She's Gone: A Novel Read Free Page B

house was still.
    Jolie walked back into her bedroom and changed into a skirt, tie-dyed T-shirt, and her butter soft knee high moccasins. She opened her closet and picked up her pack. From her top desk drawer she plucked out an envelope and walked back through the house.
    On the kitchen counter was a note from her mom. The note pad was printed with Have a Nice Day next to a yellow smiley face.
     
    Jolie,
    Saint Mary’s is not as bad as you think. You’ll meet new friends. Focus and I know you’ll graduate early.
    Love, Mom XOXOXO
     
    She tore off the note, folded it, and put it in her wallet. Her stomach was in knots. Breakfast was out of the question. Out on the deck, she gazed over the red tile roofs and canopy of green trees. Boats in the harbor looked miniature, bobbing in the blue water. After seven months, the oil slick had dissipated into small seeps. It was a beautiful morning, and she drank it in.
    A muscle car groaned up the street and turned up the driveway. They were on time. She walked back through the kitchen, picked up her pack, and placed the envelope on the counter next to the notepad. She paused, lifted the letter and brushed it to her lips. “I love you, Mom and Dad,” she whispered. “Please understand, I have to do this.”
    She set it back down and walked out of the house, not daring to glance back. A newer blue Camaro idled in the driveway. Will sat in the passenger seat. A young woman stood by the open driver’s door. She was dressed in pale yellow poplin shorts, a matching top, and a wide, white plastic belt.
    “I’m Pattie. I guess I’m your ride.”
    “Nice to meet you, Pattie. I’m Jolie.”
    Jolie pulled the seat forward and slipped into the backseat. Pattie got in, and the car purred down the driveway. Will looked back at her and smiled his wide disarming smile.
    “Emancipation day!” he said.
    “Isn’t she a little young for you?” Pattie asked, scowling at Will. “Where exactly are we going?”
    “700 miles north of here. It’s on your way. It’s just a short detour outside of Dunsmuir. You can drop us off at the ranch and be on your way.”
    “What’s at the ranch?” Pattie said.
    “Friends.”
    All Jolie knew about the ranch was that it was located somewhere in the mountains of Siskiyou County, in Northern California.
    Pattie studied her in the rear view mirror. “How old are you, Jolie?”
    Jolie glanced at Will. Hadn’t this all been prearranged? He had told her Pattie was going back to college in Portland and would give them a ride. She looked into the rearview mirror. Jolie could hardly speak. Her heart was in her throat. “Eighteen.”
    So this was how it was going to be. She was already lying about her age. She put her head back and closed her eyes. The engine’s steady hum and vibration cradled her as Pattie drove north on the 101 freeway. Will periodically reached back and squeezed her hand. They stopped only for gas and food. More than once, Jolie caught Pattie’s concerned gaze in the rearview mirror. If Pattie suspected she wasn’t eighteen, would everyone else?
    Pattie and Will talked up front. “I want to become a journalist,” Pattie said.
    “You don’t need a degree for that. Write for an underground news press,” Will said.
    “No, I want to have the skills and credentials to work for a big news agency. I want to work overseas, on assignment.”
    “Trust me, you’re wasting four years of your life. Plus, they don’t send women overseas. That’s a man’s job,” Will said.
    Jolie cocked her head toward Will. What did he just say? A man’s job? That didn’t sound like the Will she knew. Wasn’t he all about equality?
    Pattie shot him a glance. “We’ll see about that.”
    Jolie gazed out the window. The knot tightened in her stomach. She was with Will, and they’d be together now. They’d been drawn to each other from the moment they’d met. He had persuaded her they could make it together, out there, wherever that was and she