Chapter 18 - Missing Child
I caught up with Jessica near the escalators.
She was trying to push against a stream of arriving passengers.
"Where did you last see him?"
She whipped toward me.
"Why are you here?"
"Where did you last see Tyler?"
Panic finally overrode hostility.
"By the carousel."
"He wanted to see the train again."
"I told him no."
"What was he wearing?"
"Blue hoodie."
"Red cap."
"Lightning McQueen backpack."
Her voice broke.
"Sarah, he is six."
"I know."
An airport employee approached after hearing us call his name. Within minutes, security had a description. Aaron checked the restrooms. Dad stayed with the other children. Mom was crying openly beside the baggage carousel.
I took the airport train back toward the gates with a security officer because Tyler had been obsessed with it when we arrived. Jessica stayed at baggage claim in case he returned.
Every little boy in a red cap made my heart jump. None of them were Tyler.
At the next terminal, the security officer spoke into his radio. No confirmed sighting.
I walked faster.
Then Emma called me. I almost ignored it because she was with Dad. Something made me answer.
"Mom."
Her voice was breathless.
"I know where Tyler might be."
I stopped.
"Where?"
"The big Christmas tree."
"What Christmas tree?"
"The one by the train."
"He said on the plane he wanted to see if Orlando still had Christmas decorations."
I turned to the security officer.
He knew exactly what she meant. A seasonal display remained near another concourse entrance even though most decorations had been removed.
We took the next train.
The doors opened.
I saw the red cap before I saw his face.
Tyler sat on the floor near a planter twenty feet from the display, hugging his backpack to his chest. A woman in an airport uniform crouched beside him.
"Tyler!"
He looked up. His face crumpled.
"Aunt Sarah?"
I ran to him. I did not hug him until he threw both arms around my waist. Then I held him so tightly his cap fell off.
"I could not find Mom."
"I know."
"I went to see the tree."
"I know."
"Am I in trouble?"
The question hit me harder than I expected.
"You scared everybody."
"But right now we are just happy you are safe."
The airport employee had already notified security. While we waited for the officer to clear us to leave, Tyler kept one fist wrapped around two of my fingers.
He told me he had only meant to look for the tree for one minute. Then the train doors closed behind him and he could not remember which stop we had used. A stranger asked where his parents were, which scared him enough that he hid behind a bench.
Hearing the sequence made my stomach twist. Children do not experience mistakes in neat adult categories. One wrong turn can become abandonment in seconds.
I crouched so we were eye level.
"You did the right thing when you found someone in a uniform."
Tyler sniffed.
"Mom is going to be mad."
"She is going to be scared first."
"Then mad?"
I almost smiled.
"Probably a little."
He considered that.
"Are you mad at my mom?"
The question surprised me.
"Why would you ask that?"
"Because everybody is mad at everybody."
There it was again. The children knew the emotional weather even when adults tried to hide the forecast.
"Your mom and I have things to work out."
"That is not your job."
Tyler nodded slowly.
"Is finding me your job?"
"Today it was everybody's job."
May you like
He squeezed my fingers.
That tiny gesture cut through everything.
