Chapter Thirty-Six
“Calm down, Hailey. I’m sure it’s around here somewhere. You probably took it off while you were changing into your diaper or something.”
Erin could tell that her words registered with Hailey, but her cousin still didn’t calm down. Instead, she dashed over to the stairs and bounded up them, apparently trying to get to the bedroom as quickly as possible. Erin followed at a saner speed.
She entered the bedroom to find her cousin frantically searching around the room. Erin reevaluated her previous statement; the watch didn’t appear to be near the pair of Hailey’s pants and panties lying on the floor, which would be the logical place for the watch to be if she’d removed it during the change. To be certain, Erin calmly approached the clothes and lifted them, shaking them out and patting them down until she was sure the watch wasn’t there.
Hailey was frantically digging around the closet. Erin understood that Hailey would feel horrible for losing the watch that she’d given to her on her birthday, but this panic wasn’t going to help her any sooner. As much as she didn’t want to raise her voice at Hailey, she didn’t want to let Hailey go on like this either. She walked up behind her cousin and placed a hand firmly on each shoulder.
“Hailey, stop.”
The unusual forcefulness in Erin’s usually meek voice was enough to startle Hailey into listening; she sat back on her knees and turned her head over her shoulder to look at Erin, who moved to the appropriate side so she could be more easily seen. She panted slightly, apparently catching her breath.
Erin continued. “I know it’s important to you, but you’re never going to find it that way. Remember last time, when you left it at the restaurant, and you panicked then? And your dad had to calm you down, and as soon as you calmed down you remembered where it was?”
Hailey nodded at her.
“So let’s think through this. It doesn’t seem to be in your room. Where else do you remember having it?”
Hailey had apparently caught her breath by this point, although her speech still sounded a little less smooth than usual. “I know I had it at school; I kept checking it during a few of my classes that were dragging on more than usual.”
Erin nodded, and Hailey turned a little more so she was now directly facing her cousin.
“And I had it when we walked home, and I remember taking it off to play with when we were talking in the tube… that’s it! It must be in the tube still!”
“There we go,” said Erin. “I’m sure it’ll be okay; we can go and get it first thing tomorrow.” She looked over at Hailey, expecting her to agree.
Hailey surprised Erin, though, by beginning to breathe heavily again. “No, we need to get it now! What if something happens to it?”
Oh, great, she’s panicking again. “Hailey, nothing’s going to happen to…”
It was too late, though. Hailey had just run out of the room. “Hailey, wait!”
She heard no response. She’s actually going to go get it, Erin realized. This is insane!
As much as she knew that they weren’t supposed to leave the house when the adults were gone, she couldn’t let Hailey go out on her own either. “Hailey, why do you have to do this,” she said to nobody in particular, and grabbed her purse as she left the bedroom. She might be breaking her aunt and uncle’s rules by following Hailey, but she wasn’t going to let herself get locked out of the house as well. She bounded down the stairs to hear Hailey going into the garage.
By the time she reached her bike, Hailey had already fastened her helmet, and was rolling her bike out the side door to the garage. Apparently habit’s enough to overcome panic, Erin thought, and put her own helmet on as quickly as possible. She shut the side door behind her, feeling the handle quickly to make sure it was locked, and rode down the street after her cousin.
It wasn’t quite dark out, but it was certainly dusky, and Hailey had a little bit of a head start. Still, the wet diaper between her legs was apparently making it harder than usual for her to ride her bike, and Erin soon caught up.
“Hailey, we should head back. We’re going to be in a lot of trouble if your parents find out we left!”
“I know where… it is, it’ll… be quick, we’ll be… back before… they get home,” said Hailey, panting as she spoke. She didn’t slow down.
“And it’s not safe for us to be out this late! It’s too dark for us to be riding our bikes!”
“I can see… just fine.”
“I know you can see, but cars might not be able to see us!”
Hailey didn’t answer, and kept riding. Erin squeezed her handlebars tightly in frustration, but kept following. Apparently Hailey wasn’t going to stop until she had the watch in hand. Erin hoped for both of their sakes that it was, in fact, in the concrete pipe.
They reached the cul-de-sac that marked the border of the street and the woods; the cover from the trees blocked much of what little light was remaining, and even in her frenzied state, Hailey realized she needed to dismount from her bike and go slower to avoid running into the various branches that littered the ground. She was still walking faster than Erin felt comfortable with, but Erin didn’t want to lose Hailey in the trees, so she followed.
The going got easier when they finally arrived at the dry creek bed; having no trees directly in the bed left a little bit more room for light to get through above them, and Erin could see much better. Also, Hailey seemed to finally be getting worn out from all the rushing, and their journey continued at a much more reasonable rate.
Apparently the slowdown was temporary, though. It didn’t take long for Hailey to rest up, and she was soon rushing again, nearly running down the creek bed with the bike beside her. Erin didn’t even bother trying to slow Hailey down as Hailey attempted to take a running leap over the final fallen tree between her and the concrete pipe.
The bicycle that Hailey was holding, though, apparently didn’t like to let its owner jump. As Hailey’s feet both left the ground, the front tire of the bike smashed against the top edge and twisted slightly, managing to entangle a smaller branch in the front wheel. The bicycle came to a stop, Hailey still holding onto one handlebar and the frame. With nothing to brace against, Hailey’s momentum carried her past the bike, throwing her off balance as the dead branch the bike had been caught on finally snapped, sending both Hailey and the bicycle tumbling. The bicycle hit the ground first, but the girl and the machine rolled again, and with a slight yelp, the two came to a complete stop, Hailey underneath the bicycle with her right leg entangled in the frame.
Erin felt a surge of adrenaline and tossed her bicycle aside as she rushed up to Hailey, slowing down only to cross the same log that had felled her cousin. Hailey didn’t look very comfortable; she was gritting her teeth and grimacing, staring in disbelief at her leg. Erin wasn’t entirely certain that the leg was supposed to bend that way. “Hailey! Are you okay?”
Hailey whimpered, but managed to speak. “Get the bike off of me…” she said, feebly moving her arms towards the frame and wincing as her left wrist touched the frame. Even in the darkness, Erin could see a large bruise forming on Hailey’s wrist; she was in a way glad that Hailey was wearing long pants, as she suspected Hailey’s leg didn’t look very nice at all right now. She helped extract her cousin from the bicycle, trying to move the leg as little as possible, but apparently still putting Hailey in more pain, judging from the moans she heard.
“I need to go home and call your parents! I think your leg’s probably broken, and I can’t get you out of here by myself.”
“No… I don’t think you’re big enough to get me out either… but you can help me over to the tube first? The rocks are hurting me.”
Erin looked; they really weren’t that far from the tube, but she wasn’t sure she was supposed to move Hailey’s leg. Still, Hailey was right; the rocks she was laying on had to be jabbing into her back. “I can’t carry you… can you lean on me?”
Hailey nodded, grabbed onto Erin, and managed to pull herself up so that her weight was balanced between her left leg and Erin. Erin struggled a little bit as she stood upright; she wasn’t an athletic girl by any means, and her cousin had to weigh close to what she did, if not a little more. Still, she managed to help Hailey the ten yards or so to the edge of the tube, hearing only minimal painful noises.
At least one thing was going right; Erin saw the glinting of the watch partway down the giant concrete pipe Hailey was now sitting in. She went and grabbed it, handing it to Hailey, who immediately put it on and gave a weak smile before her face went back to a grimace.
“How are you feeling?” asked Erin.
Hailey grunted. “My leg hurts a lot. I think you’re right, I think I broke it.” She reached down and began to pull up one of her pant legs, wincing as the end of the fabric moved past a discolored area of her lower leg. A bulge was present under her skin that normally shouldn’t have been there.
“Put your pants leg back down,” ordered Erin. “Will you be okay here while I go get help?”
Hailey nodded slightly. “I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” She groaned again. “Erin, I’m sorry, you were right,” she choked. “This was a stupid idea.”
“Don’t talk like that now,” said Erin. “Just wait here, and I’ll be back with help as soon as I can be!” She leaned forward and gave Hailey a quick hug before leaving the tube and returning to her bicycle.
[hr][/hr]
It wasn’t a cold evening, but Erin found herself shivering slightly as she made her way out of the woods as quickly as she felt was safe. She was very worried about her cousin; it certainly wasn’t a life threatening injury, but she still needed to get home so she could call her aunt’s cell phone as soon as possible.
But my house isn’t the closest phone to here, she realized, exiting the woods into the cul-de-sac, and glancing at the surrounding houses. One of the houses had its living room light on, and she could see movement through the curtains.
Erin frowned. She knew what she had to do; her cousin was counting on her. But it didn’t make the thought of interrupting a total stranger and asking to use their phone any easier. Being a bother like that went against nearly everything she stood for, and yet…
And yet, she knew Hailey would do the same for her if the situation was reversed. Home was probably ten minutes away, maybe longer since she couldn’t ride her bike as fast in the dark, and her aunt and uncle certainly needed to know about the situation as soon as possible. She set down her bicycle and approached the front door. She could actually feel her arm shaking as she reached for the doorbell. Her stomach turned sour as she saw the door handle turning.
[hr][/hr]
Virginia Mullins was surprised at the doorbell; she wasn’t expecting company at this hour. To be honest, she never really expected company much at any hour; visitors had been rare as of late for the widow. She set down the glass she’d just filled in the kitchen, and shuffled over to the door, finding a young girl who looked absolutely and genuinely terrified.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
The girl’s fear apparently didn’t help her speech any. “I’m s…sorry to bother you, ma’am, but my cousin’s in the woods and she hurt herself pretty badly,” the girl stammered, barely making eye contact. “Can I use your phone to call her parents?”
Virginia’s expression softened. “Of course, dear, it’s in the kitchen,” she said, pointing. “Is she going to be alright?”
“I hope so,” the girl responded, immediately speed walking in the direction she was pointing. “Thank you, I’ll be quick.” She heard the girl pick up the handset.
[hr][/hr]
Erin was thankful that she had her aunt’s cellular telephone number memorized. She punched in the digits without even thinking consciously about it, and caught her breath as she heard it ringing.
“Hello?” she heard her uncle say.
“Uncle Martin, it’s me, Erin.”
“Erin! Where are you? I came home and you two were gone! You can’t…”
“You’re home?”
“Yes, our movie was sold out but your aunt met up with some of her friends while we were out and decided to leave with them. I came home. Anyway, why aren’t you home? You know you’re not supposed to…”
Erin knew she deserved to be yelled at, but now was not the time. “Uncle Martin, Hailey’s hurt!”
He immediately stopped his inquisition. “She’s hurt? Badly?”
“She broke her leg, it looks like. It looks pretty bad, but she seems to be okay, though she can’t walk, and I’m not strong enough to carry her all the way out.”
“Where are you two?”
“She’s in the woods by the library. I’m calling from someone’s house. Do you know where the cul-de-sac is at the end of Truman Drive?”
Martin apparently had to think about it for a second. “Yeah, I know where that is. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
“I’ll be waiting outside for you. Hurry!”
She hung up the phone, and looked up at the old lady who was now standing in the room with her. “Thanks for letting me use the phone,” she whispered, stomach churning.
“Of course, dear,” the lady answered. “Can I get you anything while you wait? Something to drink?”
“No, ma’am, I really should be going. I’ve bothered you enough.” She began to move towards the front door. She paused, gave a slight bow, and then let herself out, running back to the edge of the woods. Her nervousness caused her stomach to give one final heave, and she immediately bent over and released her dinner onto the grass, just barely managing to get her hair out of the way in time.
Her mouth still tasted sour by the time a car pulled up to her; her uncle climbed out, grabbing a flashlight, a small piece of wood, and some pieces of cloth from the seat beside him.
“If her leg’s broken, she’s going to need a splint,” he explained. “Where is she?”
Erin motioned for him to follow.