Her hair was tangled.
Dark circles surrounded her eyes.
But she was conscious.
She was drawing with a blue crayon on the back of a cereal box.
When Welden entered, Lily looked toward her.
She did not cry.
Not immediately.
Welden lowered herself onto one knee.
"Lily?"
The girl stared.
"My name is Patricia."
Lily's hand tightened around the crayon.
"I'm a police officer."
Lily looked toward the open barn door.
Welden continued.
"Your dad has been looking for you."
That did it.
Lily's face collapsed.
"Is he here?"
"He's coming."
"Did he know where I was?"
"No."
Lily began crying.
"He didn't forget me?"
Welden felt her own eyes burn.
"No, sweetheart."
She stepped closer.
"He never stopped looking."
Lily allowed Welden to wrap a silver emergency blanket around her.
Outside, Cole saw movement.
Welden emerged first.
Then Lily.
She looked impossibly small.
Cole's throat closed.
For a second he did not see Lily.
He saw Emma leaving a hospital room.
He saw a nine-year-old girl asking if they could stop for ice cream.
He saw a child holding his hand.
Then the memory changed.
Lily was real.
Alive.
Walking.
Her hand gripped Welden's fingers.
An ambulance waited at the end of the access road.
Paramedics approached slowly.
Cole turned away and wiped both eyes with the heel of his hand.
Nobody commented.
Nobody needed to.
At the community center, Glenn Ashford had been pacing the same stretch of floor for nearly an hour.
Twelve feet.
Turn.
Twelve feet.
Turn.
People offered him coffee.
He did not drink it.
Someone offered a chair.
He could not sit.
Frank remained nearby but did not try to make conversation.
At eleven forty-three, a deputy entered.
Glenn stopped.
The deputy smiled.
"She's alive."
Glenn's legs gave out.
Frank caught his arm.
For several seconds Glenn made no sound.
Then he covered his face.
"Alive?"
"Yes."
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
Glenn began crying.
Not loudly.
His entire body simply shook.
Twelve minutes later he arrived near the Garrett property.
The ambulance had not yet left because paramedics were stabilizing Lily and confirming she could travel.
When Glenn stepped from the vehicle, he saw silver first.
The emergency blanket.
Then brown hair.
Then Lily's face.
He stopped.
Lily saw him.
"Dad!"
Glenn made a sound Cole would remember for the rest of his life.
Part laugh.
Part sob.
Part prayer.
It came from somewhere beyond language.
Glenn dropped to his knees on the gravel.