
"Then what do you want to eat?"
"Ice cream."
"I don't have any. I'll have to run to the store." The woman wagged her finger at Darcey. "But nobody's supposed to be here, my parents are on vacation. And if anybody I know sees me in Arlington then there's bound to be questions. Oh my god, the questions." The woman rolled her eyes. "Where have you been? What are you doing now? Why are you so thin? What happened to that nice young man you were engaged to?" The woman stared at her. "Nice young man, my ass. Men are worthless pieces of shit, you learn that good and early, girl. Use 'em for what you want and move on."
"My Daddy isn't a piece of shit."
"Oh no? Do you know what your Daddy gets up to, or should I say used to get up to? Parading himself about these days like the Father of the Year while all the time hiding his sordid secrets from the public. Does your Mommy know what he got up to?" Darcey didn't understand. "No, of course he wouldn't tell you. He probably is Father of the Year to you and probably Husband of the Year to your Mom. It's just other women he treats like shit. I know. I was one of them, a very long time ago, now. I doubt he'd remember." The woman seemed to get smaller. "I'll ask Scott to pick some up and drop it by. Not that he'll want to do that. His great and glorious kidnap plan failed to account for a fussy eater. Why don't you grow out of your Terrible Twos?"
"I'm nearly four!"
"Wow. Then grow up already. I have enough on my conscience without adding your death by starvation to that. How does Christian Grey take this not eating shit?" she laughed. "Is getting a spanking a nightly thing for you?"
"What's spanking?"
The woman's eyes widened. "What's spanking? You don't know?"
Darcey shook her head.
"Does your Daddy ever hit you on the bottom with his hand?"
She shook her head.
"Never?"
She shook her head again.
"What about your sister?"
"Phoebe isn't naughty."
The woman smiled. "What about your Mommy? Does he spank your Mommy? I bet he does. I bet your Mommy can be a very naughty girl when Daddy wants her to be."
"Mommy's not naughty. Daddy loves her very much."
"That's what they all say, kid. Don't believe it, it's bullshit. Even my Dad's been caught dipping his wick elsewhere."
Darcey hadn't a clue what the woman was on about.
"What's dipping his wick?"
The woman shook her head. "That's a conversation for when you're older." She retreated to the door. "Eat your sandwich. I'll try and get Scott to pick you up some ice cream."
As she opened the door, Shadow ran back in and jumped onto the bed. He settled down next to Darcey.
Darcey made herself comfortable. "Hey Shadow," she said as she stroked his smooth gray fur. He responded with a purr. "Shall we watch TV together? Amelia watches TV with me." Darcey returned her attention to the cartoon about a dog called Lassie and wondered if the nice dog might be able to rescue her, too?
You can follow the board related to this on Pinterest at pinterest*dot*com/TheRachelJLewis/gray-hearts-for-mr-grey/
I've recently uploaded images for Amelia, Darcey's rag doll and Shadow the cat.
R x