“Addy, this is the second time that I’ve had to ask you to come in for dinner, so get moving. Now!” Lena Wallis let the screen door slam behind her as she raced over to the stove and pulled the pot of bubbling pasta water off of the burner just in time. She glanced at the clock on the stove and sighed in irritation. Mark was late. Again.

“Mommy, here I am,” Addy’s sweet voice came from the doorway, “Penny wanted to play longer, but she said you were mad so we should stop.”

“Penny said that, huh?” Lena took the pot over to the sink and poured the contents into the colander, “Well, at least she’s smart. Addy, go wash your hands and get ready for dinner.”

Lena took a scoop of pasta from the colander and put it into a small bowl. She stirred a tiny bit of butter into it, and added a sprinkle of salt and parmesan before taking it to the table and placing it in front of her daughter.

“Penny wants her own bowl, Mommy.”

“Penny can share yours,” Lena scowled at the rag doll that her four year old daughter had placed in the chair beside hers, “Mommy is stressed, Addy, so you and Penny need to cut her some slack, okay?”

“What does slack mean, Mommy?”

“Never mind,” Lena stirred the rest of the pasta into the skillet of meat sauce on the back burner. A burnt garlic smell suddenly permeated the room, “Shit!” she declared, as she searched for the pot holder, “I forgot about the damn garlic bread.”

Addy giggled as Lena sat the sheet pan of blackened bread on the counter, “Mommy, you always burn it.”

Lena’s mouth curved into a wry smile because her daughter wasn’t wrong. She served herself a generous portion of spaghetti and sat down at the table.

“Are you going to call daddy?” Addy asked, as Lena reached for her cell phone.

Lena glared at the phone before tossing it back on the table, “Apparently not, young lady. I’m not getting reception again, as usual. I wish we’d never moved out here.”

“But why, Mommy? I like it here. There’s lots of places to play.”

“Addy, honey, just eat your dinner, okay? Mommy’s having a bad day, that’s all.” Lena picked up her fork and made a big show of eating her spaghetti. Addy was so damn picky that it wasn’t even funny, and she worried constantly that her daughter didn’t get enough nutrients from the exactly four foods that she would eat.

“Penny doesn’t like ‘peghetti, Mommy. She likes the candy that daddy’s friend gave us, though.”

Lena looked at her daughter, “What are you talking about, Addy? What friend of your daddy’s?”

Suddenly her cell phone rang, and Lena grabbed it.

“Babe …”

“Justin, where the hell are you?” Lena interrupted her husband.

“Yeah, I was trying to tell you that the meeting ran late, but I’m just about home now.”

“Why didn’t you call and warn me?”

“Look, babe, you can bitch at me later, but I’m not getting into it over the phone. I’ll see you in a few.”

************************************************************************

“That was some damn fine spaghetti, babe,” Justin said, as Lena came down the stairs into the living room. He sat his plate on the coffee table and patted the empty space beside him on the couch, “Sit down and watch the game with me.”

Lena curled up beside him, “Justin, you said we would talk about why you were late. Again. You’re always late anymore, and I’m sick of it. I’m stuck out here in the damn boonies and you’re back in the city doing god know what …”

“It’s called providing for this damn family,” Justin snapped, “And, might I remind you that it was your idea to move out here to the fucking country!”

Lena crossed her arms and leaned away from him, angrily.

“I recall you saying that you needed to be away from it all so you could work on making your blog better.”

“Fine. Maybe I did say that, Justin, but that was before I knew that the internet and cell phone reception is shit out here.”

“Are you saying that you want to move back, Lee?”

“No. No, of course not,” Lena slumped against him. She felt his arm pull her in close and she sighed, “Addy loves it here. She has a big yard to run around in, and fresh air …”

“Maybe it’s time to put that garden in that you were always talking about. Take a break from the blog and just do some stuff outside for awhile.” Justin suggested.

“Yeah, maybe I should.”

************************************************************************

The sun was high in the sky as Lena plucked the last weed from her vegetable garden. Her back hurt as she stood up to survey her work. She’d really outdid herself, she thought in satisfaction, as she noted the sweet peppers growing fat on the vine, and the gorgeous leafy tops of the carrots that grew beneath the warm, fertile soil. If anyone had told her, even just a few years ago, that she was going to own an old farmhouse and grow her own vegetables, she would have laughed herself silly, but, here she was, and loving every minute of it, too.

A bee buzzed her ear, jolting her from her reverie. It was time to make lunch, anyway. She walked around to the front of the house. As usual, Addy’s constant companion, Penny, was riding shotgun while Addy ran circles around the old oak tree out by the gravel road. As she drew closer, Lena heard her daughter singing softly.

“Sweetheart, it’s time for lunch. Are you hungry?”

“I guess so,” Addy ran over to her, “Daddy’s friend said that a little candy wouldn’t spoil our appetites.”

A jolt ran through Lena’s body as her eyes quickly scanned the yard, the road, and the heavily wooded hillside that stood on the opposite side of their property. She grabbed Addy’s arm and hurried her to the house, feeling only marginally better after she threw the bolt on the door.

She knelt down in front of her daughter, “Now, Addison, listen to me. You need to tell me about daddy’s friend. Who are you talking about, sweetheart?”

“Don’t you know him, Mommy?” Addy’s large eyes stared up at her through a fringe of long lashes, “He’s really nice, and he likes Penny. He gives us candy. I already ate it, and it was good.”

“Addy, I need you to tell me, is daddy’s friend real? Is he a real person, or is he make believe?”

“He’s real, Mommy.”

***********************************************************************

“What do you want me to do, Lee, quit my job?” Justin threw his hands up into the air.

“No, but Addy says that the man is real, Justin. He’s real.”

“I know that’s what she says, but, babe, honestly, I’m finding that a bit hard to swallow. I mean, you didn’t see anything and you were on the side of the house. If a car had been on the road, don’t you think you would have seen it, or heard it?”

“Maybe he was walking, Justin.”

“Okay, let’s say he was,” Justin paced back and forth in front of her, “Doesn’t that make it even more likely that you would have seen him?”

“He, he could have come from the woods across the street.” Lena offered, not liking the way that Justin’s arguments made her feel like he thought she was being crazy for even entertaining her daughter’s words.

“Those woods just go up over the hill and down to the row of businesses out on the outer road.”

“That doesn’t mean that he couldn’t have come from there, Justin. He could have talked to Addy and ran back across the street and disappeared into the woods before I came around the side of the house.”

“He could have, I guess,” Justin stopped pacing. He sat down beside her and took her hands in his, “Or, maybe, just maybe, our daughter has a new imaginary friend, babe.”

“I guess she could be bored,” Lena allowed herself to ease into his way of thinking, “I mean, she is playing by herself most of the time.”

“So she creates a new friend. A nice friend that shares his candy with her and Penny. Candy that you’ve never seen any evidence of,” Justin winked at her, “No wrappers, no sticky hands …”

“True,” Lena shrugged, “I guess it’s time to start looking into a preschool around here.”

************************************************************************

“Do you like your new school, Addy?” Lena adjusted her rearview mirror so that she could see her daughter in the backseat.

“Yes!” Addy declared, looking down at the construction paper turkey in her hands, “It’s fun, Mommy.”

Lena smiled, “And you made some new friends, sweetheart?”

“Lulu is my friend, Mommy.”

“Lulu? Well, how about after Thanksgiving we invite Lulu and her mom over for a playdate. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

“Yes. Can we invite Jack, too, Mommy? He shared his orange crayon with me today.”

“Absolutely.”

************************************************************************

The oven timer went off and Lena sat her book aside and went into the kitchen. She pulled the pepperoni pizza from the oven and grabbed two plates out of the cabinet. While she waited for the molten cheese to cool, she picked up her phone, happily surprised to see that she had some bars. She dialed her mom.

“Hi, Mom,” Lena grabbed a cup and poured some milk into it, “Listen, I wanted to tell you that we’re planning on leaving first thing in the morning.”

“Wonderful. Your dad is planning on deep frying the turkey this year, for heaven’s sake. I told him no, but the damn fool went out and bought the fryer already, so …”

Lena chuckled, “That’s okay, Mom, really. I’m just excited to see everyone. It’s been too long.”

“Your cousin, Meredith, is coming too. And, she’s bringing her new boyfriend, I hear. Won’t that be exciting, dear?”

“Sure.” Lena started slicing the pizza and sliding it onto their plates.

“How many days does Justin have off? Two?”

“No. Three. Hey, I’m going to let you go, Mom. I’ve still got some packing to do, and Addy’s waiting on her dinner.”

“That’s fine. Give her a kiss from me and Pop Pop. Love you. See you tomorrow.”

“Love you, too, Mom. See you tomorrow.”

“Addy, honey, the pizza’s ready.” Lena pushed open her daughter’s bedroom door.

There was an open coloring book and a box of heavily used crayons on the pink carpeted floor, but her daughter was nowhere to be seen.

“Addy, are you in the bathroom?” Lena called, as she turned around and proceeded down the hallway. As she neared, she could see that the bathroom door was open, and the light was off. Still, she poked her head in the room, all the same. It was empty.

Prickles of anxiety tickled the back of her neck, as Lena raced through the house, calling for her daughter. She ran down the stairs and flung the front door open. The autumn sky was already darkening as she ran, crashing through the dry leaves, tearing around the entire yard, screeching Addy’s name, but no answer came to ease her frantic thoughts. Finally, with nowhere left to search, save for the dark woods, Lena ran back into the house and decided to grab her phone and call Justin.

“Mommy?”

“Addy?” Elated, Lena bounded up the stairs, two at a time, “Addy, honey, you scared me half to death,” Lena admonished her, as she fell to her knees in front of her daughter and pulled her into her arms, “Were you playing hide and seek?”

“No, Mommy,” Addy shook her head, her expression solemn, “I was talking to Daddy’s friend.”

Lena leaned back in surprise. She stared at her daughter in consternation, “Addy, what are you talking about?”

“I was talking to Daddy’s friend, Mommy, and he’s nice. He gave me some more candy.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Lena sighed, “Listen, I know that you sometimes get lonely, and … well, it’s nice to have an imaginary friend …”

“But he’s real, Mommy,” Addy insisted, as she raised her arm and pointed down the hall, “He’s right there.”

A wave of terror raced down Lena’s spine as she turned to look. A man was rushing towards her with a gun in his hand. Lena tried to stand up, but it was too late. She felt a moment of searing pain as the man slammed the gun against her head, and then, mercifully, she blacked out.

************************************************************************

Pain was what slowly brought Lena back to the world. Her head was throbbing. There was a television show on. The volume was too high, and the noise was making the pain almost unbearable. Lena wanted to tell whoever it was to turn it the hell down. The thought jolted through her brain, and suddenly she remembered what had happened. She opened her eyes.

“Mommy?” a whispered voice asked, as Lena felt a tug on her arm.

Lena looked down. Addy was snuggled up against her. Lena smiled down at her daughter, trying to comfort her with her eyes. Addy didn’t return the smile, but looked, instead, at the room around them. Lena’s eyes followed suit. They were in a cage. Beyond the cage was a living room. Their abductor was seated on a sofa eating chips, his attention on the sitcom that was playing loudly on the television.

Rising anxiety made it hard for Lena to breathe as she looked frantically around the cage. There was a pail in the corner, a roll of toilet paper next to it, and that was it. She looked at the man again as she furtively checked her pockets, praying that she would find her cell phone, but, even as she did, she remembered that she had left it on the kitchen counter. Now what?

The man suddenly looked over at them.

“Oh, you’re awake,” he stood up and came over to observe them through the bars for a moment, then disappeared into another room. When he returned, he unlocked the door of the cage and tossed a bag of sandwich bread, a jar of peanut butter, and a bag of chips into the cage, “Sorry. No knife for you. You’ll have to use your fingers.”

“Let us go.” Lena said, as her heart thrummed loudly in her ears.

“Nah,” the man squatted down, his long fingers wrapping around the bars, “See, at first I just wanted to keep Addy, but now I’m thinking I want to keep you, too. The ones down in the basement, they’ve been crying for their mommy or some such, maybe you could fill that roll.”

Lena was aghast. She closed her eyes, trying to process what he was telling her. The horror was beyond her comprehension. Maybe she could talk to him … reason with him … bargain with him. She opened her eyes, forcing her expression into one of benign normalcy, “I imagine they might be scared, if you’re keeping them alone down in the basement.”

“Oh, well I got them a television down there, too, and games and stuff. I like little girls. I’m real nice to them. Real nice.”

Lena pulled Addy closer, desperately wanting to shield her ears from the man’s words, “Why are you keeping us up here, then, instead of down there with them?” she asked, in a near whisper.

The man stood up, “So I can teach you how to act,” he slammed his open hand against the bars, causing Lena and Addy to jump, “That can go fast, or that can go slow. Up to you, either way,” he checked his watch, “Better eat. I’ve got to go out now. When I get back, we’ll start the first lesson.”

The moment he closed the front door, Lena pulled Addy onto her lap, “Addy, I’m going to try to find a way out of here. I need you to sit here, okay, so I can focus. Can you do that?”

Addy nodded. Lena stood up and inspected the cage, searching for anything that she could use as a tool, or weapon, but she didn’t find anything. She finally collapsed onto the floor again, crying out of frustration and fear.

“Mommy, are you okay?”

Lena leaned back against the wall again. She drew a ragged breath and gathered herself. She didn’t know how long she would have, but she had to make every second count. She looked around the room again, slower this time, searching for anything, anything at all that was within reach of the cage. Her eyes stopped on the end table that was next to the couch. There was a framed picture on it. She stood up and went over to the bars. She stuck her arm through the bars, relieved to find that it went through, but her reach was too short to reach the picture. She stood sideways and tried again, sliding her arm out until her armpit was up against the bars. Her fingers just reached the picture. She clasped the frame and didn’t breathe again until she had managed to get it into the cage.

“Mommy, why did you want that?” Addy asked her.

Lena studied the picture. A yellowed image of a family stared soberly back at her. She decided that the boy in the photo was the man who held them captive. It didn’t matter, Lena thought, as she pursed her lips and flipped the frame over. She pulled up the tabs that held the velvety backing in place and took it out, along with the photograph, finally revealing the coveted pane of glass that she was after. She pried the glass out of the frame with her fingertips and sat it aside, placing the picture and backing back into the frame. Lena turned it over and examined it. It was obvious that the glass was gone, but she would just have to hope that the man wouldn’t notice.

Once the photograph was once again safely on the table, Lena sat down and picked up the pane of glass. It was too big, too unwieldy. She would have to break it down into a more manageable size. She pulled her sweater off and tucked the glass inside of it.

“Here goes nothing,” she hissed, as she brought the bundle down against her bent knee, hearing a satisfying pop as she felt the glass break into two. She pulled the pieces of glass out of her sweater, “Better. Much better.” she said, as she looked up and winked at Addy, who was watching her closely.

************************************************************************

The sound of footsteps woke Lena. It was dark, but she could make out the figure of the man as he walked past the cage. He disappeared down a hallway. A moment later, Lena heard a door open, followed by the sound of footsteps going down a creaky staircase. She sat waiting, her ears attuned for his return. Twenty, maybe thirty, minutes passed before she heard him climb the stairs. When the door opened, she swore that she heard a child crying, but all that she could do was sit there, watching the shadowy figure of the man as he moved past the cage and over to the couch. She swallowed, hoping that he couldn’t hear it, though it sounded incredibly loud in her head. Eventually, the man stretched out on the couch, and, only after she was sure that he was asleep, did Lena allow herself to close her eyes.

************************************************************************

Lena woke up again to the sound of the cage rattling. Her eyes flew open. The man was unlocking the door. She instinctively held onto Addy even tighter. She wasn’t ready. She had hoped to have had more time to prepare.

“Addy,” the man said, as he whipped the cage door open and held out his hand, “It’s time for you and me to get to know each other a little better. Come on, let’s go.”

“No!” Addy said, firmly, as she moved even closer to Lena.

Lena could feel her daughter trembling, “Where are you going to take her?” she asked the man, hoping to distract him while she slowly slid her arm across her lap. She’d wrapped the glass shard in her bra, and tucked it beneath her butt. Last night, while planning her attack, she’d assumed, for some reason, that the shard would already be in her hand when he came into the cage.

“We’re gonna go sit on the couch for a bit so I can show her how to act,” he winked at Addy, “I got some candy over there, Addy, and you can have all you want, if you act real good for me.”

Over her dead body, Lena thought, as she forgot all about being stealthy. She raised her hip off the floor and started reaching for the glass.

A hard rap at the door made all of them look towards the front door at the opposite end of the room.

The man grunted angrily as he pulled the cage door closed and relocked it. He stomped over towards the door while Lena clasped her hand around the cloth covered glass and brought it up to her lap. She looked back towards the door. Their abductor had opened the door a smidge, and his body was blocking her view, but she could hear another man ask, “Just dropped by to see how everything was going. I was out on the tractor yesterday afternoon and thought I saw you carrying some big, wrapped bundles into the house. Just being neighborly and offering my help if you should need it.”

“I picked up some supplies, but that’s none of your damn business, old man,” Lena heard her abductor bark, “Why don’t you go on back over to that damn farm of yours and leave me the fuck alone.” He stepped back and slammed the door.

“Mommy, I’m scared.” Addy whispered.

“Hey, you got nothing to be scared of, Addy,” the man said, as he stepped in front of the cage again, and started unlocking the door, “Like I told you, I got plenty of candy over there, and I’m gonna let you have as much of it as you want.”

The moment he stepped inside of the cage, Lena jumped up and ran at him, stabbing him with the pointed glass over and over as she shrieked for Addy to run.

The man stumbled and Lena shoved him down to the floor. He was bleeding from the face and hands, but she knew that her weapon hadn’t penetrated deeply enough to cause any real damage. He was in shock and hurting, but she wouldn’t have long, “Addy, go!” she screamed, “Go. Come on. Hurry!”

Addy ran towards the front door with Lena right behind her. They rushed outside, but Lena could already hear their abductor’s enraged cries growing closer. She yanked Addy around a truck that was parked in the gravel driveway. There was an old metal shed behind them and, as the man burst outside, Lena and Addy darted behind it. Lena peaked around the side of the shed; the man was searching for them. She looked around frantically. There was open farmland stretching behind them, but a wooded field off to their right. She grabbed Addy’s arm and started running for the trees.

“You fucking bitch!” she heard the man roar, “You think you can outrun me?”

She couldn’t. She knew that she couldn’t, especially with Addy in tow. She still ran though, gasping and yelping in terror, pulling her daughter with her as they reached the woods. Beside her, the land dropped off into a ravine and she started to angle away from it so that they wouldn’t lose their footing.

She heard the man’s harsh gasps just a moment before she felt his body slam into her, sending them both tumbling down the hill. A large tree finally stopped her, knocking her breath away as she thudded up against it. Pain radiated through Lena’s rib cage, and the world spun wildly as she tried to scramble to her knees. Below her, she could hear the man moaning, but it was the sight of Addy standing on the ridge above her that managed to spur her to her feet. The slope was sharp, and she would gain a few feet only to lose it when she started sliding again.

“Mommy, he’s coming!” Addy suddenly screamed.

Lena looked over her shoulder. The man was climbing after her. With a shriek of panic, Lena’s moves were fraught with urgency as her fingers clawed at the leaf strewn hillside, searching for anything that would help her propel herself up the slope quicker.

“Mommy!” Addy cried, just as Lena felt the man grasp her ankle.

Lena yelped as she was yanked down the hill. Her hand closed around an embedded branch and she held onto it for all she was worth, as her abductor suddenly released her ankle and started climbing quickly, overtaking her in seconds as he raced up the slope towards Addy.

With renewed desperation, Lena clawed and grasped at anything she could find as she tried to catch him, but it was no use … he was almost near the top already.

“Addy!” Lena cried, “Addy, listen to me, honey. I want you to run and hide, okay. Hide from the bad man. Hurry!”

Addy turned and fled, as Lena dug her feet into the slope and searched for something to pull herself up. She could barely see past the tears in her eyes as she wrapped her hands around a slim root that poked out of the ground far above her head. She pulled herself up, scrambling for purchase, and managed to heave herself a few precious feet up the slope. She glanced up again and her heart leapt into her throat as she saw that the man’s head was level with the top of the slope. He would be up and over in a matter of seconds.

Desperately, Lena grasped at another root and fought for another few, precious feet, as she heard the man heave a satisfied grunt. Disheartened, she looked back up. The man had clambered onto level ground and was standing upright. A sharp, keening sound came from somewhere deep, deep in her lungs. Her bloody fingers tore at the ground, as she fought to launch herself up the steep slope.

Suddenly, a boom rocked the air. Lena stopped and looked up. The man was falling backwards. His body thudded against the slope and tumbled past her, finally coming to rest at the very bottom of the hill. A red stain was blossoming across the front of his shirt. Stunned, Lena looked back up the hill. An old man was standing on top, a gun in his hand.

“I knew there was something off about him.” he said, as he tossed a rope down the hill towards her.

Lena grabbed the rope and quickly scrambled to the top. The old man reached for her hand and helped her to her feet. His voice sounded familiar, and she recognized that he must have been the man that had knocked on their abductor’s door.

“My daughter,” she gasped, as her eyes flew around the woods, “She’s hiding somewhere. I have to find her!”

“She’s safe,” the old man said, as he gestured for her to follow him, “I ran into her as I was heading this way. I was getting ready to hook up and plow my back field when I saw you guys running from Curtis. Figured you might need my help so I went and got my gun and came back.”

They reached the edge of the woods and Lena spotted the tractor sitting out in the field. She ran towards it. Addy was sitting in the enclosed cabin. Lena flung the door open and grabbed her daughter into her arms with a joyful whoop. She spun around to face the farmer, “You saved our lives. I can never repay you …”

“Don’t you worry about that now. I’m just real glad that I saw you and your girl run …”

Addy suddenly bounced in Lena’s arms and started howling in distress as she pointed behind the farmer.

Lena leaned around the old man … Curtis was sprinting towards them, wielding an enormous log.

“He’s coming!” Lena cried, as she dropped Addy to the ground, “Get in the tractor and lock the door!” she instructed her. She turned back around. The farmer had turned to raise his gun, but it was too late … Curtis was already swinging the heavy log in his direction. Lena heard the horrible crack as the log slammed into the elderly man’s head and he dropped to the ground. The gun flew out of his hand. Lena ran after it, as Curtis came after her, the log raised high in his hands. She picked it up just as he swung. She yelped and tried to dart out of the way, but accidently threw the gun. It landed against the wheel of the tractor. The log slammed into her hip, and she dropped to her knees as the pain tore through her like a bolt of lightening. Curtis raised the log again, but Lena fought through the pain and lunged for the gun. Her hands found it and she spun around, her back up against the tractor wheel as she screamed in agony from the electric pain that raced up and down her leg. Curtis was standing above her, sending the log arcing down towards her. Lena pulled the trigger. The bullet hit him square in the chest. The log dropped to the ground as he fell to his knees. She waited, her hand shaking and her heart pulsing rapidly in her throat, until, finally, he dropped face first to the ground and lay still. Only then did Lena pull herself to her feet.

“Addy.” she forced a smile as she stared at her daughter through the tractor cabin.

Addy opened the door, “Mommy. Mommy, is the bad man dead now?”

Lena reached for Addy, pulling her into her arms, fighting against the flaring pain in her hip and leg, “Yes, sweetheart,” she buried her head in Addy’s hair, breathing in her warm scent, “Yes, he is.”

“I want to go home, Mommy.”

“I know, sweetie, and we will, but first we have to save those other kids, okay?”

“Okay. I love you, Mommy.”

“I love you too, Addy. So, so much.” Lena sat Addy down, but kept her hand tightly clutched in her own as she hurried over to the old farmer. She winced as she knelt down and gently touched his arm, and jumped when he unexpectedly opened his eyes with a groan.

“You’re alive,” Lena sputtered, “You took such a hard blow, I thought for sure …”

“I’ve got a hard noggin,” the old man sat up slowly, and held his head for a few moments, then asked, “Where’s Curtis? Did you get him?”

“Oh, I sure did.” Lena said, with a satisfied smile, “I sure did.”