Those two nice girls at the mall had been very helpful, Bethany mused. She was in total shock when her daughter, Karyn, had disappeared out of thin air right in front of her, but they told her she shouldn't worry about it, and she agreed that was good advice.
They had said that since Karyn's last words before disappearing were to wish she was in her room, that the three of them should go back to her house together to look for her, and that she should probably give the two girls a ride. That made sense, too.
Karyn hadn't been at home, and the girls seemed very upset to learn that. They'd suggested Bethany go to some other house, and while she had no idea whose it was, she figured if they might know where Karyn went, she may as well help. But after a short conversation with Linda Gibson, the woman who lived there, Bethany and the girls determined that Karyn wasn't there.
For a brief moment, Bethany felt like she should know Linda, as though they should be friends. But it was like a deja vu, fading after only a few seconds.
There were a few more places that the girls thought Karyn might be, and Bethany dutifully chauffeured them to each, but after a while and increased frustration, they told Bethany to just drive them home.
There was another moment of deja vu as the three walked up the girls' driveway. Bethany wasn't sure what it was, but she had a feeling the girls had felt it, too. They seemed somehow more dejected than they had earlier in the day.
But Bethany wasn't worried. The first thing the girls had told her was that she shouldn't worry. Everything was going to be fine.
So she was not surprised that, upon returning to her own home, she found Karyn's bedroom door hanging open, and a passed-out Karyn lying on her bed. She was pleased, but not surprised. And she was about to leave her daughter be when she noticed something laying on the blanket just above her hand. It was a reddish stone.
One of the things the girls had told her was that if she ever saw Karyn with a reddish stone, that she should try to get it away from her and call them immediately. So Bethany crept into her daughter's room, careful not to wake her, and quietly plucked the stone from off the bed.
Having found both Karyn and the stone, Bethany stood up feeling accomplished. She looked down at her daughter, then around at the room, and absent-mindedly noted the contrast. Karyn was such a tomboy, but there were so many girly things in her bedroom that Bethany had never seen her use. It felt like such a waste.
Bethany sighed. "Sometimes I just wish you'd try harder to make use of all this... stuff in your room."
But it was an idle thought, and Bethany quietly left so that she could call Sarah and Kara about the stone.
