Unhappy birthday part 11
The cliffhangers are sitting in a classroom. They had decided to sort of hold their own group. Peter had been encouraging them to talk to each other, to let there feelings about what was going on out. They'd been sitting in the classroom by themselves for almost an hour, when Julliette finally broke the silence.
"I can't believe she's gone." Julliette said. She was curled up in a chair. Her knees tucked under her chin. Auggie was sitting next to her with his arm around her. "It's been four days. I thought she'd be found by now."
The other cliffhangers all looked at her. "Shelby always used to run away." Jess said quietly. "She used to stay gone for weeks at a time, without being found. But we always found her. We always found her." She said her voice breaking. Scott looked at Jess. The young girl was staring off into space and it seemed as if she was almost talking to herself. She'd been wondering around campus for the past several days in a state of confusion, one moment she would be crying, sobbing her heart out and the next she would be numb, unwilling to talk to anyone. Scott knew that feeling he was doing the same thing. Daisy was too, only he and Daisy were also throwing anger into he mix. With in the last few days, they'd had more outbursts of anger then either had had all summer.
Scott looked around the room. All the cliffhangers looked as though they had been to war. None of them had slept more then a few hours a night over the last few days. They all weren't eating like they should be. The last few days had been rough on all of them emotionally and physically. I wonder what it's been like on Shelby? He thought to himself.
Shelby sat up, rubbing her eyes. The afternoon sun was beaming down on her. She put her hand to her head, it hurt so much. She looked around trying to remember where she was. She spent most of the past few days walking. At night she would crash in a park or an ally way, or where ever her exhausted body made her stop.
She was physically and emotionally exhausted. She had reached a point where she was numb though. Sometimes when she walked she would put her hands to her face and realize she was crying, but she couldn't feel the tears. She almost couldn't remember why she was crying. She had managed to block from her mind any happy times she'd ever had and all that was left now was hurt and pain and numbness.
The day before it had rained, Shelby cloths still weren't completely dry. She didn't mind though. They had been muddy from her walking through the woods and digging in trash. The rain had actually been welcome, she managed to get most of the mud out of her cloths and hair.
Shelby stood up slowly, groaning. She stretched up, trying to get her muscles working. She'd decided that today she was going to have to find money. She hadn't decided yet where she was going, but she figured money would help her get to where ever it was she wanted to go.
Shelby stood and looked at where she had slept the night before. She'd been walking the night before through the woods when she decided she just couldn't go any farther. She'd stopped walking and sat down against a tree. She'd spent the night there.
Shelby's stomach growled, but she ignored it. She hardly eaten in the last few days.
She'd managed to find some food in the trash, but that was about it. I'll get used to it again, though, she thought. She had managed to do it before, she could do it again.
Shelby had made it several hours out of Agnes. Most of the time by walking through woods, sometimes on the streets, but mostly in the woods. That made it harder for her to find food. Trashcans didn't exist in the woods.
Shelby began walking through the woods. She was close to the road, she knew that because she could hear cars going by. Maybe I should try to catch another ride, she thought. No, she told herself. The more people I see the more chance there is that they can find me. I'll just have to keep walking, until I think of a way to get money to buy a bus ticket.
Roger drove down the street. He'd been searching for Shelby for almost four days now and hadn't been able to come up with any leads so far. It wasn't like when he was following Auggie and Julliette, those two weren't used to trying to hide on the streets. Even with Auggie's background, his brother having been in a gang, he didn't know as much as Shelby did about living on the streets. According to Jess and her mom, Shelby had been running away for years. And if she didn't want to be found she wouldn't be.
Where should I check next? He asked himself. He'd been checking bars, restaurants, the woods; he just wasn't sure where to look for her. She could be anywhere. If she had caught a ride she might not even be in the same state. Roger had been checking every town off of the main rode, along with Curtis and the others. They'd all been searching. They'd been stopping and asking people on the streets, but had found out nothing so far.
Roger knew he wasn't that far out of Agnes. Probably about five hours or so, and still her hadn't seen her. She could have made it this far out. He thought to himself. If she caught a ride. She couldn't have if she was walking, it was too far away. Roger heard a ding and looked down. His Tracker was almost out of gas. He saw a sign up ahead.
He pulled in to where the pump was and stopped the car. He then took the keys out and got out of the car. He filled his tank and then walked into the gas station.
"Hello." Roger looked up. Standing behind the counter was an older gentleman.
"Good afternoon." Roger said smiling at the guy.
"Looks like you've had a rough night." The guy said looking at him.
"More like a rough few days." Roger pulled out his wallet. "Hey can I get a cup of coffee?" He asked. The coffee machine was behind the counter. This surprised Roger most were where customers could fill the cups themselves.
"It's more sanitary this way." The guy said as if reading Rogers mind, he turned and began to fill a cup. He continued to talk to Roger as he did it. "We're able to make sure someone doesn't put something in it." Roger nodded.
The guy turned around and handed the Styrofoam cup and a plastic lid to him. "Pump two right?" The guy asked. Roger nodded. 'That will be twelve dollars." The guy said.
"How much was the coffee?" Roger asked, knowing he'd put twelve dollars worth of gas in his car.
"It's on the house. You looked like you could use it."
"Thanks." Roger said. The man handed him his change. As Roger was putting the money back into his wallet some change fell to the floor. Roger leaned over to pick it up and when he did, the picture of Shelby he'd been showing around fell out of his pocket. Roger grabbed the photo and set it on the counter why he picked up the change.
The man behind the counter looked at the picture for a moment. He picked it up to take a closer look at it. Roger stood and looked at the counter for the picture, then he noticed the guy was holding it. "Have you seen her?" Roger asked.
"Yea, she's been in here before." The guy said.
"How long ago was it?" Roger asked.
"The first time was a long time ago. Her and an older women came through here. I talked to her for like fifteen minutes, she seemed like a nice girl, she'd reminded me of my granddaughter." The man smiled for a moment thinking of his grandchildren.
'You said the first time?" Roger asked. 'Has she been in here since then?"
"Yea, a few days ago. She came in and asked me what time it was, then she left."
"What way did she head?" Roger asked. He was starting to get excited, this was the first person he'd ran into that had seen her.
"She walked that way." The man said pointing at the direction Shelby had headed a few days earlier.
"Thanks man." Roger said grabbing his coffee and the photograph. He couldn't wait to tell Peter.
Peter walked into the lodge breathless. The cliffhangers looked up. "What is it?" Sophie asked. She wasn't sure if it was good or bad. The cliffhangers had become very quiet and Peter could tell they were afraid of what they might hear.
"They have a lead." Peter said and a giant sigh of relief was given. "A gas station attendant saw her the morning after she left about five hours from here in a little town. He said she was walking, but she must have caught a ride to have gotten that far."
"Did her say how she looked? Was she Ok?" Scott asked concerned. At that exact moment he was so happy. He knew seeing her was a long way from her coming back but it was a start.
"All I know is what Roger told me. He said that the guy recognized the picture he had. Curtis has gotten a hold of the police from that county and a few of the surrounding counties there going to concentrate there search on the counties surrounding it, and see if they can't find her. I'm getting ready to head out to join the search again. You guys will know as soon as I hear anything else." The cliffhangers nodded. They were excited about the news. They had gone days without knowing anything. They had all feared the worst.
Peter pulled Sophie out into the hall. The two quickly hugged. They were both relieved that they had heard something. They too had feared the worst, but they had tried to remain strong for the kids.
" Hey, I need someone to stay by the phone, since I'm going to join Roger again. Can you do that?" Peter asked Sophie.
"Do you think I should leave them alone?" Sophie asked. Even though they had received good news, it wasn't over yet. There was still a lot more to go.
"I think they would actually be happy to have us off their backs. We've barely left them by themselves since this whole thing happened. It might be good for them to be able to talk among themselves."
"Even after the news they've received?" She asked.
"Well, I can always have Jeff or Megan listen for the phones if you want."
"No, I'll listen for the phones." Sophie said quickly. She definitely wanted to be able to hear what was going on. "I'm sure they'll be fine." She said.
Peter nodded, gave her a quick kiss and then took off out of the building to go meet up with Roger.
Sophie watched Peter a moment. She wished she was going to search for Shelby, but somebody had to be here, in case word came. She turned and headed back into the lodge. She stopped for a moment looking at the cliffhangers. Somebody needs to be here for them too, she thought.
Sophie walks back into the lodge where the rest of the cliffhangers are. She can tell they're happy with the news, but it also doesn't end there fears. "Hey you guys, I'm going to go listen for the phones while Peter's gone. I want you guys to stay here and work on your homework. Jeff will be in and announce lights out when it's time." She said trying to be nonchalant.
"Oh, come on Sophie." Ezra said. "They're actually getting closer to finding Shelby, We're all to anxious to work." The rest of the cliffhangers agreed.
"Yea. It's the first thing we've heard that was good in three days." Sara said. Sophie thought for a moment. She knows how they feel, they want to help too.
"I have an idea." She said. The cliffhangers look at her. "What if you guys come to the administration building with me. You can work on your homework and wait on word with me."
The cliffhangers were quick to agree, they picked up their stuff and followed Sophie out of the lodge.
Hours later, Peter met up with Roger in a little resturant outside the town from which Roger had earlier called.
"Any news?" Peter asked coming up behind Roger and then sliding into the booth across from him.
"Shelby's good. I've been able to track down few people that have seen her. One of them is a guy who gave her a ride out of Agnes."
"So nobody's seen her for a few days?" Peter asked. He wasn't sure how to accept this news. Things had looked up when Roger had called, but now it seemed as if there lead wasn't really anything.
"Most saw her the day after she took off. They said she was walking the streets. I ran into a girl who said she'd seen her sleeping in a park. That was the night after she left."
"So, Shelby walked through the woods the first night. Caught a ride early the next morning to that last town, then walked all day, made it into this town and fell asleep in a park, where that girl saw her. And we don't know where she went from here?" Peter asked.
Roger nodded. "She doesn't want to be found. We've all been looking for her, we just can't find out where she is, and if she's catching rides then she could be out of the state."
"I'm not giving up on this." Peter said looking up at Roger.
"Neither am I. Now that we have an area to search we may have more luck, but she's good, she'd done this before. It's going to be difficult."
"Well, I've always done things the difficult way." Peter said looking at Roger. Roger nodded.
"I thought you might say that." Roger said and took a drink of his coffee.
Shelby walked down the street. It was dark, Shelby figured it was about eleven or twelve at night. She'd spent most of the day begging and she'd ended up with no more then a few dollars. It wasn't enough and she knew it. Begging never had been enough. There was only one way to make money on the streets. "I'll just have to do what I used to do." Shelby said to herself.
But even as she said it, her hands beginning to shake and her heart started pounding. She wasn't sure she could do it, but it seemed to be her only was out. She had no money, no one and nothing. If she wanted to make it out of Washington she had to have money and money required a job and the only job she could do was the same one she'd had before.
"Get a hold of your self Shelby." She said to herself. "It's not as though it matters that you do this. You've done it before. Besides the streets are where you belong and this is the only way to make money on the streets."
It's not this bad though, another voice in her head shouted at her. It's not like before. You have a place to go now. You can go back.
Shelby shook the thought away though. She couldn't go back, not now that they knew. 'Who am I kidding?' Shelby asked herself. "This is what I'm supposed to do. This is why I'm here." Shelby nodded as if agreeing with herself.
She then looked down at herself. She was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt over a t - shirt. This will never get me a job, she thought. She removed the sweatshirt and tied it around her waist. The night air was cool, but she ignored it. She then tied her shirt up so that her midriff was showing. Better, she thought. Then she ran her hands threw her hair, trying to make it look decent. She smoothed it out and pulled it into a ponytail. She then began to sashay down the street. This time she smiled as cars drove by.
It seemed so surreal to Shelby. Walking down the street like she used to. The same feelings came over her as before. That feeling of numbness and disconnection. Shelby had perfected the numbness that she'd managed to once again pull over herself. The numbness that allowed her to step out of her body until she had done what she had to do.
Shelby watched as a car pulled up on the side of the street. Shelby closed her eyes for a moment, her heart pounding. Her thoughts went back to over two years ago, when she'd stood on a street for the first time. Patty telling her that everyone did what they had to do to make it through. She remembered how scared she'd been. How it had been ok, because after what Walt had done to her, it didn't matter what she did.
"I'm damaged goods." She said quietly to herself. "It doesn't matter what I do." With that Shelby walked over to the car.
The cliffhangers are sitting in a classroom. They had decided to sort of hold their own group. Peter had been encouraging them to talk to each other, to let there feelings about what was going on out. They'd been sitting in the classroom by themselves for almost an hour, when Julliette finally broke the silence.
"I can't believe she's gone." Julliette said. She was curled up in a chair. Her knees tucked under her chin. Auggie was sitting next to her with his arm around her. "It's been four days. I thought she'd be found by now."
The other cliffhangers all looked at her. "Shelby always used to run away." Jess said quietly. "She used to stay gone for weeks at a time, without being found. But we always found her. We always found her." She said her voice breaking. Scott looked at Jess. The young girl was staring off into space and it seemed as if she was almost talking to herself. She'd been wondering around campus for the past several days in a state of confusion, one moment she would be crying, sobbing her heart out and the next she would be numb, unwilling to talk to anyone. Scott knew that feeling he was doing the same thing. Daisy was too, only he and Daisy were also throwing anger into he mix. With in the last few days, they'd had more outbursts of anger then either had had all summer.
Scott looked around the room. All the cliffhangers looked as though they had been to war. None of them had slept more then a few hours a night over the last few days. They all weren't eating like they should be. The last few days had been rough on all of them emotionally and physically. I wonder what it's been like on Shelby? He thought to himself.
Shelby sat up, rubbing her eyes. The afternoon sun was beaming down on her. She put her hand to her head, it hurt so much. She looked around trying to remember where she was. She spent most of the past few days walking. At night she would crash in a park or an ally way, or where ever her exhausted body made her stop.
She was physically and emotionally exhausted. She had reached a point where she was numb though. Sometimes when she walked she would put her hands to her face and realize she was crying, but she couldn't feel the tears. She almost couldn't remember why she was crying. She had managed to block from her mind any happy times she'd ever had and all that was left now was hurt and pain and numbness.
The day before it had rained, Shelby cloths still weren't completely dry. She didn't mind though. They had been muddy from her walking through the woods and digging in trash. The rain had actually been welcome, she managed to get most of the mud out of her cloths and hair.
Shelby stood up slowly, groaning. She stretched up, trying to get her muscles working. She'd decided that today she was going to have to find money. She hadn't decided yet where she was going, but she figured money would help her get to where ever it was she wanted to go.
Shelby stood and looked at where she had slept the night before. She'd been walking the night before through the woods when she decided she just couldn't go any farther. She'd stopped walking and sat down against a tree. She'd spent the night there.
Shelby's stomach growled, but she ignored it. She hardly eaten in the last few days.
She'd managed to find some food in the trash, but that was about it. I'll get used to it again, though, she thought. She had managed to do it before, she could do it again.
Shelby had made it several hours out of Agnes. Most of the time by walking through woods, sometimes on the streets, but mostly in the woods. That made it harder for her to find food. Trashcans didn't exist in the woods.
Shelby began walking through the woods. She was close to the road, she knew that because she could hear cars going by. Maybe I should try to catch another ride, she thought. No, she told herself. The more people I see the more chance there is that they can find me. I'll just have to keep walking, until I think of a way to get money to buy a bus ticket.
Roger drove down the street. He'd been searching for Shelby for almost four days now and hadn't been able to come up with any leads so far. It wasn't like when he was following Auggie and Julliette, those two weren't used to trying to hide on the streets. Even with Auggie's background, his brother having been in a gang, he didn't know as much as Shelby did about living on the streets. According to Jess and her mom, Shelby had been running away for years. And if she didn't want to be found she wouldn't be.
Where should I check next? He asked himself. He'd been checking bars, restaurants, the woods; he just wasn't sure where to look for her. She could be anywhere. If she had caught a ride she might not even be in the same state. Roger had been checking every town off of the main rode, along with Curtis and the others. They'd all been searching. They'd been stopping and asking people on the streets, but had found out nothing so far.
Roger knew he wasn't that far out of Agnes. Probably about five hours or so, and still her hadn't seen her. She could have made it this far out. He thought to himself. If she caught a ride. She couldn't have if she was walking, it was too far away. Roger heard a ding and looked down. His Tracker was almost out of gas. He saw a sign up ahead.
He pulled in to where the pump was and stopped the car. He then took the keys out and got out of the car. He filled his tank and then walked into the gas station.
"Hello." Roger looked up. Standing behind the counter was an older gentleman.
"Good afternoon." Roger said smiling at the guy.
"Looks like you've had a rough night." The guy said looking at him.
"More like a rough few days." Roger pulled out his wallet. "Hey can I get a cup of coffee?" He asked. The coffee machine was behind the counter. This surprised Roger most were where customers could fill the cups themselves.
"It's more sanitary this way." The guy said as if reading Rogers mind, he turned and began to fill a cup. He continued to talk to Roger as he did it. "We're able to make sure someone doesn't put something in it." Roger nodded.
The guy turned around and handed the Styrofoam cup and a plastic lid to him. "Pump two right?" The guy asked. Roger nodded. 'That will be twelve dollars." The guy said.
"How much was the coffee?" Roger asked, knowing he'd put twelve dollars worth of gas in his car.
"It's on the house. You looked like you could use it."
"Thanks." Roger said. The man handed him his change. As Roger was putting the money back into his wallet some change fell to the floor. Roger leaned over to pick it up and when he did, the picture of Shelby he'd been showing around fell out of his pocket. Roger grabbed the photo and set it on the counter why he picked up the change.
The man behind the counter looked at the picture for a moment. He picked it up to take a closer look at it. Roger stood and looked at the counter for the picture, then he noticed the guy was holding it. "Have you seen her?" Roger asked.
"Yea, she's been in here before." The guy said.
"How long ago was it?" Roger asked.
"The first time was a long time ago. Her and an older women came through here. I talked to her for like fifteen minutes, she seemed like a nice girl, she'd reminded me of my granddaughter." The man smiled for a moment thinking of his grandchildren.
'You said the first time?" Roger asked. 'Has she been in here since then?"
"Yea, a few days ago. She came in and asked me what time it was, then she left."
"What way did she head?" Roger asked. He was starting to get excited, this was the first person he'd ran into that had seen her.
"She walked that way." The man said pointing at the direction Shelby had headed a few days earlier.
"Thanks man." Roger said grabbing his coffee and the photograph. He couldn't wait to tell Peter.
Peter walked into the lodge breathless. The cliffhangers looked up. "What is it?" Sophie asked. She wasn't sure if it was good or bad. The cliffhangers had become very quiet and Peter could tell they were afraid of what they might hear.
"They have a lead." Peter said and a giant sigh of relief was given. "A gas station attendant saw her the morning after she left about five hours from here in a little town. He said she was walking, but she must have caught a ride to have gotten that far."
"Did her say how she looked? Was she Ok?" Scott asked concerned. At that exact moment he was so happy. He knew seeing her was a long way from her coming back but it was a start.
"All I know is what Roger told me. He said that the guy recognized the picture he had. Curtis has gotten a hold of the police from that county and a few of the surrounding counties there going to concentrate there search on the counties surrounding it, and see if they can't find her. I'm getting ready to head out to join the search again. You guys will know as soon as I hear anything else." The cliffhangers nodded. They were excited about the news. They had gone days without knowing anything. They had all feared the worst.
Peter pulled Sophie out into the hall. The two quickly hugged. They were both relieved that they had heard something. They too had feared the worst, but they had tried to remain strong for the kids.
" Hey, I need someone to stay by the phone, since I'm going to join Roger again. Can you do that?" Peter asked Sophie.
"Do you think I should leave them alone?" Sophie asked. Even though they had received good news, it wasn't over yet. There was still a lot more to go.
"I think they would actually be happy to have us off their backs. We've barely left them by themselves since this whole thing happened. It might be good for them to be able to talk among themselves."
"Even after the news they've received?" She asked.
"Well, I can always have Jeff or Megan listen for the phones if you want."
"No, I'll listen for the phones." Sophie said quickly. She definitely wanted to be able to hear what was going on. "I'm sure they'll be fine." She said.
Peter nodded, gave her a quick kiss and then took off out of the building to go meet up with Roger.
Sophie watched Peter a moment. She wished she was going to search for Shelby, but somebody had to be here, in case word came. She turned and headed back into the lodge. She stopped for a moment looking at the cliffhangers. Somebody needs to be here for them too, she thought.
Sophie walks back into the lodge where the rest of the cliffhangers are. She can tell they're happy with the news, but it also doesn't end there fears. "Hey you guys, I'm going to go listen for the phones while Peter's gone. I want you guys to stay here and work on your homework. Jeff will be in and announce lights out when it's time." She said trying to be nonchalant.
"Oh, come on Sophie." Ezra said. "They're actually getting closer to finding Shelby, We're all to anxious to work." The rest of the cliffhangers agreed.
"Yea. It's the first thing we've heard that was good in three days." Sara said. Sophie thought for a moment. She knows how they feel, they want to help too.
"I have an idea." She said. The cliffhangers look at her. "What if you guys come to the administration building with me. You can work on your homework and wait on word with me."
The cliffhangers were quick to agree, they picked up their stuff and followed Sophie out of the lodge.
Hours later, Peter met up with Roger in a little resturant outside the town from which Roger had earlier called.
"Any news?" Peter asked coming up behind Roger and then sliding into the booth across from him.
"Shelby's good. I've been able to track down few people that have seen her. One of them is a guy who gave her a ride out of Agnes."
"So nobody's seen her for a few days?" Peter asked. He wasn't sure how to accept this news. Things had looked up when Roger had called, but now it seemed as if there lead wasn't really anything.
"Most saw her the day after she took off. They said she was walking the streets. I ran into a girl who said she'd seen her sleeping in a park. That was the night after she left."
"So, Shelby walked through the woods the first night. Caught a ride early the next morning to that last town, then walked all day, made it into this town and fell asleep in a park, where that girl saw her. And we don't know where she went from here?" Peter asked.
Roger nodded. "She doesn't want to be found. We've all been looking for her, we just can't find out where she is, and if she's catching rides then she could be out of the state."
"I'm not giving up on this." Peter said looking up at Roger.
"Neither am I. Now that we have an area to search we may have more luck, but she's good, she'd done this before. It's going to be difficult."
"Well, I've always done things the difficult way." Peter said looking at Roger. Roger nodded.
"I thought you might say that." Roger said and took a drink of his coffee.
Shelby walked down the street. It was dark, Shelby figured it was about eleven or twelve at night. She'd spent most of the day begging and she'd ended up with no more then a few dollars. It wasn't enough and she knew it. Begging never had been enough. There was only one way to make money on the streets. "I'll just have to do what I used to do." Shelby said to herself.
But even as she said it, her hands beginning to shake and her heart started pounding. She wasn't sure she could do it, but it seemed to be her only was out. She had no money, no one and nothing. If she wanted to make it out of Washington she had to have money and money required a job and the only job she could do was the same one she'd had before.
"Get a hold of your self Shelby." She said to herself. "It's not as though it matters that you do this. You've done it before. Besides the streets are where you belong and this is the only way to make money on the streets."
It's not this bad though, another voice in her head shouted at her. It's not like before. You have a place to go now. You can go back.
Shelby shook the thought away though. She couldn't go back, not now that they knew. 'Who am I kidding?' Shelby asked herself. "This is what I'm supposed to do. This is why I'm here." Shelby nodded as if agreeing with herself.
She then looked down at herself. She was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt over a t - shirt. This will never get me a job, she thought. She removed the sweatshirt and tied it around her waist. The night air was cool, but she ignored it. She then tied her shirt up so that her midriff was showing. Better, she thought. Then she ran her hands threw her hair, trying to make it look decent. She smoothed it out and pulled it into a ponytail. She then began to sashay down the street. This time she smiled as cars drove by.
It seemed so surreal to Shelby. Walking down the street like she used to. The same feelings came over her as before. That feeling of numbness and disconnection. Shelby had perfected the numbness that she'd managed to once again pull over herself. The numbness that allowed her to step out of her body until she had done what she had to do.
Shelby watched as a car pulled up on the side of the street. Shelby closed her eyes for a moment, her heart pounding. Her thoughts went back to over two years ago, when she'd stood on a street for the first time. Patty telling her that everyone did what they had to do to make it through. She remembered how scared she'd been. How it had been ok, because after what Walt had done to her, it didn't matter what she did.
"I'm damaged goods." She said quietly to herself. "It doesn't matter what I do." With that Shelby walked over to the car.
