Chapter Eight - Part Four

As soon as the deputies left, Nick went out to the garage and grabbed a shovel.

“Nick!” called Rosita.  “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to plant a cherry tree, just like I told you.  It’s going to take me a while, so I thought I’d get started now.  May as well.  I don’t know where Matt’s stupid girlfriend is, so there’s nothing I can do to help.”

Rosita shook her head.  She loved her son, but she didn’t think she would ever understand him.  She wasn’t sure anyone understood him, including himself.  “Where are you going to plant it?” she asked. 

“I don’t know.  Probably somewhere behind my studio.  If I ever put a window in that building, I’d like to have something other than dirt to look at,” he said.

“Actually, Nick, that’s a nice idea,” said Rosita.  “What kind of cherry tree is it?”

“It’ something called a Kwanzan Cherry Tree,” he answered.  That’s what they told me to plant.  I’d never heard of it, but the lady at the nursery said it would do well here.  I figured she should know.”  With that, Nick walked away, disappearing behind his studio.

Rosita walked back into the house.  Matthew was sitting in the kitchen looking distraught.  He was holding his head in his hands.  Rosita didn’t say anything.  She thought that Mattie would talk when he was ready.  She knew that this girl was very special to him, and didn’t really know how to help him through this.  Hopefully, Tiffany would be found soon, and the whole incident would turn out to be a simple matter of miscommunication between the parents and her.

By five o’clock PM, they still hadn’t heard anything about Tiffany.  The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office had called in all of their deputies to help with the investigation.  Every person who’d been at the party or had seen Tiffany the previous day was being interviewed at least once.  Some were being questioned two and three times.  So far, nobody seemed to know anything. 

Father Olson showed up by six o’clock.  Rosita was relieved to see him.  Matthew really needed some help with this.  Nick hadn’t come into the house yet.  The cherry tree was no longer in the back of the truck, so it made sense to assume that he was either still planting the tree, or was in his studio.  It was one of the few times she and Matthew had skipped church, and the priest wanted to know how they were doing.  He’d already heard about Tiffany’s disappearance.  In fact, the mass that morning was said for Tiffany.

Matthew came downstairs when he heard Father Olson’s voice.  He walked in the room and gave the priest a hug, then sat down.  Shaking his head, he said quietly, “I don’t know how this happened.  I don’t know how she could just disappear.  One minute I was going to show her the cabinet I built for Nick, and the next minute I got in a stupid argument with Joe Mettler.  If I hadn’t gotten distracted, maybe Tiffany wouldn’t have left.  At least I’d have known who she left with.  Now she’s just gone!!”  His voice cracked, and he stopped talking for a moment.

Father Olson put his hand on Matt’s shoulder.  “Matthew, you had nothing to do with this.  You can’t go blaming yourself for something that you had no control over.  It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours yet, so hopefully she’s going to be found safe and sound.”

Just then, all three of them heard a loud bang in the basement.  It startled them.  Father Olson walked over to the basement door and opened it.  He looked back at Rosita and Matthew and asked, “Is anyone supposed to be down there?”

“No, why?” asked Rosita.

“The lights are on and they’re flickering.”

Matthew said, “We went down there earlier with the deputies.  We probably forgot to turn them off.  I don’t know why those lights start flickering, but they’ve been doing that for as long as I can remember.  We should really get that looked into, Mom.”

Rosita agreed.  “What would have made that bang, though?” she asked. 

Father Olson leaned down and said, “Ah.  Here’s the culprit.”  He stood up holding a black cat that had one gold streak on its tail.  The cat seemed perfectly happy to be getting the priest’s attention.  “I didn’t know you had a cat!”

Matthew said, “We don’t.  I have no idea where it came from.  Maybe it came in when the deputies were here.  Or maybe it got in during the party.  I told the guys that they couldn’t go down there, but maybe they already had.  Nice,” he said sarcastically.

“Mattie, will you please put the cat outside?” asked Rosita.

“Sure, Mom,” he replied.

“No, wait,” said Father Olson.  “I think this cat likes me.  I’d love to have a pet at the rectory.  Besides, we need a good mouser.  Are you a good mouser?” he asked looking the cat in the eyes and scratching its chin.  The cat responded by rubbing against the priest’s arm.

“Alright, then,” he said.  “I’d say the decision’s been made.  C’mon, cat.  Let’s go home.”

By nine o’clock, Rosita was wondering what had happened to Nick.  There was still enough light left to go check behind the studio.  Nick wasn’t there, but his cherry tree was.  There were marks in the dirt from the back of the building to where the tree was planted.  Rosita figured it was just from the tree being dragged along the ground.  The tree would add a touch of color to the otherwise barren section of the field.