Into Thin Air

Into Thin Air

By

MJ Allaire

SMASHWORDS EDITION

* * * * *

Published by:

MJ Allaire on Smashwords

Into Thin Air

Copyright © 2013 by MJ Allaire

Discover other titles by MJ Allaire at Smashwords.com

Dragon’s Blood: Denicalis Dragon Chronicles – Book One

The Prisoner: Denicalis Dragon Chronicles - Book Two

Dragon’s Tear: Denicalis Dragon Chronicles - Book Three

Dragon’s Breath: Denicalis Dragon Chronicles - Book Four

My Blissful Life As a Submariner’s Wife

Dead Reckoning

This book is available in print on MJ’s website.

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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INTO THIN AIR

A Bobbie Farnsworth Mystery

by

MJ ALLAIRE

Bookateer Publishing

www.bookateerpublishing.com

© 2013 MJ Allaire. All rights reserved

No portion of this book may be stored for retrieval, reproduced, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Layout and design by Ryan Twomey-Allaire

Cover Images courtesy of Shutterstock

ISBN: 978-1-936476-11-4

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013916058

INTO THIN AIR

Author’s Note

Although the town in the following story truly exists in North Carolina, what you are about to read is purely fictional. The names of the characters and events that take place are strictly a figment of the author’s imagination.

Dedication

To the wonderful children of the In The Hills Coop, without whom this would not have been possible.

*****

My sister and I, you will

recollect, were twins, and you know

how subtle are the links which bind

two souls which are so closely allied.

~ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

*****

Prologue

On a breezy, summer afternoon, two girls wandered through the woods on the outskirts of a small, shoreline town in North Carolina. Born identical twins a little more than a decade ago, the blonde-haired duo wound their way through the maze of trees, crunching leaves and tall grass as they searched for butterflies.

They were clothed in matching denim skirts, half-sleeved tops and sneakers. Serena’s shirt was light pink and her skirt dark blue, matching the shade of her eyes. A pair of light blue ribbons, tied in identical bows near the ends of each of her sandy blonde braids, held the pair of woven segments in place just below her shoulders.

Although her sister wore the exact same skirt, the rest of Samantha’s outfit exemplified the colors of summer. Her shirt was light green and dandelion yellow and she wore her hair in a ponytail bound by a simple yellow hair tie. Although they were twins, their tastes could be quite different, especially when it came to clothes and accessories.

Around their necks they each wore an identical necklace, with the only exception, of course, being the color. Since the sisters both loved horses and all things fantasy, their uncle Bud had surprised them each with a unicorn encapsulated in a charm dangling from a silver chain for Christmas the previous year. The creature filling the center of Serena’s charm was blue with bright yellow eyes while Samantha’s was green with shining pink eyes. Both of these were held securely within a thin, silver frame. Although their mother had been uncertain if they would like their gifts, the girls had loved them so much that hardly a day went by that they didn’t wear them.

I see one! Serena cried happily.

Without waiting for her sister, she slipped through a gap in the brush and darted in the direction of the ocean before turning toward the oddly placed stone steps that led to an unseen location over a hill.

Wait, Sere! Samantha called as she ran to catch up with her twin. Just as she jumped over a wide, fallen log, she stumbled and her butterfly net hooked on a low tree branch dangling from a nearby oak.

Oh, doodlebug! she whispered angrily as she regained her footing before struggling to free the delicate mesh from the dry but not so brittle branch. After a long moment, she managed to release the netting away from the wooden, craggy finger. She frowned when she realized there was now a hole in the insect catching material roughly the size of a pencil eraser.

Just great! she grumbled as she heard her sister’s excited voice call from somewhere in the distance.

Sam! Come look at this!

Samantha turned her green eyes toward the hill where her sister had disappeared but she couldn’t see her. Serena had found her new treasure somewhere on the other side, out of sight.

I’m coming! she called as she ran up the stone steps. Wait for me, Sere!

A few seconds later, she reached the plateau and expected to find her sister kneeling on the other side, her net held close to the grassy landscape in order to keep whatever she might have caught from getting away. Instead, as she crested the top, Sam was surprised to find Serena was nowhere in sight.

Sere? she called, but her only answer was the breeze blowing through her hair and the sound of waves breaking gently along the shoreline somewhere beyond the rocky ledge to her right.

Come on, Sere! I don’t feel like looking for you. Come out and show me what you found.

She took a few steps across the surrounding sandy grass and rocks then stopped and listened.

Nothing. Where had she gone?

Turning to her right, Sam scanned the grainy landscape where it melted into a long line of stones. Now that she was really looking at it, she noticed how the rocks ended at a steep, jagged cliff which led to the beach twenty or so feet below. Bringing her focus back to the area around her, she panned her gaze across the small field filled with tall, tan weeds. To her left, the edge of the weedy field spilled back into a somewhat higher elevation of trees where she and Serena had been only a few moments before. There was no sign of her sister anywhere.

She strained her ears as she listened for Serena’s familiar voice or laugh but heard nothing. Suddenly, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck bristle and her abdomen twisted with the odd flutter of a hundred internal, uncaptured butterflies.

Something was wrong.

Sere, come on! she yelled into the breeze. We need to go home for lunch soon!

She waited another moment or two, but when her sister still didn’t join her on the hill, Sam decided she would look for her. She wasn’t much into the game of hide-and-seek anymore. Even worse, she couldn’t shake the gnawing feeling that something just wasn’t right.

Hoping Serena might be hiding down on the beach, Sam headed in the direction of the rocky cliff. The stones beneath her feet felt a bit wobbly as she approached the edge, so she took careful steps and slowly, gently peered over.

Nothing. There was no sign of footprints or a dropped butterfly net anywhere on the smooth, damp sand below. She was aware that high tide had been a few hours prior because their father had gone fishing with a couple of his friends. If Serena had jumped off the cliff and landed on the still moist sand below, which was unlikely because it was really far down, she surely would have left footprints, the imprint of a wingless sand angel, or something.

Sam slowly stepped away from the edge of the cliff and turned to peer again at the weedy field behind her. It was almost overrun with thin reeds, some of which were almost as tall as she was, but none were bent or showed any signs of having been pushed aside indicating her sister had made a quick path into them.

Finding no sign of Serena, Sam decided the only other thing her sister could have done was take a sharp left at the top of the hill and head back into the woods. Maybe she had planned on looping around to sneak up behind Sam to scare her. Although this would be a great answer to her question regarding why her twin had disappeared, Sam still couldn’t shake the strange feeling that something was wrong, horribly wrong.

Sere, I’m heading back, she called out, tired of the game. Without waiting for her sister to join her, Samantha Dune turned, walked back down the hill, and headed home.

*****

As she entered the front door of her house, Sam heard her mother’s voice in the kitchen. Since Sam knew her father was likely still out fishing, either someone had come over or her mom was on the phone. When he did go out on the ocean, he was usually gone all day. Sometimes he would take either Sam or her sister out with him, but today was Ned’s birthday and it was a fishing trip for just him and his buddies. Next time, though, Dad said he would take both girls with him; then the race would be on to see which one of them could catch the most fish!

She stepped into the kitchen and saw her mother standing at the sink, looking out the window. She was doing dishes with the cordless phone wedged in the crook between her shoulder and her chin, which was something she often did. On the table were two plates, each with a bologna and cheese sandwich and a small pile of sliced carrot sticks. Beside each of these was a tall glass of milk.

Sam was just about to pull her chair out when she remembered she needed to wash her hands. Since she couldn’t do it in the kitchen sink, she turned and headed down the hall to the bathroom. Although she hadn’t intended to listen to her mom’s conversation, it didn’t take long for a single sentence to hook her attention.

How many have disappeared?

Her curiosity piqued, Sam hurriedly rubbed bubbly soap between her hands and fingers then rinsed and dried them on a hand towel. She knew she shouldn’t be eavesdropping but she couldn’t help it. What had disappeared? Maybe Dad’s fishing trip wasn’t going all that well because all the fish were gone. That would stink, especially on his birthday!

Walking back to the kitchen, she couldn’t hear what the caller on the other end of the phone had said but she knew what it was because her mother repeated it in a stressed, low voice.

Four? In just a few weeks? And they were all between the ages of 9 and 12?

When she stepped into the kitchen, her mother said a rushed goodbye to the caller before placing the phone on the counter and plunging her hands back into the soapy dishwater. Sam greeted her as she pulled her