Page 66 of The Hang Up
But she wasn’t laughing now, and she couldn’t ignore the fact that the phrase kept bouncing around in her head like a Super Ball.
“Henry,” she called again, almost to the boulder.
A thick scruff of trees surrounded it, and she could see that the towering rock face was actually several boulders grouped together with a small opening near the base.
An opening the size of a five-year-old boy…
“Henry.” Her voice sounded louder now. Less shaky.
She crouched down and pushed aside a cluster of brush at the mouth of the hollowed-out space between the rocks. She didn’t see the broken branch until it speared her wrist, sending a knife of pain up her arm. She winced and yanked the injured arm to her side, but didn’t stop.
“Henry,” she called. “If you’re in there, you’re not in trouble. We just want to make sure you’re okay.”
Something squeaked. It might have been a mouse or a chipmunk or some other creepy woodland rodent. The sound should have sent her scurrying back to the trail like the city girl she was, but Miriam kept going. Something told her it wasn’t a mouse.
“Henry?”
She shoved aside another branch, and a flash of bright blue caught her eye. The same shade as Henry’s windbreaker. The sniffle confirmed it. As her eyes adjusted to the dimness of the narrow crevice, she spotted him hunkered there against the rock.
“Hey, buddy,” she called, relief flooding her nervous system as she squinted at his little body. His glasses tipped askew, but his eyes were wide and blinking, which seemed like a good sign. He didn’t look hurt, but what the hell did she know about kids? Not much, but at least she’d found him. That counted for something.
She kept her voice soft and even, knowing she needed to coax him out. “Good to see you in there. You want to come out?”
He didn’t say anything, but she thought she saw him shake his head.Scared, she thought, knowing the feeling.
But he was a kid. It was up to her to help him.
“This is a cool rock you found,” she said as she seated herself on the ground like it was the most natural thing in the world. The damp earth seeped through the seat of her jeans, but she ignored it, her eyes fixed on Henry. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them like she was settling in for a tea party, not a care in the world. She could feel her hands shaking and her wrist throbbing, but she commanded herself to stay calm.
From what she could tell, Henry looked okay.“I like how the rock looks like a dinosaur,” she said softly, pretending to study it. “Did you notice that?”
Again, the motion inside the crevice. A nod, maybe?
“I can never remember my dinosaurs,” she continued, amazed at how breezy she sounded. Her voice wasn’t even quivering. “Is it a pterodactyl?”
Silence. Then a soft voice. “No.”
“A T. rex?”
Another pause. “No.”
“What kind of dinosaur is it?”
She saw him shift a little between the rocks. “I think it looks like a brontosaurus.”
“You think so?” She pretended to consider it a moment, tilting her head back to look up at the boulder. “I’m not sure. I don’t really see it.”
“It is! It’s a brontosaurus.”
“Maybe you’re right,” she said, her voice casual. “Maybe not. I can’t really tell. Why don’t you come out here and show me?”
There was another pause. Then he was crawling out of the hole. His blond hair was caked with moss and dirt, but the rest of him looked okay. Nothing broken, no scrapes or bruises that she could see. He h ad a small rip in the shoulder of his jacket, but he wasn’t babying the arm or bleeding or anything scary like that. She needed to yell for Jason, but didn’t want to startle Henry. Not until she knew for sure he was safe.
“What did you do to your arm?” he asked as he pointed to her wrist.
Miriam looked down to see the wound was a lot bigger than she’d realized. A big, angry gash dripping blood into the earth around her. She felt woozy, but pulled her sleeve down and forced herself to smile.
“It’s nothing, sweetie. Just a scrape. How are you doing?”
