Disappearance in Dread Hollow
Автор
Debra Webb
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Chapter One
“Mama!”
“It’s almost done, sweetie. Five more minutes.”
Jacob stared out the window. It would be completely dark soon. They didn’t get many visitors, but there was a black car parked in front of their house. He had noticed it a few minutes ago when he went to the window to see if he could see the moon. He couldn’t remember if the full moon was tonight or tomorrow night, but he wanted to make sure he saw it.
“Mama!” he shouted again. “Come here!”
Jelly Bug raised her head and whined.
“It’s okay, girl,” Jacob said. He hadn’t meant to scare the dog with his hollering.
His dad wasn’t home yet. He was usually home by dark. Probably would be soon. He wouldn’t miss supper. Mama had said he’d gone to fill up his truck with gas. He always did that on Sundays. Getting ready for the work week, he would say. Except he usually did it earlier in the afternoon.
His mama came to his door. “What is it, son? Supper is done, and your dad just pulled up.”
Jacob peered out the window. Saw his dad’s truck this time. The black car was still sitting there. The windows were too dark for him to see inside. The windows had that tinted stuff on them. Maybe whoever was inside was coming in with his dad. Could have been waiting for him to get here. Jelly Bug nudged up to Jacob’s side. He patted the dog’s head and turned his face up to his mom.
“There’s a stranger’s car out there,” Jacob said, feeling like a grown-up since he’d pointed out a possible problem. His parents had taught him to be aware of strangers.
Tired, his mama sighed. She always looked tired. She worked too hard. Still, she walked over to his window. “What car?”
“That one.” He pointed beyond the curtain.
“Kris!” his dad shouted from the living room.
Jacob and his mama shared a startled look at the worry in his father’s voice.
His dad burst into Jacob’s bedroom. He looked scared. Scared real bad. Jacob’s heart beat faster like he’d started running when he was just standing still at the window.
Jelly Bug whined, and this time she shivered as if she understood something was wrong.
Jacob’s mama backed away from the window. “What? What’s going on?”
His dad looked to her for a second then to Jacob. “Hide,” he ordered. “Hide in your closet. Behind the clothes.”
“Is it them?” his mama cried.
His dad nodded, his eyes so big Jacob thought they looked like the full moon he liked so much.
Jacob’s heart pounded now the way it did when he rode his bike up and down the street really fast over and over.
His mama pushed him toward his closet. “Hide,” she repeated. “Don’t come out for any reason. No matter what you hear.” She hugged him. “I love you, Jacob.”
“What’s—” he tried to ask, but couldn’t get the words out. His heart pounded, his legs felt shaky. He was scared. What was happening?
Jelly Bug whined some more and barked softly.
“Stay in there.” His dad picked him up and set him behind the clothes in the back corner of his closet. “Don’t make a sound and don’t come out no matter what. Love you, son.”
“What about Jelly Bug?”
“Don’t worry about the dog. She’ll be fine.”
The door shut, but Jacob could still hear his mama making crying sounds. What was going on? Tears rolled down his cheeks. He didn’t understand. Why did he have to hide?
He wanted to run after them...to call out.
But they’d told him not to...he had to stay hidden and be quiet.
He held his breath, tried to slow the racing in his chest. Tried to control the sounds trying to escape his mouth. Be quiet! Be quiet!
Jacob curled into himself, his knees hugged to his damp face, and rocked gently. The way his mama used to rock him when he was little. Don’t make a sound. Don’t make a sound. Not one sound.
He stilled. Heard his dad’s voice. In the living room. He sounded far away, but that was because the door was closed.
Jacob stretched his neck, listened harder.
His dad was yelling now. His mama too, except her voice was quieter. She was afraid. It sounded like she was begging. Jelly Bug was barking.
Please...please don’t hurt my parents.
More voices. Not so loud but deep. Men. Definitely men. Didn’t sound like women.
Men from the black car. Strangers. People who wanted to hurt his family.
Jelly Bug was barking louder now.
Jacob closed his eyes tightly and prayed.
He prayed and prayed and prayed.
Then the house was quiet.
But he didn’t move. His dad had said to stay in the closet no matter what he heard.
The sound of Jelly Bug sniffing at his bedroom door had him daring to ease out of the closet. He crawled over and sat on his knees at his bedroom door for a while, listening, afraid to open it but wanting to let Jelly Bug in. Finally, he held his breath and just did it. He opened the door without making a sound. Whew!
Jelly Bug wiggled around him as if trying to tell him something or just glad to see him. He didn’t hear or see anything, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He quietly closed the door and crawled back to the closet, closed that door too and held Jelly Bug close. She licked his face. He snuggled against her, wishing his parents would walk into his room and tell him to come out, come out, the way they did when they played the hiding game. He liked playing games with his parents. He didn’t have any brothers and sisters, but he was okay with that since his parents played with him so much.
He stayed in the closet so long he fell asleep. When he woke up, his legs and arms hurt from being curled together so tight for so long.
He stretched. Groaned. Jelly Bug did the same.
For a long while, he listened but there was still no sound.
Being really careful, he reached up and opened the closet door. His room was dark now. He crawled out. Too afraid to stand up yet. If he didn’t move too fast, no one would see him in the dark. Jelly Bug stayed close.
It didn’t sound like anyone was here.
He wanted to call out for his mama, but he kept his mouth closed tight. He wasn’t supposed to make a sound.
At his bedroom door, he held still and listened again. The only sound was Jelly Bug’s panting.
The whole house was dark. And quiet.
He held his breath as he opened the door, then eased into the hall. Jelly Bug moved with him. Maybe while he was asleep the strangers had left and his parents had gone to bed.
He stood and took a few steps forward. His legs complained as he walked after being curled up so long. He moved quietly, careful not to make a sound on the hardwood floor. He went into his parents’ room, but it was too dark to see. He didn’t dare turn on the light. Instead he walked to the bed and climbed into it. He moved all around the bed, but it was empty. He checked under the bed and then in their closet to see if they were hiding.
Nope.
Then he walked soundlessly to the bathroom, then the living room and finally the kitchen. No one was in the house. Just him.
Had his parents gone with the strangers?
Maybe there was a job his parents had to do. Since he’d fallen asleep, maybe they decided not to bother him.
The supper sat on the stove. He could smell the beans and ham. His stomach rumbled. He climbed into a chair at the table and waited in the darkness.
When his parents came back, they would all have supper together and go to bed.
Jacob waited. Jelly Bug waited with him.
He waited a very long time. Drifted off to sleep once and almost fell out of the chair. He shook his head. Blinked over and over. He had to stay awake so he’d know when his parents came home.
He sat in the chair so long his butt felt numb.
His stomach growled so much he was sure the neighbors would hear it.
He was starving. His mama wouldn’t want him to be hungry. He hoped his parents weren’t hungry.
Eventually he couldn’t wait any longer. He pushed his chair over to the sink, trying to stay quiet, but it wasn’t easy. He got a bowl from the drainer where his mama put the dishes when she washed them. He grabbed a spoon too. Then he pushed his chair to the stove and filled his bowl with the beans and pieces of ham floating in the soup.
Jelly Bug barked and jumped around, so he made a bowl for her too.
He sat down in the chair right there by the stove and ate.
His parents would be home soon. They would be proud of him for taking care of his supper.
When he finished, he put his and Jelly Bug’s bowls in the sink and pushed his chair back to the table. He and Jelly Bug went into the living room and sat in the darkness to wait.
His mama and dad would be home any minute now. They had never left him alone.
Except that once...
