The Missing Mortals, page 32
Emma frowned at the thought as the bus in which she was riding pulled into the inn’s parking lot. Martha got off as soon as the doors opened. It took Emma a moment to get the afghans she’d stowed under her seat. Knowing of the plans they’d previously agreed to, she was surprised to see Martha waiting for her at the bottom of the steps.
“I know we’re splitting up, but I wanted to tell you that Sebastian said he’d help us pick out a hockey stick for Doug before lunch. Can you meet us at the general store around eleven thirty?”
“Yeah, no problem,” Emma answered. “You know I’ve been wondering how we’re going to get Doug’s present back to the school without him seeing it.”
“Well, believe it or not, Sebastian has already thought of that. It seems that the store will deliver items to the school. Usually, they charge a small fee for the service, but because of the volume of items sold at Christmas time, they waive the fee,” Martha explained.
“Problem solved then,” Emma replied. Then she added with a sly grin, “It seems like Sebastian has thought of everything. I wonder who he’s working so hard to please.”
Martha simply smiled.
“See you at eleven thirty,” Emma said with a wave.
A look at her watch told her she had an hour and a half to get her errands done. That should be plenty of time if she didn’t dawdle. With a sense of purpose, Emma strode down the sidewalk to the Frame Shop to pick up the present for her parents.
Then it was on to the post office to get everything mailed home. Her arms were pretty full as she left the Frame Shop. She had the two blankets for her brothers and now the framed picture. Thankfully, she ran into Reggie who offered to help her carry everything to the post office.
“Thanks, Reggie,” Emma said gratefully as she handed him the picture. “I just knew I’d drop the picture and break the glass before I could get it mailed.”
“Gee, it looks great, Emma. Did you do the work yourself?”
“Yeah. It took me all semester, but I finally finished it,” Emma answered.
Reggie only stayed with her until she was safely in the post office, and then he left to complete errands of his own. Emma thanked him again as he left.
After the post office, Emma looked at her watch. It was now ten thirty. She decided to get Martha’s present next, so she made her way to the general store. Once inside, Emma took a quick look down each aisle to make sure that Martha wasn’t in the store. Then she headed to the arts and crafts section. After much deliberation, Emma finally selected a small sketch pad and a large set of colored pencils. Martha was always sketching things, so Emma was sure she could use the extra paper. She wasn’t as sure about the colored pencils though. As she was on her way to the front of the store to pay for her items, she passed through the photo section. One of the picture frames caught her eye. It was silver with scalloped edges, and at the top it said “best friends.” Emma couldn’t resist it. She picked it up before she could change her mind and made her way to the checkout counter. After she had paid for the items, a glance at her watch confirmed that she still had enough time to get Sebastian’s gift at the candy shop.
Just as she had done before, she looked around the shop first to make sure Sebastian wasn’t there. Then she picked out the biggest box of assorted chocolates she could afford and paid for them. By the time she was finished, it was time to meet Martha and Sebastian back at the general store.
Emma entered the store and headed back to the small sporting goods section. She scanned the area and was relieved to see that the store carried hockey sticks. It wasn’t an extensive assortment by any means, but it was adequate for their needs. Emma was sure they could find something that would suit Doug from the sticks displayed. Hockey must be a popular sport for the kids in town, Emma reasoned. This would explain why the store carried the equipment. As she waited for her friends, she continued to look around the sporting goods area. She was disappointed, but not surprised, to see that the store did not carry ice skates of any kind. That would have been too much to hope for, Emma thought. Then she heard her name being called.
“Emma, have they got what we need?” Martha asked as she made her way over to Emma. Sebastian was right behind her.
“Yes, I think so,” Emma answered.
Sebastian went over and stood in front of the rack of sticks. “I told you they did,” Sebastian said to Martha. “We looked at them the last time Doug and I were in the store. There was one Doug really liked. If I can just remember which one it was.”
Sebastian studied for a moment. Occasionally, he’d pull a stick out only to put it back. Just when the girls were about to conclude he’d forgotten which one Doug liked, Sebastian pulled one out and grinned in triumph.
“This is it,” he said, holding it up for the girls to see.
“Are you sure?” Martha couldn’t help asking.
“I’m sure,” Sebastian answered. “This is the one.”
“Well, we’d better pay for it and arrange to have it delivered to the school before Doug comes in,” Emma urged Martha.
Sebastian kept watch while the two girls each paid their part of the expense.
“Do you want it wrapped?” the elderly woman behind the counter asked.
Emma gave Martha a questioning glance.
“There’s not really any point, is there?” Martha asked. “I mean he’s going to know right away what it is whether it’s wrapped or not.”
Emma couldn’t argue with that. When they learned that there was an additional charge for wrapping, the decision was made.
“Just send it as is,” Martha told the woman.
The woman nodded and then gave them a card to sign. Once the card had their names on it, the woman tied it to the stick along with a card that had Doug’s name and the name of the school written on it. Then without further comment, she took the stick and disappeared into a back room where all of the items bound for Dinswood Academy were apparently being stored.
The two girls met up with Sebastian, who was waiting for them by the door, and together they stepped out into the cold. They were immediately struck with a blast of cold air. Emma hadn’t noticed it earlier.
“Boy, it’s gotten windy,” complained Martha as they made their way to the Windland Inn to meet Doug for lunch.
“A front is coming in. It’s supposed to start snowing later on this afternoon,” Sebastian explained.
“I’m surprised the school still let us make the trip with snow on the way,” Martha said.
Emma felt a growing excitement at the prospect of snow, but Sebastian’s next words snuffed it out as quickly as a child’s breath on a birthday candle.
“It’s not supposed to amount to much—only a light dusting according to the weather report.”
No more was said about the weather, but as they walked, they pulled their coats tighter around them and bent their heads into the wind. By the time they reached the inn, Emma’s face felt frozen. Struggling against the force of the wind, she pulled open one of the double doors and stepped into the air lock. It wasn’t much warmer in the air lock, but at least they didn’t have the icy wind to contend with. Emma hurried to open one of the next set of doors and sighed with relief as the combined warmth of the restaurant and lounge fireplace hit her. She stood for a moment, absorbing the warmth and letting her shivers subside. Martha came in next, followed by Sebastian who was alternately rubbing and blowing into his hands in order to restore some feeling.
“Is Doug here yet?” Sebastian asked Emma.
“I haven’t had a chance to look yet. I’ve been too busy trying to get warm again. I can’t remember it ever being this cold last year.”
“I know, and we had almost two feet of snow at this time last year. The weather sure is crazy around here,” Sebastian agreed.
While Sebastian and Emma discussed the weather, Martha looked around the restaurant area for Doug. She finally spotted him sitting alone at a table in the far corner. The scowl he was wearing on his face turned to a smile when he saw Martha, Emma, and Sebastian by the entrance.
“Doug’s over there at the back table,” Martha said, giving a little wave to let Doug know she’d seen him.
As they threaded their way between tables, Martha worried about what had caused the expression she’d seen briefly on his face. He was definitely furious about something.
Martha couldn’t wait to find out, so she asked Doug about it the minute everyone was seated.
“Doug, what’s wrong?”
Sebastian and Emma looked at Martha in surprise and then looked at Doug, who in turn looked a little surprised himself.
“Sorry about that. The look on my face must have given me away,” Doug guessed. Then with a shake of his head, he sighed and said, “It’s nothing really. You’d think I’d know better by now. I shouldn’t let Bobby Wilcox get to me, but I swear that guy really knows how to push my buttons.”
“What’s Bobby done now?” Emma asked as a feeling of dread crept over her.
“He’s been following me all morning. I guess he wants to make sure that he’s there to witness it if I should happen to break a school rule. It wouldn’t matter at all except I was hoping to get a chance to talk to Mr. Munsen this afternoon, you know, to see if he’s found out anything that could help us with the Reaper. I can’t really do that with Bobby hanging around.”
“We could keep Bobby busy for you,” Sebastian offered.
“Bobby’s too smart for that. I bet while he was tailing me, he had some of his buddies following each of you. Did any of you detect a tail?”
“You sound like a private investigator, and it’s kind of creeping me out,” Martha said with a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold. “No, I didn’t notice anyone following me, but I wasn’t really looking either.” Then Martha turned to Sebastian and Emma. “How about you guys? Did either of you notice anyone hanging around?”
“I’m like you,” Emma replied quickly. “I wasn’t really paying attention.”
“Me neither,” Sebastian said.
“Well, I for one am glad that I didn’t pick up on anything. It would have freaked me out, especially since I was shopping alone all morning,” Martha exclaimed with another shudder.
“Sorry I creeped you out, Martha, but there’s no reason to be afraid of Bobby or any of his goons,” Doug replied. Then Doug looked at Emma and Sebastian. “Whether you guys noticed or not, I’d bet my last dollar you were being followed.”
“That guy has serious issues,” Sebastian commented with a shake of his head.
The waitress came just then, so all talk ceased for a moment as they each gave their order. After the waitress left to get their drinks, the topic of conversation shifted to the unusually dry and cold weather they’d been having. Doug sat quietly, only half listening to the conversation around him. He was still fuming about Bobby, and he was also trying to figure out a way to give him the slip this afternoon so he could talk to Mr. Munsen. Mr. Munsen probably didn’t have anything new to tell him, but Doug wanted to speak with him anyway. The truth was Doug needed reassurance that Mr. Munsen was still working on a way to trap the Reaper.
It was then that Doug noticed the man sitting at the end of the counter no more than a dozen feet away. For some reason, the man seemed completely out of place. He looked to be in his early forties and was short and muscular with dark curly hair. He was wearing a plaid flannel shirt, jeans, and a pair of boots, which was pretty much the way all men dressed in Windland. What was unusual was that this man’s clothes were all brand new—right down to the shiny scuff-free boots he was wearing on his feet.
The man was reading a newspaper and seemed to be totally unaware that he was being studied. This fact gave Doug the boldness to observe him even more closely. Doug noticed that he was clean-shaven and that his fingernails were clean and perfectly manicured. The man also had an expensive-looking watch on his left wrist. When he reached for his drink, Doug saw that he was wearing a big diamond ring on the third finger of his right hand. There was no doubt about it—this man was rich.
Doug began to wonder why a rich man would be in a little town like Windland. One explanation was that he was here to meet with the Reaper about buying the Mortals. This man could be the actual buyer, or he could be an employee of the buyer.
A little voice in Doug’s head told him that he was jumping to conclusions. This man might have nothing to do with the Reaper or the Mortals. Then again, he might. Doug needed to know for sure.
As far as Doug knew, there weren’t any other motels in Windland, so if the man was a visitor, he was most likely staying in one of the rooms at the inn. Doug decided he would wait until the man got up to leave, and then he’d follow him to see which room he was staying in. Then he would find Mr. Munsen and let him know what was going on. Maybe the guy planned to meet with the Reaper this afternoon, and they could catch him in the act. Of course, it was possible the meeting had already taken place. If that were the case, this man would be able to identify the Reaper. All they’d have to do is get him to talk. From the looks of the guy, that wouldn’t be easy, but if anybody could do it, Mr. Munsen could, Doug reasoned.
The waitress came with their food, and for a while, everyone was busy eating their burgers and fries—everyone except Doug that is. Doug picked at his food absently while he continued to keep an eye on the man at the counter. About halfway through their lunch, the man stood up and laid some money on the counter to pay for his meal. Without a backward glance, he set off toward the lounge at a leisurely pace.
Doug stood up, startling Emma, Martha, and Sebastian.
“Sorry, guys. Nature calls. I’ll be right back,” Doug said in a rush. He hated lying to his friends, but there wasn’t time for explanations. He left the table and hurried after the dark-haired man. When he got to the lounge, he saw that the man was headed toward the hallway leading to the hotel’s dozen or so rooms.
Doug got to the hallway in time to see the man entering the third room on the right. All he needed to do now was see what the room number was. Then he could let Mr. Munsen know. Quietly and cautiously, Doug approached the door through which the man had just disappeared. A little brass plate identified the room as number five. Doug was just turning to leave when something totally unexpected happened. The door in front of him opened, and he found himself face-to-face with the dark-haired man. Before Doug could move, he was yanked inside and the door was kicked shut behind him. Then he was slammed and pinned against the inside of the door with all the force of a charging bull. The man simultaneously shoved his muscular forearm against Doug’s neck and lifted him off his feet.
Doug struggled to get free but to no avail. All the wind had been knocked out of him when he’d hit the door, and he was having a difficult time breathing with the man’s arm crushing his windpipe. He kicked his dangling feet uselessly against the door. His struggles only served to make the man increase the pressure on his neck.
“Why are you following me?” the man snarled close to Doug’s face.
All Doug could manage was a croak in response. Just when Doug was convinced he was going to die of suffocation, the man loosened his hold slightly.
“I’ll ask you again. Why are you following me?” the man repeated.
Doug’s oxygen starved brain was unable to come up with a reasonable answer. Telling this man the truth would probably get him killed. As Doug continued to rack his brain for a lie that would work, he realized he wasn’t going to leave this room alive no matter what he said.
The man grew impatient when Doug remained silent and doubled the pressure on Doug’s throat. “Nothing to say for yourself?” he asked with a hiss, his mouth so close to Doug’s face that he could smell his breath. “That’s too bad.”
Doug was beginning to lose consciousness when miraculously someone knocked loudly on the door. The sound surprised the man, and he released Doug.
“This is your lucky day, boy,” he growled. Then he grabbed Doug roughly by the shoulders, opened the door, and shoved him through it. As Doug fell headlong into the hallway, he heard the door slam shut loudly behind him. Doug rolled over onto his back and lay there for a moment, taking in some much-needed air. Gradually, he became aware that someone was standing over him. He looked up to see none other than Bobby Wilcox staring down at him with a strange expression on his face.
“What’s going on?” Bobby asked. “Who was that guy?”
“I don’t know, but I think you just saved my life,” Doug rasped painfully. His throat felt raw, and each intake of air was painful.
Bobby frowned at Doug but didn’t say anything. It was obvious that he was still waiting for an answer to his question.
Doug sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Look, believe it or not, I’d tell you what was going on if I could. But this isn’t about breaking school rules. It’s a lot bigger and a whole lot more serious than that.”
Bobby studied Doug with narrowed eyes as if he were trying to gauge the truth of Doug’s statements. Still he said nothing.
Doug realized he’d never get a better opportunity to try to mend things with Bobby. The two boys were alone in the hallway, and there wasn’t anyone else within earshot. Bobby didn’t have any of his friends around, so there was no need for him to put on a tough-guy act. He could be himself. Doug decided to give it a try. Looking Bobby in the eye, he began, “I know we’ve had our problems, but I’m asking you now for a truce—at least until the last day of school. Then I promise I’ll tell you everything. You just saved my life, so I guess I owe you at least that much.” Doug hesitated for a moment and a look of pain flashed briefly on his face. With a grim expression, he added, “It’ll all be over then, one way or the other.”
For a moment, Bobby didn’t answer, and then the second miracle of the day occurred: Bobby held out a hand to help Doug to his feet and said, “We should probably get out of here.”
