Chapter One
Amelia
Amelia brushed her teeth with exactly twenty up and down strokes of the bristles on each part of her teeth they covered. It didn't take long. Both she and her twelve year old teeth were below average size. She was healthy, just slightly built. In white jammys covered with yellow bunnies she skipped down the hallway to her bedroom. Long brown hair streamed behind her on her way. Amelia skipped, hopped, and spun in the air turning to land sitting, and bouncing on her bed. Immediately she called out.
"Mommy I'm ready!"
Excitedly she bounced up and down listening to her mother coming closer up the stairs. This was her favorite part of the day, her bedtime story. Amelia was an innocent, but not ignorant , very bright home schooled child. Her mother was a good teacher. Amelia was a good student of all of her subjects, but her favorites were history and geography. Her life was sheltered in a warm loving home in rural Pennsylvania. Her favorite subjects fired her imagination about places and people she never saw. There was no television in the house. Her bedtime story was a connection to the outside world. Her mother sat down next to her. There was no book she read from.
"Well Amelia, tonight let's talk about something that is a mystery. It is part of history, but not in your daily lessons."
Amelia's big brown eyes looked intently at her mother.
"If it is history why isn't it in my lessons mom?"
Her mother nodded agreement with the question.
"I guess honey because it isn't proven fact like your lessons. It leaves you to wonder what it means. Well let me explain and you can judge for yourself. You know about scientists, and anthropologists, and explorers, and geologists. Sometimes they find things that they really can't explain. For instance ancient cave drawings illustrate things like animals, trees, the sun and stars, and the things they would see out in the world."
Amelia folded her hands and leaned closer to her mother listening.
"Sometimes there would be drawings that were made that we don't understand. These are caves in many places around the world, on every continent, and at different periods in time. That is what makes it so interesting. It seems that they all were seeing the same things, and even today we are not sure what they were."
Amelia started rocking. The more interested she was the faster she would rock. She was rocking fairly fast right away.
"So what did they draw mom?"
"Well Amelia some looked like space ships, some like astronauts, others like strange alien looking creatures. There are quite a few examples of similar looking things that today we just call Unidentified Flying Objects."
Amelia scrunched her nose. She rocked just about as fast as she ever would.
"So I don't get it mom. What does that mean?"
"Well Amelia, what do you think it means?"
Amelia nodded her head back and forth thinking it through.
"If different people at different times were all drawing the same things then they were all seeing the same things. They must be real, I get that, but I don't get what they were. Does any one see them now?"
"Well, good question honey, that is the mystery. Sometimes people do say they see them. Some people see things in the sky, others say they have seen aliens, and others say they have been onboard the space ships. Mostly though people think it is just either their imagination, or they are just lying to gain attention. We still don't know if they are real or not."
Amelia rolled her eyes at her mother.
"So what do you think mom?"
"First tell me what you think Amelia."
Amelia nodded while looking through her mother and far away. It took her a moment.
"They are real. Probably not all of the stories are true, but some of them are true because the people long ago probably didn't all imagine or make up the same thing. You said it was in different places at different times. There has to be something to it. Tell me what you think mom."
"What I think honey is that there are things, like this one, to know about and think could be true. I also think we should not care too much about it. There are too many other things to think about, and do something about, to spend much time trying to understand it. That's why I told you it is a mystery. Some things will always just be a mystery. This is one of them."
Amelia frowned.
"So that's it?"
Her mother tussled her hair and smiled.
"Yes baby, that's it."
Amelia smiled as she hugged her mother.
"All right mom. That was an odd story. Thanks, I love you."
Her mother kissed Amelia on the forehead.
"I love you too baby. Now sleep time."
Her mother tucked her into cozy comfort. She turned off the light as she left the room. With a sweet little smile on her face Amelia closed her eyes.
Into the night crickets and tree frogs sounded off in the woods around the house. The crescent moon had made about half its procession across the clear night sky. Unseen far above the house it seemed a shooting star had burned out just above. The moon continued its every night journey across the sky. The sun followed and chased away the moon opening a new day. It barely shed light over the house when Amelia's mother snapped harshly awake in her bed. She looked over at her sleeping husband as she quickly sat up. She thought she was awake and shook up from having a nightmare. She immediately jumped out of bed and ran up the stairs to Amelia's bedroom. Her daughter was not in her bed. She ran back down the stairs yelling.
"Amelia! Amelia!"
She was flushed and wanted to feel stupid as she entered the kitchen. She expected to see her daughter there eating breakfast. Amelia was not in the kitchen. Her father stumbled sleepily into the kitchen while his wife opened the back door and screamed as loud as she could into the backyard toward the woods.
"AMELIA!"
Her husband reacted to his wife's intensity. He ran to her and grabbed her by both her arms while looking over her shoulder out the door and into the yard.
"What is it! What happened! Where is Amelia!"
She sat down on the floor crying hysterically.
"Oh my God Frank she's gone. She's gone. I remember. I remember. Oh no Frank she's gone!"
Frank picked her up and turned her gripping her tightly and holding her up against the kitchen wall.
"Now Mary, what are you talking about? Where's Amelia!"
Mary was swooning. She could barely speak her voice became soft, weak.
"Frank I remember it took her."
Frank held her up while looking out the door into the yard.
"Mary. You are scaring me now. What are you saying. Where's Amelia?"
"I saw it Frank! I saw it!
Mary was shivering. She cried uncontrollably.
"What Mary! What did you see!"
"I...I heard something last night. I came into the...the kitchen. The door was open. I looked out side and...and saw her outside. She...she was walking. I went..went outside. She was walking. Oh no Frank. Oh no! It turned and looked at me. I can see it now. It was grey. It..it had big black eyes. Big...big almond shaped black eyes. Then just bright light Frank. It took our baby Frank...it took her."
Frank's eyes were wide staring out the door.
Frank sat his wife down in a chair at the kitchen table. He left her sobbing into her hands on the table. He searched the house franticly while she cried. He ran out into the yard shouting his daughter's name. He looked on the ground, into the woods, and all around the outside of the house. He did it quickly. Mary was mess. Frank carried her out and set her down in the front seat of the pickup truck. Before he got into the driver's side he paused to look up into the sky. He held his wife close as he drove way too fast to the Mc Kean county sheriff's office. The truck screeched to a halt in front of the small building. He went around to her side of the truck and helped her out and in through the office door. Inside he looked across the room at the sheriff. The sheriff looked back at him across the desk. A scruffy looking man was in the chair in front of the desk. He turned to look at Frank. When he saw Mary his mouth dropped open and he turned pale white.
Frank carried Mary over to the desk and sat her down in a chair in front of it next to the white bearded man. He was animated.
"Sheriff my daughter is gone. She's missing and my wife has a story. It isn't going to sound right, but you have to help us."
The scruffy man looked at Frank and Mary. He grimaced and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, I saw it."
The man was silenced by the sheriff who pointed at his face.
"Now you just be quiet."
The sheriff turned to Frank and Mary.
"Tell me what happened."
Frank's head cranked back and forth between the sheriff and the white bearded man. He looked at the sheriff.
"Our little girl is gone."
He snapped back to look at the other man.
"And what do you mean you saw it? What did you see?"
The sheriff interrupted again. He motioned over to his deputy who had a confounded look on his face.
"Ben, take Mr. Walker here outside till I call you back in."
Both Frank and Mary stared at Mr. Walker as he was escorted outside. Mary told the story to the sheriff. He listened. Frank knew his wife's story was over and asked the sheriff right away.
"Now what does that guy know and what are you going to do about it?"
The sheriff yelled loudly.
"Ben! Ben get in here."
The deputy came back in with Mr. Walker.
"Ben I want you to go out to Mr. and Mrs. Mills house out on South Ridge Road. You go out there and look for the child and radio in when you get out there. I'm going to call up to the fire house to get some help out there. And Ben, I don't want anybody tramping through the backyard area of the house."
Ben nodded and headed strait out.
"Mr. Walker come sit over here."
The scruffy Mr. Walker sat in front of the desk next to Frank and Mary. Frank pushed his hands out toward the sheriff.
"What! What is going on?"
The sheriff waved his hand at Frank.
"Now hold on Mr. Mills. I want you to hear what Mr. Walker came in here and told us before you got here. Go ahead Mr. Walker, tell them what you told me."
Walker frowned hard. He rubbed his face and beard before he spoke.
"I'm sorry to say this, but I just gotta say it. I was driving back from Erie last night. It was about three A.M. and I was driving up on the road just above the low Ridge road where I guess your house is. I saw the light through the thin trees. I figure it was the light from outside your house. You do have some outside lights, don't you?"
Frank nodded. Mary was still a sobbing mess, but she nodded too while they listened to Walker.
"Just out of no where all the power on my truck cut out. The engine, the lights, the radio, everything all at once. The truck just stopped. I just happened to be looking at your house lights when it happened. They went out too. Right at the same time. I thought that was real strange. I got out of the truck and looked down through the trees where the light from your house was before they went off. Now this is going to sound a little crazy, but this is what I saw next. All of a sudden there was a real strange looking bright light. It was shinning right onto the house. It was a weird kida cone of light. I could see three people. I saw you Mrs. The door was open and you were about a step or two outside. There was a little girl. She was walking toward the light. There was a third person. A grown woman. She turned around and looked right at you. Then you walked right back in the house and closed the door. The light was bright enough that I could see the outline of what looked like a saucer shape where the light was coming from. The little girl and then the woman disappeared to where the saucer thing was. Then the light went out. After that I didn't see or hear another thing. Just a few seconds later your house lights, and my truck lights came back on. I thought that was just strange enough to come here and tell the sheriff about it. No disrespect, but you still want to act like I'm loony sheriff?"
Mary was shaking. Frank had a look of astonishment on his face. Mary grabbed Walker's hand.
"A woman. You saw a woman with my daughter. I know what I saw. It was no woman. It was a...a skinny grey...grey thing. It had a big head. It was no woman, no man, it...it was a thing."
Walker put his hand over Mary's.
"Mrs. I hear what you are saying. I don't doubt you. I know what I saw. It was a woman. Just a real regular woman. She had long hair. She was wearing some tight clothes. Like what the sheriff said could be, what's that sheriff?"
"A leotard Walker."
"That's right, a leotard. If I'm wrong Mrs., why do I know you walked back in the house. How do I know everything else."
Mary was stutter crying softly. She looked at Walker, the sheriff, and then at Frank. She fell into her husband's arms.
"Oh Frank, Amelia...Amelia...where is she?"
