Julia woke from her nap to a darkened tent. There was still light leaking through the spaces between the massive boulders creating her shelter underneath, but their lower levels of illumination indicated the sun was getting close to setting.
She began to worry that Ellen would not return. Her thoughts reasoned that she had been caught by deputies and detained for questioning. She figured the Sheriff would have asked where she had been and maybe even be forced to reveal her location. Julia recognized she may to push on alone, through woods she was not familiar with and in search of Lara's location with no idea where she might be.
"I should have asked Ellen right away where Angela's aunt lives." She thought to herself.
Julia crawled out of the tent and found a place where she could pee. The space underneath the boulders where she hid was large enough for the tent, and still had ample room to step out, but not much.
Her face made an expression of pain as she tried to crouch with her bad ankle.
When finished, she stood up and peeked through sliver of space between two boulders. She saw no sign of Ellen, nor could hear anything.
Julia chose to crawl back into the tent.
Regret flooded her conscience.
She lamented for being so clumsy as to lose her footing on the rock and hurting her ankle. She lamented for not toughing out the pain and causing Lara to go for help. She lamented for letting Lara go without her.
And not just regret, but shame poured over her too. The way she complained about Lara going nude in front of people in broad daylight, like at the various Starbucks', and the gas station, she realized how much she had talked like her mother and treating the Lara the same way.
Julia vowed to herself that when saw Lara again, that she would be all in.
"Julia?" A voice called. Julia listened while remaining still. It sounded like Ellen.
"Julia? Are you still in there?"
"Ellen?" Julia asked, calling from inside the tent.
"Ah! Good! You're still here!"
Julia crawled out the door of the tent.
"I need some help. I brought a lot of stuff!" Ellen asked.
Julia reached her hand through the narrow space the two girls had originally squeezed through. Ellen handed her bottles of water, one by one. There were also bananas, apples, and grapes, along with several meat sticks. In addition, Ellen handed over a package of paper napkins and two sleeping bags that compressed and rolled up small. Lastly, she handed Julia an empty backpack that she had carried everything in.
"Oh my God!" Julia remarked. "Thank you so much!"
"Hey, you're welcome!"
"Where did you get all this? Julia asked, opening a bottle and taking a drink.
"I cut across the creek to Eugene and May's. They're this old couple. They're really nice. You can trust them completely. Well, I told them what's going on. They said deputies are going door to door asking about you and Lara. They said they didn't know anything about it, and they were telling the truth because they hadn't heard about you two yet. Well, May started right away filling up this backpack. Eugene said he could drive us to Lucy's, but we might have to wait a few days until things quiet down. I got May's cellphone. He's going to call me and let me know."
"That's great!" Julia replied.
"Yeah, I guess Sheriff is really serious about finding you two!"
"I don't know why." Julia sounded confused. "We didn't do anything wrong!"
"Well, Eugene and May are nice, but they're pretty cautious too. So, it may be awhile."
"You think Eugene can call up Lucy and let Lara know where I am?"
"No. Lucy doesn't have a phone. But what about Lara? Maybe I can call her right now!"
"She doesn't have a cellphone either."
"Hmm..." Ellen replied. "I wonder if Eugene can drive over to Lucy's and tell Lara directly about you?"
"Yeah, could he?" Julia asked, sounding hopeful.
"Let me call him right now."
Ellen retrieved May's cellphone from inside her bra and began calling Eugene's phone. She held it to her ear and waited. Nearly a full minute went by.
"He's not answering." Ellen hung up. "I'm gonna send him a text."
"Well, if he doesn't answer, I can just walk back there tomorrow and ask him in person."
"Why would he not answer?"
"Oh, he's an old guy. You know how they are!"
