Opening the front door, Eleanor called out Billy’s name. Her voice, strained with growing concern, carried across the neighborhood, but the only reply was the distant barking of a dog. She called again, louder this time, her heart hammering against her ribs as the silence of the street swallowed her words.
A cold, paralyzing fear began to take hold. With trembling hands, she grabbed her coat from the rack and ran outside, not even stopping to button it against the wind. The freezing air stung her lungs, but she didn’t feel the cold.
She checked the backyard, the garage, and behind the neighbors’ tool sheds. Her voice grew hoarse as she shouted for him. Finally, she stopped under the streetlight, trying to catch her breath and steady her racing pulse.
Trying to remain logical, she told herself he might have lost track of time at a friend’s house. She hurried to the house two doors down, where the Hendersons lived. She began to knock firmly on their door, her knuckles aching against the heavy oak.
Mrs. Henderson opened the door, wearing her housecoat and curlers. Eleanor, leaning slightly against the doorframe for support, asked if they had seen Billy. The look of sheer desperation in Eleanor’s eyes told the story before she could finish the sentence.
Mrs. Henderson’s expression shifted to immediate concern. She stepped back into the hallway and called for her husband, Arthur. She told him that Eleanor’s boy hadn’t come home. Arthur, a retired Navy veteran with a thick mustache, came to the door, drying his hands on a dish towel.
He frowned, processing the news, and reminded Eleanor that Billy was a good kid, not the type to run off. He suggested the boy might just be caught up in a game. With tears welling, Eleanor insisted that Billy was never late and that she had already checked the school grounds—they were completely empty.
Mrs. Henderson put a steadying hand on Eleanor’s shoulder, trying to keep her calm. She suggested calling the parents of his friends, Tommy or Mike. When Eleanor shook her head, her hair disheveled by the wind, Arthur realized the gravity of the situation.
