Hope in a Field of Flowers

Chapter 18: Where's Rosie

Around ten minutes later Robbie came to the back porch to get Rosie.

"Rosie?" he questioned, she wasn't there. He looked up to the field she wasn't there. He headed around to the front of the house, she wasn't there.

"Rosie!" he called. She didn't respond. He headed inside.

"Will have you seen Rosie?" asked Robbie.

"I thought she was on the porch" said Will.

"She's not there" said Robbie going up the stairs.

"I will look down here" said Will.

Robbie looked up stairs calling her name. Downstairs Will couldn't find her either.

"Mom have you seen Rosie?" asked Will.

"No" said Annabeth.

"We can't find her anywhere" said Will.

Robbie came in, "She is not upstairs".

"She's not down here either" said Will.

"Did you check outside?" asked Annabeth.

"Yes, she isn't there either" said Robbie

"I'm going to go in town" said Robbie.

Robbie headed into town and looked everywhere only asking people he trusted if they saw her. He headed back home this time through the woods. There was no sign of her there either. 

When he got home, Rodger was there.

"I heard, did you find her?" asked Rodger.

"No, and no one has seen her" said Robbie.

"I will call the police" said Rodger.

"My baby" said Annabeth.

"I will find her" said Robbie.

The police soon arrived and they gave them all the information. Robbie the got up and started to leave.

"Where are you going?" asked Will.

"I need to talk to someone" was all Robbie said as he left out the door.

A prison guard came into Charlie's cell.

"Charlie you have a visitor."

Charlie surprised, he didn't think anyone would ever visit him. He got to visitor room. He sat down across table from Robbie.

"Robbie?" questioned Charlie.

"Rosie is missing Charlie" said Robbie

Charlie was silent for a moment.

"This is all my fault" said Charlie.

Robbie really wanted to tell him yes it was, but didn't.

"We don't know that yet" said Robbie

"You don't understand" said Charlie, "You are going to be mad, but Rosie has been investigating things, and she has gotten real close and deep into it."

"What?" asked Robbie.

"I can't talk about it, It would put our whole family at risk" said Charlie.

"Rosie is at risk! This is not another of your stupid games or puzzles!" said Robbie

"I know that, I think she started to realize that and got scared. The last letter I got, gave me information that I know put her in danger, I just sent her a letter telling her to tell you" said Charlie.

"It's a little to late now isn't it?" said Robbie.

"Look I know who can you help you" said Charlie getting out a photo.

"Who is she?" asked Robbie

"I can't tell you, but she can help. You can't tell anyone about what Rosie found. That would make things worse, put her more at risk" said Charlie.

"How am I suppose to find someone from a photo" said Robbie

"For once in your life just listen" said Charlie, "I know I screwed up."

Robbie was silent for a moment.

"I know I screwed up to" said Robbie, "but I will find her. Show me the photo again"

Charlie did. Robbie got up and left with out another word.

He headed back home, he had taken a friends care to the jail and had to drop it back off his house, before going home. On his way home he was stopped by Ronan.

"Robbie!' yelled Ronan.

Robbie stopped and turned around.

"We haven't found her yet" said Robbie.

"Listen I think I know what happened" said Ronan.

"What?" asked Robbie.

"Listen there is this girl" said Ronan.

"A girl with brown hair, that my brother Charlie told me about?" asked Robbie.

"Ya exactly" said Ronan, "Its complicated."

"I know she has been investigating the murder" said Robbie.

"Can we talk inside, to my ears out here" said Ronan.

"Sure" said Robbie following him.

 They went into Ronan's house.

"Listen your brother Charlie asked me to keep an eye on Rosie and your family while he was gone. After Rosie broke into my house to get the film, I got suspicious of her" said Ronan.

"Wait! She broke into your house?" asked Robbie.

"Ya, she said she needed the film from the camera, I bought from you. I caught her, and let her go, because I knew what she was up to, well kind of. I have been watching her. She has snuck away from the house at least 5 times. She has been going to meet this girl, the one your talking about. I never got a chance to ask Rosie why. The other day she went to meet this girl again, I knew it was dangerous, her being in the woods. So I followed her and then caught her. I told her how I knew everything, well almost everything. She told me that from a photo, she discovered a pair of boots in the corner of the photo. She figured out who they belong to, by going to Mr. Bates store. Something about them being 200 dollars and Mr. Bates saying he only sold them to one person Mr. Mallory. I then saw her go into another store." said Ronan.

"She said she buying a gift for Will and all those times her running down from the field, she was actually coming back from meeting that girl" said Robbie.

"Ya exactly. Thats not all. So she told me all this. She said it was Mr. Mallory who did it, who murdered Jane. She needed more evidence though. I said I would look into, because I didn't want her doing it herself, it was to dangerous. I told her to stay home and I would let her know. The last thing I found was a money record, from Mr. Mallory's office. There was a 10,000 dollar gap somewhere. That money he must have used to pay the cops off. That was the last thing. I don't know if she figured something else out or not, but I don't why Mr. Mallory would murder" said Ronan.

"Or how he knew Charlie would be in the woods, to frame him" said Robbie.

"Thats exactly what I thought and it all comes back to Fiona Winters, the girl. I went to house to talk to her, and her father said, she went to first her a friend in another stare" said Ronan.

"I don't buy it" said Robbie.

"Me either" said Ronan, "I went to Mr. Mallory's house, Mrs. Mallory said he had to work late."

"Then thats it" said Robbie.

"Ya" said Ronan, "So Fiona must have been involved the whole time, she must have been in onto and of course she got Charlie in the woods, but how?"

"I don't know, but I have a plan" said Robbie, "We need to go back to my house. She spends way to much time in that field, I bet that is were she keeps all the evidence."