Fielder's Choice

  Chapter 20

  Though she didn’t say so to Matt, Alana was scared. Scared and pissed. He was so busy accusing her of incompetence that he wasn’t paying attention to what needed to be put into gear. And though she fought them back, unbidden images of the worst possible scenarios knifed through her mind. Sophie could’ve been kidnapped; there were nuts everywhere, and Sophie was a friendly, beautiful child. Or she could’ve fallen out of a tree or tumbled down the rocks at the west side of the ranch.

  If anything happened to her... well, she was not going to send out any negative energy. While she wasn’t a hundred percent Northern California woo-woo, she believed enough that she wanted to do all she could to keep her thoughts positive.

  And Matt was right about what he’d said to her in the stadium—Sophie may simply have wandered off and become lost. Alana had done the same thing as a child. She’d been maybe seven, maybe six—Sophie’s age—the first time she’d done it. She’d had it with her bickering parents and had gone off following a trail. Before too long, she’d ended up following a butterfly and then a rabbit and then a deer and then the trail ended and she had no idea where she was. The gardener had found her cold and scared, but no worse for the experience.

  But what really freaked Alana out was the depth of her feelings for Sophie.

  She knew something of what Matt felt—her own feelings matched his, she just had more control in that moment. She’d grown to love Sophie. The little girl had snuck into her heart and settled into a spot that yearned to love unconditionally. With love like that, so open and unguarded, fear could rise so very easily. She recognized that now. As she saw Matt’s knuckles white against the steering wheel, she forgave him his outburst. He wasn’t a man who could tolerate not being in control. That demon haunted her sometimes, so she knew the terror of defenselessness. No one wanted to be vulnerable.

  When they reached the ranch, emergency vehicles crowded the frantoio parking area. The fire department had set up an elaborate grid for the search, and the staffers who were not dealing with the other camp kids lined up to do the sweep.

  “We’re going west first,” the captain shouted down the line, giving detailed instructions for the search sweep. He eyed Matt’s uniform but to Alana’s relief didn’t say anything.

  Peg was positioned in the center of the line; Alana pulled her aside. “I think you’d do better to stay here and handle coordination, Peg.”

  “I can’t just sit here and wait.”

  “Then keep your walkie-talkie on and keep everybody calm,” Alana ordered firmly. “I’m going to poke about some of my old haunts, places others might not know to look.” She took Peg’s hands. “It’ll be okay. She’s probably just wandered off again, like she did the first day she was here.”

  Peg unstrapped a water bottle from her belt. “Take this. And be careful.”

  “Will do,” Alana said and started to turn away. Then she turned back. “Peg?”

  “Yeah?”

  “We’ll find her.”

  “Yeah, we will.”

  In that moment something clicked, and for the first time Alana felt like she belonged at the ranch. It was the word we. Alana was part of it. They all were.

  Matt jogged up beside her. “I filled the sheriff in on some of Sophie’s habits.”

  “I’m headed out to some of my old spots,” she told him.

  “I’m coming with you.”

  Though Alana had told herself there was no danger lurking, she was glad for Matt’s company.

  They walked silently at first. She had to remove her shoes to cross a small creek. He offered her a hand as she hurriedly brushed the sand from her toes and slipped her shoes back on.

  “This creek have a name?”

  She heard the olive branch he offered.

  “Simon and I called it Old Oak Creek. Parker called it Measly River. He’s not much of an outdoorsman.”

  “I gathered.”

  “I wasn’t much of one either. But given the choice of sitting around with the squabbling adults or setting out here on my own, I’d be out here.”

  At a fork in the path, she chose to go southeast, toward the Hartman ranch. Matt didn’t argue, just nodded. She saw the trust there. And the desperation. As they navigated the brambles, being with him, working as a team, felt good.

  She saw a dark shape in the path ahead, and her heart picked up its pace as they ran.

  “Sophie’s?” she asked, holding out the small fleece jacket she’d scooped up from the path.

  Matt nodded.

  “We’re on track.” Alana reached for her cellphone but realized she’d left it on the craft table when she’d picked up water bottles.

  “Use mine,” Matt said. His batting gloves fell out of his pocket along with the phone. He shoved them back in and handed it to her.

  His phone had no reception. There were several spots on the ranch where cell signals didn’t reach.

  “Let’s just head over this way; maybe she crossed over to my neighbor’s land,” Alana said, wishing she could tamp down the anxiety she saw in Matt’s eyes.

  They reached a barbed-wire fence. Off to her right was a hollow dug under it, just big enough for them to crawl under to the other side. There the path split again. She wished she could remember which branch led to the old hut on Hartman’s property. She arbitrarily chose left.

  They rounded a bend and there was Sophie, squatted down and peering at something on the path. Her face lit up when she saw Matt and Alana.

  “Dad! Alana! Check this out—lizards mating. It takes forever. They—”

  Matt grabbed her up in a huge bear hug. “What the hell are you doing way out here?”

  Sophie looked from Matt to Alana and back to her dad. Her shoulders dropped in a defensive slump at Matt’s tone.

  “I was... well, Mr. Bingman’s talk was boring, and I took a walk and—”

  “What’s this?” Alana asked, picking up a scarf printed with butterflies. The scarf was pretty, but it reeked. Under the scarf was a carved stone. Alana knew the stone. It’d been years, but she remembered seeing it in the old hut.

  “Have you been going over to the hut near the creek?” Alana tried to banish the worry of the previous hour from her voice.

  “Do you like the scarf?” Sophie said in a blatant attempt not to answer. “I was going to bring it home and wash it.”

  “Sophie.” Matt’s tone was firm. He moved Sophie away from him and stood. “Alana asked you a question.”

  Sophie froze. Then she motioned her dad down to where she could whisper to him. He backed up a step. “No. Whatever you have to say, say it to both of us.”

  Sophie looked truly distressed, and Alana felt bad for instigating the whole drama. But Matt persisted.

  “Have you been going over to this hut Alana asked you about?”

  Sophie nodded slowly.

  “Where’s your backpack?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “I asked where your backpack is.”

  Sophie looked miserable. She darted her gaze from Matt to Alana and back to Matt.

  “I left it in the hut,” she finally answered.

  “Matt, take Sophie back with you; let everyone know she’s safe. I’ll get her backpack.”

  Alana started along the path that led toward the border of her and Zav’s properties.

  “No!”

  At the sound of Sophie’s outcry, she turned back.

  “You can’t go there. If they find her, they’ll take her home away.”

  Though Sophie fisted her hands on her hips, Alana saw the tears welling. She walked back to Sophie and knelt, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Whose home, honey?”

  “The butterfly woman, the one who knows about the fairies. She gave me the stone. It’s for the fairy village.” Tears were rolling now. “It’s way better than the one I found.”

  She wiped a sleeve across her face and blinked at Alana. “And you can’t go there because she... well, she stinks, and
I know how you feel about stinky. But she’s nice, really, really nice. I’ll just go myself and get my backpack and—”

  “We’re going with you,” Matt said.

  Even Alana knew better than to argue with that tone of voice, but she said, “I think it would be better if you two go back and call off the search.” She waved a hand toward the trees. “I’ll take care of this.”

  “I think we should let the sheriff handle the lady in the hut,” Matt said.

  “No!” Sophie wailed. Her voice bordered between defiant and desperate. “It’s all my fault... She’s a nice person, Dad. If I hadn’t broken the rules, no one would bother her.” She looked up at Matt and grabbed his hand. “They will, they’ll bother her. They’ll take her.”

  “How far is it to this hut?” Matt asked.

  Alana did some figuring. “Maybe three hundred yards.”

  “Then let’s get the backpack. A few minutes won’t make a difference.”