The Chase Page 0,10

bright and alert. Behind him, on a cracked leather sofa, a girl of four or five was sitting with a dog-eared book on her lap.

"That's Nori. She can't really read yet."

"I can, too." Tilting her face toward the book, although her eyes still remained on her brother, Nori said, "Then Little Red Riding Hood says, 'Grandma, what big eyes you have.' Then the wolf says, 'The better to see you with, my dear.'"

Jenny smiled at her, then turned back to the boy. "So if you see it or the white box, don't touch it, but call the number on the flyer and leave a message for me."

"... Grandma, what big ears you have... ."

"I'll know what you mean if you say, 'I've found it.'"

The boy nodded again. He understood about things like clues and secret messages.

"... The better to hear you with, my dear. ..."

"Or if one of your friends knows about a girl with dark hair that was good friends with P.C. Serrani-"

"... Grandma, what big teeth you have...."

Audrey was finished with the mother. Jenny gave the boy a quick touch on the shoulder and turned to the door.

"... The better to EAT you with, my dear!" Nori shrieked suddenly, bolting up on the couch. Jenny whirled-and dropped her flyers. Nori was standing, eyes wide, mouth pulled into a grimace. For an instant Jenny saw, not a child, but a small, misshapen goblin.

Then the mother cried, "Nori!" and Jenny was jerked back to reality. She felt herself turn red as she gathered the flyers.

Nori began to giggle. Jenny apologized. The mother scolded. Finally they got out of the house.

"I am never going to have children," Audrey said, outside.

They kept going. Some people were friendly, others were rude. A shirtless man laughed unkindly when they started the spiel about Summer and rasped, "Did you check the mall?" Almost all of them already had heard about the missing girl.

Dinnertime came and went. They called their parents to say they'd be out for a little longer, while it was still light.

Jenny glanced sideways at Audrey, a little surprised. Audrey wasn't the suffering-in-silence type. Jenny had expected to have to cajole her to stay out this long.

There was a lot more to Audrey than her glamour-magazine exterior let on.

They came to a street where a lot of kids were playing. Jenny recognized the white-blond head of the one covering his eyes against a tree. It was Summer's ten-year-old brother.

"Cam!" she said, startled. He didn't hear her. He went on counting, leaning on his folded arms. Other kids were scattering, hiding in open garages, behind bushes, in ivy. Jenny recognized two more of them. One was Dee's little sister, Kiah, the other was her own younger brother, Joey.

They came to play with Cam after dinner, she realized. It was a long way for Kiah, even on a bike.

"What are they playing?" Audrey asked.

"It looks like cops and robbers." At Audrey's blank expression Jenny remembered. Audrey had grown up in every place but America; her father was with the diplomatic corps. If he hadn't retired early, she wouldn't be in California now.

"It's a chase game. You capture the robbers and take them back to your home base as prisoners. Hey,

watch out!" Jenny caught a small figure that had erupted out of the nearby ivy, tripped, and gone flying. It was Kiah, and Cam was close on her heels.

Kiah looked up. She was never going to be tall like Dee, but she had Dee's fine bones and wild, leaping beauty. Cam had hair like dandelion fluff, even lighter than Summer's. It made him look oddly defenseless, although Jenny knew he was a tough kid.

Unlike Summer, who hadn't had a tough sinew in her, Jenny thought. Summer had been as fragile as spun glass.

Ever since the night of the Game, Jenny's emotions had been like boats bumping at a thick canvas barrier-cut off from her but still nudging. But suddenly, at the sight of Cam, they burst through. Grief for Summer. Guilt. Tears filled her eyes.

What on earth could she say to him? "I'm sorry" was so inadequate it was pathetic.

Other kids were coming out of hiding at the sight of Audrey and Jenny, gathering around curiously. Jenny still couldn't speak. Audrey came to the rescue, improvising.

"So what are you playing?"

"Lambs and monsters," Cam said. "I'm the monster."

"Oh. So how do you play it?"

Kiah spoke up. "If you're a lamb you hide, and then the monster comes looking for you. And if he tags you, then you're