Wendy was worried they’d say something about Peter. She kept getting distracted from what the medic was asking her, cutting glances over to the kids being questioned by the cops. But every snippet of conversation she caught was distinctly absent of Peter. They exchanged looks and caught glances from one another between the cops and paramedics. They were all nervous, maybe even a little scared, but under that Wendy could feel the pulse of excitement and triumph. She felt it in her own veins and caught a glimpse of it in the smiles that flickered over their faces.
Even Alex was exceptionally brave, although he refused to let go of Wendy’s leg. He was just a tiny form practically swallowed up by a blanket, but Wendy could see the longing in his large eyes. The same look as when she’d seen him holding the origami shark at the hospital.
One by one, their parents arrived, and they were loaded into cars to be taken to the hospital and further assessed.
Matthew and Joel spoke urgently to their mom about monsters as they were loaded into a police car. Ashley put on a brave face, but she was nearly silent, her whole body trembling as she reunited with her parents. Benjamin had a grin plastered across his face, which did little to soothe his mom. She kept touching his face, convinced he had a fever and was delirious.
Alex remained attached to Wendy until his father came trudging through the woods. Alex’s father was a giant. He scooped up his crying son in his large arms, gently rocking Alex back and forth. From sheer exhaustion, Alex fell asleep with his head against his father’s broad chest while Mr. Forestay spoke with an officer.
Wendy heaved a large sigh. The children were safe, and that was the important part. Even if they did tell the police what really happened, she knew no one would believe their stories.
The paramedics led Wendy away from the clearing and to one of the ambulances on the logging road.
Detective James wasted little time jumping right into his questions. It grated on her already raw nerves.
“So, you were taking out the trash,” Detective James repeated, reading over his scratchy notes on a bright yellow pad. He wore a sleek black windbreaker with the sheriff department’s seal on the back. Detective Rowan stood to the side in a matching jacket, speaking to one of the crime-scene investigators. “You saw someone in the woods behind your house, and just decided to follow him instead of calling the police?” He raised his scarred eyebrow critically.
“Yes,” Wendy said curtly with a nod. “Ouch!” She jerked her elbow away from Dallas the Paramedic as he dabbed at a cut.
“And then you heard the kids crying for help,” he went on.
“Like I said, I lost track of the guy, but I just followed their voices,” Wendy explained. She sounded confident. At least, she thought she did. She was getting better at this lying thing.
“And you didn’t think to call anyone for help?”
“There’s no reception all the way out here,” Wendy told him, which was true.
Detective James hummed, his eyes roving over his notes again. “And you just found them in the clearing?”
“They were lost, obviously.”
“And the kidnapper ran off?”
Wendy shrugged. “It’s dark in the middle of the woods at night. I couldn’t keep track of him.” She’d heard Benjamin, Ashley, Joel, and Matthew give a similar story. Alex had only given nods and shakes of his head. They couldn’t see their kidnapper properly. Joel said they’d been forced to wear blindfolds, to which the others quickly agreed. It was a flawed explanation, but the Astoria police officers seemed too relieved that the children had all been found safe and sound to start poking holes in their stories yet.
Except for Detective James.
He clicked his pen. “How did you get so banged up?”
“Running through the woods,” Wendy told him, wincing as Dallas moved to a cut on her temple. “I fell a few times. It was dark, and I was scared.”
Detective James observed her. Wendy sat there, staring back, afraid to move or blink under his watchful gaze.
“Wendy!” Her father’s voice boomed in the distance, echoing off the trees. She started so hard, she nearly fell off the back of the ambulance. “Where’s my daughter?”
Wendy jumped down. “Dad?” she called, trying to look between the people standing around, squinting in the bright headlights of the cars.
Mr. Darling came barreling into view, pushing people out of his way.