“No game, Gloria.” My mouth was dry and my heart was going tak-tak-tak. Carl was not a game, was he?

“You know where he’s got to, miss.” Her breath smelled like Chicken’s. “I know it.”

“I think—I think he ran away.”

“If you’re lying to Gloria…” she said.

That was not a lie.

Then she marched back inside, and I could hear her on the phone. “Thanks ever so much, Mrs. Spooner. First place I thought was the library. You know how much he enjoys it there. You’ve always been a lovely influence on him.” I snuck into the kitchen. She hung up and walked around the kitchen opening cupboard doors and then slamming them closed. When the phone rang again she grabbed it, said, “No? Even checked the bathrooms?” She tapped her foot. “He got into an awful argument with Telly last night. Misses him terribly, I figure that’s the root of it. Mm-hmm. Yes, he came to visit, trying to sort things out and all. I’m just worried about Rowan.” Then she was biting hard at her mouth. “Yes, I’m sure he’s fine. That age, you know. Sure, sure, if he shows up, I’d appreciate it. You’re a godsend.” She put the phone back again. Hard this time.

Gloria went upstairs, and a long while later she came down with a dress on. It had blue and yellow flowers, and her hair was curled nice. The black was gone off her cheeks and they were turned pink. She made me and her a sandwich. She didn’t cut it into a heart like she did sometimes. It was dry but I ate it all. After lunch she washed our plates and all the dirty stuff from last night and told me to broom up the floor. Then when the kitchen was sparkly, she picked up the phone and called Telly.

“He’s just gone,” she said. “Yes. That’s what I said. Since last night.”

She used a mean voice. She told him Rowan was so upset after dinner he got some madness in his head. He just up and took off. She said the mess was Telly’s fault. He was a useless disaster of a father. Completely worthless. After all the work she’d done to get Rowan on a straight path, he brought on this garbage. “Yep, yep,” she said. “You heard me. Surely you can’t be that thick.”

Gloria put the phone back real gentle. “He’s on his way,” she said. “He’s going to fix everything, Bids.”

“That’s good,” I said. I didn’t know if that was true. I reached into my pocket. My little metal piece was still there.

“Now why don’t you put that silly doll thing away and go brush the dog.”