Into Thin Air

Lunch was almost over when the call came through on Tess’s phone. Frowning, she pulled the device out of her uniform jacket pocket and looked down at it. The incoming call was from her mother.

Swiping the bright green icon, “Hello?” she said, answering the call.

“Tess, is Tom with you?” Ella asked, the frantic quality in her voice instantly catching the girl’s attention. Her mother might be over protective, but she was not prone to bouts of irrational histrionics.

“No, he’s in the library preparing for a test right after lunch. What is this about?” she asked, seeking understanding for the urgency in her mother’s tone.

“Your grandfather, he disappeared from his room in the hospital sometime in the last few hours. No one knows where he went. The staff can’t find him,” she stated.

“Aunt Dona didn’t slip him out quietly?” she inquired, still finding the notion of the two of them together a little disconcerting.

“No,” Ella declared. “Which is why I’m calling you. I tried to text and call your brother but he didn’t respond,” she explained.

Grandfather disappeared? As for Tom not responding to their mother’s inquiries, that really was not too much of a surprise given how very particular Miss Gaynor was about cell phone use in the library. It was not uncommon of the teacher

“Tom probably has his phone off in the library. School rules. I’ll go over there and check in person,” Tess assured.

“What’s going on?” Janine asked.

“Please go now, I fear something has happened,” Ella urged.

Tess held her hand up to the blonde, “Getting worked up isn’t helping anything. I’ll go right now,” she offered.

“Go where?” queried Janine.

Covering the mic on her phone, Tess mouthed the word ‘library.’

“Okay,” Ella replied.

“I’m going to disconnect the call and when I meet up with Tom we’ll call you together, but don’t worry,” Tess said reassuringly, though a little voice in the back of head was not so sure. Tom proclaimed he was fine, but was he? Would he knowingly minimize his condition to avoid being withdrawn from school? She already knew the answer was an affirmative, Tom was willful, headstrong, and defiantly stubborn. Lowering the phone from her ear, she ended the call.

“What’s happening?” Janine inquired again, big blue eyes round with a mixture of concern and curiosity.

“My grandfather has vanished from his hospital room, but my mother didn’t really elaborate, but because of it, she’s worried something has happened to Tom,” Tess answered, slipping the phone back into her pocket.

“Oh no,” expressed the blonde sympathetically.

Tess shook her head, dark ponytail swinging, “Tom said he was going to study in the library for Miss Addison’s test. She can’t get in touch with him so I have to go over to make sure he’s okay,” she said, rising from the table and collecting her lunch tray. She hoped he was okay, doubt beginning to gnaw at her conviction.

“I’ll come with,” Janine informed, getting up and gathering her own tray, “Hopefully it’s nothing,” she added. What if something had happened? What if Tom was little again? While the thought filled her with dread, it also teased at the edges of her mind. If she had another chance with him, this time she would do it right, this time it would be for both of them.

Entering the library and crossing the entry, “Miss Grayson,” the girls said collectively, nodding to the teacher as they passed her station near the front doors.

The librarian looked up and nodded in acknowledgement of the address, expression stoic.

Stopping at the desk, Tess put her hand on it, “Excuse me Miss Grayson, have you seen my brother Tom?” she inquired.

The library’s custodian frowned and then motioned with her head toward the back of the building where the banks of high desk were located.

Smiling, “Thank you,” Tess replied, moving through the library proper toward the rear near the row of carrels.

“I’ll check the other side,” offered the blonde. If she found him and he was little, would she tell? Probably.

Looking at each other across the compartments, both girls shook their heads in unison. No trace of Tom, no books, nothing.

“Miss Grayson seemed to think he was back here, weird,” Tess murmured, glancing back near the broad desk at the front of the library, which meant the teacher had seen him in the library and was of the notion he was still in the building.

Looking around at the mere handful of other students scattered through the building, Janine shrugged, “Nobody seems overly worked up,” she remarked.

Tess nodded in agreement. There was no hullabaloo, nothing seemingly out of the ordinary. “Where is he then?” she mused, tapping a finger to her chin, while she didn’t want to jump to worst case scenario conclusions, the nagging voice in her head was growing louder.

“He might have slipped out without Miss Grayson noticing, though I highly doubt it,” Janine suggested with a slight grin on her face.

Tess grinned, Miss Grayson was kind of like a spider with the library as her web. Nothing seemed to happen in there without her knowing about it. It was almost uncanny. “Anything is possible, we are talking about Tom after all.”

Janine agreed. “We can search between the rows to see if he’s there?” she ventured, spreading her hands and trying to be helpful.

Tess pulled out her phone to check the time, “Class will be starting pretty quickly,” she commented before tucking it back away.

Together they quickly checked the interior of the library, the only remaining place left unchecked was the boys’ washroom.

Looking at Janine, Tess frowned and pushed the door inward. “Coming in,” she announced, entering the room, followed by Janine. It was vacant.

“He’s not here,” Tess stated, hands on hips, brow furled. Where was he?

“Could he be in class?” Janine offered, raising a speculative eyebrow.

“Hope so,” Tess replied, now truly concerned. If he had slipped out and was just playing hooky, she would let him have it, both barrels. This wasn’t the time for such antics.

Hurrying out of the library building and back to the school proper, the girls attended Miss Addison’s classroom just as the buzzer was sounding. Tom’s seat was vacant.