“Are you worried, too, about Lucy?” Dr. Hall asked
Their plan, the minister told Vicki, was to head slightly north and east of Sacramento, into the Mother Lode country. Mrs. Heath had made an earlier trip through the hill region and had said that she might possibly rent a house in the area.
“I received a post card from Lucy,” said Mr. Hall. “Just a moment.”
The minister picked up a picture post card from his desk and handed it to Vicki. It was postmarked Placerville, California, February seventh, at four P.M. Vicki glanced at the desk calendar. February seventh was the first Saturday in February.
“Wasn’t this post card mailed the same day that Lucy and Mrs. Heath started out?” Vicki asked.
“Yes. Evidently Lucy mailed the post card en route. She says nothing, actually—‘Beautiful country, beautiful weather. Will write soon.’ But she hasn’t written since, Miss Barr. Not to me or, so far as I can learn, to any of her friends. And I don’t know where she is.”
Vicki felt a sharp misgiving. “Have you—have you planned to take any steps to get in touch with her, Mr. Hall?”
He hesitated. “It’s not quite two weeks since Lucy left. I believe they planned to work on Mrs. Heath’s book, so that possibly Lucy hasn’t had a chance to write to me. I don’t mean to alarm you, Miss Barr.”
“But I think you are a little alarmed, Mr. Hall?”