Chapter 17
Save the drama for your llama.
“What’s going on with you and Hudson?” Sarah asked as Scout put a little closed placard on the table of her personal booth. She’d sold out again and the high schooler she’d been paying to run the booth had just left.
Thankfully the second day of the festival was coming to a close, because she was exhausted once again. “Ah, what do you mean?”
Sarah shrugged. “There was a different kind of energy between you two this morning and he’s being extra weird today.”
“You ever going to tell me what you two were talking about yesterday evening?” Scout asked instead of answering. Because Sarah was right; Hudson was being weird.
He’d barely talked to her since after that explosive…
whatever the hell had happened in her laundry room.
She’d thought maybe they’d pick up where they’d left off after they’d finished cleaning up last night, but he’d been weirdly absent.
So she’d left dinner in the fridge for him and then finally crashed.
And when she’d woken up this morning—very early—the coffee pot had already been made and he was gone. She’d thought about trying to get him alone, but whatever. If he didn’t want to talk, she couldn’t force him. And she wasn’t going to beg for his attention.
It was annoying, but she had to keep her mind focused on the festival anyway. At least Zack Willman hadn’t shown up again today, so she hadn’t had to deal with talking to him.
“I mean…I’ll probably tell you,” Sarah said. “But you’ve got to bribe me with the good stuff.”
Scout blinked even as she waved at a neighbor who was walking by with a bag of goodies in hand. Today was just as busy as yesterday and they were two hours from closing and it didn’t seem like anyone was in a hurry to leave. “Good stuff?”
“I want one of those Yule logs you made. The one with the brandy butter filling and truffle icing.”
Scout hid her grin. Apparently food was the way to go with Sarah. “I can do that. And I also make yule logs with Chantilly cream. Want one of those too?”
“Yes.” The way she said it was reverent.
“And you’ll tell me what I want to know?”
“Probably. I’ll need some wine too.”
“Oh my god, you’re ridiculous…” She trailed off as a woman she vaguely recognized came racing up to her, her eyes wide and slightly manic.
Laurie Spangler, Scout realized as the woman reached them.
She worked at one of the local elementary schools and her husband was an offshore rigger or something.
“Laurie, is everything okay?”
The petite blonde shook her head, tears filling her eyes.
“Nathan is missing. I can’t find him anywhere.
He went to play one of the reindeer throw games with his friends an hour ago.
But when I tracked them down they said he wanted to go see the llamas and they didn’t.
And now I’ve searched everywhere and…” She swallowed hard.
“I can’t find him. I’m sure he’s fine but I’m starting to panic. ”
“You got a picture of him?” Sarah asked before Scout could respond.
Laurie looked at her, nodded even though they didn’t know each other.
“This is Sarah. She helped me set up a security system here on the farm. We’ve got a bunch of cameras up and can do a quick search for him,” Scout said because she assumed it was true.
“Come on.” Sarah motioned for them to follow her.
The cacophony of the festival filled the air—laughter, music, kids laughing and some crying—as they made their way through the crowd.
Scout unlocked her back door and they all hurried inside even as Sarah had her cell phone out, was clearly talking to Hudson.
“Text me a picture of Nathan,” Scout said.
Worry etched into every line of her face, Laurie nodded as she sent the image.
Scout texted the picture out to everyone working the event using their group text with a message that it was important and to be on the lookout for him.
“I just sent his picture to the food truck vendors, everyone running the booths and the people working security. Everyone working the event now has this and will be looking for him. He’s twelve now, right? ”
Laurie nodded. “I know he wouldn’t get in a vehicle with someone. And he’s big for his age so I don’t think anyone would take him but…” Her worry was still clear.
Sarah had Scout’s tablet out and was pulling up the security feeds as Scout fielded incoming texts from some of the vendors who had seen Nathan earlier. No one recently though.
“I’m going to keep looking, but this is the last time he shows up on camera.” Sarah paused on a video feed of Nathan petting Clover.
Scout knew that Sarah was using some kind of high-tech program that scanned for facial recognition, but she wasn’t going to tell Laurie that. It didn’t matter. That was how Scout knew this was accurate.
“Press play,” Scout said.
Moments later Nathan wandered off toward one of the fences and ducked under it.
“What is he doing?” Real worry laced Laurie’s voice now.
“I’m checking some of the cameras in Scout’s outer fields,” Sarah murmured.
The chances of the cameras catching him felt way too small.
Scout debated their next move for a few seconds.
“Call the sheriff if you think that’s best,” she said to Laurie.
“I’m going to round up everyone here and tell them what’s going on.
I think if we get a search party going now before it’s dark we have a better chance of finding him. And I’m not waiting for the sheriff.”
Laurie nodded, already pressing her phone to her ear as she called it in.
“Take this.” Sarah handed Scout a small earpiece. “I’m going to be manning the security feeds live from here. If I see him, I’ll let you know. Hudson is on this feed too, along with Ace and Silas.”
Hudson had brought in a couple extra guys for security and now she was over-the-top grateful for it. In the past her grandpa had hired off-duty sheriff’s deputies to run security but she’d opted to do her own thing this year, considering the vandalism and her distrust of the sitting sheriff.
Now she slid it into her ear as she raced out the back door, her adrenaline pumping. It seemed as if Nathan had just wandered off on his own, but there were bears and other animals out on her acreage.
It was getting dark and her land was huge, especially for a kid. There were any number of things that could go wrong so quickly.
***
“Slow down,” Hudson said, reaching his hand out to touch her, then withdrawing it before it made contact.
Scout internally rolled her eyes—whatever was going on with him paled in comparison to finding Nathan. It was dusk, the sun setting way too quickly.
Shadows played over the woods and she could hear faint calls of Nathan’s name in the distance from the festivalgoers helping with the search, but she and Hudson had ridden out on her ATV.
Nearby neighbors had brought in their horses and ATVs, and everyone had spread out in different grids. Even the Willman farm was pitching in with their horses and a few riders.
“What is it?” she whispered.
He held up a finger as he slid out of the passenger seat. Then he called out, “Nathan!”
She heard it too then. A faint cry. Her heart rate kicked up as she jumped out, holding on to her flashlight.
“That direction, I think.” She held her flashlight out into the quickly darkening woods.
Hudson had a small backpack on and his own flashlight.
“Nathan,” she called again as they stepped off the driving trail into the woods. The foliage crunched underneath her boots, the sound seeming overly loud.
“Help!” That little voice was louder now, but it was definitely a child’s.
“Hold on.” There was another voice in the distance. A male one she didn’t recognize. An adult.
She and Hudson both sprinted into action, racing through the woods toward the voices.
Since she still had her earpiece in, she tapped it to unmute herself.
“I think we might have found him,” she said to Sarah.
“There’s someone else here too. If you hear that we’ve found him, let his mom and the sheriff know. ”
Hudson was ahead of her but just barely.
They both cleared a cluster of trees to find a big man with his hands up, motioning to Nathan, who was on one of the higher branches of an ancient oak, clutching onto it with no intention of letting go.
“I promise, there’s no snake.” The man looked over at them, nodded politely. “I’m trying to get him down.”
“I saw it!” Nathan’s voice shook, his eyes, which were so much like his mom’s, wide and terrified. “It’s why I ran.”
“Hey, hon.” Scout approached, with her flashlight pointing at the ground. “Your mom has been looking for you. Do you know who I am?”
Sniffling, Nathan nodded. “Yeah, Scout. The lady with the llamas.”
She suppressed a snicker as she nodded back. “That’s right. Did you see the snake a while ago or recently?”
“A while ago. I got scared and ran. Then I thought I heard a bear, so I climbed the tree to hide.”
Well she certainly wasn’t going to tell the kid that snakes could easily slither up trees. And bears could definitely climb them. “If you saw the snake and ran, I promise you that it’s long gone.”
Nathan nodded but still didn’t make a move to come down. “I’m scared to climb down,” he finally said. “I tried, but can’t. I’m afraid I’ll fall. I broke my leg last year and it was the worst thing ever.”
Okay, the real reason he was still stuck.
Hudson was standing underneath him now. “If you let go, I’ll catch you. It’s only about eight feet. Not far.”
“I don’t know.”
The temperature had already dropped another ten degrees. It was Florida so it wouldn’t get icy, but the kid wasn’t wearing a jacket and oh… She spotted a couple rats with her flashlight.
One squeaked and ran away to avoid the light.
“What was that?” Nathan demanded.
“Tree rat,” Hudson said without taking his eyes off the kid.
“What!” the kid screamed.
“Oh yeah, the tree is full of them. They only come out at night.”
Behind her, she heard the man she didn’t recognized chuckle slightly. But she winced. Because come on, he was going to terrify the kid.
“Oh my god!” Nathan tried to scramble farther out onto the branch but lost his grip.
Her breath caught in her throat as he slipped and plunged through the air, but Hudson caught him with ease, setting him on his feet.
Tears tracked down his face but Nathan threw his arms around Hudson, who seemed a little taken aback by the display of affection. He patted Nathan’s back awkwardly. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”
“Your mom is really worried about you.” Scout crouched down in front of him. “And we’ve got hot cocoa and hot dogs waiting for you back at the farm.” Laurie had told him that they were his favorite from the festival.
“Really?” He wiped at his dirty face.
“Yep.”
Nathan nodded. “Were you just joking about the tree rats?” he asked as he fell in step with them.
That was when she realized the man from before was gone. Where the heck had he disappeared off to? She glanced around, saw that Hudson looked concerned too.
“Of course I was,” Hudson said. “But for the record, snakes can climb trees.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep. But for the most part they’re way more afraid of humans than we are of them. If you see one, just back away slowly. And if you see eggs, get the hell out of there fast.”
Nathan laughed at that as Hudson guided him into the passenger seat.
Scout started the engine, but answered her cell when she saw Laurie’s name on the screen. “We’ve got him. He’s safe.” She wanted to know more about the stranger in the woods, but he’d disappeared. They could ask Nathan about him later.
“Can I talk to him?”
“Of course.” She handed her cell phone to Nathan as she headed back down the trail.
She could hear Hudson on his phone in the back seat telling Sarah to start calling off the volunteers.
For the first time in almost two hours, Scout could breathe again. Nathan was safe and they’d avoided what could have been a serious tragedy. She was so damn grateful to the whole community for stepping up the way they had.
Not that she’d expected anything different. It always shocked her how awful people could be online to each other, but then when it came time to helping their neighbors, they stepped up without thinking.
Today had ended so much better than it could have and she would be forever grateful.