Abduction

In the back of his mind, Kendall knew he never should have let her out of his sight.

The ten-year-old boy could hear his pulse race in his chest, the sound a deafening, erratic thud as his clumsy fingers raked through the clothes rack. With each hanger that he pushed aside, his hands began to tremble more and more. A million thoughts raced through the child’s head, and each one of them centered on his little sister Katie.

He’d already checked all of her usual hiding places. The largest stall in the ladies’ dressing room, the one with the plush armchair that Katie loved to curl up in while their mother tried on clothes, was empty. There had been a little girl that looked like Katie running through the shoe aisles, and Kendall had felt that immediate sense of relief wash over him as soon as his jade eyes caught a glimpse of the familiar long mahogany hair, but as he walked closer, the little girl turned, and it wasn’t Katie’s big brown eyes that stared back at him.

Now he was frantically searching through each of the circular clothing racks, hoping that he’d find her curled up behind the clothes, her knees hugged to her chest as she gazed up at him, but as hard as he tried, she was nowhere to be found.

A sigh forced its way past his lips as the boy tilted his head back, light blonde locks falling back in the motion and his eyes staring up at the ceiling. With every single little piece of himself, Kendall prayed that his sister was okay. Though he was only ten and there were still so many things about the world that he had yet to understand, he couldn’t shake that feeling that something was terribly wrong . Like most children, he also had a knack for finding a way for everything to be his fault somehow.

If he hadn’t been so eager to get rid of his sister, if he hadn’t ran off to play with the toy helicopter on display, everything would’ve been okay. He was her older brother, he should’ve been paying attention to her. It was his job to protect her.

Kendall’s hand fluttered up to the key that hung around his neck, the same key his mother had given him so that he could get in the house after school, and he clutched the cool metal for comfort until it grew warm against his palm.

As he walked listlessly around the department store, he noticed a woman holding onto a little girl’s hand, hurrying the little girl towards the exit. The woman had the same strawberry blonde hair as his mother, but even though she was leaning down to the girl’s level, her hand placed firmly on the girl’s back as she guided her, Kendall could tell the woman was much taller than his mother. Still, something pushed him forward, closer to pair.

Maybe it was the older woman’s resemblance to his mother. Maybe it was how the little girl looked so much like Katie from behind, and though he’d gotten his hopes up before, he couldn’t turn away until he was sure this girl wasn’t his sister.

“Kendall!” The familiar face lit up as she said his name, breaking away from the woman in a sudden motion and running to her brother.

“Katie,” he greeted her, and while his tone had been flooded with enthusiasm, that cheerfulness slowly dissipated as he locked eyes with the woman.

The woman with the same fiery hair as his mother was certainly not his mother. Her features were much too stern, her eyes a dark brown instead of his mother’s pale green eyes, and though Kendall recognized the face as one of his mother’s friends, he couldn’t remember her name. For once, recognition wasn’t followed by comfort.

She forced a smile, kneeling down to the children’s level. “Kendall, why don’t you go find your mom? I’m sure she’s worried sick looking for you. Me and Katie will stay right here and wait for you.”

He couldn’t put his finger on what was wrong, but he knew that he couldn’t let his little sister go. Her grip tightened around his frame as she hugged him, and while she didn’t say a word, he could feel the fear locked up in her tiny muscles. All of his instincts were pushing him to find a way to escape this situation.

“Come on!” he yelled as his fingers found one of Katie’s hands, suddenly jerking her along behind him as he started to run.

As he ran down the aisle, his eyes scanned the seemingly endless rows of clothes, handbags, and purses for the warm face of his mother.

“Katherine Marie Knight! Kendall Francis Knight!” he could hear the woman call out after them, her tone heavy with frustration, but she didn’t chase after them. And Kendall didn’t stop running.

He finally found Jennifer Knight waiting in line at the register, her arms weighed down with dresses, blouses, and business suits.

“There you are!” she exclaimed. “I was just about to go get you guys.”

The warmth seemed to drain from her features as her eyes flickered across her children’s faces.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen? Are you two okay?” The questions tumbled from her lips uncontrollably, and before Kendall had a chance to answer the previous question, she fired more words at him. Jennifer let the clothes fall to the floor as she swooped in on her two young kids, inspecting their skin for any sign of injury or illness.

“Mama, we saw your friend earlier,” Kendall replied. “Back at the door.”

“What friend?”

“Miss Carrie.” As soon as Katie said the name, Kendall recognized it. Miss Carrie was one of his mother’s friends, a friend that they used to see all the time, but she hadn’t come over to their house in a really long time.

Kendall watched as his mother’s eyes widened, her lips parted as she stared off in the distance. For a moment, the boy was scared because he’d never seen that look in his mother’s eyes before.

Jennifer offered him a weak smile as her fingers ruffled her son’s hair, a gesture that still made Kendall wince with embarrassment. “Kendall, stay right here with your sister. I’ll be right back.”

With those words, Kendall watched his mother race down the aisle.

He never let Katie go.