Franny Parker by Hannah Roberts McKinnon Page B

purple petals wound safely together. If she had asked methat a week ago I would’ve clobbered her. Now I wasn’t so sure. If he had, it was for a good reason. Did that still make him a thief? “He needs help,” I told her.
    Sidda nodded, and handed me a yellow buttercup. Suddenly I ached to tell her everything: about Lucas’s arm, the lie about his father, and what he’d made me promise. Dad’s truck pulled into the driveway, and Ben jumped up, racing alongside it. “Lucas ran away! Harland’s was robbed!” he hollered. It was all excitement for Ben, a big dumb movie. He was too little to understand. I blinked back tears and stared at the ground as Dad hurried inside the house. I’d just about cleared the yard of grass by the time they called us in.
    â€œWe’re going to look for Lucas,” Mama told us.
    â€œWhere?” I asked, ready to join them.
    â€œUp in the hills,” Daddy answered. “We’ll hike the pony paths and look around a little.”
    â€œI think he’s close by,” Lindy added. “He wouldn’t leave me.”
    Suddenly I knew she was right. Lucas would never leave her—or me, I almost added. He might have been scared, he might have done something awful, but he wouldn’t just take off. I knew he’d have a plan.
    â€œI want you kids to stay here, keep an eye out,” Mama told us. “Sidda, you get dinner for your brother and sister.”
    I ran to the front closet, grabbing Jax’s leash and three flashlights. Twilight was settling already.
    â€œWhere do you think you’re going?” Dad asked.
    â€œWith you,” I answered, whistling for Jax.
    â€œNot this time, Squirt.”
    â€œBut . . .”
    â€œBut nothing,” Mama said, securing the leash on Jax, who bounded up to us excitedly. “I want you safe in one place. Can you do that for me?”
    I could, of course. I could stay in the house. But what I couldn’t do was stay quiet any longer. Lucas was gone, with his bruised arm and maybe worse. If I’d only told them. I felt like all this was somehow my fault.
    â€œBut I have to tell you both something,” I said. “It’s about Lucas, he—”
    Lindy interrupted me. “Ready?” she asked, coming up behind us.
    I looked at her crumpled expression, her red cheek. Lucas’s secret rattled about in my mouth, but I couldn’t get my tongue around the words, couldn’t work them out.
    â€œIt’s going to be okay,” Mama said firmly. “We’ll find him.”
    I don’t know if it was meant for me, for Lindy, or for herself, but we all nodded in the doorway. And then they were gone.

Searching
    A fter sandwiches and cold soup, we plopped ourselves down in the living room. None of us knew what to do, so Sidda took Ben upstairs to read him a story. I headed out to the barn.
    Snort nickered when he saw me, and I went to him, pressing my head against his smooth face and inhaling. The sweet smell of hay filled my nose, but it didn’t have its usual comforting effect. In the stalls, the patients’ cages were quiet, except for the nocturnal opossums, who were wriggling out of their pouch, ready for the night.
    â€œHey, little guys.” I scooped one gently in my hand and moved to the barn door. In the purple twilight, I watched the beams of flashlights bouncing off the pony trail, like little lightning bugs bobbing up the hill.
“Lu-cas!”
the voices called. It felt safe hearing them on the hill.
    But then there was another noise. From the direction of the cabin. A slow creaking noise. I peered into the darkness, moving carefully toward it. I heard it again.
    â€œLucas?” I called softly. “Is that you?”
    A shadow shifted on the porch. My heart raced, and I turned to the hill. The flashlights were growing farther away, moving up into the tree line.
    â€œLucas?” I whispered. I tiptoed across