Page 7 of Halloween in Sleepy Hollow
CHAPTER 2
CASH
“They’ve been gone a long time, haven’t they?”
Ben’s expression is weary and his gaze holds a hint of desperation. “How long does it take to go to the library and back?” he adds. “It’s a five minute walk at most.”
“Dad!” Elias yanks on Ben’s arm to get his attention. “The speleton isn’t done yet.” Little Elias shoves a handful of white pipe cleaners at him. “We need to finish the speleton.”
Ben takes the pipe cleaners and says patiently, “One second, bud. I’m talking to Uncle Cash.”
“But thespeleton.” Elias insists. “He’s missing a leg. He needs hislegs.” His voice wobbles; a telltale sign he’s close to being done for the night.
Winnie glances at me with a bemused look that makes her look far older than her years. “I think Elias is tired,” she informs me. “It’s probably time for him to go home.”
Ben twists two pipe cleaners together and sighs. “Idon’t remember feeling this tired when Laila was this age.”
Chuckling, I pat his shoulder. “You were younger back then.”
After a thoughtful moment, he nods. “True. And Laila was a little more… low key. Not like this guy.” He gives Elias’s hair an affectionate rustle. “He sure keeps me on my toes.”
“Dad!” Elias tugs on Ben’s arm again. “I’m hungry. And thirsty. And—” He pauses ominously. “I have to gopotty.”
Ben grimaces. “Shi—crap. If he needs to go… But I don’t want to leave without telling Thea.”
“Call her,” I suggest. “I’m sure she has her phone by now.”
But. Now that Ben’s mentioned it, how longhavethe women been gone?
I’ve been so busy with Winnie, time’s seemed to fly by—first decorating pumpkins, then making tongue depressor spider webs, and now working on pipe cleaner skeletons. Not that I haven’t missed Ari, but with a four-year-old occupying my attention, it’s hard to focus on anything else. Especially with the chatter of at least a dozen kids and their parents surrounding us.
“When did they leave?” I ask Ben. Glancing at my watch, I realize it’s ten minutes to six. Almost time for the much debated spooky storytelling session, which I know Ari will want to be here for.
Ben pulls his phone from his pocket and glances at the screen. He frowns. “Just after five. So they’ve been gone for nearly forty-five minutes.”
A weight settles in my stomach. Though logic tells me there’s no reason to worry, not with Ari accompanied bytwo of her friends and with half of downtown lit up for the Halloween celebration, worry still niggles in.
I know it’s natural to worry about the person you love. But with Ari, it goes deeper than that. Even five years on, the fear will still catch me unexpectedly. She’ll take longer than expected at the grocery store or stay late after school without telling me and I’ll be thrown right back to that terrible day when I discovered my brother had taken her.
Just for a second, I’m convinced she’s gone again. Kidnapped. Injured. Or even?—
But she’s not.
It’s ridiculous to even think it.
“Maybe they stopped to get a drink,” I say. “Or to do some shopping. Some of the stores are open late. And you know if they all get talking…”
It sounds like a reasonable explanation. Except it doesn’t ring true.
Not with the storytime in less than ten minutes.
Not when Ari was so excited to celebrate the holiday with Winnie—the first year she’ll really appreciate it, Ari explained—and searched for hours online to find the perfect pigeon costume to match one of Winnie’s favorite stories.
And not when Ari knows how I worry.
She affectionately calls me her bodyguard husband sometimes, and she’s not too far from it. I might not be former military, like some of our friends, but I’ve taken nearly every karate class at the local gym, plus I work out almost every day to keep in shape for my volunteer firefighting job.
So if somethingdidhappen, I’d be able to protect myfamily. Not that I’m expecting it to, but still. Better prepared than not.
