Page 1
Mama opened the front door. Taryn turned on the porch light. They looked out and wondered, Where can she be? Ariel wasn’t in sight.
Page 2
The last pale ember of sun’s afterglow slowly failed in the sky. Worry clawed Taryn with sharp little thoughts and Taryn tried not to cry. She tried to be brave and tried not to worry — tried her best to be strong. She tried and tried but the worries inside were yelling her, Something is wrong! And though she knew the day couldn’t stay, it scared her to see how the light slipped away. Here we are on the edge of night and Ariel isn’t in sight.
Page 3
My sister’s so good at watching her watch, Taryn thought, It’s weird that she’s late. Then she peeked out of the door once more, past the porch, down the steps, to the gate.
Page 4
What if . . . she’s lost . . . or trapped in a cave? What if she’s in a tight squeeze! What if a bear. . . a big hairy monster— crabby and crawling with fleas!
Page 5
What if. . . she’s tangled in sharp pokey briars, in mangles of thorns on strangles of wires, wrapped in a squeeze— ankles to knees. . . What if she goofed with the bees?!
Page 6
Dry leaves rattled, rustled and tattled on a breeze high up in the trees where the branches nuzzzed and fussled. Out in the dim past the light, a twig snapped, a bird took flight and Taryn’s tummy grew terribly tight, straining to hear what she might.
Out of the light— out of sight in the night —Taryn could hear every sound. Some of the sounds were sounds of the night, but some sounds. . . were odd sounds that didn’t sound right.
Page 7
Taryn knew the night sounds— like the deep groan of trees rubbing trunks, or the skitter of critters that don’t mind the darkness— the possums, the raccoons and skunks.
But what . . . what is it? What makes these sounds?
