:"One ... two ... three ... go." Fabian and Dave lifted the horse up and off of its base, carried it from the carousel platform, then set it down by the ring arm device. Dave slumped against the device.
"Wow!" he gasped, panting. "That thing weighs a ton!"
"Oh it does not," Fabian scoffed.
"To those of us who can't lift a ton," Dave insisted, "it feels like it does."
"Hi, guys." Lisa came up to them. "What are you doing with my favorite horse?"
"Hi, sweetheart." Fabian leaned over and kissed her. Dave gave Fabian a look, which he ignored. "Routine maintenance. There's something wrong with it. Are you finished at work already?"
"I'm taking the afternoon off. I need to go to my sister's and help pick berries. I have orders for red raspberry pies. What's ...."
"I love red raspberries," Fabian told her. "Could you please pick a quart for me?"
Lisa laughed.
"Of course." She sobered as Fabian's mother hurried over to them.
"Madame Fatima! What's wrong?" she asked.
"Fabian ... Lisa ... David. Have any of you seen Franco?" She looked so worried it broke Lisa's heart. She thought about that. Franco hadn't been in the diner for a long time, and it struck her as strange as she considered it now. She felt very guilty that she hadn't even thought about it before.
"He's not in his tent," Madame went on. "The television's been on, but it's obvious that he hadn't been in his tent for quite some time." She started wringing her hands.
"I'm sorry, Madame," Lisa said. "I haven't seen him. He hasn't been in the diner for a while. At least not on my shift."
"I haven't seen him either," Fabian said, brow furrowed. He remembered the night that Chief Santo had dropped him off at the carnival gate. Was Franco in his tent then? He regretted not taking the opportunity when he'd thought of it. "I think the last time I saw him was over a week ago," Fabian admitted. "But that's not unusual -- he's been keeping to himself a lot."
"I'll ask Anne and George," Lisa offered, "and the waitresses who work other shifts. Maybe he's been in when I wasn't working. He didn't usually come in for breakfast and only rarely at lunch, as I recall. Please tell me how else I can help."
Madame Fatima sniffled and Lisa wrapped her arms around her. Fabian pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to his mother.
"He'll turn up," Lisa said. "I'll get the word out -- somebody must have seen him. It's true what they say about small towns -- word gets around fast."
"You're a good girl," Madame said, giving Lisa a kiss on the cheek. "Your father warned us of the mill races. Franco wandered around a lot. What if he got too close ...."
"Don't, Madame. Don't think of the worst. I'm sure you're hesitant to bring the police into it," Lisa told her, "but the Chief is a friend of mine from school. Go to the station and ask for Rick. He'll handle things any way you want and he's very good at finding lost people. Summer people misplace each other or wander off a lot, and it usually comes out all right. Tell him Lisa sent you."
"Thank you, dear. She patted Lisa and turned to her son. "You bring this girl into our family. Soon." Fabian laughed and gave his mother a hug.
"Working on it, Mom," he said with a wink at Lisa. He enjoyed the shocked expression and blush on Lisa's face.
"Rick?" Madame asked Lisa. Lisa nodded.
"Should I come with you?"
"No, dear. I need to discuss this with Larry first. And I know where the police station is. Thank you." She hurried away, back toward the residential section.
"You'd think Franco would be hard to miss," Dave said, somewhat distractedly.
"You know," Lisa exploded, "if that's the way you talk about him, it's not hard to see why he'd leave! Oh ... sorry. I just feel bad that it took so long for all of us to realize he was missing." Fabian wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm the one who should be sorry," Dave said. "I haven't heard from my wife in a while and it's bugging me. Seems to me a lot of people and things have disappeared around here lately."
"Like what?" Lisa looked at him from the safety of Fabian's arms and frowned, puzzled. Dave shrugged.
"First Marlene gets released from jail and vanishes into thin air. Them my wife supposedly goes to visit her parents and I can't get in touch with her. Her parents haven't seen her, either, and the "emergency" she left for never existed. Now Franco disappeared and did they ever find your truck, Fab?"
"Not yet." Fabian shook his head.
"I really feel bad that I didn't notice. I'm usually better at remembering the diner patrons."
"I really am sorry about what I said, Lisa," Dave said. "It was cruel, now that I think about it. Good think I don't have a show today -- I feel too nasty to be a clown."
"Hey," Fabian said, giving Lisa a kiss on the side of her head, "don't you need to help your sister?"
"Oh, right. We're practicing with Keith and Annie tonight at seven, right?"
"Absolutely. Why don't I pick you up at five-thirty? We can have dinner at Adrianna's and then go."
"Sounds good," Lisa nodded. He kissed her lips this time, and she took off with a wave to them both.
"How could you lie to her like that?" Dave wanted to know once Lisa was out of earshot.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean about the horse. "Something's wrong with it". You rattled that one off like it was true and kept distracting her every time she tried to ask about it. And if I didn't know your mother coming over here was a coincidence I'd think you arranged it just to keep Lisa from asking questions."
Fabian shrugged.
"I am not going to tell her the real reason we took the horse down! And neither are you! She will find out eventually. Of all days for her to get off work early!"
Probably one of the nicest things about Twin Mills is the variety of scenery and neighborhoods. There's something for everyone -- Overheard at the post office
The Wrights lived in a tidy brick ranch house in a quiet residential section near the west mill. Annie answered the door.
"Hi!" she said. "Come in. Change of plans -- we need to practice up in my room. Leslie has some friends over and they're using the basement tonight. She got accepted early for her police training and is leaving this week, so I'm guessing her little get-together has something to do with that."
"Fine with me," Lisa said.
Fabian looked around. The Wright living room was incredibly neat and tidy and had a aura of being somewhat out of time. Fabian was almost surprised that he saw it in color; it was the sort of house that might appear in an old black and white television show. A large stone fireplace that showed very few signs of use was just inside the front door. A little teapot dangled from a chain inside of the firebox. The wall facing the street had a bay window. Mr. Wright was sitting on a very comfortable-looking couch under that window, watching television.