Part 18: Snow DayThis winter has proved to be an especially cold one in Sunset Valley. The snow falls nonstop until the locals begin to think that they will all become lost under mounds of white. The schools shut down for what seems like an endless snow day.
After her late night exploits running around the town, Laney was left with a lot of homework to catch up on, so she breathes a sigh of relief when the school closes down. She asks her mother for help and the two settle down in the kids' room to wade through everything together.
Amory stayed indoors at first, playing with his toys.
But it didn't take long for him to get restless and lonely. When no one was paying attention, he put on his winter clothes, snuck out of the house and headed for the playground.
He was hoping to run into some other kids there, but it turned out that no one was there. The other kids must have all been home with their parents. He halfheartedly played for a while, then tried jumping off of the bars and going headfirst down the slide, since no grownups were around. But after that he kind of ran out of stuff to do and dejectedly started to make his way back home. Sometimes it was hard to be the youngest. Everyone was so busy that he had to resort to crazy antics to get any attention. He had tried eating dirt, jumping off the roof, jumping off of anything he could find, really. It definitely got him attention, but it also got him in trouble a lot. On the plus side he found he really liked doing extreme and crazy things, so he just kept doing them. But it wasn't as much fun without an audience.
Rooney and Curt, having nothing better to do, had an epic snowball fight in the yard.
Amanda was the only one who didn't take the day off. Criminals didn't take snow days, so neither could she. As a crime scene technician, she had to be there for every crime scene and with all the snow, getting there right away was even more critical, since key evidence could be quickly covered up.
This day was a particularly difficult one. A teenage boy had been attacked and mugged on his way to the park. As Amanda swept the crime scene for any evidence, she couldn't help but think of Amory and his habit of sneaking out to run around the town. She and Curt had turned a bit of a blind eye to this behavior, but now she wasn't so sure. Surely someone wouldn't do something like this to such a young boy. But how could she be sure?
After she had thoroughly processed the scene, she took a few minutes in a secluded place and cried a little bit.
Even though she had seen many criminal acts by now, she couldn't help but get emotional when something reminded her of how vulnerable her own family could be. She tried her best to protect them, along with all the other citizens of the town, but she couldn't protect them all the time. Maybe it was time she and Curt changed their approach with Amory. She wanted to encourage his independence and daring nature, but she would never forgive herself if he got hurt.
Next, she had to interview any witnesses. This time there was only one. It was Topher's friend, Liana Bruce, Bella's daughter. Amanda noted that she had grown up into a pretty teen.
"Hi Liana, I'm Amanda Greythorn. I'm the detective in charge of this case, and I'd like to ask you some questions. I actually know you already, a little bit. I am your friend Topher's aunt."
"Oh!" Liana had looked extremely nervous, but she brightened a little. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Greythorn. I'm not sure how much help I will be, but I'll try my best."
"That's all we ask. Do you hear from Topher often?"
"Mmmm ... well, he seems pretty busy with his school and is making a lot of friends there, but we try to talk at least once a week. I guess he's already been voted class president."
"Yes, so I hear. I imagine he'll be taking over the world no sooner than he gets back. But lets get down to business. Can you just describe to me what you saw?"
"Well, not very much, I'm afraid. I saw Michael walking down the street and said hi, then went into the book store. I was standing near the window looking at a display when I saw two guys accost Michael down the street. One was wearing a plaid shirt and jeans, with a backwards baseball cap and the other was wearing a black sweatshirt and black pants. One guy was really tall and he was thin but looked muscular. The other guy, the one in black, was short and stocky. I wasn't able to see any of their features from so far away, unfortunately."
"That's great. That gives us some starting points to work from. Since you say you know Michael, do you know anyone who might want to hurt Michael, or any reason that someone might have attacked him?"
"Yeah. He sometimes works for his dad at the diner, waiting tables. He must have thought it would be okay in the middle of the day, but everyone who waits tables tries to walk in groups after their shift if they can't get a ride or have to walk to their cars. There are some muggers that watch the restaurants and rob the wait staff when they leave. They know they have a bunch of cash with them because of their tips. That's probably what happened to Michael. I don't know of any other reason anyone would have to jump him like that."
"Interesting. Thanks, Liana, this has really provided us with a lot of information that we can use. Thanks for your help!"
"Wow, thanks Miss Greythorn. I didn't think I would help at all!"
Back at home, Amanda sat down with Curt for a serious talk. She told him about her case that day and her fears about Amory. He took her in his arms and reassured her, but he also agreed that they needed to be stricter with him.
"I'll talk to him tonight," he said. "You just try to get some rest, it seems like you had a long day."
That night, before his bedtime story, Curt talked to Amory about his behavior.
"I know you snuck out today by yourself. I know you sometimes get bored around here, with no one your age, but you can't be going out on your own without an adult. There are some people out there who aren't very nice and they don't care that you're only a little boy. If you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, something bad could happen."
"But I thought mom and the other cops were keeping the town safe!"
"They do a really good job of keeping the town safe, but no place can be 100% safe. Now that doesn't mean it's dangerous to go anywhere, but it's better to go places with someone else and not by yourself."
"I'm sorry, dad."
"It's okay. No one has ever spoken to you about it before. But now we are, so it's time to be serious about it. If you sneak out again, you will be in big trouble."
Amory sighed. "Okay."
"Look, buddy, that doesn't mean you have to stick around here all the time. You can ask me or Rooney or Laney, or anyone else who's big to go with you to where you want to go. There's enough people around here that surely someone will go. You just have to ask instead of running off."
"All right dad, I hear you. It will be more fun with someone else anyway."
"That's my sport. Now let's read this book."
