Island of Lost Girls - Jennifer McMahon [31]
JUNE 12, 13 & 14, 2006
ONE WEEK AFTERthe kidnapping, Ernie had not been found, and Pikes Crossing was in an uproar. Lakeview Lodge, The Inn and Out Motel, and the two bed-and-breakfasts in town were booked solid with out-of-state media and volunteers. The little café down the street from Pats did a booming business despite their lack of lattes. The streets, fields, and woods had been searched by dogs, helicopters, Boy Scouts, a group of National Guard volunteers, and citizens. The state police brought in divers and boats, and dragged Nickel Lake. Candlelight vigils were held at the Methodist church. And though people were worried that no trace of Ernie had been found, they recalled Ella Starkee: ten days in a hole with a tin can, worms, and beetles. Anything was possible.
Pat held another press conference, Trudy Florucci by her side, to say shed enlisted the services of a woman who dowsed for lost children and pets with a forked willow branch. She introduced Shirley Bowes, who was old enough to be Pats mother, and who looked, to Rhondas surprise, like a farm wife. She did not wear a turban or long, flowing dress hanging with bells. The only jewelry Shirley wore was a plain gold wedding band. She had permed white hair and wore sensible, old-lady clothes. Shirley scuffed her shoes on the floor and smiled shyly at the cameras.
You might remember, Pat went on, last year Shirley found a toddler in an old dry well up in Swanton.
Rhonda remembered. The little boy had fallen into the deep hole and stayed there overnight, for nearly twenty-four hours. Nothing like Ella Starkee, who lost track of time down in her hole. She measured her days with crinkly cellophane butterscotch wrappers. She sang every song she knew. When she ran out of songs, she began talking to God.
And he talked back to me, she told reporters later.
What did he say? the reporters asked.
Ella smiled bashfully. He told elephant jokes.
Elephant jokes?
Like, how can you tell an elephant has been in your refrigerator? Look for footprints in the butter.
Rhonda focused back on Pats conference.
Ernies been gone too long and were at a dead end. Weve got to seek out new leads wherever we can find them, Pat said in her hearty voice. Pat the boss. Pat in her name tag that saidSTATION OWNER , to show who was in charge. Rhonda found an odd comfort in Pats enthusiasm.
It was only in her moments off camera, when Rhonda caught Pat pacing nervously or muttering to herself, that she sensed Pat might be losing her grip on the situationpreparing to admit the possibility of defeat. Rhonda cringed at the idea that Pat still thought of her as a suspect. She also hated to think that this might be the true reason behind all the time Warren had been spending with her. And did he suspect her, too? Think she and Peter had conspired to steal the little girl?
One more thing, Pat told the reporters. Bonnie Starkee, the mother of little Ella, called Trudy this morning.
An excited murmur went through the room.
What did Mrs. Starkee say? asked one of the reporters.
She said shes praying for Ernie. She told Trudy she mustnt lose hope. Now, theres no time to waste. Lets put Shirley to work! Cameras clicked as Shirley stepped forward and asked, in a barely audible voice, to be given something that had belonged to Ernie. Trudy reached down into a wrinkled paper grocery bag at her feet and pulled out a stuffed bear with an embroidered heart on its chest. The dowser sat in the padded chair dragged from behind the register, clutching the pink teddy bear as cameras clicked and television stations shot footage for the evening news. At last, Shirley stood up, handed the bear back to Trudy, took out a map of the state, spread it on the counter, and dangled a clear quartz crystal on a thin silver chain over it. The pendulum hung still, not circling or swaying, a dead weight. When Shirley wasnt able to get a reading on the Vermont map, she spread out a map of the whole country. Still nothing.
Maybe Ernie was in outer space, Rhonda thought.