Darling by Mercedes M Yardley

Author:Mercedes M Yardley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Spot Books
Published: 2022-02-01T10:01:15+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Cherry and Azhar started up the dirt lane. The clouds were pulling low, and the wind was picking up. She shivered.

“Are you cold?”

“Oh, no. Do you see the light? How it’s darkening because of the clouds? It’s storm light.”

“Storm light?”

“I get nervous during storm light.”

He didn’t say anything for a long time. Cherry regretted her words. How silly she sounded. How poorly put together.

“Sada disappeared during storm light.”

She turned to look at him, but he was watching something in the distance.

“She was afraid of storms, always. The wind, especially. She would pull her blankets off her bed and sleep in the hallway because there weren’t any windows. In case they broke and cut her while she was sleeping. Her mother, she was so angry.”

“Where is her mother?”

Azhar shrugged. “Who knows? She left. After. Stayed in her room after the funeral, then one day she came out. She walked past me and drove away. I don’t know where she is.”

Cherry looked at her red rain boots as they moved over the ground. “I’m so sorry.”

He didn’t say anything.

She cleared her throat. “You said you had something to show me?”

“Of course.” He dug into his shirt pocket, pulling out a worn picture. He ran his thumb down it and handed it to Cherry.

“Sada.”

She was beautiful. A small girl with beautiful golden skin. Her eyes were, if possible, even more liquid than her father’s. He was right; she did have pigtails. Beautiful black pigtails which would surely wave in the wind.

“She reminds me of Daisy.”

“Yes.”

She swallowed hard, handed the picture back. “Do you think she reminds him of Daisy?”

“I don’t know. Not all the children look alike. Boys, girls, it doesn’t seem to matter. The monster has an appetite for … sweetness. It might not matter how the source of this sweetness appears. I do not know.”

They were walking farther and farther away. Cherry realized she was peering behind the logs and trees.

I’m still looking for my daughter as if she had wandered away. I know she didn’t wander away. This man has forced me to know it.

“He cut off her pigtails,” Azhar said suddenly. “Took her legs, took her arms. Left her head. But somehow, it was the pigtails that gave me the most horror.” He watched her with moist eyes. “Isn’t that strange?”

She didn’t want to think about it. “Do you have any idea who did this?”

“I told you. The Handsome Butcher.”

“No, do you have any idea of who did this? A name? A description? If he took your daughter, and if he took mine, aren’t there clues or something?” She spread her hands helplessly. How does one do this? How does one find a madman?

“Clues won’t help you, my friend. He won’t be found. He doesn’t want to be found. He just wants to kill, to play, and that is what he’ll do. We can’t stop him.”

Cherry stopped in her tracks. “I don’t believe it. Not for a second. Someone will stop him because he has to be stopped. He has my little girl, and—”

His calm, lilting voice cut through her.

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