Page 63 of The Fault Between Us
“Jenny!” Claire called out. Had she—was she in the water? Was she safe?
The sound of water was all around them, they were afloat, tipping to one side and then another like a cork, but she couldn’t see farther than the edge of the trailer.
Claire pushed herself to standing. She’d gone to sleep in her clothing, and now her blouse and denim jeans were soaking wet and gritty with mud. She searched for any sign of Jenny in the dark. Her throat hurt and she realized she was calling out her daughter’s name over and over.
Where was the campground? Where were Frannie and her friends? The cars and the trailers and tents? There had been dozens of people—maybe a hundred. Now she was surrounded by nothing but black water and choking dust.
“Frannie!” Claire called out. Then again, “Jenny!” Something knocked into the floating trailer, the impact throwing Claire back to her knees.Lord, help us. Let someone hear us.
Beth crawled closer, only her ghostly pale face visible. “Claire.” She gasped out what Claire—in her panic over Jenny—hadn’t yet realized. “Claire, I think we’re sinking.”
chapter 40:BRIDGET
“Who hitchhikes this late at night?” Bridget asked.
Red hadn’t said a word since they found the empty truck and Bridget couldn’t blame him. Her head was full of questions and her stomach roiled with worry. Had Pete Henshaw caught up with Claire and Beth? Where would he take them?
Red continued up the road in the direction they’d started, but they hadn’t gone half a mile when they saw the two hitchhikers.
Red slowed down and pulled over on the shoulder.
Bridget twisted toward Red. “What are you doing?” They weren’t going to pick up two strangers in the middle of the night. Not if she had anything to say about it.
The kids came up to Red’s side of the car, breathing heavily. Both had crew cuts—one was tall and the other short and stocky—and both looked oddly familiar.
“Have you seen two women and a baby?” Red asked.
“What?” the tall kid said.
“Two women,” he repeated slowly, and Bridget could tell Red wastrying not to lose his temper, “and a baby. Their truck broke down back there.”
The short one answered. “Sure,” he said in an offended tone. “That’s why we’re stuck here.”
“What do you mean?” Bridget asked.
“Where did they go?” Red demanded at the same time. He looked like he might leap out of the car and shake the answer out of the boys.
The tall kid took a step back. “Mister, I’m just looking for a ride to somewhere with a motel, that’s all.”
Bridget finally placed the face. “You’re one of Frannie’s friends.”
They turned their attention on her. “Sure, Frannie’s the one who dumped us here,” the short one said.
“What about the women and the baby?” Red barked with impatience. “What happened to them?”
The big kid shrugged. “We were going camping, then Frannie made us pick up these ladies and a kid, and when I made a joke—I was kidding around—she saidget outlike she was in charge of us.”
Thank the Lord.Bridget felt a weight lift from her shoulders. Claire and Beth were with Frannie, not Pete Henshaw.
“Where did they go?” Red growled.
The boy’s eyes widened and he took a step back.
Bridget laid a hand on Red’s arm. It was rock hard with tension. “We need to find them, boys,” she said calmly. “It’s very important. Do you know where they went?”
“Well, sure,” the shorter boy said. He used that word a lot and it was beginning to irritate Bridget. He pointed into the dark with his thumb. “They were heading toward the dam to camp out, and then tomorrow they are going up to the lookout.”
Red put the car in gear. “What kind of car?”
