Carolina Key Page 4

  Ch. 5

  Sat. July 7, 2008

  Hope

  On Saturday morning I did not miss Grace at breakfast. Sometimes a camper would ask to talk to her at the pavilion or I would just miss her in the rush to get 120 plates and cups filled and then washed. I was grateful the camp kitchen was outfitted with industrial power appliances. I did miss her when the kids exited the dining hall to go to their first bible classes of the day. She always came to me and gave me a hug no matter how busy she was. I thought it was odd but I didn’t panic. After all she was 15, not 5. The girl deserved some independence. She had

  never given her father and I even a moment’s worry.

  Well now, that’s not quite right, there was

  a time when she was about 18 months old. She left the yard to go and look at the creek on our property while we were experiencing a raging flood. I will never forget the feeling in my heart as I saw her walking back up the hill, covered in mud with a huge smile on her face saying,

  “Mama, I go to the cweek!” I could have killed her! Today, I smiled to think of it as I put away the clean pots and pans and began my prep work for lunch. I lost myself in baking snickerdoodle cookies for the campers’ morning snack. I love to bake and I was humming a hymn as I put the last of the cookies on a cooling rack.

  Courtney entered the kitchen with another young counselor to take the cookies out to the big

  tent for snack time.

  “Mama Stephens, where is Grace? I haven’t seen her all day.” Courtney asked, a frown on her pretty face.

  “What? What do you mean you haven’t seen her? She is teaching singing in the pavilion,” I said patiently.

  “No, we just came from the pavilion.” she said pointing to the other counselor.

  “Michael had to cover her station because she didn’t show up and I asked Stephanie where she was and she said she hadn’t seen her all morning. You know Stephanie hasn’t left her side since she was baptized the other night.” Courtney said.

  “That’s impossible. You’re telling me she missed breakfast and her morning class?”

  “When was the last time you spoke to her?” I asked.

  “Last night, after the scavenger hunt. She and Daniel were drinking coffee and talking here in the dining hall. I went over and told her goodnight. She said she would come on to the cabin in a few minutes. When I woke up this morning I just thought she got up early to get in a run before it got too hot. She does that sometimes. She and Carmen, that girl from Aggieland,” Courtney said.

  I knew about her early morning runs. Phillip and I had given her permission as long as she was with someone else. I knew that living with other kids week in and week out got to her sometimes. Being an only child she was used to her privacy. I thought for a moment.

  “I’m going to check her cabin. Take the cookies out to the big tent. If Grace is not there, I will go find Shirley. It’s possible she had something for her to do,” I said and strode out of the kitchen at a determined pace. Walking down the path my hands began to shake. Surely this was nothing to be concerned about, she had to be here on the campus somewhere. Something had come up was all. I struggled to reassure myself. I prayed as I opened the door to Grace’s cabin. My heart fell as I surveyed the dark, empty room. There were no lumps on the beds

  indicating she was sleeping or sick. I walked over to her bunk, which was neatly made, and picked up her green Nonny bear. She had had Nonny bear since she was four. I saw her tennis shoes arranged neatly under the bed. I knew they were the ones she saved for running. They were the new kind that allowed more air to circulate. I stared at them for a minute, my face flushing and my heart began to pound.

  Don’t panic, I told myself. Go find Shirley. It took effort but I got my feet moving and I ran back to the main building and down the big staircase to Shirley’s office. It was locked and dark. I walked down the corridor and knocked on Daniel’s door. He came to the door of his apartment wearing a swim suit, Tshirt, and flip flops.

  “Mrs. Stephens, what can I do for you?” he asked politely.

  “Have you seen Grace this morning?” I asked urgently.

  “Why no, I haven’t. I was just spending some time alone preparing my final sermon for the

  banquet. I promised to take some of the younger boys fishing off the pier.” he said. He closed the door behind him and locked it with a key he pulled from his pocket.

  “Grace did not show up for breakfast or morning classes. I went to her cabin and she wasn’t there. I was afraid she was sick. Do you know where Shirley is?” I asked.

  Daniel cleared his throat, a pained look on his face. “Um, Mrs. Stephens, I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but some of the senior counselors were talking about going to Sixth Street last night. She might have gone with them after we had coffee together.” he said.

  Sixth Street was in downtown Austin. It was an area of bars, live music, and loose morals. The senior counselors were all college students over 18.

  “My daughter would never have gone there! She’s 15 years old.” I snapped. “Where is Mrs. Baker?”

  “She called in sick, had a virus or something. Lance should be in later today. I will pick him

  up from the airport at 3:00.” he said.

  “Please let me know if you see Grace,” I ordered and turned on my heel. I stomped up the stairs, my mind whirling. Where could she be? I put a hand in my pocket and brought out my cell phone. I tried Grace first, leaving a frantic voice mail telling her to call me if she knew what was good for her. Next, I tried Phillip and left a message on his cell asking him to call me about Grace’s schedule. I didn’t want to scare him, at least not when she could walk in any moment.

  What should I do now? I stood outside the great room, a weight on my chest keeping me from

  taking a deep breath. Think, Hope, think.

  “Mrs. Stephens?” a voice said to my right. It was Madison, the assistant director, whose apartment was also downstairs.

  “Is everything ok?”she asked. “The jcs who are on KP duty want to know what to do about lunch. I told them I would try to track you down,” she said. Her

  long, carrot red hair streamed over her shoulders and I noticed how it shined in the light of the sunny room. I took a deep breath finally, and said, “Grace is gone. No one has seen her today and Daniel thinks she went to Sixth Street last night.”

  “Grace? Oh no, I don’t think so. The only ones that I know of that ended up going were Kyle and Steve. I can’t imagine Grace going with them.” she shook her head and frowned.

  “But where could she be? Michael said she didn’t show up for her singing station in the pavilion and he had to cover for her. Courtney said Stephanie hadn’t seen her in the cabin before breakfast. Shirley called in sick. I don’t know what to do,” I said helplessly. I jumped as my cell phone rang in my pocket. It was Phillip.

  “Hi, honey. What’s up with Grace’s schedule and how much is it going to cost me?” he joked.

  “I don’t want to scare you, honey but I think Grace is missing. She has not been seen by anyone since last night. Some of the kids went to Sixth Street.” I said gravely. There was a long pause. I could hear him breathing and a sob caught in my throat. More than anything I yearned to feel his calming presence and his warm hand in mine.

  “Can you come out here?” I asked, my voice breaking.

  “Call the police. I’m leaving now.” he said abruptly and broke the connection. I closed my eyes and prayed for his safety. Madison was looking at me with a scared expression.

  “Mrs. Stephens, we have a procedure for this kind of thing,” she said.

  “A procedure?” I asked.

  “Yeah, like when I worked at Walmart? They call a Code Adam and lock down the exits and every assoc
iate has to look for the lost kid. We had a kid run away from camp last year,” she said.

  “What happened to him?” I asked absently.

  “Oh, he was fine. He came in about dinner time. He was sunburned and covered in mosquito and ant bites. He was dehydrated but very glad to be back in civilization.” she laughed. “I will go and begin our procedure and you can go ahead and call the police.” She turned to go, the sound of her flip flops echoing in the great room.

  “Dear God,” I prayed. “Grace is my only child. You gave your only child for me and my

  sins. Please, please…” I moaned to myself and rested my head on the wall for support. I didn’t know what else to pray for. Panic made my mind blank.