Page 13 of Batty About You
Now, I picture my sweet, brave Bogdan trekking in the darkness of the steep, uneven mountains, trying to find a signal or help.
What if he finds the wrong kind of help?
Halloween hitchhiker stories suddenly imprint themselves on my brain, so evil and frightening that I can’t erase them from my mind.
“I have to go!” I gasp, speaking to no one in particular.
“What, honey?” Cathy is behind me on the terrace, a scalloped silver dish of delicious bonbons rolled in sparkling purple sugar and iced with white spiderwebs held out in front of her.
“Bogdan didn’t show up! He’s missing. He’s hurt, something horrible has happened to him,” I babble, fists balled at my sideso I don’t grab her arms in my desperation and make her drop all of those pretty confections. “I know you must think I’m crazy, but—”
“No, no. I don’t think you’re crazy. He probably just got turned around up here. Did he come up I-81?”
I nod, swallowing hard.
“Here, why don’t you take some nice deep breaths and walk with me to the catering van for some more cocktail napkins?” Cathy advises in a soothing, motherly tone, as if I’m one of her frightened students on the first day of school. “You can get out of the noisy ballroom and give him another call. Maybe he’s got signal by now. If he doesn’t answer, we’ll start by calling the police department. I’m pretty sure Ardy Walsh, a local cop, is here at the party. I’ll see if I can find him. He’ll know what to do.” Cathy waves at Diana Stilz, one of the waitresses at the coffee shop. She’s not supposed to be helping with the catering, but she’s here at the party, dressed as a princess, and her sexy husband is a bard with a lute across his chest.
“Hey! What’s up?” Diana’s vivacious smile falters when she sees my tear-stained face. “You work with Cindy and Cathy, don’t you?” she asks, hands already reaching for the tray Cathy’s passing over.
“She needs some help. Can you pass those out while I get more napkins? I know you’re not working tonight, but—”
Whatever Cathy was going to say isn’t even necessary. Diana nods firmly and starts serving.
“This is such a nice place. And the party is so good,” I half-whimper, trying to take calm breaths. I look around, eyes filmed with tears, and see some truly amazing costumes. Cindy’s husband is some sort of mothman. Gloria White, the hostess, has some super pale makeup on that almost makes her look see-through. I swear one guy has tentacles that move when he walks,and multiple men have red contacts in that glow like rubies. “I think Bogdan would have loved this.”
“And he still will, even if he’s an hour late and has sore feet when he gets here, or greasy hands from changing a flat. Stop the chaos fantasy in your head. We always think the worst, and it’s almost never the case.” Cathy puts a comforting arm around me and guides me outside to the catering van. “I think I’ll take in a couple more boxes of the wooden cocktail skewers, too. People are eating like they forgot breakfast and lunch,” Cathy laughs, unlocking the rear doors as I stand sniffling behind her, fumbling with my phone.
I call Bogdan again—and a sudden flicker of bright light in the dark spooks me. I look past the van and—
“Cathy!” I screech, running in the gravel to the beat-up car hidden beside the van and the very edge of the parking area. “Boggie’s car! It’s here!” It is here, and his phone is on the dashboard, glowing as it buzzes and rings.
But he’s not here.
“Oh, God. What... What does this mean?” I put my hands to my temples. I can’t think when I panic, and I need to think.
“Well. He got here safely. But he’s not at the party—not that you’ve seen. He could have...” Cathy shakes her head, searching for words as she clutches napkins and skewers to her ample bosom in its low-cut gown.
I nod, but I’m not listening fully.
If he got here safely, but got here before me, what would Bogdan do?
Think like him. You know him better than anyone else, even his parents. He tells you things he’d never tell anyone else. You know his hopes. His dreams. His fears.
“He could be inside. He might have had some kind of fainting spell or hit his head in the bathroom. I’ll get a few of the guys to check the bathrooms in the house. Or maybe he got lockedin another room, somehow. I’ll get Wesley and Gloria White-Creighton to check the rooms!” Cathy volunteers.
I nod slowly. “I wonder... I wonder if, when he drove up here, he saw the college campus—and realized my apartment was right across the river. You can cross it on the footpath, you know?”
“I know! Cindy used to live there,” Cathy nods. “Do you think he went towards your apartment?”
“All I know is that we were both so excited and so nervous to finally meet. I’ll tell you more later. I just wonder if he thought he’d walk the places where I walk. Stop at the River House where I work, even if it’s closed tonight. Just because... Just because he’s a lovestruck fool like me. You know, his family lives in New Jersey, and mine lived in Maine when we first met. Every time I went to the ocean, I’d throw a shell into it and tell it to go find Bogdan on another beach,” I whisper, wiping my eyes.
“Oooh. Honey, you have it so bad. I envy you. Want me to come help you look for him on foot?”
“I need a flashlight and some sneakers. While the men search the house, I’m going to go home and change. If I find him on the way, I’ll call you right away,” I promise.
“All right, and if we find him here, we’ll call you.”
