“Come on. It was important to me that I look my best out in the middle of nowhere. They wouldn’t let us take anything. Why? What is going on?”

Lynn rushed to the desk in the room, quickly rummaging through the bare contents inside. She found a lone pen, but no paper.

“Did you have heatstroke out there?”

“No,” Lynn said, walking over the bookshelf. She searched among the row of coffee table books, finding one on beaches of the East Coast. The first page had just a small dedication to the lovers of the ocean. Tearing out the page, she hurried to the bathroom.

“OK, I’m starting to worry that you have indeed lost your mind.”

“Come in the bathroom. And close the door.”

“What are you doing?” Roxy asked, pulling the door shut behind her.

“Turn on the water.”

“Why?”

“Because they have certainly set up cameras inside the bedroom, and microphones. The faucet will drown out our words.” Lynn reached over and began to draw out large letters, scribbling back and forth on the page to darken them.

“Well, I’m going to find one of those cameras and take off my clothes and really give them something to look at,” Roxy said, looking over her shoulder. “What in the world are you writing? HELP?”

“Turn on the shower too. There were men in the woods. Hunters. They saw me. And I bet my life on the fact that someone had been abducted from these woods.”

“Wait. People saw you? And how do know there’s been an abduction from here?”

“The shower, Roxy! Especially if you’re going to talk that loud.”

“Fine.” She turned on the faucet at the sink and above the tub. “Are you sure they were hunters? In the summer?”

“They must be hunting squirrel or quail. They were carrying rifles and were wearing camouflage. One had on binoculars, and I swear he looked at me. If they’re local, I bet they’ve noticed the swarm and came to look at it.”

“Swarm? Like the ladybugs—”

“Yes. But this time they’re cicadas.”

“Cicadas? Are they making the same shape?”

“Yes. You wouldn’t notice it unless you stood and watched for a while. I assume one of the hunters saw it. And that’s why I got all dramatic out there. I hope they got worried by what they saw.”

Lynn walked to the small window in the bathroom, raising the wood blinds. She looked out, seeing none of the guards walking around. She slid the paper onto the window.

She peered over the page, biting the inside of her lip. Please come in for a closer look. Please don’t think I’m some crazy old woman with dementia who wandered out.

For the next hour she stood and watched, with Roxy pacing or sitting on the toilet lid. “Nothing?” she asked for the seventeen time.

“I would tell you if I saw something. No. Nothing.”