The Ridge: The Whisper of the Leaves - Chap. 30

Tuesday, March 16

Sally Lawrence had a way about her. Young or old, people trusted her. That was how she got in the school to get Gerald Borden. It was also how she got the names of the Bentwood children who went to the Fortner Crossing School.

On Monday she and Katie had just watched from a distance so they could get the schedules down as well as pinpoint the kids. They were to take just one of the kids, the smallest one if possible, because, according to her father, “ people always bend over backward for the ‘baby’ in the family”.

So, on this day, they waited. It was now 8:30 a.m. and they knew recesses were taken at 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.. Each recess lasted fifteen minutes and for the first ten minutes the teacher was out with the students. But she went in for the last five minutes to get ready for the post-recess classes. She turned the monitoring those last few minutes over to a couple of the senior girls.

The plan was to wait until those last five minutes of either recess and coerce, Jenny Bentwood, a first grader, into their car. If coercion did not work, they would simply grab her and go.

“Ya ready,” Katie said. Sally despised the excited sound in her sister’s voice.

“Yea.” She answered.

“What’chu so sulled up about,” Katie asked her sister.

“We shouldn’t be doin’ this and you know it.”

“What I know is, we’re doin’ what needs ta be done. That boy killed Brother, then he headed for tha hills like that coward buddy uh his.”

“Ya can call ‘im a lot of things, but I don’t think the Bentwood boy’s a coward.”

“Don’t matter what ya think. He’s a coward in mine and Daddy’s book cause he ran. Anyway, he’ll have a chance to prove hisself. When he finds out about his little sister he’ll come a runnin’….. if he’s not a coward…..and we’ll be done with im for good. If he don’t.........here they come! ”

Sally looked and some thirty kids of varying ages from the first to the twelfth grades began pouring out of the school. Mable Carson, their teacher, followed the pack out. The two women watched from their car which was parked behind a hundred year old oak, on the gravel road running beside the playground.

“Ya see her?” Katie asked.

“Yea, she’s right there,” Sally said and pointed toward the swings, forty feet from the car and seventy-five feet from the school building.

They both watched. Sally watched Jenny while her sister watched the teacher. At 9:10, Miss Carson turned and walked into the school.

“Okay,” Katie said. “There goes the teacher. Go get her.”

Marshall and Parker were on the road by 9 a.m. and had gotten to Baton Rouge by 10:30 a.m.. They were there a couple of hours as Parker carried recruitment materials to the three area high schools. They ate a quick bite and were on the road again by 1:30 p.m.

Unlike the day before, this day went without a hitch and they were able to make up a lot of the time they lost the day before.

“We get back on schedule?” Marshall asked toward sunset.

“We will once we get to Beaumont,” Parker said. “That’s about where I thought I would be by this time in the trip.”

“Good,” Marshall nodded with a smile.

By 1:30 p.m., Jenny Bentwood had been missing for more than four hours. Miss Carson along with every student thirteen and older had frantically and futilely searched for the girl and found no trace. And when questioned, no one seemed to remember anything out of the ordinary.

Sheriff Leo Talmadge, in his first term and still getting his feet on the ground, was there now along with Lampkin and Barnes. Carl and Thomas had also arrived. Edna had fainted at the news and was at home in bed. Milly was watching over her.

Barnes was trying to keep Carl calm, but it wasn’t easy.

“Ralph,” Carl said. “I don’t know what’s goin’ on here and I don’t care. All I know is, my family’s bein’ ripped apart and we can’t take much more. I don’t care what you hafta do, get my little girl back or I’ll be buryin’ Edna.”

As he said this he broke down and Thomas gently led him to a chair.

“There’s nothing more ya can remember, Miss Carson?” Talmadge asked the teacher.

“No, Leo,” Miss Carson said, her eyes red and her voice quivering. “I just don’t know any more than that. I didn’t see anyone out of the ordinary. I just don’t know how this could have happened. What kind of person could do this?”

“I don’t know, ma’am,” Talmadge shook his head. “Kidnappen’ usually happens only if ya rich or famous, like the Lindberg baby. But, the Bentwoods are in about the same shape as the rest of us. So I don’t know.”

“I just don’t understand,” Miss Carson shook her head, her handkerchief to her mouth.

Talmadge got up and walked over to Lampkin and Barnes who were talking quietly.

“Doesn’t seem like anybody saw anything,” Talmadge said. “Ya’ll got any ideas about who it was?”

“Well,” Lampkin said, almost whispering. “I might.”

“What’cha mean,” Talmadge returned the whisper. “Ya got someone in mind?”

“Well, put two and two together. First the Bentwood boy’s killed, then Lawrence, then Prichard. After that, Marshall Bentwood runs and Gerald Borden, his best friend disappears after some woman gets him at the school.”

Lampkin hesitated a moment for effect, then continued.

“Then Borden shows up two days later, filthy and smellin’ like a hog pen. He refuses to say what happened or where he was. And now, Bentwood’s little sister vanishes from school.”

Talmadge and Barnes stood there a moment digesting what Lampkin had said.

“Seems like it’s all connected.” Talmadge said after a moment. “But who do you think got the girl?”

“If all we said is right then it must be someone from the Lawrence or Prichard families……or both.” Lampkin said. No one else makes sense.”

“Okay, which do ya think?” Talmadge asked.

“Of the two, I’d say the Lawrences.” Barnes answered. “Especially Cubby.”

Lampkin nodded in agreement.

“There ain’t nobody, but him and his two girls, though.” Talmadge said.

“That’s probably enough,” Lampkin said. “Ya know how Cubby is now and how that boy was. I don’t figure those girls fell too far from tha tree.”

“Okay,” Talmadge said. “say you’re right. What’da we do? What’s next? Do we let tha State Boys take over?”

“No.” Lampkin said. “If they come in and start askin’ tha wrong questions we may never find the girl. I think we should keep it between us. Then if we get some proof, and we need ‘em we can call ‘em in. Agreed?”

“Agreed.” Barnes said, nodding.

“Agreed.” Talmadge said after a moment.

Gerald heard about the kidnapping just as he was getting on the bus to come home. It was a case of one school contacting another and the grapevine doing its job.

“There’s sure been a lot of queer things goin’ on in the past week.” Molly Adams said after she told him the news. She was in the seat across the aisle from Gerald and he had always had a crush on her. She never paid any attention to him, though, until today.

“Yea there has been,” Gerald answered, hoping the conversation would end there or go in a different direction. It didn’t.

“Do ya think all the killin’ and kidnappin’ is connected?” Molly asked.

“I don’t know,” Gerald said and concentrated on looking out the window.

“Well, seems to me like it must be.”

Gerald didn’t answer. His classmate took the hint and began talking to Loretta Jennings across the other isle.

Gerald spoke to no one else during the forty-five minute trip home. He just stared out the window, wondering what he should do.

He knew the Lawrence family had taken Marshall’s sister. There was no doubt in his mind about that. And he also knew it was just another thing that was ultimately his fault. Marshall would be justified in killing him if he came home. Cubby Lawrence had called him a coward and he was right.

Just a gutless coward, Gerald thought. Nothing but a gutless, spineless coward.

He leaned close to the bus window for the rest of the ride, hoping no one could see the tears.

Linda Neal was satisfied. As a whole, her 1:00 class had done well on the pop test and it seemed as if they were ready for their finals. The more immediate challenge, though, was the interscholastic meet in Henderson. It was her first year to be a sponsor of the school’s team and she was looking forward to the experience.

She had quizzed the group on everything from algebra to advanced calculus and she knew they were as ready as any 16, 17 and 18 year-old kids could be. Would they win? She hoped so, but even if they didn’t, the competition would give them valuable experience.

Linda was glad for contests like this. In Texas, football was king. Academic meets were hardly noticed and rarely appreciated. However, she was glad New London seemed to be more interested in the academic education of their kids rather than thire athletic prowess. And, surprisingly, it seemed as if the people of the town felt the same way.

This was another thing that set New London and “Perkins” in Dallas apart. Perkins had been a football power for the last twenty years. Some of the players had gone to star at A&M and Baylor and SMU and most of all, with the beloved Longhorns. However, the great minds who graduated form Perkins were few and far between.

“Heard anything from your marine?” Patty Barrett asked as she was getting in her car which was parked beside Linda’s. She was the head of the Math Department and Linda’s boss.

“Not yet,” Linda said as she opened her car door and put the pile of papers she had been carrying in the back seat. “He’ll probably get here late tomorrow or on Thursday. He won’t be able to stay long, though. He’s got to be in Dallas on Friday. At least, that’s where he thought his new assignment would be.”

“Ready for the meet?”

“As ready as I can get them. Are you still going?”

“I’m gonna try to. Depends on what’s going on Thursday afternoon. Baring a last minute emergency, I’ll probably ride with ya’ll. See ya tomorrow. Night.”

“ Good night.”

Linda got into her ‘29 Ford and thought, as she started the engine, that it would be nice to have Patty there, she was a good boss and was turning into a good friend. She made a mental note to try and help make sure that no “emergencies” came up to keep Patty from going to the meet.