A Hike in the Woods

Steele sat impatiently at the door with his large brown eyes watching me, eager for his walk.

“Ok mom, I have to go. Steele needs his walk or he will destroy the house,” I said, getting his harness and leash out of the coat closet.

“I really wish you wouldn’t go out. You know that girl went missing hiking in those woods a few weeks ago!” my mom responded, her voice a mix between pleading and demanding.

“Mom, I’ll be fine. No one is going to do anything to me with a 70-pound husky beside me,” I responded. “I’ll call you tomorrow!” I hung up the phone and quickly pulled Steele’s legs through his harness before stepping outside into a burst of cold winter air. Last week’s snowfall had begun to melt and the ground was soggy under my boots as I walked, or rather was dragged, towards the escarpment in the direction of our normal route. I watched Steele’s fluffy white tail bounce around in excitement as he trotted through the park, catching a glimpse of the Missing posters plastered on the telephone poles along the way.

The disappearance of Sara Stevenson had been all over the news for the last few weeks when she failed to come home after last being seen at the mall.

Steele and I came upon another pole, and as he stopped to sniff around the base of it, I stared at another Missing poster of Sara, and her blue eyes seemed to stare back at me. $20,000 reward for any information on Sara’s whereabouts, it read. It seemed a little unfathomable to me that no one had seen her, especially considering Sara’s black hair and neon pink highlights. She certainly seemed like someone people would notice. Her poor parents, I thought, remembering my mom’s worry every time I stepped outside the house lately.

Steele and I made our way through the hiking trails, going deeper into the forest as I became lost in thought. The sounds of the tall trees knocking against each other in the wind was the only noise as the last of the afternoon sun filtered through the canopy. Not many people went out hiking in this temperature, but being a sled dog, Steele was born for this. I pulled out my phone to take a picture of the unspoiled scenery when Steele pulled me towards something on the trail, which he quickly snatched up into his mouth before I had a chance to pull him back.

“What you got!” I yelled, prying his mouth open and shaking out its contents. “Steele, drop it”.

A leathery little black book felt out of his mouth onto the damp leaves beside him. “What did you find…” I trailed off, picking up the book to get a better look. As I took off my mitten, a strip of photos fell out of the book and landed facedown. Steele went for them, but I picked them first and flipped them over, letting out a gasp. “Steele!” I looked down at what was a mall photo booth strip of two teenage girls, laughing, blowing kisses, making faces, but what stood out to me was the bright blue eyes and pink and black hair of the girl on the right.

“Oh my God, Steele. What did you find?” I looked at him, half expecting an answer, and half wondering what to do next. He again looked at me with his impatient eyes and began pulling to continue forward. I put the book in my coat pocket, put my mitten back on, and tugged the leash back in the direction from which we came.

***

It had been about a week since Steele found Sara’s black book. I now knew it was Sara’s because a few days after I dropped it off at the police station and gave my statement, news stations everywhere were showing footage of Sara being escorted out of the basement of house just outside of town, clinging to police officers and her parents, shaken, but unhurt.

I had received a call about an hour ago from the lead investigator, Officer Clarkson, asking me to come back to the station.

I had learned that a cell phone number found scribbled on the date that Sara went missing had led investigators to the house of Greg Smith, a college student in his early 20’s who had no prior known connection to Sara. His parents were out of town on a second honeymoon in Bora Bora, and when police showed up to question Greg, they heard Sara’s muffled cries coming from somewhere inside the house, leading to her discovery. I couldn’t help but get teary thinking about the whole situation, and Steele had become a bit of a celebrity over the last week because of his discovery, with endless treats, pets, and “good boys” from everyone on our street.

After I parked, I made my way through the large double doors of the police station and asked the secretary to see Officer Clarkson. She led me to his office, where through the glass door I could see several people sitting, all of whom turned to look at me as I walked in.

“You must be Anna!” the woman barely managed to get out before she was hugging me. I looked over her shoulder to see a smiling man sitting beside Sara, holding her hand. The woman leaned back from the hug and smiled at me, her blue eyes teary. “I’m Jeanette, Sara’s mom. I don't even know how to thank you..." she trailed off, tears now rolling down her cheeks.

Jeanette led me back to the chairs where Sara leaned over and grabbed my hand. “Thank you,” she said quietly, wiping a tear from her eye with the sleeve of grey hoodie.

“It was just luck, but I’m so glad” I said, sitting down in the chair that Officer Clarkson had pulled out for me.

“Thank you for coming back to the station,” he said, sitting back down behind his desk and beginning to shuffle through some papers. “As you’ve definitely heard I’m sure, a phone number that we found in the book you brought us helped us find Sara”, he said, beaming.

“I heard that on the news. I can't believe it! But I'm so glad” I remarked, looking over at her.

“I must have dropped the book when I went into my purse to grab my phone when Greg started acting like a psycho”, Sara said, her voice shaky. “He smashed my phone, and I didn’t even realize my book was gone. I don’t even know what would have happened if – if you...” she trailed off, not being able to bring herself to go any further with the thought.

“I’m just so glad,” I repeated again, starting to realize that I really didn’t know what else to say in a situation like this. I couldn’t even imagine what words would help bring this poor girl comfort, but I know I definitely didn’t have them.

“I’m just glad I wrote down his number in there. I was going to put it in my phone but the batteries were dead. And I guess I’m a bit old school with the paper and pen thing,” Sara said. Her parents sat around her protectively, rubbing her shoulders as she spoke.

Officer Clarkson chimed in. “Sara, we really shouldn’t say too much more as this is an open investigation”. He turned to smile at me. “Anna, the reason we brought you in is that Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson have something for you”. He motioned to Sara’s parents. Jeanette had pulled something out of her purse and handed it to me, holding both my hands for a moment. “We cannot even begin to repay you.” Her blue eyes were just as bright and teary as her Sara’s. “But I hope this is a start”.

I looked down at the cheque she was handing me. “Oh wow, I can’t accept this,” I said in astonishment. “Really, I just did what anyone would do in that situation!”.

Sara’s father cleared his throat, as if fighting back tears himself. “Please, let us try to show our gratitude. It would mean a lot to us if you had this”. He smiled and squeezed Sara’s hand lovingly. “Please”.

I looked at their faces, staring back at me.

“Thank you so much,” I said, taking the cheque from Jeanette’s hand. “Really that’s not necessary, but I really appreciate it!” Sara smiled back at me.

“Ok my dear, I think that’s all we need right now, but I will be in touch with you if I have any other questions,” Officer Clarkson said, standing up to open the door for me.

I stood up and took one last look at Sara and her family, feeling a deep sense of gratitude for the way things had worked out, but at the same time not believing it was real. I could feel myself getting teary. I stuffed the cheque into my purse and cleared my throat to keep myself from crying.

“Take care of yourselves,” I said to them, as I let the glass door close behind me. On my way to the lobby, I pulled out my phone to check the time to see if the bank was still open, as I didn’t trust myself to bring home a cheque of this magnitude without it ending up in Steele’s mouth.

As I walked by the secretary’s desk, she looked up and smiled at me. “What are you going to buy?” she said, winking.

As if on cue, I heard my phone’s low battery indicator begin beeping. I thought for a moment. “A little black book?” I said back to her. We both laughed.