Arnesto Modesto: The World's Most Ineffectual Time Traveler

Unexpected Company

Napa Valley, California

Thursday, July 17, 1997

9:30 p.m.

"Who are you?" came a hushed, young voice.

He stared at her in silence for a few seconds, though it felt like much longer.

"Violet Gordon? I'm going to call the police and get you out of here. They'll be here soon, okay?"

"No, you have to get me out of here."

"I will, I'm calling the police."

"No! They won't help," she said.

"What do you mean? They'll save you." Arnesto was confused and not thrilled to be having this conversation.

"They came before. I've seen them come to the house at least twice. They never come out to the back yard," she said.

That's right. The police had mishandled the case. The kidnappers, Len and Ceola Cornett, were already on police files for other crimes related to children in their past. The police came by to check up on them from time to time but weren't thorough enough. However, they were only doing routine checks at the time. Surely if they got an emergency call about a child locked in a shed...

"Please, get me out of here," Violet said again. "Please. Please." It was her eyes. They reminded him so much of his daughter's. How could he turn her down?

"Okay, let's go," he said.

"I can't... look." She uncovered her legs from the tarp and showed him the steel cable connecting a metal shackle securing her left ankle to a spike embedded in the floor.

"Fuck," he said, wincing at the realization he had just sworn in front of a child. Then again, after all she'd been through, one little f-bomb probably wasn't going to hurt. He examined and pulled on the cable, but it didn't budge. He looked around for something he could use, but for fairly obvious reasons, there wasn't a hacksaw lying around. "Where's the key?"

"Inside the house, probably. They might catch you, though."

"I need a tool and I don't have one. Violet, I don't see another option. I have to go call the police."

"No, I want to go with you." Again with the eyes. "There's a hardware store in town. Mr. Cornett goes there sometimes."

"You want me to leave you, go buy a tool, and then come back and hope we don't get caught?"

"If the police come, there could be a shootout and they might lose. Then Mr. Cornett will either kill me or take me some place else. Please, Mister." She had thought this through. Still, it didn't mean her plan was good. Under normal circumstances, he would have already been calling in the cavalry from a safe distance. However, her plan had another benefit: he could maintain his anonymity.

"Okay. Wow. If I'm not back in... thirty minutes, call 911 and tell them everything. Do you know the address here?" he asked, pulling a burner out of his pocket. He opened it and handed it to her.

"Yes," she said, before reciting it. Then she shut the burner and shoved it back into his hand. "But if it gets to the point I need to call 911, it's too late. If they catch me with that, I'll be in even worse trouble. Please hurry," came her hushed voice from the dark. Arnesto heard the rustling of the tarp, presuming she had already covered herself back up.

"I'll be back as quick as I can, I promise," he said as he stepped outside and replaced the hanger.

He really hoped the hardware store stayed open until ten o'clock. He was already cutting it close. If he was late, or they closed any earlier, so help him, he was going to break in and run like a madman down every single aisle until he found something he could use. He could not let that little girl spend one more minute in that shed than was absolutely necessary. He already felt like shit for leaving her.