I looked back at Joel. He was scared. Five hundred dollars was a fortune. Everyone would be looking for her.

“That’s the girl from your school,” my father said.

“Yeah,” I replied, stiff with panic.

“Oh, my. They still haven’t found her?” my mother said, her needles crossing and clicking rhythmically. “What is this world coming to?”

“Don’t worry, they’ll find her,” my dad said. “Or at least the man who took her. They found Dillinger, didn’t they? And when they do…”

Joel looked at me.

“What do you think they’ll do to him?” I asked.

“Who knows? The electric chair’s too good for people who steal children. I’d just hate to be him.”

I felt light-headed. “May I have an Ovaltine?” I asked.

“Sure,” my mom said.

I walked to the kitchen, then slipped out the back door, running to the clubhouse. I quickly crawled inside. “Grace!”

Grace was curled up in the corner reading. “Hi,” she said happily, setting her book in her lap. She saw the distress on my face. “What’s wrong?”

“You were just on the television.”

“Honest?”

“Well, not you. But they were talking about you. And they showed a picture of you.”

Grace didn’t share my excitement. “So.”

“The man on the news said that you’ve been kidnapped and the police are looking all over for you. They put out a five-hundred-dollar reward.”

“Well, you know I wasn’t kidnapped.”

“This is really serious. You were on television.”

She lifted her book and started reading again.

“Didn’t you hear me? Television!”

“I heard you. I just don’t care.”

“You don’t care? People think you were kidnapped. Or maybe dead. This is really serious.”

“It’s always been really serious.”

“You think this is fun,” I said. “It’s time you did the right thing.”

“And what is that?”

“Not worrying everyone.”

Grace wore a dark, angry expression. “You still don’t know, do you?”

“Know what?”

“Why I ran away.”

I didn’t know I’d missed something. “You said it was for kicks.”

“And you believed me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

Grace’s eyes narrowed. “You are so gullible. You live in this world where you think that deep down inside everyone means well and monsters are make-believe. It’s not true. People aren’t all good. And there really are monsters.”

I was confused. “Monsters? You mean like Dracula…”

“No!” She threw her book against the wall. “You’re so stupid.”

Her words stung. “No I’m not.”

“Don’t you know why I’ve been throwing up and why I’m getting fatter? It’s not because I’m sick or eating too much. It’s because I’m expecting!”

“Expecting what?”

“I’m pregnant!”

The word stunned me. In those days “pregnant” wasn’t a word that even adults used casually. “How can you be…?” I choked on the word. “…you’re not even married.”