Vanished (Private 12)

Upton

I smiled and tucked the note into my bag, wondering what on Earth I could possibly have in common with Mrs. Lange.

“Thanks, Mrs. Morrison!” I trilled, feeling momentarily peppy now that I had the note in my possession. She lifted a hand, her eyes already trained on her puzzle. I took a deep breath and headed back out into the cold. Upton may have accomplished his part of the mission, but I still had to complete mine.

I quickly trudged across the snow-laced stone walkway to Hull Hall and strode right through the front door. My boots left wet treads on the hardwood floor. The closer I got to the headmaster’s office on the second level, the faster I moved. I was so eager to get this over with I could barely breathe. I tried to quell my nerves as I passed through the deserted outer office. It seemed the headmaster had given his secretary the day off.

The door to Mr. Hathaway’s private space was open. He sat in a high-backed chair by the fire, going over some papers, his feet up on the ornate marble-topped coffee table. I knocked on the open door and walked in, my throat dry. Even if this somehow worked and Mr. Hathaway accepted this excuse note, how were the kidnappers going to know? Was I supposed to text them back and tell them I’d finished the task? But I supposed that was a hurdle I could jump once I’d cleared this one.

“Hello, Reed,” Mr. Hathaway said, laying his stack of papers down and placing his feet on the floor. “What brings you to my office on a Saturday morning?”

I strode toward him across the Oriental rug, trying to appear as if everything was fine and normal. “Noelle asked me to give you this.”

Headmaster Hathaway eyed the envelope for a moment before plucking it from my grasp. He picked up a silver letter opener from the coffee table and slit it open with such precision it barely even made a ripping noise. The swift action made me gulp.

Please let this work, I thought again, clutching my gloved hands together in front of me as his eyes flicked over the page. Please, please, please let this work. I had a feeling I was going to be doing a lot of silent begging in the immediate, foreseeable future.

Finally Mr. Hathaway cleared his throat. He refolded the letter and tucked it back into its envelope. Hours seemed to pass before he looked up at me and spoke.

“Kindly tell Miss Lange that, in the future, she is to deliver her excuses to me herself,” he said.

Then he turned back to his paperwork and crossed his ankles on the table once more. I hesitated. What, exactly, did that mean? Was she excused from classes or not?

“Um, Mr. Hathaway? I’m sorry to bother you, but I just—”

“Don’t worry, Reed,” he replied, lifting a dismissive hand, a silver pen clasped between two fingers. “Noelle is excused until her family no longer needs her.”

Relief rushed through me so fast my knees almost buckled. “Oh. Okay. Thanks. Thanks, Mr. Hathaway!” I said a bit overenthusiastically. “I guess I’ll just … see ya!”

Then I tore out of there, slamming the

door behind me in my zeal, realizing too late that it had been open when I’d arrived. But who cared? I ran down the stairs to the first floor and out into the sunshine, feeling as if I’d just been granted a new chance at life. But at the bottom of the outdoor stairs I paused. I still had no idea how I was going to let the kidnappers know I’d completed their insane assignment.

“Hey, Reed!”

I looked up to find Kiki and Astrid striding toward me. Kiki’s white knit cap almost covered her pink-streaked hair, and Astrid wore bright green earmuffs to match her green and purple plaid coat.

“Hey, guys,” I said with an awkward smile. As much as I loved my friends, this wasn’t the best moment for company. I felt an almost primal need to be alone so I could figure out what to do next.

“Come with us!” Kiki said, tucking her arm through mine.

“Come where?” I asked, trying to figure out a way to pull away from her without seeming rude.

“We’re going to Coffee Carma to load up on caffeine for a full day of research,” Astrid said, hemming me in on the other side.

My heart thumped with that awful feeling that I’d forgotten something. “Research? For what?” I asked.

“That English assignment?” Kiki said, tucking her chin and looking at me like I’d just started speaking backward. “A fictional account of a day in the life of your favorite classical author?”

Right. That little thing. Leave it to Mrs. Carr to figure out a way to mix creative writing with extensive research with fiction reading and toss it all at us with a psychotic deadline. How the hell was I ever going to have the time or the brain space to work on something like that?

“Have you picked your author yet?” Astrid asked, blowing a purple gum bubble. “I’m doing Mary Shelley. I’d just love to imagine a day in the life of that twisted mind.”

“No. Not yet,” I replied as they steered me toward Mitchell Hall. The largest building on campus, Mitchell housed the Great Room, the solarium with its Coffee Carma counter, the art cemetery, and several meeting rooms and parlors. I glanced over my shoulder, looking for an escape. “I just … don’t know.” It was next to impossible to speak like a normal person while plotting to get away from them and panicking about the kidnappers at the same time. “Maybe I’ll think of something once I’ve got a cinnamon chip scone in me,” I heard myself say.

“Oh! A cinnamon chip scone!” Astrid said, hugging me a bit closer to her side. “Brilliant! That’s why you’re our fearless leader.”

Fearless? Hardly. Leader? I definitely didn’t feel like one. Finally I gave up on an escape plan and simply allowed them to drag me across campus. I decided that I would hit the bathroom when we got inside and try to reply-text to the last text I’d been sent. What else could I do? I had to let my evil puppeteer know I was ready for my next assignment.