I ran for the main house, stumbling on the flagstone steps, scrambling back onto my feet with bleeding knees and torn nails. Mattie was out on the beach… I could hear her calling… And I was inside the house, screaming for Will.

“She’s gone!” I heard my own voice as if I was somehow outside of myself. “Will, oh God...Will… Violet’s missing….”

He appeared in an instant, hair dripping from the shower, a towel barely slung around his waist. He ripped it off and swept the water out of his eyes, his hair back, oblivious to his own nakedness. “I need you to take a breath, Angel,” he demanded, “and tell me…”

“She wasn’t in her bed,” I panted, hot tears streaming down my cheeks. “Mattie thought she was with you… but she’s gone… Miri, too.” I gasped, my chest tearing in two with my sobs. “I think, oh Christ, Will… I think she took Miri outside by herself,” I said, clutching at his arms. He held me tight, kept me on my feet, but only for a second.

“Two minutes and I’ll have the chopper in the air,” he said, reaching for his phone. “Go… Find Mattie. We need to spread out now and cover the beach.” He was talking fast, urgency in his voice, but there was none of the panic that was washing over me in heavy, drowning waves. “The chopper will cover the island, the land mass…,” he said, holding me by the arm, bending down to look straight into my eyes. “But we need to follow the beaches, Angel… Do you understand me?”

“That’s where the danger is…,” I said, nodding as a kind of numbness set in. I scrambled for the door as he pounded a number into his phone. Then I turned back at the last minute, desperate at the sudden thought of what we might find…

“Go, Angel, I’m right behind you.” He gave me a steely look. “Remember, Angel.

Love… not fear.”

And I took off at a dead run. My feet were bare, torn by the rocks, and my loose robe blew behind me. I could see Mattie from the path, it was higher than the beach. By the time I reached her, I almost fell into her arms.

“Will’s coming,” I said, struggling to collect myself, just to breathe… “He’s got the helicopter on its way and he’s coming.” I saw her raise her head and look over my shoulder, and heard his footsteps hitting hard and fast behind me.

“Take the south end,” he shot the order out to Mattie. “Whistle, scream… anything, if you find her.” He turned to me. “We’ll go east and come around from the north. Keep to the higher ground where you can see farther out, and check the tree line… We’ve got the beach…”

He paused only long enough to drag me to him and press his lips to my clammy forehead. I held on, savoring his strength for a second longer and pushed him back. “Just go… please,” I begged, locking his eyes to mine for one last, sweet second. “I’m fine, I love you… and we can cover more ground if we separate…” And I let go, pushing him away, and feeling like I’d just let go of the last real thing in my whole dissolving world.

“Violet!” I called, turning to the tall grass and the looming trees…

“Violet…!”

Three shrill, staccato bursts split the air above me and sent birds into the sky. Their wings beat the treetops as they lifted off, my head jerked up and turned, seeking direction. And I ran, shifting and turning to follow as he called out. I slipped in the loose sand of a shadow dune and rolled, hitting a line of rocks that stopped my fall. But adrenaline had me back on my feet… sharp, stabbing pain in my ankle barely slowing me down…

“It’s Miri,” Will said, catching me in one strong arm. He held the puppy in the other. She was wet and whining softly. Her leash trailed from her collar.

“But where’s Violet?” I gasped. “She must have taken the dog out to pee… She saw us do it so many times… and she copies behaviors…” I tried to put weight on my ankle and felt it buckle underneath me.

“You’re hurt…” In a second, he’d put Miri down and had both arms around me. He eased me down onto the sand.

“I just twisted my ankle,” I said, as he ran his hand gently down my calf. But I arched in pain and cried out…

“Broken is more like it.” He searched the rest of my body with care, using precious time. Mattie came up beside us, panting hard and out of breath.

“Did you find her?” I gasped. “Did you see anything at all?”

“...this…,” she said, holding up Violet’s little plastic pail. It was dripping and coated with sand. “About a quarter mile south of the cottage.” I felt my heart seize in my chest and stared at Will’s face. It was ashen, but his eyes were brilliant with determination. He rose to his feet…

“I’m fucking coming with you,” I cried out. “She’s my baby and I have to find her…”

He caught me as I tried to stand. “Mattie, you stay here with her. Keep her off that leg.” His tone silenced us both. He put the shivering puppy in my arms and kissed me, fast and hard, crushing my mouth and leaving a stinging bruise behind. “I’ll bring her back to you…,” he said. “I swear it.” He looked at me, forcing his strength and his courage into me with the sheer power of his will. And in that single second, everything between us seemed to crystallize… tears still ran down my cheeks, but I nodded…

“I know you will…,” I whispered. “I trust you…”