Chapter 22
The boy crouched on the ground turned out to be Jessie Estep, an unwilling participant, or at least that’s what he claimed to be. The other women and a few kids verified that he’d been visiting from Laurel Pass a couple of hours away and got caught up in the whole mess.
The only thing Jessie wanted to know was how soon he could get to a phone and call his parents. No one knew when the phones had been cut, or whether it was done in Maple Ridge or somewhere else. The only thing they knew for certain was none of the digital lines or even the old copper lines worked. And mobile phones only gave fast busy signals.
What Iris and the other adults knew in their hearts was Jessie’s parents would have long-since come to get him if they’d been able. But no one was willing to say that wh
