Rachel Alexander 04 - Lady Vanishes by Benjamin Carol Lea

Author:Benjamin, Carol Lea [Benjamin, Carol Lea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-10-11T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

What Would You Have Us Do?

I heard it before I saw it; the shrill whooping of the siren coming our way, turning on when the street was blocked and off when the road was unobstructed. At first, my only concern was for Dashiell. I bent over him and cupped his ears with my hands, trying to deaden the painful noise as best I could.

But when the red, white, and blue fire department ambulance passed us, turning onto West Street, I began to run, getting to the comer of Eleventh and West in time to see it stop where I feared it would, in front of Harbor View, two paramedics jumping out, grabbing a collapsible stretcher from the back, snapping down the legs, then running toward the door and disappearing inside. Someone must have been standing there, waiting for them, holding the door open, not a minute to lose.

By the time Dashiell and I got there, there were three more emergency vehicles on the scene, two from the fire department and a police car. I pulled out my keys, wondering what had happened that was more than Harbor View could handle without help—a bad fall, a heart attack, a seizure— thinking how vulnerable the kids were, how easily they got upset, and how dangerous that could be, wondering who it was, my heart pounding.

Keeping Dashiell on leash and right at my side, I unlocked the door. The lobby was empty, and the doors that led to the dining room doors were closed. I opened them just enough to peek inside. Most of the kids were there, sitting around the tables. But no one was painting or singing or eating lunch. They looked almost like mannequins that someone had placed randomly around the tables.

Even Cora and Dora were quiet, sitting side by side in their wheelchairs, for once with nothing to say. Charlotte was sitting alone, her fingers in her mouth. I didn’t see David. And he hadn’t been in the doorway. I looked back to make sure I hadn’t missed him again. Jackson wasn’t there either. I wondered if he was in the garden.

Arlene was off in a comer with her issue, the lovely Janice, the sporty-looking Bailey, looking nearly as blank as everyone else. Only Samuel showed expression, and what I saw scared me. Then Molly came out of the kitchen, holding a glass of water. When she saw me in the doorway, she bit her lip and shook her head, making my stomach lurch.

I heard two more sirens whooping, and I could see the flashing lights outside the dining room windows. Still holding the glass of water, Molly went to look.

I looked, too. From where I was standing, I could see through the sidelight next to the door, where David usually stood, that two more police cars had pulled in and stopped in front of Harbor View. They’d come from Jane Street, driving against the traffic on West Street, and now, doubleparked on the other side of the

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