Natalie wasn't home yet.

Brian paced back and forth in the kitchen. It was well past time for dinner. He'd told Natalie to go to the store while he prepared the sauce, buy the spaghetti and garlic, and come straight back home. The sauce was ready to go on the stove, but Natalie still wasn't home, and he was getting worried.

Maybe she stopped by the apartments to grab my hat like I mentioned before, even though I didn't ask her to. That would be just like her. He pulled out his phone and dialed his assistant. "Neffie?"

"Hi, Mr. Hendricks. What's up?"

"Is my daughter there?"

"No…?"

"I sent her to get some food from Hector's an hour ago and she still isn't back."

"Maybe she got distracted," said Neffie with perfect patience. "I'm nearly done with the paperwork for tonight. Want me to go out and look?"

"No. I'll do it."

Brian hung up before Neffie could say another word. He hurried to grab his coat, since it was still exceptionally chilly for May. The sauce would keep for a while. Brian needed to find Natalie right away. He dialed her phone, but the signal was spotty, and her phone gave him an "out of service area" message and an offer to leave a voicemail.

"Hey, turtle. Just checking in. The sauce is all ready to go, but it needs some spaghetti or it's going to get lonely. Call me back when you get this, okay?"

Brian pocketed his phone and started down the street. He waved to Robert with a touch of disappointment as he went by. Robert would have been his next phone call, but if his friend was home, he wouldn't have seen Natalie anywhere either. Brian would have to find his daughter, one way or another.

He beelined through the town for Hector's grocery, glancing in every direction as he went with an increasingly frantic air. Every step without spotting Natalie brought a slightly greater note of panic to his ears, like a gently rising wave pounding at his skull. When he reached the grocery, Brian's fears doubled over.

It was closed.

Where is she…?

Brian dialed the sheriff, now truly worried. "Sheriff?"

"Mr. Hendricks? What can I help ya with?"

"My daughter's missing."

"Again?" Jackie couldn't hide the note of skepticism in her voice. "Brian, I know you're worried, but your girl seems to be missin' every damn week or two now, and every time she turns up just fine. I can send out the search party if you want, but—"

"I sent her to Hector's for some food, but the grocery is closed. She's been gone an hour now."

Jackie sighed. "So maybe she went to his house to get him. I swear, Natalie knows the town better than I do sometimes. I'll keep an eye out and send her straight home if you like, but for now, I'm thinkin' we just wait, okay?"

"...Fine," said Brian. "Okay."

"If I see her, I'll tell her to call you."

"Thanks sheriff."

Brian hung up. He knew she was probably right, but he'd keep looking. He couldn't stop worrying about her, no matter the reassurances he always got from the rest of the town. They all seemed to think it was totally okay for an eleven-year-old to have the run of the town. Everyone said she was an independent and self-reliant girl with plenty of common sense on her shoulders, but Brian couldn't stop remembering the day she'd gotten past Lori for only an instant—the day she'd nearly died, the day Brian knew they needed to get far away from his dangerous, addled ex-wife.

Halfway home, a voice called out. "Ho, friend! What devil pursues you?"

He slowed to a halt. A tall man with strong arms to rival Robert's and blazing red hair had shouted at Brian from across the road. The man smiled a friendly disarming smile, straightening up from the flowers he'd been weeding, and waved Brian closer.

"Come now, what alarms you? Speak quickly, that we might vanquish such a demon."

"...Who are you?"

"Who am I?" asked the man, seeming genuinely upset. "I am the doctor Smith! Henry, they call me, and a terrible day indeed it is when one of my flock does not even know my name!" He laughed, a booming laugh which echoed down the street to the trees beyond.

Brian frowned. "I didn't know we had a doctor."

"And I didn't know we had you!" Henry winked. "Let's put that aside for now, though, friend. What has you so distressed?"

"My daughter is missing. I need to find her."

"Your daughter…" Henry's eyes lit up. "Pray tell, you wouldn't be the man Hendricks I've heard so much about?"

Brian was taken aback. This man was nothing like what he expected, and certainly not someone he'd thought to meet in a town like Rallsburg. Henry seemed completely out of place, and maybe even out of time. "...Yes."

"Well, I must say man, you've raised an incredible daughter. Natalie is one of the strongest and most independent young women I've ever had the honor to meet."

"She's met you?"

"Only in passing at Hector's, once or twice," said Henry. "Smart beyond her years, that one. She is a joy to our little community." He frowned. "You say she's missing?"

"I sent her to get some food from Hector's for dinner, about an hour and a half ago now, and she didn't come home. She's not answering my phone calls either."

"I see." Henry put a hand on Brian's shoulder. "Where might she go, between the grocery and your home?"

Brian took a moment to consider. "...Her best friend's place is nearby. The Wilsons' home. She could've gone there."

"Then let us be off!" Henry turned and marched down the road toward the Wilson home. Brian hesitated, feeling windswept, before hurrying to catch up.

"You said I was part of your flock," he asked as they walked. "Are you a preacher?"

"In a manner of speaking. I dabble in medicine for the body and the soul," said Henry. "I consider myself a man of God, but the church and I have something of a… complicated relationship." He laughed. "This town accepted me with all my faults, as it has many others with nowhere else left to turn."

"It accepted me," said Brian quietly.

"Ah, a fellow outcast," said Henry sagely. "Well, let us just say that the church did not like the way I preached, nor I the machinations and greed behind their supposed faith. I was expelled like the lepers, but more fool them, for the Lord knows that us outcasts were those who truly loved and followed Him above all." He glanced at Brian. "Apologies, if you are not a man of faith. I do not mean to press you."

"I am. I haven't been to a church in a while—"

"The world is our church, friend!" Henry proclaimed. "They trap themselves inside their stuffy buildings, but we have the whole planet, given to us by our generous God to nurture, cultivate, and protect, just as it nourishes us in return."

Brian smiled. "...Do you hold a service here? I think I'd attend."

Henry grinned. "So my sales pitch worked. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. I don't even know your name yet!"

"Brian."

"Well, Brian of the clan Hendricks, we've yet to find your lost little sheep. The flock can wait!" Henry marched up to the door of the Wilson house and rapped his knuckles on the strong wood. "Mr. Wilson! Open the door, an emergency is afoot!"

Something thumped to the ground inside the house. Panicked movements echoed through the whole structure. Brian winced—they didn't need to cause quite that much of a ruckus.

"Coming!" called Paul Wilson. A few hurried steps later, the door flew inward. "What's happened, Reverend?"

"Well, my friend Brian here seems to have lost his daugh—ah!"

Natalie had just emerged from behind Paul, holding a bag under her arm with a pack of spaghetti sticking out. "Dad?" she asked, thoroughly confused.

"Natalie!"

Brian rushed in, nearly knocking Paul out of the way as he ran to his daughter. Natalie's eyes went wide, and she dropped the bag in her shock as he gathered her up into a tight hug.

"Are you okay?"

"...Yeah, dad. What's going on?"

"I was worried!"

"Well, Hector had to close early, and I didn't have the spaghetti, and I knew that Jenny's mom made her some last night so I thought they might have some, and so I came here." Natalie tapped him on the shoulder. "Dad, you're hurting me."

"Sorry!" He let her back down to the ground. She picked up her bag again, and turned to grab her pink coat from the rack near the stairs.

"Well, that looks like spaghetti to me," said Henry with a laugh. "I'd say mission accomplished, young woman."

Natalie smiled. "Thanks, Mr. Smith."

"Please, child, it's just Henry! Mr. Smith was my great uncle twice-removed!"

She giggled. Jenny emerged from the kitchen along with her mom, looking for the source of the commotion. Brian was still feeling the ecstasy of sheer relief at finding his daughter alive and well once again. No matter how many times it happened, he never felt any less panicked.

"Henry," said Brian, turning to the man. "Come over for dinner."

"Oh, I couldn't possibly do that," said Henry. "Trust me, I'm terrible dinner company."

"Please. You must."

"I got some garlic bread too, dad," said Natalie. "They didn't have any garlic, but I thought that would work, right?"

"Well…" Brian hesitated. Obviously, garlic bread wouldn't exactly spice up the sauce like he'd intended, but he didn't want Natalie to feel bad for not getting what they needed.

Henry jumped in to his rescue. "Absolutely! And as a matter of fact, garlic bread is my favorite food, so I suppose I simply must attend your dinner after all." He winked at Brian over Natalie's head. "Lead the way, child!"

Natalie waved goodbye to Jenny and bounded out into the street, ponytail bouncing merrily and her bag swinging under her shoulder with every skip. Brian and Henry followed, saying a quick goodbye to the bemused Wilson family.

"Not too fast, turtle!" Brian called after her, and Natalie thankfully slowed down a little to stay in sight.

"Turtles aren't that fast, you know!" added Henry in his booming voice.

"They are if they're in the water!" Natalie shot back. "They can swim up to thirty five miles an hour in the water!"

Brian smiled. Henry laughed even harder than before. Natalie turned back and kept skipping down the road, darting back and forth in a zig-zag so she could still go fast without losing sight of them.

"As I said, Mr. Hendricks, smart beyond her years."

"Thank you, Henry."

"Oh, I didn't do anything," said the reverend, or was it the doctor? Brian wasn't sure which, and it didn't matter anyway. Like the reverend said, he dealt in medicine for the body and the soul. Henry clapped a hand on Brian's back. "You knew where she went, and I just gave you a little push to keep moving. Natalie got her strength from somewhere, after all."

"From God," said Brian, but Henry didn't smile and nod like he'd expected.

"Certainly, but God only set His plan in motion. It's our job to follow through. You did the rest of the work raising your daughter." Henry grinned. "Give yourself some more credit, my friend. You're stronger than you think. God has a plan for you too, but don't forget, it's up to you to actually carry it out."