Free Green Lake by S.K. Epperson Page A

stubbornness that made Eris so determined. It was the way he felt about himself, and how he wanted to go on feeling about himself.
    He graduated when he was twenty-four, and had numerous interviews with the state, finally going on to the police training academy and becoming certified as a law enforcement officer. A few months later he was assigned an area of his own, and now, two years later, he was dealing
    with what the other COs called ”a year that rains shit,” when every minute something was happening, and no sooner did he catch his breath than something else cropped up that needed his attention.
    Still, he was all right doing what he was doing. He stayed busy most of the day, every day . He was rarely idle. It was what he wanted.
    Next Friday was his twenty-seventh birthday, and he would celebrate it like he celebrated all the others, by himself, with an hour or two of maudlin thinking about his real parents. Then his birthday would be over and it would be the next day again.
    That night on television he watched as Ronnie Lyman tearfully complained about the treatment of his family by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. How they couldn't bear the thought of their little girl possibly finding her way back to the campsite, only to find it deserted.
    “Christ,” Eris muttered.
    The reporter had enough sense to interview Eris's superior, and the reason the Lyman’s were asked to leave was fully explained. Still, the worry-worn faces of the Lyman’s had an effect, and Eris was certain the cards, letters, and checks would see an increase. Missing little girls often awakened people's hearts.
    He threw a frozen dinner in the microwave and looked out his kitchen window to see Madeleine sitting on the front porch playing with the kittens. Her hair was out of its usual tight bun and flowing freely down her neck and shoulders. It was a nice picture, and Eris stood looking at it long after the timer on his microwave had beeped.
    He was about to turn away when he saw Sherman Tanner making his stealthy way up the road. The dog wasn't with him, so Eris figured he was going to the cemetery again, where he liked to rub himself against the stones and jerk off. Eris had caught him at it more than once, but he was too embarrassed by the man's behavior to open his mouth and speak. Tanner had something about buried things, obviously. And burying things.
    Eris only hoped Madeleine didn't run out there and catch him at it some night.
    He shook his head and was about to walk over to the microwave when he saw Madeleine lift a hand and wave to him. Eris turned his head and moved away from the window, not responding.

 
     
     
    CHAPTER EIGHT
     
     
    Madeleine bolstered her courage enough to walk down to the swimming area the next day. Jacqueline and Manuel would be in for dinner, and she wanted them to know she hadn't stayed holed up in the cabin the entire week. Over her one-piece suit she wore shorts and a top, and she carried a paperback in her hand as she made her way down the road. A woman standing in front of a cabin and drinking a huge glass of tomato juice nodded to her as she passed. Madeleine returned the nod and walked on. The cabins seemed to fill up from Thursday till Monday with people like her sister and brother-in-law, who visited the lake and then drove away again, leaving the place to the full-timers.
    Down at the swimming beach she started to groan in dismay when she found the place full of kids, but on closer observation she paused and found herself watching.
    The children were disadvantaged, most of them with Down's syndrome. A red-haired woman was attempting to keep them together and instruct them on the building of sand castles on the tiny sandbar. Madeleine counted twelve children of all colors, shapes, and sizes, only a few of them paying attention to what the woman was saying.
    Slowly Madeleine approached the group and gave the faces that turned to look a cautious smile.
    “Hello,” she said. “I