Home by Dark. Marta Perry

not here now. Let me ask my father if he came over earlier.”

      She heard the sound of muffled voices and could tell that the answer was negative even before Colin came back on the line.

      “Dad hasn’t seen him today. Is something wrong?” His voice deepened on the question, and she knew he was revisiting their earlier conversation about Benj.

      “No...no, nothing.” That wasn’t quite true, but it also wasn’t Colin’s business.

      “Come on, Rachel. You wouldn’t be calling me if nothing was wrong, now would you?” Something that might have been amusement threaded the concern in his tone. “What is it?”

      “My daad stopped by to see if Benj was here, that’s all. He didn’t come home for supper. It’s not exactly earthshaking.” She tried to sound as if she were taking Benj’s absence lightly and was afraid she didn’t succeed.

      “I’ll come over,” Colin said instantly, proving that she hadn’t deceived him.

      “No, don’t do that. He’s probably turned up by now.” She rushed the words, regretting that she had called. “Thanks.” She hung up quickly, before Colin could say anything else.

      Walking to the rear window, Rachel peered out. She couldn’t see her father now. Had he gone back to the house? Or had he walked into the woods beyond the pasture?

      Standing here worrying wasn’t helping. She went quickly to the bottom of the stairs. “Mandy, I’m going outside for a minute. I’ll be right back.” Her voice seemed to bounce around the turn in the stairs.

      “Okay, Mommy.”

      Judging by the sound, Mandy was in her room, probably hard at work on the promised picture. Since that room overlooked the willow on the side of the house, Mandy would be unlikely to see her in the backyard, looking...well, she wasn’t sure where she was going to look. She just knew that doing nothing wasn’t an option.

      Pulling on the navy windbreaker that hung in the back hall, Rachel slipped out the back door. The sun was just beginning to disappear behind the ridge, and she knew how quickly darkness could claim the valley after sunset. The air was already cooling, and she was glad of the jacket.

      The garage, the old stable, other outbuildings she hadn’t yet identified—there were plenty of places for a skinny teenager to hide, even without going into the woods. But why was she thinking about hiding? Logically speaking, Benj had no reason to hide, but fear wasn’t logical, and she had seen fear in her little brother’s eyes lately, no matter how he tried to hide it.

      She walked past the outbuildings toward the covered bridge. Daad had already looked there, of course. She’d seen him. But that didn’t stop her from wanting to have a quick glance herself.

      The inside of the one-lane bridge was already dark, with the arched opening at the other showing an empty stretch of lane. The covered bridge had only one window cut into the side that looked downstream. It was a simple, utilitarian structure, built over a century ago to provide both access to the village from the farms and to give farmers a place to shelter a loaded wagon in case of a storm.

      Rachel put one hand against a rough-hewn timber and shivered. When she was young, she’d seen the bridge as her gateway to the world. Now it seemed a barrier, cutting her off from what had once been so familiar.

      Shaking away the thought, she turned back the way she’d come. She stepped out of the bridge and found herself face-to-face with Colin. Her breath caught.

      “What are you doing here?” That came out more sharply than it should have, probably.

      “Has Benj turned up yet?” He answered with a question of his own.

      She shook her head. Surely Daad would let her know if Benj had been found. He’d know she was worried.

      “I’m sure he’s fine. Goodness, he’s fourteen, not four.” But she couldn’t prevent a sideways glance down toward the dam, spilling over into its pool.

      “You’re imagining him falling over the dam. Not very likely.”

      Colin was quick as a cat, and it annoyed her that he read her so easily.

      “No, of course not. Someone mentioned the deaths that have happened there, and I guess it was in my mind, that’s all.”

      “Deaths?” Colin frowned for a moment. “Aaron Mast, I remember his drowning. And there was a story before that of an Amish girl who’d drowned—I think the grown-ups just used that to scare us away.”

      “I didn’t hear about that one. Maybe my parents didn’t think I needed scaring. But what about Ronnie’s dad?”

      Colin just stared at her for a moment, and then he frowned. “He didn’t drown. He was fishing in the pond, I think, and he had a heart attack.”

      “I don’t know why we’re talking about that, anyway.” She took a step toward the house, rubbing her arms. The sun had completed its descent, taking the warmth of the day with it. “Benj isn’t there, and wherever he is...” She let that trail off. Where was he?

      “I know where he might be,” Colin said.

      She whirled on him. “If you know, why didn’t you say so, instead of upsetting me with talk about people drowning? Where is he?”

      “I said might.” Colin nodded toward the stable. “I happened to see him in there yesterday. Let’s have a look.”

      He led the way, moving so quickly that she had to hurry to keep up. “I don’t see why—” she began, but he gestured her to be quiet.

      The door was partially open. Why hadn’t she noticed that before? Colin stepped inside, and she followed him.

      The dusty windows let in very little light. She blinked, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the dimness. Castoff furniture and boxes containing who knows what were stacked so high that they loomed like creatures preparing to attack.

      A click, and then light blossomed, turning the lurking shadows into a pathetic collection of junk. Colin had obviously brought a flashlight. He aimed the beam on a narrow passageway between the crates.

      “Come on out, Benj,” he said. “I know you’re in here.”

      Nothing. Silence, save for some vague creaks. She shook her head. “This isn’t doing any good.”

      Colin ignored her, bending to focus the flashlight beam into the hole. “Don’t make me come in there after you. It wouldn’t be a pretty sight.”

      She started to turn away and then swung back at a scuffling noise, her breath catching. Benj came crawling slowly out into the light, blinking as if he were a mole hauled into the daylight.

      “Ja, all right. I am here.”

      Rachel grabbed him, pulling him to his feet, not sure whether she wanted to hug him or shake him. “Benj, what on earth are you playing at? Do you know Daadi was here looking for you? What do you mean by scaring everyone that way?”

      He looked up at her, his expression so strained and miserable that she wanted the scolding words back.

      She touched his cheek gently. “What is it, Benj? Please, tell me what’s wrong.”

      “I can’t.” It came out as a whisper, and his head dropped so that he wasn’t meeting her eyes. “I promised.”

      “A promise that makes you scared to death and upsets your family? What kind of a promise is that? Benj—” She ran out of words, not sure what to say in the face of his stubborn silence.

      “Wake up, Benj.” Colin’s voice was so stern that her brother’s head jerked back, his eyes going wide. “Okay, you made a promise. Trust me, I remember promises like that—stupid ones that you knew when you made them weren’t worth it.” Colin sounded as if he really was talking about himself. “It’s time to straighten up and act like a man, not a kid. Now