She ran as fast as her little legs could carry her but her kidnapper was advancing fast. She held her note close to her chest as mud splashed upon her bare arms and legs leaving streaks on her daisy patterned shorts. She tripped on a large rock, barely noticeable on the mucky ground and in moments her kidnapper was upon her. She couldn’t scream. She couldn’t breathe. She cried, and in the final moments before death she murmured a faint sound. “Mommy” Stabbed viciously and beaten long after her death had come in blind, raging fury, her attacker stood from the mess in front of them.
Blood had pooled everywhere, the knife so covered it seemed camouflage to the darkness surrounding them. The attacker stood dazed at the scene before them and, with dawn to be soon, took with them the weapon, covered their trail, and headed back into the dark abyss of the forest. … It was a sunny afternoon on a June day in Alabama. The children had been playing in the field near the house since midday. Maureen sat, thinking, in her chair by the fireplace, looking at the picture of her deceased sister and brother-in-law. Today would mark a year since their murder.
It had shaped into a great day so far and she was glad her niece had not seem to be having any issues. Maybe, she thought, the young girl just didn’t know what today was. Deep in thought the grandfather clock struck six, bringing Maureen back to the present and she stood to call the children in for dinner. “Mark, Duncan, Cheyenne, Phoebe! ” she yelled out the side door of their chipped white house. Within a minute, her children popped up from the field, and headed for the creaking old porch.
As Mark, the eldest walked in she asked what the kids had been up to that day. I’m not all that sure mama. I spent the day finding specimens for my collection. ” Mark replied. Tall and lanky he was a handsome boy. His eyes were an emerald green, just as his mother’s’ and, he had possessed the same deep dark brown hair color from his father and uncle, but many girls did not like the idea of him, for he was a collector of bugs and snakes and anything else he could find out in the fields. His sister Cheyenne on the other hand was a young teen who had the eyes of every boy in the town.
“MAMA, he caught another frog. Make him get rid of it! ” Right on cue, Cheyenne yelled through the door. Her prairie blue dress complemented her natural developing curves. Her soft black curls bounced around her head in a tangled mess. You could tell she had been lying in the grass, observing the clouds, as it was her favorite pastime. “And Duncan kept bothering me. He kept asking me what I was doing and trying to get me to play with him. ” She looked at her youngest brother. He, like his cousin, was only 6. “Mama, I just wanted someone to play with. I was bored. His pale blue eyes looked upon his mother. “Well what about Pheobe? ” Maureen peeked out the door. Phoebe had not returned with the others. “Where is Pheobe? ” she looked the three. “Who knows? Maybe she ran off” he sneered. Despite the biology loving nerd he was, he had never really liked his cousin. He envied the attention she got from others and wished she had died alongside her parents all those months ago.
“Oh Mama, ignore him. They got in a fight again, but I though she came inside a long time ago. ” Duncan stuttered up at his mother. “Is she okay? He and his cousin had grown very close over the last year. All though they were both too young to understand much of what had happened, they were able to comfort the other. They did almost everything together. Cheyenne, much like her eldest brother, did not like her younger cousin for she hated no longer being the only girl child in the household, and envied how her mother looked upon her cousin. “Mother I don’t feel well. I’m off to bed for the night. I am not hungry. ” She replied, not having any interest in where the child had gone and she headed for her room.
Maureen set the two boys down at the table for dinner and called once more for her niece. Dinner passed without any notice of the child and Maureen called the boys to bed. Maureen prepared herself to call the police after she had set Duncan to bed. After reading a short story to her boy and tucking him in, she turned to leave, only to have his little voice stop her. His tone was one of a scared voice, unsure of what he was going to say or hear. “Mama? Earlier when Mark and Phoebe fought, she ran off. I had seen a strange man on the road but I didn’t see her leave with him.
Could he be the reason Phoebe is gone? ” Frozen for a moment, Maureen turned. Choosing her emotions and words carefully, she asked “A Strange man you say? ’ “Yes Mama. ” He buried his head into his blankets, afraid his mother would be cross with him forgetting to tell her earlier. “Well honey, I cannot tell you for sure, but one thing I am sure about is Phoebe is going to be just fine, and you’ll see her tomorrow before lunch time okay? ” Unsure of her own words of reassurance to the boy, she gave him with a weak smile and a kiss to the forehead. “OK mama. He shut his eyes and Maureen slowly crept out of the room and lightly shut the doors of her children, who all were sound asleep except her daughter Cheyenne, who seemed very awake still. She rushed to the phone downstairs. Picking it up she dials the police. It rings a few of times before she hears from the other end of the line. “This is the police station. What can I do for you? ”
The lady who answer sounded annoyed by a call at this time of night. “May I speak With Sergeant McClain? ” Maureen wanted to talk to the same police officer that had been in charge of her sister’s murder. Moment please. ” The voice disappeared to elevator music. “Hullo? ” A husky male voice boomed into the phone, stopping the melody. “Sergeant McClain? ” Her voice timid compared to his. “Yes ‘am? ” “It’s Maureen, the sister from the Calliway Case? ” Her voice shook. The last time she had spoke to this man was the day the of Amelia Calliway’s funeral. “Well hullo ma’am what can I do for you at sucha late hour? ” He seemed to be in a better mood then the lady that first replied. “Phoebe, my niece from the Calliway case, has gone missing.
My boy said he had seen a strange man shortly after her and Mark had had an argument. At six I called the kids in to eat and Phoebe never returned with the others. She still hasn’t returned. I’m awfully worried. ” Maureen had started to cry. She was overly protective of her young niece ever since she had lost her sister. Pheobe resembled her mother so perfectly. The young tyke was shaping up to be like her mother everyday, in kindness, beauty and strength. “Calm down missy. I will send out a party to search as soon as I can and you just get some rest. She probably just wandered too far and got lost in the fields.
I’ll see you in the morn where we can look further into details and maybe search a little harder. ” “All right. I will try. Keep me updated if you find anything though. ” “We’ll be over in minutes if we find anything tonight ok? ” “Okay” “Goodnight Miss” “Goodnight Sergeant McClain. ” The Sergeant hung up and Maureen sat in her chair by the fireplace once more for the day, but no longer was she happy. Morning was to come all too late but eventually Maureen dozed off into a sleepless rest. … She ran as fast as her little legs could carry her but her kidnapper was advancing fast.
She held her note close to her chest as mud splashed upon her bare arms and legs leaving streaks on her daisy patterned shorts. She tripped on a large rock, barely noticeable on the mucky ground and in moments her kidnapper was upon her. She couldn’t scream. She couldn’t breathe. She cried, and in the final moments before death she murmured a faint sound. “Mommy” Stabbed viciously and beaten long after her death had come in blind, raging fury, her attacker stood from the mess in front of them. Blood had pooled everywhere, the knife so covered it seemed camouflage to the darkness surrounding them.
The attacker stood dazed at the scene before them and, with dawn to be soon, took with them the weapon, covered their trail, and headed back into the dark abyss of the forest. … Not long after the sun arose a knock at the door awoke Maureen. She arose in a daze unsure of why there was someone at her door. She opened it to find Sargent McClain and the horrors of the night before came once again. “McClain, has something changed? ” “Nothing as of yet, we only had a few questions. ” The sergeant showed her a piece of fabric, similar to the color of the shirt Pheobe was last seen in.
After questioned she confirmed it had been very similar. Sergeant McClain and Maureen stood in the brisk morning air and spoke about the child for a few more minutes before Sergeant left to continue the search for the child. With the dawn, Maureen decided it would be best to start breakfast. As the smell of freshly cooked bacon and eggs rose the children from their slumber, Maureen dreaded the thought of telling her children their cousin had yet to return home throughout the night. The first down was Mark who, by the looks of it, was ready to to hightail it to the outdoors as soon as he could stuff some food down his throat.
She served him a plate and asked him how he had slept. Through spoonfuls of food he responded “… Great… a little… chilly last… night. I… think.. someone… left the window… open. ” with the last word he slugged a glass of milk down and just like that he was gone like the window. She watched as her son ran for the field, in hopes of catching the morning time bugs, just waking, or night bugs that had yet to fall asleep for the day. Duncan was the next to arrive in the kitchen, his eyes still half shut.