Free Lost by Joy Fielding

her.”
    Cindy’s eyes shot through the darkness to the window, as if Julia might have been spirited through the slats of the California shutters and was now hidden among the leaves of the red maple trees in the backyard. Her heart pounded loudly against her ears, like a restless ocean surf. “Where is she? How is she?”
    “You should take better care of your children,” the caller scolded.
    “Please, can you just tell me where she is?”
    “You know what they say, don’t you? Finders, keepers …”
    “What?”
    “… losers, weepers.”
    “Who are you? What have you done with Julia?”
    “I have to go now.”
    “Wait! Don’t hang up. Please, don’t hang up!” Cindy felt the line go dead in her hands, as if Julia herself had just died in her arms. “No! No!”
    “Mom?” a frightened voice called from the doorway. “Mom, what’s the matter?”
    Cindy spun around, the blankets falling from her naked body as she jumped from the bed, her pupils dilating with disbelief as she absorbed the identity of the person walking toward her. “Julia! You’re here. You’re all right.” She threw her arms around her daughter, wrapped her in a smothering embrace. “I was having the most awful nightmare. It was so real. But you’re okay. You’re okay.” She kissed Julia’s cheek and forehead, felt Julia’s skin grow colder with each brush of her lips. “My poor baby. You’re freezing. Come get into bed. What’s the matter, darling? Are you sick?” Cindy maneuvered her daughter into her bed, Julia’s body going limp as she lay back against the pillow, her blond hair floating around her face, like seaweed in a shallow lake. “Everything’s okay now, sweetheart. Mommy’s here. I’ll take care of you.”
    Julia stared at her mother through cold, dead eyes. She spoke without moving her lips. “This is all your fault,” she said.
    Cindy screamed.
    And then suddenly someone was at her side, touchingher shoulder, stroking her arm. “Mom! Mom! What’s the matter? Mom, wake up. Wake up.” And then something wet on her cheek, a rhythmic thumping at the side of the bed.
    Cindy opened her eyes, saw Heather trembling beside her, the moonlight through the bedroom shutters drawing a series of broad horizontal stripes across her face. Elvis was on his hind legs at the side of the bed, his eager tongue extending toward her face, his tail slapping enthusiastically at the sideboard. “What’s happening?”
    “You tell me. Are you all right?” Somewhere behind Heather, something stirred.
    Cindy arched forward, strained through the darkness past her younger child. “Is someone there? Julia? Is that you?”
    “It’s me, Mrs. Carver,” Duncan replied, joining Heather and Elvis at Cindy’s side. He was wearing only the bottom half of a pair of blue-and-white-striped pajamas; Heather was wearing its matching top.
    “Oh.” Cindy quickly pulled the covers up around her chin. “My robe,” she said, motioning vaguely toward the foot of the bed.
    Heather reached for the green-and-navy terry-cloth robe, draped it across her mother’s shoulders. “You must have been having a nightmare.”
    Cindy stared blankly toward the foot of the bed, the details of her dream already receding, bursting like bubbles against the night air, evaporating, taking Julia away. “A nightmare. Yes. It was awful.”
    “You want some warm milk or something?” Heather asked. “I can make you a cup.”
    Cindy shook her head. “Is Julia home?”
    Even in the dark, Cindy could see the frown on her younger daughter’s face.
    “Her door’s closed,” Duncan volunteered.
    “It’s always closed,” Heather reminded him. “You want me to check?”
    “I’ll do it.” Cindy secured her robe around her and climbed out of bed. “You two go back to bed. Get some sleep. It’s late.” She followed them out of the room and into the wide hall, stopping with them in front of Julia’s door, Elvis licking at her bare toes. Her fingers stretched