Ben asked, putting an awkward arm around the hysterical woman. Ben couldn’t explain the relief he felt at finding Miss Merriwether. He’d spent a full hour walking through town, peeking inside windows, even knocking on a few doors to ask if anyone had seen her. But no one had. When mild concern evolved into outright worry, he began to pray that God would keep her safe wherever she was. About the time he had decided to walk over to Sheriff Murdock’s office and report her missing, he determined to have one last look at the schoolhouse. He’d made a thorough search inside the building earlier, but he hadn’t thought to look around the yard, certainly not in the outhouse. The storm had given way to a clear, starry night, and with it, a bright moon to shed an evening glow—enough so that he’d been able to see the rope tied securely around one of the little shacks out back, the one marked Girls. At first he’d thought the rope was there to keep people out. For all he knew the school board had ordered it closed for maintenance.
