Even dressed in jeans and my sweatshirt, there was something different about her. Her face had a kind of glow to it. There was also something so innocent, and not in the sexual way. In all ways.

I tried not to stare too much as we made the walk over to Audubon Park, but I allowed my eyes to linger for a few moments as she stepped through the columns demarking the start of the park.

“This is the park I remember.” Rachel hurried ahead. “I remember splashing the water around in that fountain with my brother.” She pointed at an old fountain I usually just walked past.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Angie joined her by the fountain. “It’s the Gumbel Memorial Fountain. It’s been there since 1919, I think. Can you imagine having something so magnificent dedicated in your honor?”

“Angie is a history nerd,” I quickly explained.

Rachel smiled. “It is beautiful.”

“How old were you when you left?” That seemed like a safe question and tangentially tied to talk of history.

“I was five.” She dipped her hand into the water and moved it around. She closed her eyes.

“And you’re how old now?” I needed to ask. I was pretty positive she was close to my age, but one could never know.

“Eighteen.”

“So thirteen years.” I thought about how much changed in that amount of time especially when you were a kid. “A really long time.”

She opened her eyes. “Yes.” She looked at a couple of kids riding their bikes. “A lot has changed.”

“I’m sure it has. The city has been through a lot since then.”

“Every place has.” She wove her hand in the air to dry it off. “How long have you lived here?”

“In New Orleans? This is my second year. I came here for college. I’m a sophomore.”

“And where did you come from?” She pushed her hands inside the pockets of her borrowed sweatshirt.

“St. Louis.”

“Is that far from here?” She walked around the fountain toward the track that circled the park.

“Driving it’s around ten hours.”

“That’s not too far.” She looked every which way as she walked, slowing down every so often.

“I take it you live further away than that now.”

“Yes. Much further.” She walked ahead on the path. I glanced behind me. Angie and Dale had fallen back. I assumed that was purposeful on the part of Angie. She was giving me space to get answers. “This looks different. The entrance was the same, but this has changed.”

“Oh yeah?” I wasn’t sure what to say. Not much had changed since I arrived in the city the year before.

“I remember it feeling bigger.” She stopped and ran her palm over the bark of a tree.

“Well, you were smaller.”

“True.” She smiled and resumed walking.

“Do you feel okay talking about your brother?”

“Why wouldn’t I? It’s why I’m here. I need to find him.” She stared up at the sky using her hand as a shield from the sun.

“Why were you separated? Did you go with your parents? Or did he? Or one with each parent?” I tried to be gentle with my words, but I wasn’t entirely sure if I was successful as a look of pain crossed her face. “Sorry. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to—” Great. I was absolutely horrible at this.

“No. It’s okay. It’s just really hard to explain.”

“Try me.” I stopped next to one of the huge oak trees that dotted the park.

Angie sent me a quizzical look as she walked past with Dale. I merely shrugged. If Rachel wanted to tell me her secrets, that didn’t mean she had to tell my sister and roommate.

Rachel waited a few moments until they were out of earshot. “You won’t believe me.”

“How would you know until you try?” I shifted my weight from foot to foot.

“Because I know.”

I started walking again. Slowly. “I don’t know how to help you unless you give me more information.”

“I gave you his name.” She was still looking around her like she didn’t want to miss a single detail.

“You think there’s only one Benjamin Miller out there?”

She shook her head. “No. I guess you’re right. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Can’t you tell me anything?” I didn’t want to beg, but I wasn’t sure what I was going to do if she didn’t open up to me.

“Yes.” She nodded. “I can.”

“Okay. Good.” I waited eagerly.

“I wasn’t born in New Orleans. My parents sent us to live with my aunt. It had something to do with a war.”

“Okay.” Maybe she was a refugee of some sort? That would fit into the whole trauma argument Angie made.

“When you left New Orleans, did you go back to your parents? Did your brother stay here with your aunt?” I tried to carefully pick my words.

“No. I left with someone else…” She trailed off. “I was adopted.”

“Oh.” Okay. That was something. “But not your brother?”

“He could only take one.”

“Oh. That’s tough.” So she was back here with some sort of guilt. At least that’s what I assumed it was. Maybe things with her aunt were rough, but she got adopted by a family with more resources? Or she felt bad leaving him to begin with? But how much choice could she have had at age five? “I can’t relate exactly, but I know what’s it like to say goodbye to a sibling. My brother died.”

“That’s horrible.” She wrapped her hand around mine. Her hand was warm and strong. “I am so sorry, Noah.”

I forced a smile. “It’s all right. Just part of life I guess.”

I waited for her to ask more. To push me on why he died like everyone else I’d ever told. She didn’t. “If you don’t want to help me, you don’t have to.”

“I told you I would.”

“I know, but I’m out of your house now. This would be an easier time to brush me off. You could leave me here at the park and go on with your life.”

“But I don’t want to.” I didn’t. I barely knew this girl, yet I did know that saying goodbye sounded less than appealing. I wanted to get to know her better, to unravel the mystery that was this gorgeous brunette with the crazy backstory.

“Good.” She smiled. “But, Noah?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think your sister and friend want to help? I don’t want them to feel pressured at all…”

“Angie’s protective. After my brother… well, after he died she became even more so. She’s not ditching me. And Dale gets bored easily. He’ll stick around for this as long as it holds his attention.” My hand was still tucked inside of hers. It felt far too natural.

“Where do you suggest we start?” She looked at our joined hands and pulled hers away. “To find Benjamin.”

“Angie’s going to be the best one to help with that,” I explained. “She’s really good at anything involving research.”

“Okay. Should we catch up with her then?”

“Sure.” I agreed even though I wasn’t really ready to share her with the others again.

“The sky is so blue.” She looked up again. Her eyes wide as she scanned the sky.

“It’s a nice day today. A little cool, but not too bad.”

“Is it always this blue here?” She turned all around with her head tilted up.

“No. It rains a lot. Sometimes with absolutely no warning.”

“Oh.” She pulled her eyes from the sky and set them on me.

“I usually carry an umbrella with me in case that happens. I’m not today though. Just to warn you.”

“I don’t mind getting wet. Rain can’t hurt you.” She said it like she was asking a question.

“Not usually. No. But it isn’t great to walk around in wet jeans and socks. I can tell you that from experience. Especially when you then are stuck in a boring lecture for two hours in said wet jeans and socks.”

She laughed. “Okay. I don’t want to experience that. But sometimes the rain can be nice, right?”

“Yes. Sometimes.” I had the distinct impression getting stuck in the rain with Rachel might be really nice. But not that day. Not when there was still so much more to figure out.

“Do they still make those frozen treats?” She abruptly changed the subject.

“Frozen treats?”

“Yes. I remember there were different colors and flavors. My aunt took us sometimes.”

“You’re talking about sno-balls, aren’t you?” Angie walked up to us with Dale right behind her. “Sweet flavored ice?”

“Yes.” Rachel nodded. “That sounds right.”

“Plum Street just opened up again for the season.” Dale surprisingly supplied helpful information. “We could go there.”

“And are the animals still here? On the other side of the park?”

“The zoo?” I wasn’t sure why I was asking. She couldn’t have really have been talking about anything else.

“Yes!” She grinned. “The elephants were huge. And those cute animals who swam around in circles.” Rachel sounded so young as she reminisced. Underneath her excitement was a sadness that was hard to miss.

“We can go to the zoo if you want.” I was missing class, but worse things had happened.

“Oh.” Her face became blank. “I mean we have to find Benjamin.”

“We don’t have to stay long. I have a membership, so I can get you in for free.” Angie nudged my shoulder.

“Yeah, it won’t take long.”

“Okay. Zoo first, and then we’ll find him.”