Stay by Bobbie Pyron

Author:Bobbie Pyron
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2019-07-23T16:00:00+00:00

30

Finding Baby

Daddy’s still at work. Mama and Dylan walked over to the library for afternoon story time. I really like going to that library, but I didn’t go. Right now, I have to take advantage of not being in school because of the snow and concentrate on finding Baby. I’ll sure be adding snow days to my grateful list tonight.

Karina and Daria sit cross-legged on my bed. I’m praying they don’t smell the pee accident Dylan had the other night.

Karina turns the silver key over and over in her hand. She holds it up to the light. “I’m pretty sure this is a locker key,” she says.

She looks at the engraving on the key. “CWS three, number twenty-five,” she reads out loud. “I’m not sure what CWS three stands for,” she says, “but twenty-five must be the locker number.”

“I wonder what’s in there?” I say.

Karina shrugs. She raises one dark eyebrow. “Who knows? Maybe nothing, or maybe something that will tell us more about her.”

“At least we know her last name is Knight,” Daria says. “That’s a big help.”

Daria frowns over Jewel’s small leather book. She’s writing something down on a piece of paper. She grabs the end of her thick black braid and chews on it. “The addresses in the book are from all over the place—Oregon, Denver, even Saint Louis—so I can’t tell where she lived before she and Baby ended up here.”

Dang.

“But,” she continues, holding up her pencil, “she does say that she has to call Lexington Power and Light.”

“Isn’t Lexington in Kentucky?” I ask.

Daria nods. “I think so, but we need to check it on the computer.”

“Let’s go down to the Resource Room,” Karina says. “If we’re lucky, one of the computers will be free.”

Luck is with us. Someone is just leaving a computer when we get there.

Daria logs on. She types in the word Lexington. We watch the screen. Daria worries the end of her braid while we wait, just like Mama does.

“Wow,” Karina says, shaking her head. “Who knew so many places are named Lexington?”

Double dang. Then an idea flickers in my brain like a firefly. “What if you search the name of the electric company?”

Daria’s fingers flash over the keyboard.

“Bingo!” she says with a grin. “Piper, you’re a genius. That electric company is in Lexington, Kentucky.”

Let me tell you, nobody has ever accused me of being a genius.

“That’s a long ways away from here. Almost as far as where we came from in Louisiana,” I say.

“Wonder why she came all this way?” Daria says.

“And how?” I add.

“Does she have family here or nearby?” Karina wonders aloud. “Could that be why she came here?”

“But then why would she and Baby be living in the park?” Daria says.

We stare at the computer screen like it’ll magically tell us more.

It doesn’t.

Just then, Karina’s mom pops her head into the room. “Oh, there you are,” she says. “I’ve been looking all over for you. The brownies have arrived. I need your help unloading the boxes.”

Firefly Gourmet Brownies!

We shut down the computer and follow Mrs.

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