“Could you see yourself in her glasses?” I ask, and I feel her nod against my shoulder. I look at Sam. She’s writing something on a pad.
I set Rainie down and squat in front of her. She takes a fistful of my hair in her hand as if to keep me there.
“Did the lady help you climb up into the tree house?” I ask.
She nods. “I wanted to go up there and look at the whole world. Like we did that day,” she says. “But then she walked away.” She points down the trail. “I yelled for her to come back but she didn’t even turn around. I tried to get down but I couldn’t.” That trembling lip again, and I stand up, leaning forward to hug her. Did I nearly lose someone else I love in a fall? I really want to get my hands on that bitch.
“You were right to just stay put, sweetheart,” Daddy says. “You knew we’d find you.”
Sam has been taking this all in. Now she crouches in front of Rainie. “Hi, Rainie,” she says. “My name is Sam and I’ve been helping your family look for you. Can you tell me something? What did the lady say to you when you first saw her? You were on the deck, right?”
She nods. “She said she was Mama’s friend.” She looks up at me. “She said you were busy and you asked her to take me for a walk and soon you’d come to be with us.”
Bitch bitch bitch. And how many zillions of times had I talked to Rainie about not going anyplace with a stranger? Not enough times, obviously. I catch my father’s eye. His brows are raised in a question. Did you actually ask someone to take her for a walk? I give him an are you crazy look in response.
Sam wants to question her a little longer, but Rainie has to go potty and we head back to the house. She clutches my hand, and I don’t want to let go of her any more than she wants to let go of me.
“It’s so damn spooky back here,” Brenda says, and I want to slug her. I don’t want Rainie to fear these woods. Her backyard. Brenda’s right, though. It’s undeniable. You’d never know it’s July when you’re deep in these woods. It’s sticky hot, true, but so dark. So creepily dark.
Yet at that moment, I don’t care. The only thing in the world that matters to me right now is that my daughter is safe.
Chapter 34
ELLIE
1965
In the morning, the Hunts told me they’d decided I’d better move to another house. “We love having you here and the kids love you,” Miss Georgia said, “but we just can’t take the risk. DeeDee’s gonna need a lot of time for healing and we think it’s best—”
“I agree,” I said quickly. “I don’t want to put any of y’all at more of a risk than I already have.”
DeeDee was still asleep and I wished I could see her one more time before I left. I wanted to give her a hug and tell her what a brave girl she was, but there was no time. I packed my things, and Curry and Win pulled up out front as soon as I walked onto the porch. We were supposed to canvass an area about five miles west of where we were today. Instead, Curry was going to drive us back to the school so I could store my things and let Greg find me a new home.
I sat in the back of the van, my gaze on Win’s profile. I felt different being so close to him after telling him everything the night before. He seemed to be his usual serious self, reserved and unflustered by the change in our plans. He kept his eyes straight ahead on the road as if he were doing the driving himself.
“Y’all have a meeting tonight,” Curry said as we headed to the school. “Greg wants to talk about the protest. How y’all can change it up for next week.”
“He thinks we should have another one?” I asked, surprised.
“Oh yeah.” Curry caught my eye in the rearview mirror. “You ain’t gonna let ’em win, are you?”
“Curry’s right,” Win finally turned to look at me. “He—”
“Truck!” Curry said, and I dropped to the floor behind the front seats. It was second nature now, hiding from white people, and I’d come to understand why it was best for me to ride in the back seat.
I practically held my breath until Win said, “He’s gone,” and I returned to my seat with a sigh.
“So what were you saying about a protest?” I asked.
“If we stop now, we’re just telling them that they can scare us off with violence,” Win said.
Well, maybe they can, I thought. “I don’t want to see anyone else get hurt,” I said.
“Nobody does,” Win said, as Curry pulled into the parking lot of the school.