"Nothing," he said. "Not even a footprint. Maybe she was swallowed by one of the alligators behind the shack."

"Don't say such a thing, Daddy!"

"What can I say?"

"Did you call the hospital?"

"Not yet." He sighed deeply. "What are we going to do, Pearl?"

"She'll come home or she'll call us," I said. "She will," I insisted when he didn't react. "Did you have breakfast?"

"Just coffee. I don't have an appetite. But you go on. Eat something. No sense in both of us suffering like this," he said. "I'll give Jeanne a call in about twenty minutes. Everyone's going to get annoyed with us for nagging them, of course."

"No, they won't. They'll understand."

"That's good, because I don't," he said bitterly. He was at it again, swimming in a pool of self-pity. I just didn't have the patience for it, so I went to get some breakfast. Afterward I decided we should go see Pierre.

"I can't," Daddy said. "I can't face him and continue to promise him something that I have no idea will happen."

"But we can't not go, Daddy. Our presence is all he has now. We have to go," I insisted. "Get up."

His eyes widened. "Okay," he said. After giving Aubrey detailed instructions about how to reach us should anyone call with any information, he reluctantly drove us to the hospital. We met Dr. LeFevre in the corridor just outside the ICU.

"No word of your wife yet, monsieur?" she asked when she saw it was just us again.

"I'm afraid not," Daddy said.

"How is Pierre doing, Doctor?" I asked.

"He's going in and out of consciousness. Each time he emerges, it's with the expectation he will have his mother at his bedside, and each time he sees she's not there, he retreats into his deep sleep. Have you no idea where she might be?" she asked.

"Some, but there's been no sign of her anywhere," Daddy moaned.

Dr. LeFevre didn't hide her dissatisfaction, which only made Daddy feel worse.

"We're trying to find her, Doctor," I said. "We have the police looking, and we have friends searching."

"Very well," she said. "We'll do what we can," she added with the definite tone that said it wouldn't be enough.

The entire time Daddy and I were at Pierre's bedside he remained asleep. He didn't even move his fingers when I held his hand. He was waiting to hear Mommy's voice, not ours. The sight and the silence drove Daddy mad. He couldn't stay long and left before I did. I found him pacing in the corridor.

"Let's go home," he said. "Maybe someone's called."

No one had. The day seemed to last forever. Every hour fell like another heavy stone on our hearts. Daddy ate a little lunch, but started to drink in the late afternoon. By early evening he was in his own comfortable stupor, and I was left waiting for the ringing of the phone or the buzz of the doorbell. Nothing brought any news.

And then, just before nine o'clock, the phone rang and Aubrey came to the sitting room to inform me that a Monsieur Clovis was on the line waiting to speak with me.

"Clovis?" At first I couldn't recall who that might be,

"He said Jack Clovis, mademoiselle."

"Oh, Jack," I cried and hurried to the phone.

"Sorry if I'm calling too late," he began.

"No, it's fine, Jack. What is it?"

"I don't know if it's anything, Pearl, but just before I was about to leave the fields tonight, I saw a light in a window in the big house. I knew it couldn't be the reflection of a star or the moon, because we've got heavily overcast skies out here tonight," he explained. "To me it looked like a candle."

"Did you go look?"

"I did because of what you told me about your mother and all. I took a flashlight and went into the house. I listened, but I didn't hear anyone. I swear I saw candlelight, though. I didn't see it when I was in the house, and I don't see it now, but someone was walking through that house tonight. I'd swear on a stack of Bibles."

I thought a moment. It was nearly a two-hour drive, but this was the first sign of any hope.

"We'll be out there in two hours," I said.

"Really? I don't know if you should do that, Pearl. I haven't found anything. It might have been a prowler, of course. I can't say I saw a woman. I hate to have you drive out here in the middle of the night for nothing."

"It's not for nothing, Jack. We're coming. I don't expect you to wait around, though."

"Oh, no problem. I'll go sprawl out in the office trailer. If I fall asleep, just knock on the door. Boy, I sure hope you're not coming out here for nothing."

"Don't you worry about it," I assured him.

As soon as I hung up, I went looking for Daddy. To my chagrin, I found him sprawled out on the sofa in his office, his arm dangling over the side, his hand clutching the neck of the bourbon bottle.

"Daddy!" I rushed to him and shook him. He groaned, opened his eyes, and then closed them. "Daddy, Jack called from Cypress Woods. Someone was in the house, walking with a candle. We've got to go up there. It might be Mommy." I shook him again. This time he released the bottle, and it fell to the floor, spilling its contents over the rug and splattering my feet. "Daddy!"

"Wha . . . Ruby?"

"Oh, Daddy, no!" I cried. I stared at him for a moment and, realizing he wouldn't be able to drive anyway, and would certainly sleep all the way there, I turned and went to the desk. I found a pen and wrote a quick note explaining what Jack had said and where I had gone. Then, to be sure he read it, I pinned it to his shirt and left him, sprawled out drunk in his office.

I had never driven the car for as long a journey as this one was going to be, and at night, too. The thought crossed my mind to call someone to accompany me. I considered Catherine, but remembered she was on holiday. I certainly didn't want to call Claude or any of his friends. No one would want to go traveling into the bayou this time of night anyway, I thought. I had to do this alone, and I had to do it now.

Thinking about some of those dark side roads put a tremor into my legs and made my fingers shake when I finally got behind the wheel and turned the key. I took a deep breath, checked to see that I had enough gas, and then pulled out of the driveway, turning slowly into the city streets and leaving Daddy and the house behind me.

Somewhere ahead of me in the night Mommy waited. At least, I prayed so. Whenever I had any doubts I just conjured up Pierre's image and the plea in his eyes.

"Get Mommy," he had asked. "Make her come home."

I sped onto the highway and into the night to do just that.


11

  Kiss

Ten minutes out of the city, the sky that had looked heavy and forbidding delivered on its threat. The rain fell, driven by a furious wind that splattered the heavy drops like eggs against the car windshield. The wipers groaned with the effort to keep the window clear. Oncoming car headlights blurred. It was like a monsoon. My heart throbbed in triple time as I held my breath with every turn.

Suddenly I felt the car sliding, and I panicked, hitting the brakes too hard, which sent the vehicle sideways. I screamed as the car rammed into a tree and the rear end whipped out, leaving me facing the side of the road, my front wheels in a ditch. Other drivers, whizzing by, sounded their horns as if in anger, fearful I would back out onto the road again and into their path.

But all I could do was sit and cry, my hands frozen to the steering wheel. I couldn't move a muscle. My heart was a wild frantic animal in my chest, thudding hard against my ribs. Tears coursed down my face and dropped from my chin.

The wipers were still going, even though the engine had stalled. I sucked in my breath and tried desperately to calm down. The rain sounded like giant fingers drumming the roof. More horns blared, and then a pair of huge headlights came bearing down on me. It was a tractor trailer truck, and I thought it was going to plow right into me. But the driver brought it to a stop about a dozen feet away. I saw him get out and run over to open my door.

He was a lean man in a faded white T-shirt and jeans. He had a well-trimmed dark mustache and thin brown hair. "You all right?" he asked.

"I think so. Yes," I said wiping my tears away.

"Your rear end is sticking out in the highway. You're gonna get smacked for sure. Did you try to back up and straighten out?"

"No, sir."

He was getting soaked standing there in the rain, but he didn't seem to care.

"Well, go on, see if she'll start," he said. I turned the key. The engine turned over and over, but the car didn't start. "We might need a tow truck," he muttered.

"Oh, no. I've got to get to Houma tonight!" He thought a moment.

"Let me come around and try it," he said. I slid over, and he got behind the wheel. "Might be flooded." He kept his foot down on the accelerator and turned the ignition. It churned and churned and then suddenly sputtered and started. "Let's see how bad you're hung up in this ditch," he said and put the car into reverse. Then he accelerated. The car lifted and fell, lifted and fell. He shook his head. "I don't know. We could rip something out if we force her."

"I've got to get to Houma, monsieur. It's a matter of life or death."

"Ain't it always?" he muttered and looked at me. "You sure you're old enough to be driving?"

"Oh, yes. I have my license right here," I said fumbling for my purse.

"That's all right. I ain't the police. Your folks know you're out in this weather?"

"I'm trying to get to my mother," I said.

He nodded. "All right. I'll try something. I got a chain in the truck. Give me a few minutes to hook it up to your car and I'll see if I can tug you over the ditch here."