Red Rain

58

When Lea’s Skype bell rang on Saturday morning, she was tempted not to answer it. But when she saw it was Martha calling from Cape Le Chat Noir, her curiosity won out over her weariness.

She clicked to take the call, and a second later, Martha’s pale blue eyes gazed out at her from the laptop screen. Martha’s short blond hair was wrapped in a colorful kerchief, but her face appeared pale and lined, and she wasn’t smiling.

“Martha? What a surprise.” Lea adjusted the laptop to get her face in the frame.

“How are you, Lea? Is this too early?”

“Well, no. Actually, I’m still up from last night. Look at me. I’m still dressed in yesterday’s clothes. I. . didn’t get any sleep.”

“Well, I’m sorry to call so early.”

“That’s okay. Really. It’s nice to see you. We haven’t been in touch for a few weeks.”

“You look awful, Lea. What’s going on there? Why were you up all night? Is everything okay?”

Martha’s image froze on the screen. Her face didn’t move but her voice continued. Then the screen popped, and her mouth caught up with her words.

Lea sighed. She rubbed her eyes with her finger and thumb. “It’s a long story, Martha. What a horrible night.”

“Why? What on earth happened?”

“The kids are gone. I mean, disappeared.”

Martha’s mouth dropped open. The screen stopped again with her face frozen in her startled expression.

“You mean the twins? You can’t find them?”

“No. All the kids.” The words tumbled out of Lea in a trembling voice. “The twins. Ira. Elena. Her friend. And a lot of other kids.” She sucked in a deep breath. “Oh, Martha. I don’t know what’s happening!”

“I don’t understand, Lea. You called the police?”

A bitter laugh escaped Lea’s throat. “Oh, yes. The police have been here. Local police. State police. The FBI. They’ve been here all night, Martha. All night asking Mark and Roz and me questions. Questions. Like it’s our fault. Like we’re hiding something from them. Like we know something we’re not telling.”

“Oh, wow. It sounds like hell. Do you want me to get off? I could Skype you some other time. Or I could email-”

“No, it’s fine. Actually, it’s good to have a friend to talk to. I can’t see straight I’m so frazzled and worn out. But it’s good to have a friend.”

“Well, where do they think your kids are? Do they think-”

“It’s not just my kids. There are maybe seventy or eighty kids missing in Sag Harbor, Martha.”

“Huh? That’s insane.”

Lea rolled her eyes. “Insane but true. At first the police thought it started here. You see, a bunch of kids were hanging out in our guesthouse in back.”

“Seventy?”

“No, not seventy. A few. Several. I. . don’t know. Mark and I went out last night and-”

“Are you sure you want to tell me all this now? You look so tired and-”

“I don’t understand it, Martha. They’re just gone. Where would they go? How could they all sneak off together? It can’t be a mass kidnapping. Whoever heard of that?”

“What do the police think? The FBI?”

“At first they didn’t believe us. There’s been some other trouble here. With Mark. And we had all these totally upset parents calling us and coming over. All night. Expecting Mark and me to know where their kids were. Angry at us. I mean, they blamed us for. . for. .”

“And no trace of any of them? No clues at all?”

“Not yet. The Sag Harbor police station-they started getting call after call. All from frantic parents reporting their kids were missing. So they finally caught on it wasn’t just Mark and me. It was happening all over town.”

“And so-”

“But that didn’t stop them from searching our house. And tearing up the guesthouse. I don’t know what kind of clues they expected to find. A map leading them to the kids? A ransom note for seventy kids? I–I-”

“Take a breath, dear. This must be so horrible for you. I can’t believe what you are going through.”

“No, you can’t.” Lea wrung her hands. “Elena is so sensible. I can’t imagine. .”

“Well, I’m sure they’ll all be found soon. Such a big group of kids can’t stay hidden for long, can they?” Martha leaned toward the camera. “Have the police considered this might be a big prank?”

“Huh? A prank?”

“You know. One of those mass jokes people dream up and spread over the internet?”

Lea shut her eyes. “No. No one is treating it as a joke,” she said in a whisper.

“Well, I don’t think I’m going to tell you why I Skyped,” Martha said, rubbing her cheek. “Oh, wait. Maybe I’d better. Actually, as I think about it, what I called to show you might help.”

Lea swallowed. Her throat felt dry as dust. “Help?”

Martha nodded. “I’ve been doing some photo research. You know. That’s what I do for a living. I promised you I’d do some checking.”

Lea nodded. “I remember. Did you find something interesting?”

“Interesting, yes,” Martha replied. “But not good news, Lea. In fact, it’s totally disturbing.”

Lea rolled her eyes. “Oh my God, Martha, what did you find out?”

“Let me email you the photos. I think you’ll understand why I wanted you to see them right away.”

“Okay. Send them to my gmail account, Martha. We can talk about them as I look at them. But what did you find? What is so disturbing?”

“Just wait. I’m sending them now. There are three JPEGs in all.”

Lea watched Martha’s fingers move over her keyboard. Her expression was tense, almost bitter.

“I’m really sorry to burden you with this, Lea. Especially with the hell you’re going through. I hate being the messenger, really. James and I care about you. We think you did such a brave thing. I mean, adopting those boys. But you need to see these photos.”

Martha blinked and typed some more. “Also, James and I. . we kept something from you. We kept a big secret. We thought you’d be better off not knowing. We did it for your happiness, Lea. But the secret. . I guess I just have to come out and say it. It’s making us feel too guilty.”

“What the hell, Martha? What are you talking about? Such a big fucking mystery? Maybe this isn’t the best time. I-”

“Did you get the photos, Lea? You should have gotten them by now. Check your email. I’ll just wait.”

Lea slid the mouse and opened her in-box. Yes. There was the email from Martha.

Lea clicked twice to open the attachments. She waited for them to download, watching the little line slide across the screen. Her heart started to pound.

She clicked again, the Picasa program came to life, and a thumbnail photo appeared on the screen. She clicked it. And watched as it sprang up full-size.

A black-and-white photo. A beach scene? No. “Is it Cape Le Chat Noir?”

“Yes.” Martha’s reply in a soft voice.

“Oh, wow. I see. It’s after the hurricane. All the houses are down. And the trees. I see.”

She saw several forlorn people huddled in the background, fuzzy and out of focus. And near the camera. . Standing together, one with his hand around the other’s shoulder. . Yes. The twins.

No mistaking them. Daniel and Samuel standing close together, surrounded by the hurricane’s destruction.

“Martha, I see the twins.”

“Take a good look, Lea.”

“I am taking a good look. The twins are standing there together after the hurricane. They’re holding on to each other and looking very alone and forlorn.”

Her eyes scanned the photo. “I don’t see anything else, Martha. Am I missing something? Why is this photo interesting?”

“Well, do you notice the photo is in black-and-white?”

“Yes. So?”

“It wasn’t taken after the hurricane here last month, Lea.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The photo was taken in 1935. The day after the hurricane of 1935.”