Chapter 10

It was impossible not to find sitting in the back seat of a police cruiser a little disconcerting, even though Vera knew she wasn't in trouble for anything. The drive back to her aunt and uncle's house seemed slow and felt almost dream-like, but Vera simply attributed this to her recent "swim" and its resulting outcomes.

To her relief, Officer Burnoe had a blanket waiting for her when she got inside and was silent for the duration of the ride, as if to allow Vera more time to settle down. She was also kind enough to go back and let Vera grab her bag where she had left it on the bridge – all dirty and soaking wet; her umbrella – nowhere to be seen – was likely lost to the wind and rain.

When they at last pulled up to the familiar blue house after what seemed like hours, the older woman helped Vera from the car and to the front door, where she fumbled around in her bag for her keys for a moment before locating them, happy that they hadn't been lost. After another moment of fitting the key into the lock, Vera opened the door with a soft click and stepped inside.

Her relatives knew she would be out later with her friends, but the sight of her stepping inside, still wet, and with a police officer at her heels, was a bit of a shock that sent two pairs of wide eyes and concern in her direction.

"Vera? My goodness, what happened to you, child?" Aunt Belinda rose quickly from her chair and came over at once. "Look at you, you're soaking wet," she observed when lifting the blanket around Vera's shoulders a few inches. "And a bit pale too," she added when brushing a hand against Vera's face. "What happened? I thought you were going out with your friends?" She threw a glance past Vera to the officer stationed behind her, as though she didn't think the girl capable of answering the question herself.

When Officer Burnoe opened her mouth to respond, Vera quickly jumped in. "I made a mistake and fell. By a bridge," she answered vaguely and mumbled the last part incoherently. "But everything's okay. Greta and James were there when it happened and called Officer Burnoe. She was just making sure I got back here alright," she explained hurriedly to try and keep the conversation short.

As much as she wanted to tell her aunt and uncle everything that happened, all she wanted to do at the moment was lie down in her bed. They could talk about it all in detail the following day. The look on her aunt's face told her she recognized Vera's weariness and desire for rest, but that the conversation definitely wasn't finished.

"Thank you, officer," Vera's uncle spoke as he came to stand beside his wife, an arm placed comfortingly on her shoulder. "Was there anything we could help you with right now?"

Officer Burnoe shook her head. "No, sir, you're fine. I'd just like to talk with Miss Vera here a little more if that's okay." She looked from him to Vera for permission.

Vera looked to her relatives, and when neither of them gave an indication of opposition, she nodded at the officer. "I'll tell you what I can."


Vera talked with Officer Burnoe for only twenty minutes or so in the kitchen, glad that the woman realized she had become quite tired and in need of rest due to the events of the last hour. Most of the time was spent asking Vera about the child she claimed to have gone after, and then reconfirming that she felt alright and didn't require any medical attention. Every now and then the woman would jot down something Vera said on a small notepad, but most of their interaction was simple questioning back and forth between two people.

"Thank you for your time and cooperation," Officer Burnoe thanked Vera when they finished. "I know you probably would have preferred I just drop you off and leave, but I thought it would be easier if we just got the formalities out of the way. I'll document all this when I get back to the station and see if Dawes was able to find anything." She placed her pen and notepad into one of her inner jacket pockets as she stood from her seat at the table. "If it's alright with you and your family, I'll come back sometime in the next day or two if we have something to share or if we have any more questions we think you might be able to help answer – if not to at least check up and make sure you're still doing okay."

"Sure, yeah, that's fine," Vera agreed and stood to show the officer out, removing the blanket she had given her in the process.

"Make sure you let us know if anything else comes up or you remember any other details," she instructed as Vera returned the blanket to her and opened the door into the night air, "and thanks again for your cooperation. You be careful out there, and be sure to call us for help if you run into any trouble. It's good what you said you did, but I don't want you putting yourself at risk – that should be our job, first and foremost."

Vera nodded, recognizing a reprimand – although somewhat softer in this case – when she heard one. She was actually just glad the officer believed she had seen the child and was acting on it, rather than dismissing it as mere illusion and scolding her for making up lies.

"Yes, I'm sorry, Officer Burnoe; it won't happen again," she replied. "Thank you again for your help this evening, and I'll see you again soon."

With a grunt and small tip of her head in acknowledgement in Vera's direction, the older woman stepped through the doorway and out into the night, fading into a dark silhouette as she made her way back to her patrol cruiser on the street. Vera watched her from the open doorway until the car was out of sight and earshot before slowly closing the door and locking it behind her.

As if on cue, Belinda and Richard appeared from the living room as soon as the lock clicked, both watching her expectantly after having left Vera and Officer Burnoe alone for some privacy. Despite this, it had been blatantly obvious that the couple had been listening in on their conversation from the next room, given how quiet and still the house had been since Vera and Burnoe took up their brief occupancy in the kitchen.

On the one hand, Vera was glad as it saved her the trouble of having to reiterate the story for what felt like the tenth time in the past couple hours; on the other, she wished they had had more respect for privacy instead of eavesdropping like children. But Vera knew she couldn't hold it against them; she understood their concern that was indeed well-placed given how everything must have looked to them. If either of them had come before her in a similar manner, Vera embarrassingly acknowledged her response would have been the same. It was for the best they knew everything, as the last thing she wanted was for them to formulate some crazy idea around the gaps she might have otherwise left in her retelling. However, she wasn't keen on discussing that topic right then and there. For now, she just wanted to get clean, dry off, and snuggle up in bed. Any further questions and comments could wait until the following day.

"I'm sorry for worrying you both," she finally spoke to her aunt and uncle. "I know you probably have questions, but if it's alright with you, I'd really just like to go lie down now. I promise we can talk about what happened tomorrow if you want to; I don't think I have that much energy left in me at the moment." She hoped her words didn't sound dismissive or rude and made her way towards the stairs in a tired shuffle.

"But-," Aunt Belinda began to speak but stopped when her husband placed a hand on her shoulder. She gave the man a look but he gave her an easy expression and slight nod of his head before moving his gaze back to Vera.

"It's okay, Vera, we understand; it's been an unexpectedly rough day. You go ahead and rest and I'll wrap up some leftovers from dinner for you in the fridge in case you get hungry later." He gave her an encouraging nod, his eyes easy and sympathetic to her situation.

Vera returned his nod with a weary smile, and bidding the couple her thanks and goodnight, made her way upstairs. She thought she heard her aunt begin to quietly protest against her uncle's words, but decided to tune them out as she reaching the landing of the second floor, each step bringing her closer to much-desired rest.

If it had only been rain water that soaked her through she might have even passed on a shower, but the smudges of mud on her arms and hands that was likely browning her clothes convinced her otherwise. Brushing her teeth and throwing on her pajamas afterwards, Vera nearly collapsed onto her bed, lazily pulling the covers up around her face as she snuggled into her pillows.

Vera let out a light groan once she was comfortably positioned, first out of exhaustion, and then once more when she remembered she had work the next day. Getting up out of bed and having to venture outside suddenly sounded like the most unappealing thing in the world. If she wasn't getting paid and wasn't so new to her job, she likely would have called out sick. As things were, however, she would just have to tough it out this time around.

Hopefully the events of the evening didn't spread about the town and everyone who knew something kept it to themselves. Vera didn't need everyone going crazy and getting into a fuss now that things were beginning to fall into place and giving her a chance to settle down into a comfortable routine of sorts.

But if anything was still weighing heavily on her mind, it was the little girl in the blue coat she had gone after. Squeezing her eyes shut tightly, Vera said a voiceless prayer to the darkness around her that the little girl would be found soon, alive and well, and that the whole thing would be put to rest without any more trouble.

That night, when sleep finally came to her, images of pale-faced children floating lifelessly in an endless sea of black haunted every corner of Vera's dreams.