1988


"When this weather clears, we'll try to get back up there, but this storm is a doozy, Jim," Sheriff Sean looked defeated; and like he'd seen better days.


Louanne was clutching the single clue that had turned up that day - Sarah's bright pink backpack. They had found the backpack just barely peeking out of a pile of snow alongside the old logging road on the mountain. It was right past that point that the search had to be called off because the weather was getting worse by the minute.


"It's lucky that it was so bright," the sheriff had said when he'd handed the backpack to Louanne. "We might never have found it."


Louanne smiled feebly. "Sarah was insistent on this one when we went school shopping this year." Tears started falling from Louanne's sore eyes again.


"Damnit, Sean," Jimmy spoke up. "If her goddamned backpack was up there don't you think that she is too?"


"I don't know, Jim. Some of the other fellas think that it could be a diversion," Sean took his hat off and scratched at his head.


"A diversion?" Louanne looked up.


"Yeah, you know, to throw us off," Sean placed the hat beside him on the arm of the chair in which he was seated. "They could be halfway to Mexico by now, and we'd be busy looking on a mountain just outside of town," he stood and began to pace back and forth.


Honestly, it made sense. Surely nobody could be so stupid as to leave such a bold clue right next to where Sarah may be - or where her body may be.


Sean was relieved when both Jimmy and Louanne nodded their heads in agreement. As hard as it was to accept, he somehow knew that he needed to heed his father's advice.


"We're gonna keep looking, okay?"


"I know, Sean. I know you all do whatever you can to bring our Sarah home," Jimmy sat back down and took his head into his hands. He quietly began weeping.


Louanne sat beside him, cradling the backpack in one arm and Jimmy with the other.


"Why did her backpack have to be up there?" Louanne stressed the word 'there.'


"How do you mean, Lou?" Sean's pulse quickened.


"You know, Sean," she patted Jimmy's back as his shoulders gently moved up and down with his silent sobs. "All those horrible stories about those old logging camps...you know, when we were kids, there were all kinds of horror stories about that place."


Sean felt the color drain from his face. He sat back down.


"Oh yes, Lou, I remember," his voice trembled.


"You okay Sean?" Louanne noticed Sean's pallor. "This has got to be hard for you too...not being able to find a missing...girl..." Louanne started sobbing again as well.


"I'm fine, Lou. You're right, this is just...hard." He wasn't lying; it was hard. He knew, however, that there was something to what she was saying. "I wouldn't pay any of those old ghost stories any never mind, right now, Lou," he stood and placed his hat back on his head.


Sean walked over to the door.


"All of that is just going to make you feel worse," he opened the door to leave. "And you all need to be strong right now; strong for Janie and each other, you hear?"


Both Louanne and Jimmy nodded.


"And for Sarah," he said before stepping out into the cold. "Especially for Sarah."


"God help us all," Sean whispered under his breath as he trudged through the snow, on the way back to his truck.


--


"Rinah, I'm starving and I'm sure the kid is, too," Jarrel said to Tzarinah once he found her. She had been holed up in another cabin with her kettle and herbs all day.


"She's just been laying on that bunk, crying." He shuddered.


"You need to toughen up!" Tzarinah turned abruptly from her work. "What are you, a pussy? Do a few girl-tears scare you?" She was in his face now, her eyes ablaze.


"No, but..." he paused, searching for the right words. "I know you have a plan but, like, don't we need to feed her first?"


"Yes, we will feed her, don't worry your precious little head about it," she sneered at the word 'precious.' "But this ain't The Four Seasons, is it? She's not getting caviar on Ritz crackers!"


"Um, I don't think kids eat caviar on Ritz crackers," Jarrel made a face. "I think they like pizza and McDonald's." His own stomach growled at the thought of fast food.


"Do you see a goddamned McDonald's anywhere? Or a Domino's?" Tzarinah smacked the top of his head again.


"No, but -- ouch!" Jarrel flinched at the impact. "Damnit, Rinah, would you stop hitting me?"


"Then quit interrupting me! I'm working on her fucking dinner right now! Yours too if you can behave right!" She turned back to her kettle.


"O tenebrse domine, nutri nos!" She waved her hands above the kettle, where something was clearly cooking.


"What is...that?" Jarrel craned his head to see into the big pot. All he could see was something that appeared bloody.


"Don't you worry about that! Let me worry about that! Now do you want some food or what?" She stuck her finger in his face.


Jarrel's stomach growled. "Yes." He nodded.


"Then shut the hell up and let me finish!" She turned back to the flames. "Go get the brat, and bring her here. Dinner is almost served!" Tzarinah cackled as Jarrel turned to walk back to the other cabin.


"I hope she likes coyote!"