"Missing ghosts?" Connor exclaimed in excitement.
The next day was Saturday, and the boys had a whole weekend to work on the glider. Connor had procured a tarpaulin, which the boys had spread out on the floor in the old Tower's hanger. Connor crawled about on his hands and knees with a tape measure and a piece of chalk, puffing. Reuben told him about the ghost situation from the sidelines.
"We have to find them," Connor said, sitting back on his knees. "Varan, any idea where to start?"
His ghost appeared over his shoulder. "All of us ghosts have been talking about this since last night," Varan said. "And I mean every ghost in the Tower. We've already explored everywhere and haven't found a sign of the missing ones."
"Define 'everywhere'," Reuben said.
"The entire structure," Varan said, blinking. "Even inside the walls."
"People's rooms?" Reuben said.
"Well ..." Varan hesitated. "Each ghost looked around their own Guardian's quarters. Obviously we can't intrude on people's privacy."
"How about Guardian Harper's workshop?"
"His ghost already investigated," Varan said. "No missing ghosts."
Reuben sighed, crestfallen. He had been so certain he was right. His dreams of the night before lurked at the back of his mind.
"But that makes it even stranger," Varan went on. "We know the ghosts who vanished. They didn't just leave - they're silent. Ghosts go silent sometimes, but not in groups. Any help you want to give is appreciated."
"Have you told your Guardians?" Reuben asked.
"Yes," Varan said. "Most shrugged it off. A few expressed concern, but no one is doing anything about it. Guardians are busy with, I don't know, defending Earth and the City."
"That leaves us," Connor said, slapping one pudgy fist into the other. "We're Guardians, right? Saving ghosts is a great first mission. Reuben, let's explore this Tower from top to bottom."
The boys first looked around the hanger, but there wasn't much to find, with half of it still caved in. They set out into the other wings, hunting carefully behind piles of debris and peering through holes in floors and walls.
No ghosts came to light, but Connor found more materials for his glider. He hauled them back to the hanger, leaving Reuben to wander the courtyard.
"I know you're out there," he said to his future ghost, very softly. "I wish I knew where to look for you. I hope you're not hurt."
The thought of Guardian Harper nagged at him. His ghost had sounded so angry ... of course, she might have been arguing over almost anything. But if her Guardian was kidnapping ghosts, wouldn't she have said so to the other ghosts?
Leaving Connor occupied with his glider, Reuben sneaked out of the old Tower, back down to the new Tower, and made his way to the little office block where Guardian Harper had his workshop. But the door was locked. Disappointed, Reuben drifted back to the old Tower and set to work on the glider.
Connor had cut up the tarpaulin by this time, and was struggling to sew the thick fabric around the frame. Reuben helped. The boys speculated about lost ghosts, and sewed until their fingers were too sore to hold the needles. Then they headed home for dinner.
Sunday morning, as early as they could, the boys headed back to the old Tower. The only reason their parents didn't question their absence was because their ghosts could contact Varan at any time. She assured them that the boys were in the Tower and building a project, which satisfied the adults.
The boys stitched and stitched until lunch. Then Reuben, sucking his sore fingers and enviously watching Varan heal Connor's hands, said, "Can't we do the rest of the seams with industrial tape?"
Connor's face lit up as if Reuben had offered him candy. "We have a whole roll at home! Be right back!"
Reuben sat beside the half-finished glider, wondering if he was about to seriously regret that suggestion.
Connor returned, breathing hard, his round face beaded with sweat, despite the cool breeze. "We can get this done today! Do you want to take the first flight? I'd let you!"
"No thanks," Reuben said. "I don't have a ghost who can resurrect me."
Connor laughed. "You think my glider will crash? It won't crash! It's uncrashable!" He set to work doubling the cloth around the frame and securing it with yards of tough silver tape.
In a surprisingly short amount of time, the glider was finished - a twenty foot arrow of thick cloth over a metal frame. Connor lifted the glider above his head. "Look how light it is! It wants to fly right out of my hands. Look, this bar here on bottom is how you ride it."
It was a single crossbar. Reuben looked at it with misgivings. "Shouldn't you have a harness?"
"I can hold on," Connor said. He carried the glider out of the hanger to the wrecked courtyard, Reuben trailing behind.
Varan appeared, her blue eye concerned. "Connor, I don't know about this."
"Come with me!" Connor urged her. "We'll go for a flight. It'll be great!"
Varan flew around the glider, scanning it. "How far do you plan to go?"
"I'm going to ride it down to the new Tower," Connor said. "I'll land right in the middle of the courtyard. It'll blow people's minds!"
Reuben hung back with the feeling of watching a sparrow crash in slow motion.
Connor went to a gap in the railing, holding the glider up by its crossbar. "Film this, Varan!"
"I suppose we do need evidence," the ghost muttered. "Your parents will want to know how you died."
"Don't be such a wet blanket," Connor snorted. Then he ran forward and leaped off the edge. His ghost accompanied him.
Reuben gripped the railing, his stomach shriveling under his ribcage. The City was distant and blue in the afternoon sun, while Connor and his glider were clear and dark. The glider dropped twenty feet, then caught the wind and soared out into space. Connor dangled from the crossbar, his feet swinging. He tried to angle the glider to one side, but dipped the wing too sharply. The glider lost its balance in the air and sliced sideways. Reuben sucked in his breath.
The glider fell a long way, caught the air briefly, then fell again. Far, far below, it slammed into the ground, sending up a cloud of dust.
Reuben groaned. His friend never would have survived that. But his ghost would revive him any minute, so it wasn't like he was gone forever. Reuben didn't know how to feel. Mostly, he was scared of how much trouble they'd be in.
Down below, the glider shifted and Connor crawled out from under it. As he stood up, a sparrow shot toward him from out of the City streets.
Reuben squinted. Uh oh. It was Connor's mother, Kari. Varan must have notified her. Kari jumped off the sparrow and ran to Connor. First she hugged him. Then she smacked him and began shouting. Reuben thought he could hear her from all the way up in the Tower.
He waited until Kari and Connor climbed on the sparrow, leaving the glider in ruins. Then Reuben sneaked out of the old Tower and ran home. It was only a matter of time until he was in trouble, too.