Page 97
Story: Rules for Vanishing
My eyes flick to the gate, to the two crows crouched there. They’ve been here the whole time—there was a crow in the treewhen I talked to Vanessa, that day in school. And more on the road since, alone and in groups.
Miranda follows my gaze. She doesn’t need me to say anything at all; it’s like she knows what I’m thinking. She nods. “Count the crows, Sara. All of the crows you’ve seen along the way. Remember them. Follow them back to this moment, and remember me.”
She stands. The light carves through her. Voices tumble behind us, coming toward the crest of the hill. The others will be here soon.
“And Sara? I have a sister, too. Find her, if you can. She works for a man named Andrew Ashford. They can help you. Tell Abby—tell her I’m sorry. Tell her to stop looking for me.”
And then Miranda is gone.
One of the crows on the gate croaks, shaking his wings. “Two,” I whisper, my finger tapping twice, slowly, against my thigh.
INTERVIEW
SARA DONOGHUE
May 9, 2017
Sara stares down at the page she’s written. Slowly, deliberately, she sets the pen to the side. And then she begins to tear the page in two.
ASHFORD: Sara, don’t—
He reaches for her. She slaps his hand away.
SARA: Don’t! Don’t touch it. You can’t—
They grapple with the pad of paper. He wins, pulling it free of her as she shrieks.
SARA: It isn’t true! None of that is true. I lied. I lied to you. Nothing happened. I sat alone. I sat alone until they came to find me. None of that is true.
With every word, the frantic strain in her voice settles. Her hands go flat against the table. She looks levelly at Ashford. He skims the page, glancing quickly between the words and the girl.
SARA: It’s nonsense.
ASHFORD: Is that so.
SARA: I don’t know why I wrote it. None of that happened.
Ashford remains silent.
SARA: You don’t believe me.
ASHFORD: I believe that you are telling me the truth, as you understand it. Some memories are hard to hold on to. But I think this one is important. I want you to think about the crows, Sara. I want you to count them. They’re bread crumbs, leading you to the memories you’ve lost. Miranda gave you a tool. Hold that in your mind as long as you can. I’ll be back in a moment.
SARA: Where are you going?
ASHFORD: I think it’s time that you spoke to yoursister.
PART V
THE TRUTH
EXHIBIT N
Excerpts from interviews conducted in 1963
“I’ve never stopped waiting for her to come home. Like nothing ever happened. It would be so like her. She was such an imp. That’s why we thought for such a long time that it must be a prank she was playing, because she was upset that her sister was getting all the attention.”
—Irene Callow, mother of Lucy Callow
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97 (Reading here)
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125