Unbreakable (13 page)

My mind was reeling from Papa's news when the front door of the restaurant burst open and Lizzie ran down the steps toward us, her eyes wide and wild.

“Hope, Samuel. You've got to help us. Charity is missing!”

I grabbed Lizzie by the shoulders
and tried to get her to calm down. “What do you mean she's missing? Wasn't she at school?”

She nodded, huge tears running down her cheeks. “She's supposed to come home right after school on Fridays. I thought she was upstairs. About an hour ago, I went to check on her, but when she wasn't there, I assumed she'd gone with Noah.” She took a deep, shuddering breath.

“But when Noah came into the restaurant, you found out he didn't have Charity.”

She nodded again and sniffed.

“Look, we'll find her, Lizzie. I promise.”

At that moment, Noah came running down the stairs, headed for his truck. “Her schoolbag's not upstairs. She never came home.” His eyes were wide with alarm. After what we'd just been through, I felt sure he was worried that something awful had happened to Charity.

“Noah,” Papa said sharply, “calm down. Charity is around here somewhere. She would never leave town. You and I need
to start looking for her.” He scanned the small group of people who had begun to assemble. Some of them had been in the restaurant and overhead Lizzie and Noah's frightening discovery. “The rest of you, if you want to help, ask around. See if anyone has seen her.”

Leah Burkholder, who had come over to see what was going on, stepped up next to Lizzie. “She left class at the usual time. I can't imagine where she could be.” Her face was pinched with worry.

“What about the other children?” I asked Leah. “Could any of them have seen her out on the street? Noticed where she went?”

“I-I don't know,” Leah said. “But it's certainly possible.”

“Leah, will you stay here with Lizzie?” I said. “Harold Eberly's daughter, Mercy, goes to the hardware store every day after school. She may have seen something. I'll be right back.”

As I ran down the street toward Eberly's Hardware, I could hear Papa giving instructions to those who had volunteered to help. Although I had to agree with him that Charity would never leave town on her own, I knew from firsthand experience that evil lurked right outside the safety of Kingdom. Could it have made its way inside? Was Charity in danger? I prayed as I hurried to the hardware store. When I got there, I pushed the door in and found Harold at the cash register and Mercy sitting on a stool beside him, obviously doing her homework.

“Gracious, Hope,” Harold said. “You look upset.”

“Charity Engel is missing. I need to ask Mercy if she saw her after school today.”

Harold turned to his daughter, “Mercy, do you remember seeing Charity?”

The girl stared at her father with wide eyes, obviously frightened by our intensity. Mercy, almost sixteen years old, was a quiet girl who kept to herself and wasn't usually the center of attention. “I don't know. I can't remember.”

I took a deep breath, trying to appear calm so she would relax. “Mercy, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sure Charity is fine. We just need to know where she is.”

She studied me for a moment, her sky-blue eyes fastened on mine. I could tell she was trying to recall what had happened after school. Suddenly, revelation flashed across her features.

“Now that I think about it, I did notice her,” she said slowly. “Usually she goes straight to the restaurant or to your shop after school. But today she walked the other way. Toward the edge of town.”

I tried to keep the panic off my face. Why would Charity walk
away
from Kingdom? It was the worst thing she could possibly do.

Harold frowned at his daughter. “Didn't you try to stop her, Mercy? Ask her where she was going?”

Mercy looked puzzled. “I figured she was going to the Strauss house. Don't her parents own it?”

“Yes, they do,” I said. “But right now, it's best if no one goes near the main road alone.”

Mercy looked over at her father with a curious expression. Harold nodded at her. “We'll talk more about it after Hope leaves.” He swung his gaze to me. “I should have addressed this before now. It's just hard to explain this kind of thing to your child.”

I didn't say anything more. It was painfully obvious why Mercy should be warned not to go near the main road. In the
light of Charity's disappearance, nothing I could say would make it any clearer. “Thank you,” I said to Mercy. “You've helped a great deal.” I smiled at her. “I've got to get back and let Charity's parents know what you saw.”

“We'll pray that she is found right away and that God will keep her safe,” she said.

“Thank you. I appreciate that and so will her folks.” I nodded at Harold and left the store, more worried than I'd been before I arrived. Lizzie and Noah were waiting on the steps of the restaurant when I returned. Papa wasn't anywhere to be seen. I assumed he was aiding in the search for her.

“Does Mercy know where she is?” Lizzie asked as soon as I reached them.

“Mercy saw her walking west down Main Street,” I said gently.

“Out of town?” Lizzie said, her voice breaking. “Oh no. But why? Why would she do that?”

“Mercy assumed she was going to your house. Has she ever done that before?”

Lizzie shook her head. “She knows better than that. Especially in the light of what's been happening. We talked about staying close to home.”

I found it ironic that Noah and Lizzie had explained the dangerous climate outside of Kingdom, yet Charity was missing. Harold hadn't taken the trouble to give Mercy the same instructions, yet she was safe at home.

“You both stay here,” Noah said. “I'm going to the house to see if she's there.”

“You are not going alone.” Papa had come up behind us. “After what happened to you and Hope today, no one
should go near the edge of town unaccompanied. I will go with you.”

Noah didn't bother to argue. He jumped in his truck and waited for Papa to climb in the other side. Papa barely got the door closed before they took off down the street. Several horses tied to hitching posts reacted with alarm. Lizzie and I joined several other residents in calming them. When we finished, I followed her into the restaurant, where she collapsed into a chair.

“I can't believe I didn't know she wasn't here,” Lizzie said, shaking her head.

I grabbed her hand. “Oh, Lizzie, you're a wonderful mother. Charity almost always goes straight upstairs after school. Anyone would have assumed the same thing. Don't blame yourself for something that isn't your fault.”

Before she had a chance to answer me, Callie came up to the table. People were beginning to file in for dinner.

“What do you want to do?” Callie asked softly. “Should we tell everyone to go home?”

“I don't know,” Lizzie said. “Maybe I should get back to the kitchen.”

“No,” I said firmly. “Either close the doors or let Callie and me handle everything.”

Lizzie shook her head. “You can't do it alone.”

I squeezed her hand. “Nonsense. Is everything already cooked?”

She nodded slowly. “I've started all the specials. The chicken needs to be fried, though, as well as the chicken-fried steak. The spaghetti's already done, and so is the beef stew.”

“Come back to the kitchen and supervise us,” I said. Frankly,
I thought it would be more appropriate to close the restaurant, but I knew Lizzie would just sit and worry. At least this way she'd have something else to think about.

Although she protested some, she followed us into the back room. Callie and I worked hard at obeying her instructions, but I couldn't get my mind off of Charity. Would the men who confronted us on the road today kidnap a child? They'd already proven they would kill for their twisted hatred. I loved Charity. Thinking of her in the hands of those awful men was almost more than I could bear.

We'd been working for nearly an hour when the door to the kitchen swung open. Callie had a huge smile on her face as she held it ajar. Noah walked in with a very embarrassed-looking Charity by his side. Papa stood behind her with Beau next to him.

“Charity Lynn!” Lizzie cried. “Where in the world have you been? You had me scared out of my mind.” She ran over and put her arms around her daughter. The seven-year-old girl didn't say anything, but as she hugged Lizzie she began to cry softly.

“She was at the house,” Noah said. “Waiting for me.”

Lizzie let go of Charity and straightened up. She stared at Noah, confusion on her face. “I don't understand.” She gazed solemnly at her daughter. “Why didn't you let me know you wanted to go to the house? I had no idea where you were.”

Charity kept her eyes focused on the floor, tears streaming down her face.

Noah cleared his throat. “Seems we have some talking to do. Someone told her that Clay Troyer is her father. And that he's in prison.”

Lizzie seemed to wither right in front of my eyes. This was something she hadn't wanted to explain until Charity was much older. Lizzie had gotten pregnant after Clay took advantage of her. Then he'd tried to take Charity from her after attempting to kill Lizzie first. Not only was she worried about what Charity would think of her mother becoming pregnant out of wedlock, she was also concerned how she'd take the news that her father wasn't someone to be proud of.

“Why didn't you tell me about Clay Troyer, Mama?” Charity asked in a quiet voice. Even though she was seven, she still had some problems with pronouncing the letter
r
. It made her sound like such a little girl that my heart ached even more for her.

“I planned to tell you, Cherry Bear,” Lizzie said, “but I wanted to wait a while. Maybe I was wrong, but I thought you should be old enough to understand.” She frowned. “Honey, if you wanted to know about Clay, why didn't you just ask me? I thought we could talk about anything.”

“She was afraid to upset you,” Noah said. “She figured I'd tell her the truth.”

Papa, who looked uncomfortable with the scene unfolding in front of us, suddenly spoke up. “Maybe the three of you should be alone to talk this out. Hope and I do not want to intrude on your personal business.”

“I'm sorry. You're right,” Noah said. “We shouldn't air our problems in front of you.”

“No, my friend,” Papa said with a small smile. “We are more than willing to share your burden, but I do not want you to feel we are encroaching on something that should remain private.”

“You're family,” Lizzie said. “We have no need to keep secrets from you, but you're right. We should talk this out.”

“Lizzie, why don't you all go upstairs? Callie and I have everything under control here. We can finish out the evening without you.”

She stared at me, biting her lip and slowly shaking her head. “I can't ask you to do that.”

“There are people driving in from their farms,” Noah said, “and we have no way to let them know we won't be open. I would hate to let them down.”

“What can I do?” Lizzie said, unable to keep the emotion out of her voice. “I really need to be with Charity tonight.”

“You go on,” I insisted. “We're fine. Really.”

Lizzie started to protest, but I held my hand up. “I won't hear another word about it. If we need help, we can always come upstairs and get you. Okay?”

“And I'll help too,” Noah said. “You and Charity need some time alone. I've worked in the kitchen before. The three of us can do this without any problem. You two get upstairs. I mean it.”

Lizzie looked at each of us. “All right. I appreciate it. And like Hope said, if you need me, I'll just be upstairs.”

“You and Charity take all the time you want,” I said, trying to look more confident than I actually felt. I went over to Lizzie's daughter and took her hand. The look in her eyes made me want to cry. “Charity, I want to tell you something. I remember when you were born. Your mama was so happy. There isn't a mother alive who loves her child more than your mother loves you. She has loved you all your life. Every single second. She would do anything for you. I had a good mother
too, but she died a long time ago, and I would give anything to have her back.” I let go of Charity's hand and smiled at her. “Being loved is the most important thing in this world. More important than anything else. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she said in a small voice. “I understand.”

Beau left Papa, walked up to Charity, and leaned against her legs. She looked down at him and then slumped to the floor, wrapping her arms around his furry body. The little dog seemed to understand and didn't flinch a bit.

Lizzie shook her head as she watched a dog that had been through so much reach out to a little girl who needed comfort. I heard Papa sniff and caught him wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

Charity finally let go of Beau and gazed up at me. As I looked into her dark eyes, I couldn't help but be amazed at the difference I could see in her over the past few months. When she'd come to Kingdom, she's been such a child. Now there was a maturity in her face and manner that was beyond her years. Maybe it was a blessing. Perhaps she would be able to understand that her mother wasn't perfect. That none of us are.

“Thank you,” Lizzie said, hugging me. “Let's go, Charity.”

We watched them leave and then swung into action. Even Papa pitched in. Seeing him deliver plates, pour coffee, and clean up tables made me giggle. Somehow, we made it through the evening and closed the doors around nine thirty, pretty late for a town that usually clears the streets by eight o'clock.

Not long after the last customer left, Callie took off. She'd done almost all of the dishes, wiped down the tables, and swept the dining room. There was very little for Noah, Papa,
and me to do. When everything was finally put away, Papa ordered us into the dining room.

“I need to talk to both of you,” he said sternly, using a tone he reserved for serious conversations.