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“Over here!” she called from a brushy area at the back of her property.
The tightness in his chest eased, and he jogged to her. He didn’t even try to check his impulse to embrace her. She trembled against him and he buried his face in her hair. Holding her in his arms felt so right.
Let her go. He forced himself to drop his arms and take a step back. “Where’s Simon?”
“I—I don’t know.” She hugged herself and he instinctively put a comforting hand on her arm. “I’ve searched everywhere. He’s not here, and he’s not answering his phone. I’m afraid he overheard me talking about sending him to New York and ran away.”
“Where would he go?”
“I’m not sure. He doesn’t know anyone here except Jess.”
“Have you told him where she is?”
She shook her head. “No, but he figured it out on his own. I kept ducking his questions, so he got on his iPad and found an article about her arrest.”
Hez winced. “Poor kid. Do you think he might be headed for the jail? I can ask them to give me a call if he shows up and hold him until we can get there.”
Her shoulders sagged with relief. “That would be great. I’m so glad you came.”
Her gratitude stirred a warm glow in his heart, despite the stress of the situation. He made the call. No blond ten-year-olds had shown up and asked to see Jess, but they promised to let him know if one appeared.
Savannah’s brows drew together in a quizzical frown. “Hmm. How would he get there? He’d have to take a bus, wouldn’t he?”
“Good thinking! Yes, two buses, I believe. I’ll figure out the route and start checking stops along it. Maybe you should stay here in case he comes back.” He hesitated for a moment. “Do you think we should call the police?”
Before she could answer, her phone rang. Her eyes widened as she looked at the screen. “It’s him!” She answered and put the phone to her ear. “Simon, where are—?” She gasped and her face turned pale. “Stay where you are. I’m on my way.” She ended the call and gripped Hez’s arm. “He’s in the swamp—a gator has him trapped in a tree!”
* * *
Pines crowded against the path Savannah and Hez had taken, and downy woodpeckers chattered angrily at them from the boughs. She paused to catch her breath enough to shout for Simon. Beside her, Hez waved away a horde of flies and added his voice to hers.
“About now is when you need an old-time southern tracker,” Hez said.
She slipped her hand into the crook of his arm. “There’s no one I’d rather have with me right now. He’s only ten and he doesn’t know his way around. Poisonous snakes and gators are everywhere. And mosquitoes and ticks.” Her voice wobbled at all the things that could have happened to him. Wildlife might be the least of the danger. “We have no idea what tree he’s even in.”
“Try calling him again.”
“I’ve tried three times. I don’t have a good signal.”
He laid his other hand on top of hers. “He’s a smart kid, Savannah. Maybe he’s heading for the jail to see his mom.”
“Not right through the swamp. It would make more sense to catch a bus.” She took a few steps and studied the trees.
It had been a while since she’d been in this small offshoot of the Gum Swamp, but she used to know every inch of its turgid waters. “Jess and I built a camping platform over a small pond back here. Simon was very interested in it, but I don’t think he could have found it by himself.”
“Seems a dangerous place for kids.”
“It was more of a hideaway for us. When Mom would start drinking or take a pill, Jess and I would run off here so we didn’t have to watch things spiral down. Dad would yell, Mom would cry, and we didn’t know what to do. Out in the swamp we didn’t have to know what was happening.”
Her phone sounded, and Simon’s picture showed on the screen. “It’s him!” She swiped it on. “Simon, where are you?”
“Aunt Savannah, you have to come! I’m afraid I’m going to fall, and the gator will eat me.”
“Are you on a platform?”
“I couldn’t make it to that one you and Mum built, but I can see it from here. I’m on a tree limb.”
She heard a gator roar as he spoke. “We’ll be there as fast as we can. Stay on the phone and tell me when you see us.”
