Chapter 15 Una #2
She’d be there, Una knew. Behind those gray walls, watching.
Una had to keep J.J. and Jill away from that house, but how could she explain the danger to Natalie when she didn’t understand
it herself? She couldn’t tell Natalie how the woman in the library book, the one with Mrs. Smith’s face, had moved. She couldn’t
tell her how Mrs. Stapleton had buttoned her lip when Una asked about her father’s research.
But Mrs. Smith was changing. After years of avoiding people, she’d bought a car from Don. She’d replied to Elaine’s letter.
She’d hired the Scott children to do yard work.
Is she going to come out?
The thought turned Una’s mouth dry. The dust she’d dislodged from the nightstands stuck in her throat, so she went to the
kitchen for a glass of water.
Passing by the dining room, she heard Natalie say, “I’m not going into the office today. I’m working on my mailbox bed and
trimming the bushes out front. What’s Benjamin doing?”
“He went to work.” Elaine sounded embarrassed. “I wanted him to stay home, but he said he had meetings he couldn’t miss. Our rabbi will be here after lunch. I hope he can get through to Charles.”
“If you want, I can send Jill over later. The ice cream truck comes this afternoon, just late enough to spoil the kids’ dinner.
I’ll have Jill get something for Charles and bring it to him. What does he like?”
“The cookie sandwich with the vanilla ice cream and the chocolate chips. Thank you, Natalie.”
“I’d better get back. Justin’s watching The Smurfs even though Gargamel scares him.”
“He scares me, too,” Elaine admitted. “I think it’s because he only has that single tooth. It’s like a can opener.”
Hearing the smiles in the women’s voices, Una imagined them clasping hands, just for a moment, before Natalie walked out of
the house.
Una finished her water and placed the glass in the dishwasher. Elaine came forward, holding a check in her hand.
“Thanks for taming the chaos in here. I thought I could make everything better if I could find the perfect breakfast for Charles.
Silly, I know, but I didn’t know what else to do. Anyway, we’ll see you next week.”
In her car, Una glanced at the check. Elaine had paid her the full amount even though Una had only cleaned half of the house.
And because Natalie wasn’t going to the office, Una didn’t need to watch Justin, which meant she was free for the rest of
the day.
Instead of going home, she drove down the Scotts’ driveway and parked in the nook near the basketball hoop.
Lady and Tramp announced her arrival. Natalie opened the door but didn’t have the chance to speak because Justin skirted around
her and wrapped his arms around Una’s legs.
“Una!” he cried in delight.
She kissed his plump cheek and looked at Natalie. “I’m going to the library, and I thought Justin might like to come with me.”
“Are you sure?”
Putting a hand on Justin’s golden head, Una said, “I wouldn’t mind the company. This seems like a good day for a quiet place
like the library.”
“You heard what happened?”
Una gave Justin a little push. “Go get your shoes. We’ll stop at the hobby shop after we get our books.”
Justin let out a whoop of joy and raced away.
“I heard two boys are missing,” whispered Una.
Natalie joined her on the stoop. “There’s no sign of the boys, except for one life jacket. The current near those rocks is
pretty strong, but . . .” She trailed off.
“Jimmy is looking for them?”
Natalie nodded. “Lots of people are. Harbor patrol, sailors from three yacht clubs, and parents from all over.”
Una looked over Natalie’s shoulder to the windows facing the harbor. The water was draped in sun-sparkles. The light was too
bright. It burned tiny globes into Una’s eyes. She looked away just as Justin reappeared, carrying his sneakers and a quarter.
“I want a candy necklace,” he said, offering the coin to Una.
Natalie retrieved her purse from the coat closet. A movement caught her eye, and she froze in the middle of opening her wallet.
Jill stood in the hall, gripping the stair rail with one hand. She was dressed in jean shorts and a green Izod shirt that
was too small on her. Her hair was a nest of tangles.
“Can I come, too?” she asked in a near whisper.
“If it’s okay with your mom,” Una said.
Natalie pointed at the bathroom. “Brush your hair first.”
Una helped Justin with his sneakers and settled him into the back seat. Jill came outside a few minutes later, her hair fastened in a low ponytail.
Normally, she was a talkative child, but she didn’t say a word on the drive to Greenlawn. Justin filled the silence by humming
the theme song to The Smurfs over and over again.
“Can we go to the hobby shop first?” he asked while Una searched for a parking spot at the library.
“Yes, but you can’t eat your candy necklace until you’re back in the car.”
“Okay.”
On the sidewalk, Justin took Una’s hand and skipped all the way to the hobby store. He stopped in front of the display window
and pointed at a group of typewriters. “Jilly wants that for her birthday. She wants the blue one, so she can write real stories.
Mom says it’s too expensive, but Jilly’s going to buy it with her own money.”
Una admired the display, but she was really looking at Jill’s reflection in the glass. “I bet your sister will be a famous
writer one day. All of her books will be in the library.”
Jill’s vacant gaze skimmed over the sky-blue typewriter. Una could tell that it couldn’t hold the girl’s interest today. Not
when she was so numb inside.
The bell over the door tinkled merrily as Justin entered the shop and made a beeline for the candy display.
“Can you pick out something for J.J.?” Una asked him.
“This.” Justin handed her a package of Chuckles.
Jill pointed at a package of wax-shaped bottles filled with colorful liquid. “Nik-L-Nips are his favorite.”
Una swapped the candy. “What about you?”
Jill selected a piece of plastic shaped like a bullet. “Candy lipstick. You get two for a quarter.”
She chose two pink lipsticks and then wandered to the back to look at a shelf of horse figurines in boxes. Justin sidled up next to her and touched the box featuring a young boy riding a black horse. “What does that say?”
“It’s the Black Stallion and Alec, the boy who was on the deserted island with him.”
Justin shrank back. “I don’t like that movie.”
“I know, but I do. There’s a fire and their ship sinks. But they save each other. Otherwise, they would’ve drowned.”
A shadow darkened Jill’s face and she moved away from the horses to the activity book section. Instead of following her, Justin
crossed the store to gawk at a display of car model kits.
When he sat down on the floor to study a silver Camaro kit, Una approached Jill. She put an arm around the girl and squeezed.
“I don’t know what happened yesterday, but you’re strong and brave. You’re going to be okay.”
Keeping her eyes on a spinner rack of Invisible Ink books, Jill whispered, “Charles was behind us. His boat, I mean. He was
behind us, and he was screaming.”
“His mother thinks something scared him.”
Jill slowly turned the spinner. The plastic-wrapped books winked as they glided past. “I was in the car with him on the way
home. He stared out the window and whispered to himself the whole time. Our instructor was talking to her boyfriend, so she
didn’t hear him, but I did.” She swallowed hard. “He kept saying what he saw in the water. He said there were eels. And something
else . . .”
She shook her head, unable to finish.
“You’ll feel better if it isn’t stuck inside you.”
Jill gripped the rack until her knuckles turned white. “He saw a finger, floating in the water.”
Una’s tongue felt like a piece of leather. She knew she could tell Jill not to worry. She could say that Charles was mistaken. That his eyes had tricked him. It was foggy and the water was choppy, so he’d seen something that wasn’t there.
But Una couldn’t lie to this shaken girl.
Not when she believed Charles Bernstein.
He saw eels.
He saw a finger.
“Do you believe him?” Una asked Jill.
Jill nodded.
“So do I.”
Jill leaned against Una, her body heavy with gratitude, as Justin returned the model car box to the shelf.
Ambling over, he tugged Una’s hand and said, “Can we go now?”
“Yes, darling.”
At the library, Jill disappeared into the stacks and Justin got comfy in a chair in the children’s area. Una waited until
he was absorbed by a Busytown book and then hurried over to the checkout desk. She asked Mrs. Stapleton if they could speak
in private.
The librarian gave her a quizzical look and finished stamping a card. Then she gestured for Una to follow her to her office.
“Have you heard about the missing boys?” Una asked with uncharacteristic bluntness.
Wavelets traversed Mrs. Stapleton’s brow. “It’s terrible, isn’t it? Their families must be worried sick.”
“Has this happened before? Children going missing from boats? From the water?” Something flickered in Mrs. Stapleton’s eyes.
A quicksilver minnow of fear. Una saw it and pressed harder. “Did your father mention something similar in his research?”
The librarian stiffened. “Hardly. He mostly wrote about landmarks.”
“Please. I’m worried about the children I take care of. I want to keep them safe. If your father wrote about strange things—things that couldn’t be explained—I need to know.”
The librarian shook her head. “He didn’t—”
Una cut her off. “My grandmother used to tell me stories about things that seemed impossible. When I got older, my friends
said that none of the stories were true. But I knew things my friends didn’t know. Maybe your father did, too.”
Mrs. Stapleton darted a glance at Justin, who was moving his finger over the book page. Una knew he was searching for Busytown’s
little mouse.
The phone at the circulation desk rang.
“I need to get that.” The librarian moved toward the door. “Come back Saturday. I’ll have something for you then.”
Una returned to Justin and his Richard Scarry book. Busytown was a world of smiles and friendly waves. It was filled with
citizens who loved their jobs and lived in homes with glowing windows and families seated around dinner tables.
It was not a world of missing boys or floating fingers.
There were no eels in Busytown.
There were no monsters.