Read Online A Seahorse in the Thames by Susan Meissner - Free Book Online

however, is a folded-over piece of paper with my name written on the top flap. I snatch it up.
    “What is that?” Frances says.
    “She left me a note.” I open it to read what Rebecca has written, hoping she has told me where she has gone.
    Alexa: I have looked everywhere but I cannot find it. Please, please, if you find it, throw it away. I don’t want it anymore. Remember, it’s a secret.
    Love always, Rebecca
    p.s. I will write you!
    I have absolutely no idea what she is talking about. None. It’s not unlike Rebecca to forget to tell me something but it is a little unlike her to think she has told me something when she hasn’t. Although I can’t say it has never happened. It has just never really ever mattered before.
    “What does she say?” Frances says.
    I show the note to Frances. “She doesn’t say where she has gone. I have no idea what she means. She says she will write to me.”
    “Write?” Frances echoes. We both know what this means. It means Rebecca intends to be gone awhile.
    “I can’t believe she did this.” I stuff the strange note in the back pocket of my denim skirt.
    Frances touches my arm, communicating with her touch that she empathizes. “Alexa, do you remember yesterday when I asked you if you had noticed anything different about Rebecca? That I got the feeling she was being secretive around me? I think maybe she has been planning this for awhile.”
    “I never saw it coming.”
    But then I immediately think of how Rebecca was acting yesterday. How she greeted me with an enthusiastic “Guess what?” and then told me she wouldn’t say anything until we got to her room. I remember how flustered she seemed when she saw Marietta on the bed. How she seemed to dart from one subject to the next, first talking loudly to the whole room and then whispering things to me as if in confidence.
    And I had Stephen and my mother and Priscilla on my mind and I had tuned her out.
    She was subtly telling me she had plans. Secret plans.
    And I hadn’t heard any of it.
    A groan escapes me.
    “I’m so sorry, Alexa,” Frances says. “I wish I had been more insistent in my comments to you.”
    “It’s not your fault, Frances. I think Rebecca was actually trying to tell me something yesterday and I just wasn’t paying attention. This is my fault, not yours.”
    “Don’t blame yourself. Rebecca has her limitations, but she is a consenting adult, Alexa.”
    “That doesn’t mean she knows how to behave like one.” I rub my temple. “What will she do for money? How will she get around? What if she gets lost?”
    “We can hope that she does get lost, that she does indeed run out of money. I think she will call us then. All kids call home when they need money. Hopefully she will be in a safe place when that happens. I think she will be mindful of danger, I really do. Rebecca has immature ideas but she is not ignorant of danger. She still looks both ways when she crosses the street.”
    I let myself sit heavily on Rebecca’s bed. “We can’t just let her run off and do nothing but wait for her limited funds to run out. We have to do something.”
    “I’ll ask all the residents today and on Monday when they are all back if they know anything. And I’ve already called the train station and the bus station downtown. Pauline has called the homeless shelters and tomorrow I will go to the church that the Center takes part in and I will see if she shows up there.”
    Again, I sigh. “Thanks, Frances.”
    But this isn’t enough. I can’t just sit by while Rebecca doles out whatever money she has been able to save. What if she wanders into the wrong neighborhood? What if she is approached by a madman? What if she accepts help from a would-be rapist?
    I have to look for her.
    And I can’t do it alone. This city is huge. The world is huge.
    I have to look for her.
    But first I need to go to Coronado.
    And I am dreading it.

    I am sitting in my mother’s living room with Humphrey and Margot vying