Brian Freeman - Thief River Falls

Purdue nodded, but his voice was sad. “Okay.”

“I won’t be long. I promise.”

“Okay,” he said again.

“It’s almost dark. Are you scared of the dark?”

“No. I’m not scared.”

“Good. Remember the plan, okay? If you hear anything outside, you go back down to the crawl space in the basement. Stay there. Wait until I get back. I will come back for you. Nothing will keep me away. You got that?”

“Okay,” he said one more time, but his voice had the strange artifice of a robot, the way it had in the very beginning. He sounded detached now. He was separating himself from the fear of what was going on, digging a hole for himself.

Lisa hugged him tightly. “Thank you, Purdue.”

“For what?”

“For showing up at my house. You may not understand this, but I needed you every bit as much as you needed me. Sometimes things happen for a reason. I really believe that. It’s not an accident that we found each other.”

She turned for the back door, but the boy called after her.

“Lisa?”

“What is it?”

“If I’m not here when you get back, it’s okay. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. Really.”

“Purdue, do not leave this house. Understand? You stay right here.” She went back and knelt in front of him. “Are we clear about that? I don’t want you getting any foolish ideas in your head, like hopping on a train and leaving me behind. Got it? You don’t need to protect me. That’s not what this is about. Adults protect kids, not the other way around.”

“Not always.”

“Well, maybe not always, but this time, that’s the way it has to be. I’ll be back as soon as I can, and everything will be okay. The only thing you need to do is not go anywhere. If you disappear on me, I’m going to be very upset. We’re in this together, you and me.”

“You and me,” Purdue agreed.

Lisa kissed the top of his head. She framed the boy’s face in her memory, just in case he was right, just in case something happened to her and all her promises were made of sand. Then she grabbed Madeleine’s coat and headed for the backyard.

Keri McDonnell had read Thief River Falls .

Actually, she’d read it twice. First she’d read it for herself, and then her book club had read it, too. It was probably her favorite book ever. So when she’d found out that the house she and her husband were renting was the same house in which Lisa Power had actually written Thief River Falls , she thought it was the coolest thing ever.

She remembered an interview in which Lisa had talked about writing the book out in the backyard next to the kiddie pool and the jungle gym. Whenever she was sitting out back with her seven-year-old daughter, she thought about Lisa in this same place, typing words into her laptop. It made her feel as if there was a connection between them.

Keri knew that Lisa’s parents had died, and she knew that Lisa still owned the house next door, although it had remained empty for the past year. Sooner or later she assumed that Lisa would show up, if only to start getting the place ready for sale. She wanted to be there when she did, so she could talk to her. It wasn’t that Keri was a creepy fan, but Thief River Falls was a mother’s book, and Keri was a mother, too. She wanted the chance to tell Lisa how much it had meant to her.

The women in her book club thought she was crazy, but most of them had already met Lisa at the library. Keri worked evenings and weekends as an EMT, so she was rarely able to go to events.

Today, she’d kept a close eye on the house next door. She had a feeling, she just had a feeling, that someone was there. Once, when she glanced at the windows, she thought she’d seen the blinds moving. And outside, in the back, there were footprints in the snow. That didn’t mean anything, because kids were always sneaking around the neighborhood yards playing games, but Keri was paying extraspecial attention to the house anyway.

Her kitchen smelled of chocolate chip cookies. She’d been baking for two hours, because her daughter, Emma, had a party at school the next day. Emma had been helping with the baking process, but her help usually consisted of sneaking spoonfuls of cookie dough when Keri wasn’t looking. Now her daughter was in the family room, dancing with Elmo and running around on a sugar rush.

Keri checked her watch. One last batch of cookies was in the oven, but she needed to hurry. Her shift would be starting soon, and she still needed to shower. As she waited for the timer to ding, she grabbed one of the cookies off the cooling rack and munched it while gazing through the window at the neighboring house. She felt sad for empty houses. Houses were supposed to be lived in. They were supposed to have kids. She wished that Emma had a next-door neighbor she could play with.

Keri’s eyes narrowed as she watched the house.

Was that a shadow? Was that someone moving around inside? She leaned over the sink and took a closer look, but she decided that her eyes were playing tricks on her. It was getting dark, and the wind kept throwing sheets of snow across the glass that made it hard to see.

Ding.

The cookies were done. She took them from the oven and moved them to the cooling rack, and then she washed her hands and switched into high gear. She didn’t have much time. She flew into the family room, where her daughter was playing, took a few seconds to do a little dance with her and Elmo, and then said, “I have to take a shower, okay?”

“Okay!” Emma said.

“We need to go soon. I’ll drop you off at Mrs. Allen’s, and Daddy will pick you up when he’s done with work. Are you ready to go? Do you have everything in your backpack?”

“Okay!” Emma said again, which meant she wasn’t listening at all.

“Emma? Are you ready to go to Mrs. Allen’s?”

“I’m ready!”

No, her daughter wasn’t ready, but Keri just shook her head. Some battles weren’t worth fighting. She headed for the bedroom at the back of the house and took the world’s fastest shower. When she was done, she blow-dried her blond hair and shivered as she found fresh underwear in her dresser. Her uniform was laid out on the bed. She was half-dressed when Emma strolled in, carrying Elmo.

“Can Elmo come with me to Mrs. Allen’s?” she asked.

“Sure,” Keri said. Sorry, Mrs. Allen.

“Can I have a hot dog for dinner?”

“You can have whatever Mrs. Allen makes.”

“I want a hot dog,” Emma said.

“Well, I’ll make hot dogs tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Emma said. “Oh, you missed that woman.”

Keri stared at her daughter. “What?”

“The woman next door. The one you want to meet. She came out of the house while you were in the shower. I saw her.”

Keri’s blouse was half-buttoned. She ran to the bedroom window and peered outside, but no one was in the yard. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“How long ago?”

“I don’t know. A couple of minutes.”

“I can’t believe it!”

Keri ran for the front of the house, where she shoved her bare feet into her husband’s oversize boots. She opened the door and stomped awkwardly out into the yard. A leafy oak tree blocked her view of the street, but she hiked through the snow to the end of the sidewalk. Halfway down the block, she could see someone hurrying away on foot. Even at that distance, she recognized Lisa Power. She thought about shouting after her, but Lisa was already too far away. And she really didn’t want to be a creepy fan.

Disappointed, Keri went back inside and kicked off the wet boots. Emma was waiting for her in the kitchen, eating another cookie.

“Did you talk to her?” Emma asked.