Read Shadows on the Lane for Free Online Page A

if there was a car inside.”
    “I know what you’re thinking,” said her mother. “But you have to stop snooping around other people’s property.” She turned onto the paved street. “Let the police handle this. Understand?”
    “But, Mom…”
    “No ‘buts.’ That’s final,” ordered her mother.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    That night, after dinner, Jessie practiced her lesson while her dad sat nearby reading the paper. She stopped playing and turned to him. “How’s the hit-and-run deal going?” She smoothed a loose strand of hair back behind her ear.
    “I told the police that you thought you saw the car in the country. But they haven’t turned up anything,” He folded the paper and laid it on the coffee table. “It’s as if it disappeared into thin air.”
    “Tina told me that a lot of farmers keep cars in their barns and hardly ever use them. Maybe it’s one of those ‘barn cars,’” said Jessie.
    “It could very well be, but if it’s not visible, the police have no right to go onto someone’s property and search.”
    “Yeah. That’s what Mom said.”
    He stood up, put his hand on Jessie’s shoulder and looked down at her. “Why would she say that to you? Were you some place you shouldn’t be?”
    “Kind of. Today after my music lesson, I was peeking into my piano teacher’s barn and Mom caught me.”
    “See anything?”
    “Only boxes piled up. I think Mrs. Livingston’s daughter had just driven off. Anyway, Mrs. Livingston ran to the door and shouted her name when we heard the car start up.”
    “Listen to your mother, Jess. The authorities will figure it out.” He patted her arm. “Thanks for waiting to practice until I got home. It’s coming along very well!”
    * * *
    The next day was Sunday, over a week since Sunny was hit. After church, Jessie rode her bike to Tina’s. Her friend answered the door with a baby in her arms.
    “You seem to be liking baby-land,” said Jessie. “Which one is this? May I hold her?” She took the baby.
    “That’s Pam. Yeah, they’re getting to me—now that they’re smiling and not howling all the time.” Right on cue, the tiny infant smiled a big crooked smile at Jessie.
    “Ohh,” said Jessie. “You are adorable, little Pam.”
    “See what I mean?” said Tina. “I think I’m sunk.”
    Jessie rocked the baby back and forth and said, “Did you find out anything from your dad about amnesia?”
    “I finally pinned him down this morning at breakfast.” Tina led Jessie into the living room. Two bassinets sat in the center of the room. The other twin was asleep in one of them. “Why don’t you put Pam in her bed and we’ll go into the den.”
    Gently, Jessie lowered the child into her bassinet. The baby grinned up at her and made a little purring sound. “Oh, honestly, she is the sweetest thing.” Jessie was reluctant to leave. “Where is everyone? Are you alone with them?”
    “Hardly. My mom’s in the kitchen. She can hear them from there.” Tina covered Pam with a soft pink blanket.
    In the den, Tina told Jessie what she’d learned from her dad. “He says that with ‘retrograde amnesia’—that’s what Sunny has—the person can’t remember what happened right before the accident. When she starts to remember, it’s called ‘confabulation.’ He thinks Sunny’s memory will come back slowly.”
    “What a word !” said Jessie.
    “He says that sometimes if you reproduce an odor or sound that the person experienced just before the accident, it will jog the memory.” Tina repositioned the clips that held back her hair. “That’s about it.”
    “This is pretty interesting,” Jessie said. “I’ll have to think about what happened at the museum—just before the accident.”
    On her way out, Jessie stopped at each bassinet and admired the twins. “I don’t remember Phillip ever being that little.”
    Jessie spent Sunday evening in her room, lying on her bed. She tried to remember exactly what had gone on in the museum