Lost in the Wild by Leigh Mayberry (i am malala young readers edition txt) 📕

The trooper pilot landed in the familiar setting of Kinguyakkii. She saw Joane, Earl, and most importantly, Cecil waiting near the secured state hanger. Lester and Oliver stood beside them. Meghan saw Duane, and Ulva waited in his pick-up truck outside the gate. There wasn’t a homecoming fanfare. Only a few people knew of Christine’s return.

Meghan and Chandler waited by the plane while Christine ran to meet her mother, gathered up by Earl, who cared for the girl as best he could, never concerned she wasn’t his blood. Family wasn’t about shared genes, only bonded feelings.

“You did good,” Chandler said.

Meghan saw the smile on the man’s face. He wore the trooper hat and snapped a picture on his smartphone of the reunion.

“I did what anyone would do.”

“No, Meghan.” He looked at her. “You did it because it’s who you are. You see things the rest of us miss.”

“Well, maybe I can get you to write me a letter of recommendation for my next job.”

“Oh? Are you leaving?”

Meghan walked away, waving to Chandler without turning around. “See you around, Trooper. Stay safe.”

She stepped lightly toward the family. Meghan had to know one thing that bothered her.

“Thank you so much for what you did,” Joane said. She fell into Meghan’s arms. The woman trembled as she squeezed Meghan.

“I’d like to talk to Cecil a minute, if it’s okay with you and him, of course.”

“Yes, sure,” Joane said.

His mother looked at Cecil. He gave a mild nod with a look of worry, squeezing his cheeks around his eyes. The jacket on his shoulders fit so tight the boy couldn’t zip it closed. He compensated with more layers, a shirt, and a hooded sweatshirt under the coat.

Meghan walked a little way from the family. Cecil caught up to her. They walked in step a few meters from the rest of the people near the private airport hangers for small planes.

“So, you know you’re not in trouble, right?” she asked.

Cecil nodded. He stared at his boots. Meghan wondered if his boots were too tight on his feet.

“I need to know if you put your sister’s coat on the ice.”

Cecil waited. He kicked at loose pebbles on the tarmac. Meghan saw him nod again.

“Christine didn’t go to the Memorial Day dance, did she?”

This time Cecil shook his head.

“You made sure to make everyone think she went to the dance. You wanted us to believe she absconded from the dance. Do you know what that means?”

Cecil brightened as he looked directly at Meghan. “It means to leave secretly,” he said.

Meghan nodded. Cecil was almost as tall as her. At thirteen, he was wiry, too thin.

“You know, sometimes I feel like I’m the smartest person in the room,” she said. “It’s arrogant. I know that, but when you’re dealing with criminals, you have to outsmart a lot of them. I feel standing beside you; you’re the smartest person in the whole town.”

Cecil’s face shifted. He fought back the smile that eventually came. Meghan saw neglected dental hygiene in his mouth. None of it was his fault or his mother’s fault. She knew that. Joane and Earl did the best with the little they had to give.

“Do you know how long your uncle—”

“Don’t call him that.” The flaring anger showed where happiest just died on Cecil’s face.

“I’m sorry. You’re right.”

“I think I knew for a while,” Cecil said. “I saw the pictures in one of Chrissy’s drawing books. She had two books. One held the good pictures. The other held the bad ones. I noticed she only drew in the bad one when she spent time with Eugene.”

Meghan understood the separation. Likely, Cecil didn’t want to have a surname linked to the monster.

“You had us running around looking for your sister, and she had already left on the plane Friday. Where did you get the money for the ticket?”

“My mom saves our PFDs for us. She wants a better future for us. She does her best, and I want her to use the money to help Chrissy. She wants to make sure we have something because she never did,” Cecil said.

It was a rare gift with the obvious financial struggles the family had, that Joane put free money into saving accounts for her children. The Alaska Permanent Dividend Fund paid Alaska residents at any age as a kickback for fossil fuel reserves statewide. It was a finite system that still worked for the time. No one knew about the future. Joane wanted more for her children.

“You put Chrissy’s drawing pad in Eugene’s house, didn’t you?” Meghan said. “You put it where you thought someone might find it.”

“I put it where I knew you’d find it.”

“Me? How did you know I’d find it?”

“Because I knew you’d figure out what I did. I wanted Chrissy out of here before you got Eugene.”

Meghan took a deep breath, breathing in the arctic air that she felt invigorated her lungs. It made her feel more energetic. Meghan knew it was psychological, but she was too tired to fight the physiological impact.

“What was in the priority box? More of Chrissy’s clothes?”

Cecil nodded. It made sense. Piecemeal the clothes to her during the time of her mother being distraught, and she’d never notice.

“Did you know Eugene killed your father?”

“I remember when they went out that day. Dad talked to me about him leaving to get construction work in Anchorage. There was a contractor who wanted to hire him. Eugene came back and lived with Dad for a few years. Dad told me not to worry because he wanted Mom and us to move into the house.” Cecil’s face changed when the memory caught up to him. She saw his shoulders