The Case of Five Missing Girls

By Barbara Dewsnap

Barbara Everitt Dewsnap second book, The Case of Five Missing Girls, is a celebration of the spirit and innate goodness of mankind. It is a tapestry of the lives of four families losing their girls and the heartbreaking period of searching. Subject to alternately praises or chides the families deftly the public perception of a hoax by following their faith and their commitment to each other.
New techniques and practices give way for future change and the wellbeing of society. Homeschooling, greenhouse construction, garden plots, and a better way of using natural resources lead the way for change. Music facilitates change in mind and spirit.
The book looks for a better future from the choices the four families make. Choices made each day shapes the future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Dec 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098339432

Book preview

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Copyright 2020

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

ISBN: 978-1-09833-942-5 (softcover)

ISBN: 978-1-09833-943-2 (eBook)

Readers Guide:

Table of Contents:

Prologue

Panic

The Search

The Thompson Family

The Bateman Family

The Houseman Family

The Franklin Family

Losing Hope

Julia Beth’s Return

Mary Katherine’s Return

Elizabeth’s Return

The Twins’ Return (Barbara And Bennie)

Home Schooling

The Formula

The Barn

Newfound Wealth

Marie

The Green House

Prosperity

The Great Blessing

Memories

Julia Beth’s Version

Katherine’s Version

Elizabeth’s Version

Barbara And Bennie Version

Their Mission

Author Notes

Acknowledgments

Dedication

About The Author

Setting: Somewhere in a Midwestern State

Time: Year 2012

Cast of Characters:

FIVE MISSING GIRLS

Prologue

A day of swimming at the Mill Pond had been planned the night before. The one place the boys often go without their sisters tagging along. Jason would take his pocket knife, Ed would take matches and Curtis would bring a bag of apples.

Almost there, Curtis slips through the fence and collects six ears of corn. Ed picks up wood and starts a fire, adding small sticks pyramid style layer after layer until he has a roaring fire. Jason works pushing and pulling the old wooden raft into the water.

The three young boys stand on the pond bank watching the corn’s husk steam and curl, unaware that events beginning that day would siege them, rattle them and change their lives forever.

Chapter One

Panic

The young boy, nearly naked, feels mud oozing between his toes when he jumps off the old wooden raft and begins to walk up the muddy pond bank, struggling to stay upright. A cool breeze whips across the goose bumps on his shivering arms. A strange sense of dread overcomes him. Is someone watching he wonders?

JEZZ us CREEPERS, that was something else!

His buddies, wet and splattered with mud, scramble up the pond bank leaving the raft halfway out of the water.

That was scary Ed mumbles.

It is hard to explain… Jason breaks off, shaking, as if to rid himself of the uneasiness. That’s enough wind and rain for one day.

Jason can’t suppress the fear in his eyes. He is not accustomed to panic or shared unease. Something very different had happened today with the sudden storm rolling in, unexpected and severe.

The sun appears from behind the clouds and the cool air becomes a warm breeze and then ceases. The temperature rises, warming the children and the shivering stops. Across the field, the corn leaves stop rustling and ripples on the muddy pond water flatten out to a smooth surface.

Curtis, youngest of the three boys, begins limping down the pond bank toward the road. I want to go home. These horseflies are coming at me. My back is sunburned.

A blond crewcut, wet, and matted against his head makes him look bald. One leg, shorter than the other, is noticeable on his slender frame when he begins to move forward, walking fast or running. Curtis doesn’t let it slow him down.

Ed, one year younger than Jason, took orders from his friend this afternoon. Jason saved them from drowning. He kept them alive with his quick reaction to the rolling raft.

Jason, what happened on that raft?

I wish I knew. Jason replies sharply.

The two older boys slip and slide down the pond bank, stop at the fence, and take turns holding up the barbwire. Curtis is first up to crawl through.

They begin to make their way down Mill Pond Road, barefooted, trying to avoid the rocks on the dirt road. Unusually quiet, they cannot comprehend what happened on that raft, or have the courage to talk about it. They are in serious trouble. Losing their shoes and clothes will be hard to explain. Drying mud sticks to their bare skin and sweat rolls down their faces. With Jason in the lead, they begin to trot.

It’s five o’clock when they come within sight of the compound where four doublewide mobile homes sit surrounded by two thousand acres of tall stalks of corn, the only visual blocking that flat plain of land. From the road, they see the shadow of a figure on the ground.

Jason hesitates and slows to a stop, turns to Curtis and says, Is that your dog? Call Mister!

Curtis whistles for his dog, a German shepherd.

The image does not move. Moving forward they realize it’s a young woman near the steps to Curtis’ house. No one else is around.

Something is wrong and they sense it. Racing ahead, Jason reaches the girl first and slides to a stop. Sweat forming in beads on his face, drip in dirty streams from his back and chest. His outstretched arms wave for balance. Shocked, his focus on the figure blocks out a response.

It’s Marie, Curtis cries. Is she asleep?

She looks dead! Ed says. Do you see any blood?

I can’t tell. Jason recovering his voice, pokes her arm. She doesn’t respond. Filled with panic, his eyes sweeping the grounds as he turns to Ed, What do you think happened to her?

I don’t know.

Curtis whistles again for his dog. Mister, Mister. Yelling as he looks away from Marie, turning and looking around the big yard. From the corner of his eye he sees movement and opens his mouth to call a warning. The words seem to freeze in his throat. The German shepherd races out of the cornfield, jumps up on Curtis and begins licking his face. The dog’s hair is matted with sticker burs. He is panting hard. The young boy puts his arms around the dog.

Mister is OK. Stay. He signals with an open hand, palms facing down. He slips a hand to the shepherd’s flank, running his fingers over him lightly. What a good dog he whispers to his friend; a ritual of theirs.

Where are the girls? Jason says. They may have been with the dog.

Julia, Mary, Beth! They all begin to shout, as they moved to the edge of the field. No sound, other than the buzz of insects, comes from the fields.

Panic begins to fill the boys. They run to their houses, looking and shouting out the girls’ names, racing from room to room, into the backyard and circling around to the front.

No one is in my house, Jason yells, returning to the yard. Help me look under the houses, Ed. Curtis, you go in the twins’ house.

Jason races around to the back and pulls out a small board covering the crawl space opening and crawls under the house searching.

Curtis tries the door to the twins’ house. It’s unlocked.

He opens it and calls out. Barbara, Bennie, anybody here?

The hall light is on. He races down the hallway, flinging open doors. The house is empty. The girls are gone.

When he returns to join Jason and Ed in the yard, he says, Where could they be?

Breathing hard, Ed rationalizes, Maybe they are with our Moms.

Or, they went to find a doctor for Marie. Jason says, in a voice that can barely be heard. We should call 911. He races back into his house, grabs the phone and dials.

The operator answers. 911. What is the emergency?

Come quick, our babysitter looks dead!

Calm down and tell me where you are. I need your location.

Jason takes a breath and swallows. He tries to sound grown up as he begins to direct the operator to Highway 910, then to Mill Pond Road and then two miles to his house.

Before she has a chance to tell him to stay on the line, Jason hangs up and dials his Dad’s cellphone number.

On the second ring, James touches a button and speaks into the phone. What is it, Jason? You know I am at work. He turns and starts walking across the busy yard to his truck. A call at work from his son meant trouble. That much he knew already.

Jason stammers with panic. The babysitter is dead!!!

Hold on Son, calm down! How do you know Marie is dead?

She is on the ground by the steps. She is not moving.

Where are the girls?

I don’t know. We looked all over the place for them.

Did you call the police?

Yes, I called 911.

James tall, athletic, in work clothes and wearing a baseball cap, lifts himself into an old Dodge truck and slams the door. His voice is calm. He will not give into fear when he speaks to his son.

I am on my way home. Call your Mother, the work number is on the list on the wall next to the phone. Ask her where the girls are? I want you to stay calm. Help Marie if you can. Go back outside and wait for the police. I have to hang up, I‘m entering the highway.

James throws the phone on the seat, puts both hands on the steering wheel, guns the truck into high, and turns left on the main highway. He is not the type of person to panic. Something in the tone of his son’s voice told him evil had happened. Whatever it was, brought dread into his heart.

Following his Dad’s instructions, Jason dials his Mother’s work number and gets a busy signal. He turns to the other boys standing nearby.

Curtis, go get a glass of water. Ed, you go wait at the end of the driveway for the police.

He takes a deep breath and feels better. Dad would be here soon.

He walks outside, leans over, and carefully rolls Marie over on her back. Curtis hands him the water. Using his hand Jason sprays drops of water on Marie’s face. She doesn’t blink. A soft low wailing moan, moving only her lips and lasting only a few seconds, rocks the boys backward with surprise.

Jason and Curtis look at each other. She’s alive!

I hear the ambulance. Ed calls out from the road.

A cloud of dust appears on the dirt road. A siren becomes louder as it approaches their driveway.

There’s a police car too! Ed screams!

As the vehicles stop, three people jump out, one cop and two men from the ambulance each carrying a big black bag. The medics, ignoring the boys, run to the girl and begin opening their bags and pulling out equipment.

Is this your mother? The cop asks.

They all shake their head.

She is the babysitter for our sisters. Her name is Marie. Jason responds.

My Mom should be here soon, coming in from work. We can’t find the girls, my sister and her four friends should be here. I phoned my Dad at work after I called 911. He is on his way here."

Looking around and speaking to Curtis and Ed, the cop says. Where are your folks?

They both shake their head. Ed says, Our parents usually get here around six o’clock.

The medics attaching an IV, ask, How long has she been lying here?

I don’t know. Jason called 911 when we got home about twenty minutes ago and found her. Ed says.

Where have you been in your underwear? The cop asks.

Looking embarrassed and uneasy, Jason replies, We went swimming and lost our clothes and sneakers in the storm.

Before the cop can continue, the medic says, as he puts a collar around the girl’s neck, I don’t see an injury. Could be she had a stroke or a heart attack. She is alive but having trouble breathing. We need to leave for the hospital right now.

Curtis says, Maybe she was hit by lighting.

Working fast they gather up everything and begin to place Marie on the stretcher.

Hews, the detective, turns back to the boys and continues. When was the last time you saw your sisters?

Right before we left this morning around nine o’clock, Jason answers. They all were in the twin’s house with Marie. We went over there to tell Marie we were leaving for the Mill Pond to go swimming. She told us to be back in time to do our chores.

Which one is the twin girls’ house? he asks.

Curtis points in the direction of the Bateman’s mobile home.

So, you went swimming. What time did you leave?

Around nine o’clock. Ed speaks up, not wanting to be left out of the conversation.

You stayed all day and came back about an hour ago? Hews continues.

A storm rolled in when we were in the water. That’s how we lost our clothes. Maybe the girl was hit by the lightning when it was storming, Curtis answers.

The medic rolls his eyes and mocking the boy, That’s a good story, it must have been a Big Bad Storm. The ground isn’t even wet.

They lift Marie into the ambulance. He looks at the detective. Mr. Hews, call this in and request a patrol car to meet us on Highway 910. We need an escort to help us through the five o’clock traffic.

Hews flips on his radio.

The ambulance begins moving out of the driveway, siren blaring even with no cars in sight and speeds off in a cloud of dust.

"This is Detective Hews speaking. I’m located at the End Point of Mill Pond Road. We have an unconscious female being transported to county hospital. The ambulance needs an escort on Highway 910, going east.

Copy that!"

There are three young boys here. We are trying to find their sisters. The boys say five young girls should be here in care of the babysitter, Mary, the young woman who is now being transported to the county hospital. I’m trying to locate the parents, copy, 10-4.

James is slowing down to make the turn on Mill Pond Road as the ambulance approaches Highway 910. He pulls over and waits for it to pass. That has to be Marie in the ambulance. Fear and panic begin to take away reason. He makes a hard left, continuing down the dirt road and put his foot down on the gas petal. Driving fast, he is kicking up a lot of dust when he pulls his truck into the driveway. He is relieved and anxious when he sees the patrol car in front of the Thompson house.

The boys run to meet the truck before James can stop. He can see they are upset. Jason jumps on the fender before he can open the door.

Dad, we still don’t know where the girls are

James reaches out to his son. Calm down, we will sort this out together. Let’s not panic. I want to talk to the cop first.

Ed and Curtis trail behind as they move toward Detective Hews, a short, heavy man, sweating in the late afternoon heat.

You are James Houseman, Jason’s father? He says as he glances down at his notes.

Yeah, what is going on here? How is the girl’s condition? Marie… I’m guessing she is in the ambulance I passed coming out of Mill Pond Road?

She is alive but unconscious, we don’t know the cause. He pauses, I need her last name, address and phone number so her family can be notified and for the hospital records.

Marie Morgan, I am not sure about her phone number or address. My wife takes care of that. I am more concerned with locating my daughter, Julia Beth and the other girls we left in her care.

Switching his attention, he turns to the boys. Do you know where they are? Have you talked to your Mom and Dad? They both shake their head.

They should be here soon. It’s almost six o’clock. Ed says.

What are you boys doing running around in your underpants? James looks stern but doesn’t wait for an explanation. Did you boys search all around? Go out back. Hose that mud off. Put on some clothes. Search for your sisters inside. James barks orders, clearly upset.

"I will check in the twin’s house. Look everywhere, closets, under