The snow wasn’t as deep in the woods as it had been in the back yard, but Joey wouldn’t have cared if it was. He was on a mission, a secret mission for his grandpa. He could pretend to be one of those monster hunters, like grandpa liked to watch on television.
He pushed through the brush and ducked under low hanging branches, the fresh air tasted cold on his tongue. Things would be different, he was sure they would be. Back when grandpa had been living with them there were lots of times when he was supposed to be sleeping that he heard his parents fighting about grandpa and grandpa’s stories.
They didn’t believe him, but Joey knew the stories were true. Grandpa said so. And the fighting didn’t stop after his grandpa left, either. They started arguing about something called “misplaced guilt” and that being taken off the mountain was what killed grandpa.
Joey knew, deep down, that all he had to do to make things right was to find one of Winter’s children. Then his mom and dad would know that grandpa’s stories weren’t fibs and they’d stop fighting. Everything would be okay again, and grandpa could come home from that place he had to go to. Heaven, they called it.
After wandering deeper into the woods for an hour or more, Joey started to get tired. The clouds of steam puffing from his mouth intrigued him and he sat down with a quiet plop in the snow to rest for a while and watch himself breathe.
Even when he went on rambles with grandpa he’d never been so far into the woods before. It was real quiet out here. And even though he thought he knew where the path grandpa had talked about was, things looked really different with snow all over them. Not for a minute did he think he was lost though.
He rested until the puffs of air from his mouth got smaller, ignoring the melting snow seeping through his snow pants. At last, curiosity satiated, he climbed to his feet to continue on his way. A snap from ahead sounded loudly in the silence. He looked up and froze.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
James and Maggie took their time coming home from the luncheon. Between their busy work schedules and the stress of first looking after Joseph, then dealing with his estate, they hadn’t been able to engage socially in a long time.
“I think we should try to do this more often,” James said as they drove towards home.
“What, go to a faculty luncheon?”
“Very funny. No, I mean go out to lunch or dinner. Be among other adults once in a while.”
“Like a date?” Maggie suggested.
James took his eyes off the road long enough to glance at her. “Exactly. A date. Maybe we could even swing dinner and a movie once in a while.”
“Or the theatre?” Maggie asked wistfully.
“Let’s not get carried away,” James said, chuckling when she mock-punched him in the arm. “I think that was very sweet of you to buy that new video game for him because we left him behind to do grown up things.”
“Yes, but I'm sure it’ll mean more to him that you turned down a game of pool and a chance to play poker tomorrow so you could stay home and play in the snow with him.”
“I’m sure we’ll build a veritable army of snowmen.”
“He does love his snowmen,” Maggie said with a sigh.
They made it home and James left the car idling in case Christine needed a ride home. A white-faced Christine met them at the door.
Fear clutched at James’s throat. “Christine? What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I—I—can’t find Joey.”
Maggie pushed by her and into the house. Unmindful of the snow she was tracking in, she swept through the house, calling Joey’s name.
“What do you mean, you can’t find him?” James barked.
Tears filled Christine’s eyes. “He wanted me to go build snowmen with him, but I told him not until it stopped snowing. I thought he was in his room playing, but I just checked and he’s not there. I couldn’t find him anywhere in the house. I’m so sorry, Mr. Preston. I don’t know where he is.”
“James?” Maggie called from the back door. “You need to see this.”
James hurried to the back door, Christine trailing after him. Maggie pointed wordlessly to the empty peg where Joey’s snowsuit usually hung. The bench by the door had been dragged over to just under it.
James flung open the back door and took in the scene at a glance. Trampled snow everywhere. Snow balls for a snowman arranged side by side. And a trail of small footprints leading into the woods.
“Joey!” James called. “Joey, where are you buddy? Time to come home now. Joey!”
But there was no answer.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Missed an installment? Catch up here:
Introduction, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13,
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