Forever My Hero, page 12
“Oh dear, I’ll have to call David’s mother,” Arlene said.
“Not yet. We have a bigger issue brewing. Patty Conroy has been bullied and ostracized by some of her classmates ever since school began, but I couldn’t figure out why. I thought today when I teamed Judy Rowland, Ruthie Wells, and Carlene Treat with her, they would get to know each other a little better and that would solve the problem. But then David got hurt, and as we were all running to join the group to check on David, the other three girls shoved Patty to the back of the team after I had her right behind me, and when we got here, she was missing. Judy Rowland just informed me that she saw her fall and didn’t bother to tell me. Archie Leggitt and I are going back to get her, and then we’re loading up and returning to school. I would appreciate it if you would have those girls’ parents in the office when we get there.”
Arlene Winston sighed. “I don’t like the sound of this.”
“That’s not the worst of it,” Connie said. “All three of the girls on her team advised me that their mothers told them not to have anything to do with Patty because her family deals drugs.”
“Oh my Lord!” Arlene muttered. She had visions of the incident a couple of years back with the Pine brothers. That mess had wound up in court, and three of their students had been put on probation for what they had done to Johnny Pine’s younger brother, Beep, and all because the Pine family lived on the wrong side of town and their daddy was in prison. “Just let me know how Patty is before you start back. I’ll need to call her mother, too.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Connie said, then put her phone in her pocket and started running, following the boundary rope back to where she guessed Patty would be waiting. But to her horror, Patty was nowhere to be seen, and Connie Milam could tell by the landmarks she’d noted that she and Archie should have already found her. “This is already farther than where we started from,” Connie said.
“Maybe she got turned around after she fell and followed the rope the wrong way,” Archie said. “I’ll keep going that way, and once I find her, I’ll give you a call.”
“Okay,” Connie said. “But in the meantime, I’m going to retrace my steps back the way we came. Maybe we were moving too fast and overlooked an obvious clue.”
“Deal,” Archie said, and took off at a lope, while Connie turned around and began retracing her steps, only this time she was calling Patty’s name. She walked and called, and then stopped to listen, all the way back to the entrance where the group was seated.
Her heart was pounding, and the look she gave the three girls finally made them realize they were in big trouble.
“You didn’t find her?” Mrs. Leggitt asked.
“No. Archie is following the rope in the other direction, assuming she got turned around and went the wrong way. When he finds her, he’ll bring her here.”
“There he comes now,” Mrs. Leggitt said, pointing. “But he’s alone.”
“No!” Connie moaned, and ran up to him. “Nothing?”
“Not a sign,” Archie said, and then glanced up at the sky. “It looks like it’s going to rain.”
Connie turned on the three girls again. “Judy! You saw her fall?”
Judy Rowland nodded.
“Where did she fall? What did you see last?”
“She was sliding down into the trees,” Judy said.
“And you didn’t think that was important enough to tell me?” Connie shrieked, and then took a slow breath. “What if that had been you? Would you want all of us to just go back to school and pretend you didn’t exist?”
Judy’s chin quivered. “No, but—”
“Never mind! I’ll deal with you later,” she said. “Mr. Leggitt! Is there a place that steep? Where someone might fall off this big hill?”
“Several places,” he said. “It’s why I always rope it off.”
Connie was in tears. “I need to get these kids back to school, but I can’t leave a child behind.”
All of the Leggitts were gathered at the entrance, scared that a child had gotten lost on their property—under their watch.
“We’ll call Chief Pittman right now and get a search party out here,” Frank Leggitt said. “In the meantime, I’d advise you to call her parents.”
Connie nodded. “Yes, we will, but as soon as I get the kids back to school, I’m coming back to help search.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Ron said. “Just keep your radio, then. You’ll likely need it to locate us.”
Frank Leggitt was pale and shaken. “This has never happened before. I don’t understand.”
“It’s not your fault, Mr. Leggitt. I’m afraid Patty’s teammates are to blame for this.” Then Connie pointed at the children. “Stand up. Take your leaf bags with you and march straight to the bus.”
“But we didn’t get to have our picnic!” Judy cried.
“And you and Ruthie and Carlene are to blame. Get in line, all of you.”
The bus driver was standing at the entrance, aware something had happened, but he could not have imagined this. “What’s wrong?” he asked as he walked beside Connie on the way to the bus.
“Patty Conroy is missing. One of her teammates saw her falling down a slope and didn’t see fit to tell anybody. I fear it’s a long, ugly story that is going to get worse before it gets better.”
He shook his head as he loaded up the students.
Connie stepped on board, then stood at the front of the bus and began to count heads. “Eighteen,” she muttered, then tapped the driver on the shoulder. “That’s it. Get us back to school ASAP.”
Then she sat down in a seat, picked up the phone, and called Arlene Winston again. When she was finished, she covered her face and started to cry.
Chapter 9
Alice was checking a customer out when her cell phone rang. When she saw it was from the elementary school, she stifled a moment of panic.
“Thank you,” she said as she dropped the receipt into her customer’s sack and then answered the phone as the customer went out the door. “Hello. This is Alice.”
“Mrs. Conroy, this is Arlene Winston.”
Alice stifled a moan. She knew in her heart this wasn’t going to be good news. “What’s wrong? What happened to Patty?”
The principal took a deep breath. “This is most distressing, but I have to tell you that Patty is lost at the Leggitt farm. We’re looking for her right now, but of course wanted you to be immediately aware.”
“Oh my God! I trusted my baby with you. How did you lose her?”
“At this point, all we know for certain is that one girl saw her fall, and then by the time she told, we couldn’t find her. I’m sure we’ll—”
“Tell me exactly where this farm is located,” Alice snapped.
Arlene gave her explicit directions, then added, “I don’t want you to panic. We’re—”
“You’re the one who should be panicking,” Alice said. “You better pray to God my baby is safe and unhurt when she’s found.” Then she hung up in the principal’s ear and got back on the phone and called the middle school, then waited for the secretary to answer.
“Blessings Middle School.”
“Ma’am, this is Alice Conroy. We have a family emergency, and I am on my way to the school to pick up my son, Charlie. Please have him waiting in the office when I get there.”
“Yes, of course,” the secretary said.
Alice ran to the back room where Fred was eating lunch. “Fred, the school just called. Patty’s class was on a field trip out to Leggitt’s farm, and they lost her.”
Fred stood abruptly. “Are you serious?”
Alice nodded, and then burst into tears. “I have to go.”
“Of course you do! Are you going alone?”
“No. Charlie will be with me,” she said. Then she ran to her locker, grabbed her purse and her jacket, and dashed out of the store.
She was shaking so hard she could barely drive and didn’t have time to baby her sore hand. She sped down Main Street, taking a right just before the Curl Up and Dye, and drove toward the middle school, praying with every beat of her heart. As soon as she reached the school, she came to a sliding halt and got out on the run.
She could see Charlie standing in the office, and when he saw her running toward it, he turned white as a sheet and opened the door and ran to meet her.
“Mama! What’s wrong?”
“They lost Patty somewhere on the Leggitt farm during the field trip. We’re going to get Booger,” she said, and then ran into the office. “My daughter is missing on a school trip. Where do I sign him out?”
“Go! I’ll sign him out!” the secretary said, and two seconds later, mother and son were out the door and running toward the car.
“I can’t believe they let that happen!” Charlie said as they drove through the neighborhood toward their house.
“Neither can I,” Alice said. “They said some girl saw her fall but didn’t tell anyone when it happened, and by the time she told, they couldn’t find Patty.”
Charlie frowned. “Probably one of those girls who have been mean to her,” he said. “Did she say anything to you about that?”
Alice was horrified. “No! Not once! Are you serious?”
“Yes. Sometimes when I go by the elementary to get her before we walk home, she’s either sitting by herself or girls are standing around picking on her. I tell them to get lost and leave her alone, but they aren’t scared of me. Girls are mean to each other, I don’t care how old they are,” he muttered.
“I wish one of you had told me about this,” Alice said.
Charlie felt like he’d let both of them down. “I assumed she had talked to you.”
“Well, she hadn’t,” Alice said, and then pulled up into their drive and ran to unlock the front door. “You go get Booger. I’m going to get Patty’s nightgown. She just took it off this morning. It’ll be good scent for tracking.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Charlie said, and dumped his backpack and headed through the house. A couple of minutes later, he was back with the big bloodhound on a leash.
Alice met him at the door. “Load him up,” she said. “We don’t have any time to waste. The sky is clouding up. If it rains, it will be harder for Booger to stay on track.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Charlie said, and put the big dog in the back of their car.
Alice backed out, then left rubber on the pavement as she took off out of town.
* * *
The bus pulled up to the front of the school, and when it did, Connie Milam stood up. “As you know, we have an emergency! One of your classmates is lost, so I don’t have time for foolishness. You can help me and Patty by lining up quietly and going straight to the principal’s office without talking. I’ll be right behind you.”
The children were pale and wide-eyed as they stood up, imagining being the one who got lost. When the troublesome trio stood up, Connie pointed. “You three will walk with me. Everyone…get all of your things off the bus. Don’t leave anything behind.”
Moments later, they were heading in line up the walk, and when they entered the building, they walked straight into the front office.
Arlene Winston was waiting for Connie Milam to take her students back to class, and as soon as Connie came in last with the three girls in question, the principal pointed at the girls. “All of you, in my office now.”
They ducked their heads as tears continued to roll.
Connie stepped up. “Are their parents here yet?”
“Not yet,” Arlene said.
Connie frowned. “I want to speak to them first, and then I’ll leave the mess to you. But as soon as I’m through, I’m going back to the search site. I had to leave a child behind to get these back, and I didn’t like how that felt,” she said.
Arlene turned to her secretary. “Mavis, find a teacher who’s on her planning period and tell her to come to the office and take these children back to Mrs. Milam’s room.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Mavis said, and began checking teacher schedules.
A couple of minutes later, one of the teachers came running, horrified that a child was lost. She couldn’t help search, but she could gladly help with this and took the children back to their class.
At that point, the parents began arriving, but Connie Milam was already in the principal’s office with the girls, so Mrs. Winston escorted them into her office as well.
When the parents saw their girls in tears, they started to rush toward them, but the principal asked them to sit instead.
Judy Rowland’s father got angry. “What’s going on here, and why is my daughter crying?”
The two mothers chimed in, demanding answers.
Mrs. Winston pointed at Connie. “I’m going to let their teacher fill you in. Mrs. Milam, the floor is yours.”
Connie stood up. “These girls have been bullying one of their classmates, a little girl named Patty Conroy. I’ve been aware of the behavior and have redirected them several times since class began this year, thinking it would smooth itself out. Today, I put them on the same team, with me as their leader, as we went to search for leaves. To make a long, horrible story short, they continued to be rude, even hateful. And before I could deal with any of that, we had a small emergency. One of the children fell and bumped his head and got a bloody nose, so we all started back to the main group together.
“I lined the girls up, with Patty behind me, but Ruthie took it upon herself to shove her out of line, and she wound up at the back without my knowledge. When we got to the injured boy, I turned around to tell them where to sit and found Patty was not there. Reluctantly, Judy finally decided to inform me that Patty had fallen. In fact, Judy saw her rolling down a steep slope and didn’t think it important enough to tell me, because you all told your children not to play with Patty Conroy because her family sells drugs!”
All three parents turned pale, and then Ruthie’s mother, Charlotte, got angry. “Well, it’s the truth and—”
Arlene Winston hit her desk with the flat of her hand. “No! That’s not the truth. You all heard gossip and passed it on to your children, and now all of you are responsible for the fact that Patty Conroy is missing!”
“What do you mean? Maybe she just ran off!” Mrs. Rowland said.
“By rolling off a mountain? Seriously?” Connie shouted.
“Patty wasn’t guilty of anything. Unlike you and your children, she had nothing to hide,” Mrs. Winston said. “God only knows where Patty is now, but you better hope she’s not dead. A storm is coming. A child is lost. And when you take your girls out of here to the safety of their homes, you can all go with the knowledge that one little girl is not safe at home with her mother because of you. Now I’m going back to help look for her, just as I would have done had it been one of yours. Just know this isn’t over by a long shot.”
Then she strode out of the room without looking back.
* * *
Fred Bloomer was at the front counter and looked up as the doorbell jingled and Dan Amos walked in.
“Morning, Dan. How can I help you?”
“I just stopped by to see how Alice was doing on her first day back at work,” Dan said.
“She’s not here,” Fred said. “She just got a call from school that her little girl was on some field trip and got lost from the group. Alice took off out of here on the run.”
Dan’s heart sank. “Where did this happen, and how can I get there?”
“Frank Leggitt’s farm, two miles east of town. You can’t miss it. It’s right on the blacktop. White two-story house. Big red barn behind it.”
Dan was out the door and back in his truck within seconds. He couldn’t imagine how frightened Patty must be, or how terrified Alice likely was, but he needed to help find her.
He drove with a knot in his gut, hoping by the time he got out there she would already be found. Instead, when he reached the location, Alice’s car was parked a short distance from the house, along with a half-dozen other cars, including two from the Blessings PD, and there was one woman on-site. Frank Leggitt’s wife.
“Where are they searching for Patty Conroy?” Dan asked.
She pointed. “Follow that yellow rope. You’ll run right into them. They’re about five minutes ahead of you.”
Dan tossed his hat in the truck and took off running. As he did, he could hear people’s voices and a dog somewhere within the area, and he wondered if it was Charlie’s dog.
After a couple of minutes, he ran up on the search party coming out of the woods to his right. He saw police, Alice, Charlie with his dog, another woman, and a few men he didn’t know. The old bloodhound was moving at a lope with his nose near the ground, and Charlie was right behind him, hanging on to the leash with all his strength.
Charlie saw him at the same time Dan saw Charlie. It moved him to see the relief pass across Charlie’s face. And then Alice saw him and ran straight into his arms.
In the middle of their reunion, Booger bayed and bolted under the rope.
“Stop him!” Chief Pittman shouted. “That’s a steep slope to be running on!”
Charlie pulled Booger back. “Halt, Booger! Halt!”
The dog obeyed, but was trembling and whining. His instinct to finish the hunt was strong, but not as strong as the hold Charlie had on the leash.
“I don’t know how you found out, but I’m glad you’re here,” Alice said.
Dan hugged her close. “I’m glad I’m here, too.”
Chief Pittman had already seen Booger in action months earlier. Now that the dog had keyed in on the direction Patty had taken, he grabbed his cell phone. “There’s a rescue team coming here from County. Let me check their ETA,” he said, and then walked a few feet away to make the call.
They couldn’t hear him talking, but they were watching the expressions on his face, and when he came back, they weren’t encouraged. “The team is still at least thirty minutes out,” he said.
