What Used to be Arkansas Chapter 4

with audio

Axel rushed over to Wolf and searched the ground, where his friend pointed. A bit of mud on the right side of the dirt path perfectly showcased the small, plump footprint of a child. 

 “Good catch. But how do we know it’s his?”

“We don’t. But it’s a kid.”

Axel frowned. “We got a ton of them around here.”

“Not a ton. A few kids that age.” Wolf shrugged. “And we gotta start somewhere.”

“Okay,” Axel said, scratching his chin. “Well, this kid headed toward the barn. So let’s go there and find out if anyone’s seen him.”

Ginny rejoined the two boys, letting them know with a shake of her head that she hadn’t found Alvie or anything else. 

Axel, Wolf, and Ginny left the residential area and hurried toward the section of the community used as a farm. They passed the goat field, the chicken pen, and the bunny hutch on their right, and the large gardens on their left. 

How long would it take a five-year-old to walk through the area? Perhaps they weren’t too far behind him. Alvie had a much smaller stride.

A baby goat bleated as they sprinted past.

And he might have gotten sidetracked by the cute animals. 

At the goat barn, they searched the stalls and the milking station, then the small attached dairy where they made yogurt and simple cheeses. 

“Hey, Rosa,” Wolf asked a teenage girl, who poured fresh milk from a pail into a larger pot. “Have you seen Alvie, the new little one?”

“Not this morning.” She glanced at Ginny and frowned. “Did he run off again?”

“Yeah. Seems so. Spread the word, okay?”

Rosa nodded. “I’ll ask around.” She put down what she was doing and talked to the workers on the other side of the room.

Axel and the others talked to the workers nearby, but no one had seen the boy. Before they left, Rosa shook her head from across the room.

Axel, Wolf, and Ginny moved to the agriculture barn, also known as the wheat barn. A Japanese boy around eleven helped them look in each nook and cranny, even behind tools and stored food. 

“He’s been in here before,” the boy said. “But I ain’t seen him today.”

Ginny sniffed and rubbed her nose.

“You been here long?” Axel asked.

“Yep. All morning.” He looked at the ground as if he were in trouble. “A lot needed done. I’ll do my lessons tonight.”

“You’re always on top of things,” Axel said, giving the boy a quick smile, which seemed to make him happy.

Beyond the two open doors on the backside of the barn, a young teenage girl picked early berries from a blackberry bush and put them in a brown bag she carried over her shoulder.

“Sorry, I haven’t seen him either,” she turned and said.

She turned back to her work, reaching for another berry. A thorn caught her finger. She hissed, pulling away from the blackberry bramble. 

“Hey,” she said, pointing at something in the grass. She glanced at Wolf and Axel. “There’s a little toy car here. Maybe that’s his?”

When she bent to pick it up, Wolf stopped her. “I’ll get it.” 

He jumped off the barn’s threshold and onto the grass below. Before picking up the toy, he inspected the area. He circled around the girl, going further and further out, then came back to them.

“Well, a person that size doesn’t leave much behind as they walk. And there’s been a few others through here too. But from what I see, he headed north toward the smoker.” Wolf bent and picked up the bright red car, inspected it, then handed it to Axel. “Yep, this was dropped here today, I’d say. It rained yesterday.” 

Axel examined the toy and saw that it was shiny and clean, not waterlogged or spattered with dirt.

Ginny groaned. “Not the smoker.”

“It’s okay, Ginny. Someone is always there.”

The girl nodded but said nothing.

Axel didn’t want to say it, but he was just as worried about a little one around the smoker as Ginny was. 

The small building wasn’t much bigger than their outhouses, but it sure smelled better. It also drew the little kids like a magnet. At least once a day, the person assigned to keeping the fire going had to shout at them to “go somewhere else and play.”

Once, a little one got herself shut in the building. Fortunately, it hadn’t been in use for a couple of weeks.

Axel relaxed a bit when he saw a girl around ten or so sitting near the smoker. That was as it should be. 

Before Axel said a word, Ginny asked, “Have you seen a small, dark-haired boy? The new little one—Alvie?”

The watcher nodded. “I shooed him away from here a little while ago. You know those little ones. They’re always fascinated by this thing.”

“Who isn’t?” Wolf said, taking a long whiff. “Umm. The smell alone lures a body closer no matter what’s going on.” 

“Can we focus on Alvie and not your stomach, Wolf?” Ginny asked.

He opened his mouth to object, but stopped and nodded. He exchanged a quick glance with Axel. 

The older teen understood. Regardless of emergencies, a teenager’s stomach always rumbled—especially when standing this close to such good eating.

Axel tried to put all thoughts of food out of his mind. “Did you see which way he went?” he asked the watcher.

“Back toward the cabins,” she said with a wave of her arm. “I seen him going that way and thought he’d be okay. I was too busy to follow him.”

Ginny’s face turned red, and it looked like she was going to launch herself at the girl.

“We understand. You have a lot to do,” Axel quickly said as he stepped in front of Ginny. “Let’s go.” He put his hands on the angry girl’s shoulders and spun her about. “She’s doing her job. She isn’t required to bring the kids home.”

Ginny folded her arms as she marched back down the road toward the houses. “I’m not a bad mother!”

Axel shook his head. “Did I say that?”

“She’s doing her job, you said, implying I didn’t do mine.”

His head hurt. “I implied no such thing. She is doing her job. And you did yours. It isn’t your fault you’ve got a slippery kid.”

Ginny glanced up at him out of the corner of her eye. “Sorry. I’m just worried and a little prickly because of it.”

“Understandable.”

As they neared the residential area, they saw one of the teens Axel had sent toward the lowlands now running their way. He looked worried.

Winded, he stopped in front of them. “We found something,” he said between breaths. He opened his hand, revealing a yellow toy car.

Axel’s heart gave a sharp thump. “Where?”

“Follow me. We found it in the marshy area by the river.” When the teen turned and took off running, the three followed. 

Axel’s chest tightened. This was his worst nightmare–lost little ones heading for the water. 

Behind him, Wolf grumbled his worry, but Axel couldn’t make out the words. What he could hear was Ginny’s sobs as she ran.

After a few minutes, they heard a sharp whistle. Axel slowed and turned toward the sound. Three teens stood in one of the many clumps of thigh-high seagrass. One raised a hand and waved them over. Even from here, he could see the strained expressions on the searchers’ faces. 

Axel halted, refusing to close the gap between his group and the teen who had found—found what?  A clue? Or Alvie himself?

Beside him, Ginny let out another sob. 

Wolf groaned, “No,” and lowered his head. The possibility that little Alvie was gone made them all sick, but they didn’t dare say it out loud. 

Axel wished he could back out of here and unsee this. 

The searchers stood at the beginning of the low ground that stretched toward the wide river. Muddy, marshy, with small pools of water throughout, it was no place for a little one—too many ways a precious life could be lost.  

It had happened before. It’s why the community now boasted a play area. And the reason each little one had a personal caretaker.

Axel’s heart ached for the lost children. He put a hand to his churning stomach. 

The teen in the lead turned and walked back to them. “It’s not him. This is where we found the toy car.”

Axel’s knees almost buckled in relief, but, he reminded himself, the search wasn’t over yet.