“Yes, yes, okay. Thank you, again,” Junie said, and disconnected.

Avery sighed, and was about to send out the call when Chief Pittman came up to the front desk.

“Chief! A lady named Cathy Terry just called in reporting she’d found a runaway kid. He’s at her house and needing to be picked up. And…I just took a call from the frantic mother who just discovered he was missing.”

Lon frowned. “Same kid, I presume?”

“Yes sir. Melvin Lee Wilson. The oldest one of Danny and Junie’s kids.”

“You said Cathy Terry found him?” Lon asked.

“Yes sir. Do you know her?”

Lon nodded. “Yes, and I know where she lives. I’ll take the call.”

“Okay,” Avery said. “I’ll log it in.”

Lon had just taken off his raincoat. He turned back around to put it on again.

* * *

Now that Cathy had notified the police department, she grabbed the blanket from her recliner and hurried back outside.

“I’ll bet you’re freezing,” she said, and wrapped Melvin Lee up in the soft, thick covers. “We can keep each other warm a bit, okay?” she said, as she pulled him up in her lap, and then cuddled him close.

Melvin Lee nodded.

“How old are you, honey?” Cathy asked.

“Almost eight.”

“Then you must be a second grader. Did you run away from school?”

He started crying. “I’m supposed to be a second grader, but they held me back in first grade cause I couldn’t read so good. My mama keeps me out of school a lot to help her with the babies.”

Cathy hugged him a little closer, patting his shoulder as she began to rock them both.

“Are you the oldest?” she asked.

“Yes. Then Willy, then Arnie, then Lucy.”

Cathy was trying to imagine having four children under the age of eight and couldn’t. She’d never even had one.

“Why are you running away?” she asked.

“Mama told us today she’s havin’ another baby, and I don’t want no more brothers or sisters to take care of,” he said, and then started to wail. “I don’t wanna be the dumb kid in the class. I need to learn myself how to read, and how to count money and stuff.”

“Oh honey,” Cathy said, and then held him closer.

She was still holding him when she saw Duke’s truck, and then she saw the look of concern on his face as he pulled up in the drive and got out with the sack of food.

“Cathy! What happened? You two are soaked to the skin.”

“This is Melvin Lee,” she said. “Melvin Lee, this is my friend, Duke Talbot.”

Duke frowned. “Are you one of Danny Wilson’s kids?”

“Yes sir,” Melvin said.

“I went to school with your daddy. Are you hungry?”

The little boy wiped the tears off his face.

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you like chili dogs and French fries?” Duke asked.

Melvin Lee’s eyes widened. “Yes, sir.”

“I’ve got plenty. Come inside where it’s warmer. Both of you,” he said.