Chapter Six

"What does it mean?" Madelaine asked, pacing the short length of Leigh's room.

"I don't know," Leigh responded.

Sure enough, the red piece had fit perfectly with the rest of the radio, and it scared Leigh more than comfort her. Oliver, who had been quiet the whole time, suddenly spoke.

"We have to go back to the stream. Follow the trail, look for more clues." He shrugged. Both girls stared at him.

"Nevermind," he mumbled.

"No... no, that's a really good idea," Madelaine responded, getting excited now. Leigh was nodding.

"If it means getting Skylar back, I'm all for it. Plus, the cops said they were done investigating. No matter what. They just pegged her as another runaway." The knot in Leigh's stomach was wound tight, guilt from her past mistake throbbing at it.

"I know who can help us." Leigh whipped out her phone and clicked Ash's number.

Leigh.h Ash! I need your help

"Why are you Leigh.h, and not Princess Leia?" Asked Oliver, nudging her jokingly.

"Because that's not my name."

BurnMeToAsh whats gong on?

BurnMeToAsh going. stupid autocorrect. u know it corrected because to Bacardi once?

Leigh.h can we come over? its kind of urgent...

BurnMeToAsh of course! whats wrong?

Leigh.h ill explain when we get there. be ready to go out into the woods

Leigh, Madelaine and Oliver snuck out of the house. Luckily for them, Leigh's dad had fallen asleep at the TV, making their escape a lot easier. Leigh felt a little bad about leaving without telling him or at least leaving a note, but she figured she would be back before he even knew she was gone. Leigh led her friends along Pyramid Lake Road, then made a left at Bonhommes Street. It was odd walking around the corner and not seeing Ash's redhead on the horizon, but Leigh pushed aside her discomfort and walked on towards the address Ash had given her.

They walked up to her stone slate driveway. Her house was a nice one, painted a pretty sky blue. The front yard was neat and tidy, with several nicely pruned plants strategically placed. The three teenagers made their way to the stark black door, which blended in with the dark night. They glanced at each other before Leigh reached out and used the heavy iron knocker. They waited a moment, then a girl around ten opened it up, letting out a blast of warm air that smelled of fresh-baked bread. She looked like a younger, girlier version of Ash, tall and lanky and skinny. Her hair - like Ash's - was fire orange.

She stared at the trio for a moment before yelling over her shoulder, "Jay?! Are these more of your girlfriends?!" She turned to look at them. "And a boyfriend?!"

"Sienna!" Came a scolding voice. A boy in his college years came around the corner. He - like his sisters - sported the same fire orange hair. That's where the similarities stopped though. His eyes were doe brown instead of blue, and where Ash's and Sienna's faces were sharp and angular, his was round but definitely mischevious. He quirked his brow.

"Not any girlfriends of mine, though I'd like to know them." His lips twisted into a cocky smirk/smile.

"Ew." Madelaine made gagging noises somewhere behind Leigh. "I'm fourteen pedo. Try someone your own age, though I feel bad for them." Leigh was glad Madelaine had said something, instead of turning tomato red like herself. The guy - Jay - laughed.

"Too bad. You look older." He smirked. Sienna rolled her eyes.

"Your so gross, Jay. Why don't you go and 'party' with your other fifty girls?" She said, a hint of mischief in her voice. Jay narrowed his eyes at her but said nothing. Leigh was about to say something about wanting to see Ash, when she came running down the stairs, face as red as her hair.

"Hey." She said breathlessly.

"Well, that solves the mystery," mocked Jay. Sienna rolled her eyes again.

"You're such a moron."

"Oh, get out of here," Ash replied, shooing her siblings down the hall. "Sorry about that. They can be so rude sometimes."

"We can hear you!" Came Sienna's voice, somewhere from the house.

"Shut up!" Ash yelled back, slamming the heavy black door closed. "What did you need me for? Your message was kind of cryptic."

Ash looked different. Maybe it was the lack of makeup, Leigh wasn't sure. She drew her eyebrows together in confusion. Ash was sporting stubble. Confused, Leigh didn't answer for a moment.

"Uh..." She shook her head as if to clear it. "Sorry. Will you come with us? I'll explain on the way. I remember you were training to be a police officer, and you were telling me about how you hoped to put your deducting skills to use? How about if I gave you an old mystery?"

**********

Ash was quiet. Leigh had just told her all about Skylar, the clue and how it must be connected, everything.

"The case of the missing Sky. I remember reading about it in the papers. That's what they called it you know." It was the first thing that had been said in a while. The four teenagers were walking down Pyramid Lake Road, Leigh leading them towards the stream. Something niggled at the back of Leigh's mind. That case name... she had heard it a million times before, so why was there suddenly a different sound to it?

"Leigh? What's wrong?" Asked Oliver. Leigh shook her head.

"I don't know. It's... I've heard that case name a million times, but just then it sounded different. Like... almost like a different tune to an old song. I don't know how to explain it." Leigh replied. Ash was nodding her head.

"That's what I was thinking! Maybe there's a different spin to the words?" Ash suggested.

"No, it's almost like... like I heard it today."

Ash whipped around her red hair a frenzied halo around her head, eyes wide.

"The old woman!" She exclaimed. Leigh's eyes widened with realization.

"Of course! What did she say?" Leigh asked, excited now.

"Excuse me, what old woman?" Asked Madelaine, glancing between the two.

"There was this old woman today, she kept asking for Leigh and... ugh, what did she say?!" Ash said in frustration.

"So there was an old woman looking for Leigh, and she said something about... Skylar?" Oliver guessed. He and Madelaine were clearly confused. Leigh shook her head, then shrugged.

"Yes - no. Maybe. We don't really know she said something like - " Leigh was interrupted with Ash's sudden outburst.

"The sky's alive! That's what she said!" She hopped up and down, clearly proud of herself. Madelaine raised her eyebrows.

"This is relevant how, exactly?" She asked. Oliver looked thoughtful.

"Could it that it's a secret message? 'The sky's alive, yeah.' That sounds pretty odd. But sky is also short for - "

"Skylar!" Exclaimed Leigh. Oliver nodded. Even Madelaine looked excited.

"So it's a possibility that this lady, whoever she is, was telling you Sky's alive. 'The sky's alive, yeah?' If you just take out the 'the' It becomes, 'Sky's alive, yeah?' And the way she said it, it wasn't really a question either. It was more a statement. Maybe we can track her down and ask her about it!" Ash said, stumbling over her words.

Leigh shook her head. "Ok, so we can entertain this possibility, but it's a stretch. Anyway, if she said it in secret code, then maybe there's someone after her? Chasing after her and demanding answers doesn't seem like a very smart idea." She said. The others went silent but nodded their heads in agreement. They walked together down to the stream, but before they reached it, the noise of gunshots broke apart the silence like cracking glass.