Page 52 of Into the Dark, We Go

Nick continued, "And you don’t know where it was?"

Sammy shook his head. "My daddy got mad at me, and I got outta the truck and ran off. And then I was there."

"And what happened?"

Sammy’s eyes dropped. "I dunno."

"Did something scare you there?"

The silence was palpable. Now, we were treading on very dangerous territory. Fear gripped the kid, just as it gripped Duane, the same haunted look in his eyes. One wrong word, and Sammy could slip away.

"It’s okay, Sammy. You don’t have to be afraid. We won’t tell anybody," Nick promised and looked at me for reassurance to continue. I tapped my fingers against an invisible watch.Wrap it up,I mouthed. And Nick knew what to ask.

"Last few questions, I promise." Nick cupped his chin in his hand, offering nonchalance. "Were there other people at this place when you went there?"

Sam nodded, but that was all we could get out of him. Nick tried pushing, asking if Sammy knew any of these people, but the boy insisted he didn’t.

"How did you find your way home?" I asked.

Sammy shrugged. "I dunno. I waited till mornin’ and then just kept walkin’ till I hit the road."

"Do you mind looking at photos of our friends to see if you recognize any of them? Maybe they were there in the woods?"

The boy hesitated briefly, neither confirming nor denying. I sensed he was desperate for the conversation to end.

I pulled out my phone and began swiping through photos, searching for the one I had of Amanda, when the door slammed shut behind us.

"What are you still doing here?" Reverend Carver’s voice boomed.

We jumped to our feet. "We were just—" I glanced back at Sammy, but he was gone, having bolted the moment he spotted the Reverend. "—leaving."

The Reverend said nothing, just crossed his arms over his chest and stood there as we made our way out. The door thudded shut, and the lock’s bolt slid home, sealing us out.

"Did you find them?" June asked, rushing to meet us. To our blank expressions, she added, "The keys?"

"Oh. No." My stomach turned. I’d completely forgotten.

"I’ve got them," Nick said, jingling the keys. "Must’ve not checked my pockets properly. Nell, want to take the wheel?"

I drovethrough the streets of the small town, unsure where we were headed. We brought the siblings up to speed on our conversation with Sammy. Mitchell, distracted from his earlier embarrassment at the cemetery, slipped back into his usual commanding posture.

"So, you’re saying there’s something out in those woods that spooked this kid into building this weird shrine?" he asked.

"And there’s more," I said, "We think it’s where Amanda went, too. The boy said the exact same thing as Duane did—trees with eyes."

Mitchell took a deep, heavy breath. "Alright... I feel like we’re getting somewhere, but it’s still not adding up."

"It’ll make sense once we talk to Duane again!"

But Mitchell vetoed the idea. "No."

"What? Why?"

"It’s getting late, and we’ve put in a long day."

June rolled her eyes at him, as if saying "No kidding" to Mitchell.

"Yeah, but?—"