Mariah Stewart - Acts of Mercy

He took her hand and squeezed it. “Thanks for not giving up on me,” he said. “For understanding why I need to do this, at least for a little while longer.”

“I do think we ought to send Emme back to Conroy, though. She’s missing Chloe, and even though I’m sure Trula is doing a bang-up job as a nanny, I think it’s time for Emme to go back.”

“You’re right,” he agreed readily. “I’ll let her know.”

They walked side by side to the clearing where the volunteers who still remained were waiting to see what their next step would be.

“What’s it gonna be, boss?” one of the volunteers called to Robert. “You want to keep going? Got a few more hours of daylight here.”

Susanna glanced around at the expectant faces. There was no doubt in her mind that they’d stay till darkness fell if he asked them to. She tugged on Robert’s hand to hold him back for a moment.

“On second thought,” she told him quietly, “let’s call it a day. We need to talk with Emme for a few minutes before she heads home.”

“Good point.” Robert nodded. To the group, he said, “We’re going to wrap it up for today. I want to thank each and every one of you for giving your time and energy again today. I appreciate it more than I can say. I know you all have lives and families of your own, so your volunteering to spend some of your time to walk this mountain with me means a lot.”

“You gonna be back tomorrow morning?” someone asked.

“I will, yes,” Robert replied.

“Then I’ll be here, too,” the same volunteer told him.

“Me, too,” someone else called.

“I’ll be here,” called another.

“Thank you. I don’t want you to neglect your own families, but I appreciate any time you can give,” Robert said.

“I’m bringing mine with me.” A man near the back of the group cupped his hands. “Three teenagers. Gonna have ’em walk off some of that attitude.”

“Good idea, Clyde. Maybe I’ll bring mine, too.”

There was light laughter as the crowd dispersed, with lots of See you tomorrows .

Soon the clearing was deserted except for Robert and Susanna. Emme was speaking with a middle aged woman near the road. As Susanna and Robert approached, Emme looked up to meet Susanna’s eyes.

“What?” Suse asked.

“This is Barbara Cooper,” Emme said. “She’s just back from visiting family in Florida and heard about our search for Ian.”

“That’s very good of you, Barbara.” Robert’s weariness was beginning to show. “I appreciate you coming down today to help us out.”

“Oh, I wish I’d been here sooner, but I literally just got off the plane this afternoon, and when my neighbor told me about the search for your baby, I just had to come over.” The woman appeared slightly out of breath. “I was just telling Ms. Caldwell about the cabin.”

“Cabin?” Robert’s head snapped around to stare at her. “What cabin?”

“There’s a cabin about a half mile downstream from here, and-”

“Why haven’t I heard about this before?” Robert’s dismay was written on his face.

“Maybe because it is so far downstream no one thought it was significant,” Barbara told him. “Or maybe the fact that it’s located in the next county might have something to do with it.”

“But you seem to think it has significance?” Susanna stepped forward.

“Well, as I was telling Ms. Caldwell here, the cabin belongs to me, but I rent it exclusively to the Sisters of St. Anthony. They’re a very small order.” She added wryly, “And getting smaller every year, it seems. Between sisters leaving, and sisters dying, why, the numbers-”

“The cabin is rented to a religious order?” an impatient Robert said, interrupting her.

“Yes. They used to use it for solitary contemplation-you know, when one of the sisters wanted to have some time to herself to pray and commune with the elements.” She smiled and added, “The cabin has no heat, so the communing usually took place in the more moderate months.”

“Please tell Robert and Susanna what you told me,” Emme urged.

“Well, as I was saying, I just got back from Florida, and when I arrived home, there was a message from one of the sisters asking if the cabin was available to be used next weekend. Well, I told her it was available, but God only knows what condition it’s in. No one’s been out there in almost two years. So I thought I’d go out and take a look, make sure it was tidy, clean up the dust, bring the bed linens back to freshen them, you know.”

The tension in Robert’s face was beginning to take on a life of its own, but it was becoming increasingly clear that Barbara Cooper would get to the point when she got there.

“So I drove out and parked up on the main road; there’s no road leading down to the cabin, so I had to park about a half mile away and walk down the path. It’s pretty steep, and for my old knees, it gets steeper every time. But I get down to the cabin and the first thing I notice is that the padlock is on the ground and the door is open.” Barbara frowned. “So I’m standing outside thinking, what if someone is in there, you know? I tried to peek through the windows but the curtains were pulled over so I couldn’t see inside. I tried to call 911, but I had no cell reception out there. So I waited for a few minutes, and realized I couldn’t hear anything going on inside, so I pushed the door open slowly and peered around. Well, it was obvious no one was there, but just as obvious that someone had been. My first thought was some kids probably broke in to drink beer or make a little whoopee, you know. But as soon as I stepped inside, I knew that wasn’t the case.”

She ran the back of her hand across her forehead, which was shiny with sweat-a combination, Susanna assumed, of the heat, the humidity, and the experience she was relating.

“For one thing, the cabin was neat as a pin. For another”-Barbara stuck her hand in her pocket and took out something small-“I found this on the floor.”

She extended her hand and held out her open palm, and Robert reached for it to take a closer look.

“It’s a button,” he said softly. “Suse… look.”

Susanna peered into Barbara’s palm. The button was white with what appeared to be a tiny blue boat painted on it. Susanna’s heart leapt in her chest.

“It’s Ian’s,” she whispered.

“Thank God.” Robert’s eyes brimmed. “He was there. Someone brought him there.”

Emme leaned in to see. “It’s a button, all right, and I agree it’s most likely from clothing that a little boy might wear, but why are you so sure it’s Ian’s?”

“That’s a hand-painted button,” Susanna told her. “One of a kind. Well, one of the eight that were on a little blue sweater that Beth dressed him in quite often.”

“Still, let’s not get too excited. There must be other sweaters just like Ian’s.”

“Uh-uh.” Susanna shook her head. “Trula knitted that sweater, and I painted the little ships on the buttons myself. It was a shower gift. No other like it. This”-she pointed to the button-“was Ian’s.”

“Let’s call the police back,” Robert said, suddenly looking less weary. “If someone brought Ian here, there was a reason. My guess? Someone found him, and took him, maybe stayed here with him until they decided what to do with him. Which means that chances are, he’s alive.” He turned to Susanna and hugged her. “My son is alive, Suse. My son is alive.”

Susanna bit her tongue. Not knowing who had the baby, or why they’d taken him, there was in her mind no cause for celebration, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak the words. Someone else could do that. Emme, or the police, or the FBI. But not her. It had been too long since she’d seen that light of hope in Robert’s eyes, and she wasn’t about to be the one to put it out.