Just after dinner, the sky began to clear, and the moon broke free of the clouds. Darcy watched it slowly rise and begin to cast its ghostly light through the window of the apartment. It had been two days since she had seen Jamee, and with each passing second, she grew more nervous.

“Jamee,” Grandma called from her bedroom.

“Jamee’s not here, Grandma. It’s me, Darcy,” she said, sitting next to her grandmother.

“Did Jamee tell you about the nice time we had in the mountains?” Grandma asked.

Darcy glanced at her grandmother.

“No, Grandma,” Darcy said softly.

“Oh, what a time we had! Just the two of us. We went to the mountains and ate fried fish and listened to the wind in the trees. You should have been there. She was so happy. She laughed and laughed,” Grandma recalled.

Darcy nodded, and Grandma’s voice rambled on, describing adventures that had happened many years ago, as if they had happened yesterday. It gave Grandma joy to imagine happier days, so Darcy never had the heart to bring her back to reality.

“We walked to the spot where it looks like somebody just took the trees and twisted them. Jamee said maybe the moon monster did it,” Grandma laughed.

Darcy glanced at her watch. It was 9:00, and there was still no word from Jamee, the police, or Mom. Frustrated, Darcy got up and helped Grandma to the bathroom and then into bed. Grandma was still smiling just before she went to sleep. “You know what Jamee said to me yesterday when we were hiking in the mountains?” Grandma asked in a confidential whisper.

“What, Grandma?” Darcy asked.

“She said, ‘I’m so happy, Grandma. I’m so happy! I feel safer here than anywhere in the whole world . . . ’ ”

After Grandma went to sleep, Darcy walked through the silent apartment. And then, suddenly, a wild thought came to her. What if Jamee had not gone downtown at all? What if she had gone to the mountains she loved so much? Maybe there was some strange truth in Grandma’s dream!

Darcy ran to the phone and called Tarah. “I need a big favor. Can you and Cooper come over right away? You could stay with Grandma while Cooper drives me to the mountains. I think that’s where Jamee may be. ”

“Sure, just hold on, girl,” Tarah said.

Darcy hung up and just stared at the phone. Then, with her hands trembling, she picked up the phone and called her father.

“We’re leaving for the hiking trail in the mountains to look for Jamee,” she told him.

“I’ll be right there,” he said.

Within fifteen minutes, Cooper’s pickup truck and the silver Toyota appeared. Leaving Tarah with Grandma, Darcy, her father, and Cooper headed for the mountains.