Harvey Comes Home by Colleen Nelson

Author:Colleen Nelson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pajama Press Inc.
Published: 2020-08-04T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Maggie

There were no calls about Harvey on Tuesday. Maggie was allowed to stay home to wait by the phone, but now it is Wednesday, and Maggie’s mother has told her she has to go to school.

“You’ve already missed a week,” Maggie’s mother says. “I’ll call the school if I hear anything, I promise.”

Maggie sits glumly at the breakfast table. She feels like the life has been sucked out of her. How will she ever have fun again? Laughing feels like a betrayal to Harvey. School, where her friends will want to hear all about her trip, will be painful. She doesn’t think she can put on a brave face.

When they pull up to school, Maggie reluctantly passes the phone back to her mother. “You’ll call the school if someone calls?”

“Yes, I promise.”

Maggie hesitates before getting out of the car. She can see her friends standing on the front steps waiting for her. She notices that Lexi got a new haircut while she was gone. Normally, she’d rush to be with them, eager to talk about her trip and gush about Lexi’s hair. But how can she pretend to be excited when Harvey is missing? She’ll have to tell them, she realizes. All of a sudden, she doesn’t think she can leave the car.

“Mom?” She turns away from the window. She can feel a lump in her throat and isn’t sure how to get rid of it. Her chin trembles.

Maggie’s mother puts her hand on her daughter’s arm. “It’ll be okay. We’ll find him.”

Maggie doesn’t tell her mother about overhearing her parents’ talk the other night, or the doubts that have started to creep in. Harvey might be lost for good. And worse, they might never know what happened to him.

“I’m not sure I can go up there.” She wants to go home and curl up on her bed.

Maggie’s mother gives her hand a squeeze. “Yes, you can. There’s no point sitting around at home waiting for a call. Being at school will take your mind off things.”

Her friends are talking together, probably wondering why she isn’t getting out of the car. It all feels too overwhelming. Maggie knows that she can’t think about it; she has to just go—like ripping off a Band-Aid.

“You’ll feel better once you’re there. It’s the thinking about it that’s so hard.”

Maggie blinks away the tears and takes a deep breath. Gripping her backpack straps in one hand, she opens the car door and is hit with a gust of wintry air. “Bye, honey!” her mother calls. “I love you.” Maggie shuts the door without turning around.

“When did you get back?” Brianne asks.

“Two days ago,” she admits. “But late at night. We needed to sleep in yesterday. And then—” She breaks off, not sure how to continue. “Something horrible happened.” She doesn’t mean to make a dramatic pause; she’s trying to keep her voice even. “Harvey’s lost.”

The girls howl in protest.

“When?” Lexi asks.

“H-how?” Brianne stammers.

“The day after we left!” A surge of anger hits Maggie. She’s kept it at bay, but now it comes at her full force.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.