Chapter Nine!

"Mary, tell me I'm not crazy, but isn't Ronnie done practice by 4:30p.m.?" Annie asked as she gazed over to the clock on the wall, which read 5:15p.m. Mary puckered her brow.

"Yeah, usually. I guess with the championships coming up, they're getting more practice squeezed in." Mary guessed as she helped her mom with dinner. Annie shook her head, unsure.

"But if she knew she had to stay longer, she would have called, don't you think?" She asked. Mary shrugged.

"Probably, but maybe she hasn't seen the time. I'm sure she's fine, mom. Ronnie's very independent. It's probably from growing up the way she did." She said as she chopped up some vegetables.

"Well she shouldn't have to be. She's only 15 years old. She should know that she's allowed to be somewhat dependent on others." Annie sighed. "I'm going to call the school." But just as she was about to reach for the phone, it rang, causing Annie to jump.

"Hello?" She answered as she caught her breath, feeling her heart racing from the scare of the phone ringing.

"Mrs. Camden? It's Ms. Taraway calling; Ronnie's basketball coach." Ms. Taraway responded and Annie closed her eyes in relief. She's probably calling all the parents to let us know about practice going over today.

"Hi Ms. Taraway, late practice today?" Annie asked as she began to feel a little better. There was a slight pause on the other end of the line, causing Annie to begin to feel uneasy again.

"No, practice was over at 4:30p.m., as always. I was just calling to let Ronnie know she left her shorts here." Ms. Taraway explained, feeling confused. Annie began to feel nervous.

"Well, did Ronnie stay late afterward?" She asked.

"No, I saw her leave the school. She said she was walking home." Ms. Taraway replied. "I offered to give her a ride home, but she said she needed time to think." Annie recalled Ronnie saying the same thing that morning. But I told her not to take any detours home. I told her to come straight home. It doesn't take 45 minutes to walk home. She thought nervously.

"I'll tell Ronnie to stop by after school tomorrow to pick up her shorts. Thanks Ms. Taraway." Annie said goodbye quickly and hung up the phone. Mary had noticed the look of worry on Annie's face and walked over to her.

"Mom, I'm sure she's fine. She probably just needed time to think on the way home." Mary tried to reason, but Annie shook her head.

"No, I told her to come straight home, and she would know better; especially after the other day when she went over to Chad's house after school, worrying me half to death. She would know better than to do it twice." Annie explained.

"Do you want me to drive down to the school and see if I can find Ronnie on the way?" Mary offered. Annie managed a smile.

"That would be great Mary. You're right, I'm sure she's fine, but I just want her home. She's not really in a great state of mind right now either. She shouldn't be alone. She needs to be around family who loves her." She said as Mary grabbed her jacket, gave her mom a kiss and headed out with her keys.

Mary kept her eyes peeled as she drove down the route Ronnie would have taken to walk home. She tired not to let herself worry about where Ronnie might be, but none of it made any sense to Mary. Ronnie was a good kid, she knew that, and she always did her best to oblige to Eric and Annie's rules, doing everything in her power to be a good kid. Mary couldn't think of any good reason for Ronnie to disobey Annie, especially after she had specifically asked her to come right home. Ronnie knows better. She wouldn't even think twice about running off when she was supposed to be home. Mary drove around the block for the fourth time and still saw nobody, no sign of Ronnie, until…

"What's that?" Mary squinted her eyes as she braked across from the park. She got out of the car and crossed the street to the sidewalk in front of the park. A forgotten backpack lay there that looked oddly familiar to Mary. It can't be Ronnie's. A knot formed in her stomach as she knelt down and cautiously opened the bag.

She gasped out loud.

There inside was Ronnie's purple binder with her name scrawled on the front in Ronnie's messy handwriting, as well as the yellow and black jersey with a large number '7' on it, with the name "Camden" arching over the number. Mary held her hand over her mouth, as she began to feel overwhelmingly frightened. She pulled out the jersey, needing to confirm it was Ronnie's, and she stood quickly, scanning the park and its surrounding area.

"Ronnie!" She called. Silence answered her as she tried again and again. Still no answer. Mary stared at the backpack and shook her head. Where is she? She wouldn't just leave her backpack here in the middle of a sidewalk, not unless there was an emergency! Something happened! Mary grabbed the backpack and ran to the car.

She had to get back home.

"Annie, I'm sure she's fine. She probably just stopped at a store, or maybe she met up with a friend and they chatted. You know how teenagers are; in pacts, they tend to dawdle." Eric consoled as he had just returned home from the church to Annie's worrisome thoughts.

"Eric, I asked her to come straight home. You know how Ronnie is; she wouldn't do anything against us. She's never been rebellious, and she doesn't strike me as the type of kid to start." Annie explained as she paced the kitchen floor.

"Honey, Mary will find her. I'm sure there's a perfectly logical solution to the entire thing." Eric said, trying to keep his own head and be strong about the whole thing. Truth be told, Eric was a little nervous too, knowing Ronnie's temperament and knowing it was terribly unlike her to do something against them, willingly knowing she wasn't allowed.

They both heard the front door open and Annie flew out of the kitchen, with Eric following close behind. Mary put the backpack on the floor and stared with wide eyes at her father.

"Mary? Where's Ronnie?" Eric asked, as he sensed right away something was wrong. Why does she have Ronnie's backpack? Mary shook her head.

"We have to phone the police, dad." She said as her voice shook slightly. Annie's eyes widened as she felt Eric's hand slide into her own.

"Why? What's the matter Mary?" Annie asked nervously.

"I found her backpack on the side of the road, and she wasn't around. I circled the block about four or five times when I finally saw her backpack. She's nowhere. She would never just drop her backpack and leave, unless something…happened." Mary replied as she could feel herself trembling slightly.

Before anyone had a chance to say anything, panic set in, sending Annie flying over to the telephone, dialing 911 without a second thought.