The Christmas House (17 page)

     “I don’t care! Listen I have to go,” she said.

     “Okay, well here is your receipt and all I need is your address for the delivery,” replied the clerk.

     “It’s on my check. I have to go. Thank you!”

    
Arianna tightly held onto her packages and pushed Nicole in the stroller as she ran toward Santa’s Workshop.

     “Thank you Miss.... a
...(
reads the check) Mrs. Carter! Merry Christmas!” said the clerk.

     Arianna raced through the store. She constantly said, “Excuse” and “Pardon Me”, to other shoppers blocking her way. She felt like she would never get there. It was as
if she was running is slow motion. Finally, she turned the corner to the Santa display area.

     It was deserted. She scanned the area quickly and saw only a janitor cleaning up.

    
“Excuse me sir?” she shouted as she ran toward him.

    
“Where is everybody that was waiting to see Santa?”

     “Santa had to go feed his reindeer and call it a night. The display closed about 30 minutes ago Miss,” he replied.

     “Did you see a 10 year-old boy, about this tall, wearing a blue jacket?” she asked.

     “Yeah, I saw about a hundred 10 year-old boys that could fit that description. I take it you have lost your son?” he asked.

     “Yes! I told him to wait for me right here!” she replied frantically.

     “C’mon. I’ll take you to security. Maybe he’s down there.”

     “Thank you,” she replied.

     The intercom sounded once again.

    
“The store is now closed. Please exit the store immediately. Thank you for shopping at Marshall Fields.”

December 23rd

6:15 p.m.

Marshall Fields Department Store

State Street, Chicago, IL

     “David Carter if you are in the store please
find
a clerk and identify yourself. David Carter, your mother is looking for you. Please locate the nearest person and identify yourself,” a voice over the intercom announced throughout the store.

     “Well Mrs. Carter, hopefully he will hear that announcement and we will find him soon. He wasn’t brought here earlier, but sometimes kids wander off unintentionally. He’ll show up. I have the whole store looking for him. Especially in
Toy Land,” said the head of store security.

     Arianna was beside herself with emotion. She asked, “Can I use your phone to call my husband?”

     “Sure Mrs. Carter. Go right ahead,” he said as he handed her the phone.

     Back at 148 Festive Lane, Michael was busy wrapping presents that he hi
mself went out and bought today including a
new sled for David which was a real challenge to wrap and a diamond ring for Arianna that he couldn’t afford when they were married. The phone interrupted his wrapping.

     “Hello”, he said as he placed the phone under his chin and continued to wrap at the kitchen table.

     “Michael?” Arianna said.

     “Hi hon. Boy you’re shopping late. Must be that special present for me that’s keeping you huh?” he asked and then laughed.

     “Michael, David is missing,” Arianna said.

     Michael stopped wrapping in mid-stream.

    
“Missing? What do you mean, missing?” he asked.

     “I’m at Marshall Fields on State Street and he was waiting to see Santa, so I left him there and went shopping. I thought it would be all right. He usually doesn’t wonder off like this,” she said as she cried.

     “Calm down Arianna,” Michael said.

    
“How long has he been missing?”

     “Well, I’m not really sure. The last time I saw him, it was around five o’clock. He was still way back in the line to see Santa, so I figured I had enough time to finish my shopping. Then I got so involved getting your Christmas gift I lost track of time. When I got back to where I left him, he was gone. Oh Michael! Where could he be?” she screamed hysterically.

    
“Arianna, just calm down.
I am sure he is around there somewhere. He is
probably over by the toy section,” Michael said.

    
“They have already looked there. The store is closed now and they can’t find him. What should I do?” she asked.

    
“Just stay there and wait to see if he shows up. I will have Wanda come over and stay here in case he calls or somehow shows up. I’m on my way to the store. Make sure someone will let me in when I get there, okay?”

     “Hang on.” She turned to the security guard and asked, “My husband is on his way down. Will he be able to get into the store?”

     “Yes, have him come to the security entrance off the alley at State Street,” the guard replied.

     “Michael? Yes you can get in at the entrance off the alley at State Street.”

     “Okay, I should be there in about 30-40 minutes. Stay calm. I’m on my way.”

    
Michael grabbed his coat and headed out the door. He ran over to Jack’s house and rang the bell.

     “Hey buddy!” said Jack as he opened the door.

     “Jack, can you or Wanda go over to my house. David is missing and I have to go meet Arianna downtown. Can you stay at the house in case he calls?”

    
“Oh God.
Sure Mike. Get going. I’ll go over there right now,” replied Jack as he closed the door behind him and followed Michael back to the house.

    
“Oh, and Jack?”
Michael said as he opened the door to the pick up truck, “I don’t think we’re going to Florida.”

    
He jumped in the truck and quickly backed out of the driveway.

     Jack opened the front door at 148 Festive Lane and said to himself, “I don’t think any of us will be going to Florida this year.”

     Michael drove like a maniac trying to get to downtown from Lake Forest. The roads were wet and slippery from the recent snow, so he maintained a reasonable speed. As he drove, he thought about David. “Where could he be? Did he wander off? Did he fall asleep in the store some
where? Did someone kidnap him?
”

     Arianna searched the store while Michael was on his way. With the assistance of the store personnel, they looked in every department and called, “David!”
Unfortunately, their pleas went unanswered.

     Thirty minutes later Michael pulled into the alley off State Street by Marshall Fields. A Chicago Police officer, waving a flashlight met him. Michael stopped the truck and jumped out.

     “Excuse me officer, but my son was reported missing from this store and....”

     “Are you Mr. Carter?” asked the officer.

     “Yes sir,” replied Michael.

     “Follow me sir.”
     Michael followed the officer into the store. He walked briskly behind him down a dimly lit corridor and then to a door marked, “Security Office”. Arianna greeted him there.

     “Michael!” she said as she ran into his arms.

    
“Honey!
It will be okay. Calm down. What has happened since we last talked?”

    
“We can’t find him. The security people called the police to file a missing persons report,” she replied.

     “It will be okay. He is fine. He’s just lost. He will turn up any minute now,” Michael said as he held her tight.

    
“Michael I feel so guilty for leaving him there. I should have stayed with him. He insisted on giving Santa his letter before we left for Florida so he would get his presents. I had to get the shopping done before we left as well. All this, for a damn trip to Florida that we aren’t even going to take now,” she shouted.

     “I know honey. I feel guilty for wanting to go on this trip. If I hadn’t wanted to go so much, this would have never happened,” Michael responded.

     The security guard interrupted.

    
“It’s none of my business folks, but don’t blame yourselves for this. These things
happen
everyday. I am sure he will show up soon.”

     Michael and Arianna nodded back to the security guard and prayed that he was
right. Michael told Arianna to take Nicole home and to relieve Jack from phone sitting. In the meanwhile, Michael was going to get in his truck and start to comb the streets for David.

     “What was David wearing?” he asked Arianna.

    
“His blue winter jacket, a blue stocking cap, a pair of jeans, gloves and brown suede boots.”

     “Okay, go home. I will see you later. If he shows up or you hear from him, just stay put. I will call you every hour to check in,” said Michael.

     He kissed Arianna and Nicole and headed out of the store, back to his truck. Arianna left all of the pertinent information with the police. An officer offered to drive her and Nicole to their car, which was parked several blocks away. Arianna accepted the ride.

****************************************************

     As Arianna got out of the police car in front of the parking garage, she grabbed the packages she purchased at the store with one arm and picked Nicole up in the other. As she walked away from the police car, the officer told her to keep a positive attitude and then drove off.

     As Arianna walked to the section of the parking lot where she parked the car, she was praying that David somehow found his way back to the car and would be waiting there for her. When she got to the car, David was not there. She started to cry again. She put the packages in the trunk of the car and strapped Nicole into her car seat.  She dried her eyes as she sat in the drivers’ seat and closed the car door. As she tried to regain her composure, so she could drive home, she looked in the rear view mirror in hopes of seeing David. There was not a soul in sight.

    
As she drove, she spotted Michael’s truck as it slowly came toward her from the opposite direction. She glanced at him as they passed but he just kept driving. She too, was driving slowly. Looking down every street and every alley, she peered in hopes of seeing David. Finally she reached the entrance ramp to the expressway. As she turned onto the highway, she had to leave the search in the hands of Michael and the police.

     Forty minutes later Arianna pulled into the driveway at 148 Festive Lane. As she shut off the car and turned off the lights, Jack came running out of the house.

     “Did you find him?” asked Jack.

     “No, Michael and the police are looking now. I take it no one called?”

    
“No, not yet.
Listen, now that you are home, I’m going to drive down there too and see if I can help,” Jack said.

     “Actually, I think it would be better if you could stay at your house and start calling hospitals and shelters,” Arianna replied.

     “Wanda has been doing that for the last two hours Arianna. I’m going to go help Mike look for David,” Jack said.

     Arianna got out of the car and collapsed in Jack’s arms. Hysterically she shouted, “Oh Jack, where’s my little boy!”

     “There now, darlin. We’ll find him. Get in the house and wait for a call. I just know we are going to find him,” Jack replied.

     Arianna took a sleeping Nicole out of the car seat and walked into the house. Jack ran next door to grab a jacket and told Wanda that Arianna was home. He also told her that he was going to go look for David.

     “You still calling hospitals?” he asked Wanda.

     “Yes, and luckily no reports of a 10-year old boy being admitted or in the emergency room,” she replied.

     Jack hesitated but then asked, “Did you call the morgue?”

     “No. I just can’t bring myself to dial the number Jack. I will, but not yet,” she replied.

     Jack kissed his wife and headed out the door to the garage. As he drove out of the driveway, his car fishtailed from the snow and ice on the ground. Jack was determined to find David, for he too felt guilty. If he had never invited the Carters to Florida, this would have never happened, or so he believed.

Chapter Eleven- Christmas Eve

December 24th

148 Festive Lane

10:00 a.m.

     Arianna sat at the kitchen table feeding Nicole, when the phone rang. She jumped up to answer it.

     “Hello?”

     “It’s just me hon.
Any
word yet?” asked Michael.

     “No. The only one I have heard from is you,” she replied.

    
“Michael, come home. You have been up all night. You must be exhausted. Is Jack still with you?” she asked.

     “Yes. We are at a donut shop having some coffee. He flagged me down on Wacker Drive about three hours ago. We’ve been meeting every hour ever since,” Michael replied.