Early the next morning, Wanda, Tim, and Ralphie met at the airport and were on the airplane in no time. Finally at rest in their small, last-minute economy seats, they prepared for the day filled with confronting Arnold ahead of them. Well, they tried to do it anyway. With it being so early, they struggled to keep their eyes open. On top of that, the plane was entirely full, so the three of them felt incredibly cramped.
"Did we have to get the earliest flight ever?" Tim complained.
"Yes. We can't waste any more time trying to... you know what." Ralphie rebutted, making sure not to reveal the mission to anyone who could have been listening on the plane.
"We also need all the time we can get to talk to Arnold. He's very stubborn about this, so who knows how long it will take to convince him." Wanda added.
"I guess you're right." Tim conceded.
"Of course we are. Now, we must be prepared for Arnold." Ralphie said.
"We also have to hope that Phoebe can be found."
"Definitely."
Later, in Walkerville, Carlos, Dorothy Ann, and Keesha were busy with their search for Phoebe. Ralphie had left them with Liz so she could help them. Keesha had just revealed to Carlos and DA that she had heard from Phoebe.
"Wait, so you were able to get a response from Phoebe last night?" Carlos asked.
"Yes. She said that she ran from the demon for a long time before making it to Walkerville Lake and hiding. She tried to get back, but it reappeared, and she hid somewhere else. Before she could leave and get back here, it came back again, and the call dropped."
"Did she tell you where she was when you called her?"
"No. The demon reappeared before she could tell me."
Liz couldn't help but bite her nails, nervous at how Phoebe could be doing at the moment.
"So, we have no way of knowing where Phoebe is now? Great." Carlos sighed.
"Not necessarily. She said that she went all the way to the lake." DA chimed in.
"So?"
"So... If she made it all the way there, then she is most likely still within the proximity of the lake. If we want a better chance of finding her, we should search close to the lake." DA explained.
"Oh, yeah! Great thinking, DA, just like you always do." Carlos complimented.
"I can't believe we didn't think of that." Keesha agreed. Liz even smacked her own head.
"Well, come on. Let's go look for Phoebe." With that, the four of them got into DA's car, hoping that DA was onto something.
When they got to the lake, they began calling out going around and calling Phoebe's name. After some time, they made it to a public restroom close to the shore of the lake.
"Maybe that's where Phoebe hid when she got here!" Keesha exclaimed.
"It's worth a try."
The group went to the restroom and started looking around. Keesha checked inside the restroom but found nothing. When going behind the restroom, Liz, who was perched on Carlos's shoulder, started waving to Carlos and pointing something out.
"What is it, Liz?" Carlos then looked over at the place on the ground that Liz was pointing at. It took him a minute to realize that there was some kind of impression on the ground.
"Guys, over here! I think Liz found something!" Keesha and DA quickly hurried over to where Carlos and Liz were.
"What did Liz find?"
Carlos pointed to the ground. "Look. Doesn't that look like a footprint?"
Keesha and DA examined the impression on the ground that Carlos pointed at for a minute. "Yeah, it does." DA said. "Do you think it's Phoebe's?
Keesha knelt to examine the impression more closely. Given that the section of the ground was close to the water, the ground was a bit wet, but not too wet to make a clear footprint. Also, who knows how long it was there. "Well, I can't really tell if this is Phoebe's footprint. It's not clear enough."
"Do you remember what shoes she was wearing?" Carlos asked. "Maybe we could get a partial match or something."
"No, I don't remember." Keesha then studied the footprint for a little more. "Although, now that I look at it, this footprint does look like it is Phoebe's size. Does that look like a size 7 to you?"
DA and Carlos looked at the footprint again. "Actually, yes. It does look like it could be Phoebe's size." DA said.
"So maybe this is Phoebe's footprint!" Keesha exclaimed. She then looked ahead on the ground. "Look! There appears to be another one!"
Carlos and DA looked ahead and saw what appeared to be another footprint a little up ahead.
"Maybe that's where Phoebe went!" Carlos said, pointing to the woods that were up ahead. Liz nodded her head in agreement.
"Well then, let's go." DA said.
The group started walking in the direction that the footprints seemed to point to, into the woods, and they found a few more footprints. Unfortunately, as they walked further away from the lake, the ground became less and less damp and grassier, and the footprints became less clear. After only a short time, there was nothing for the group to follow.
"Great. Now there's nothing to help us find Phoebe." Keesha pouted.
"Wait, maybe there is." DA piped up. "Isn't this side of the lake the one that points to downtown?"
"Yeah, I think it is. I think it also points to the elementary school." Carlos said. Liz seemed to think that same thing as Carlos.
"Do you think Phoebe made it all the way over there?" Keesha asked.
"It's worth a try. I mean, the elementary school is close to downtown, and Phoebe's neighborhood is not too far away from there. Maybe she decided to walk there are get home that way." DA suggested.
"Great. Let's get back to the car and get to downtown, now."
The group walked back to DA's car and started the drive to the part of downtown that was closest to the lake, hoping that DA's idea of where Phoebe could be was right.
While on the plane, Tim, Wanda, and Ralphie were still incredibly nervous about Arnold. They tried hard to not show it and just relax. They couldn't let their nerves get to them, not when they were closer to getting to Arnold and needed all the confidence they could get.
Unfortunately, the closer they got to San Jose, the more nervous they got. This was it, the first time they would see Arnold in person for a long time. For Ralphie and Tim, it would be the first time they had talked to him since high school. They hadn't said even one word to him since then. Not at his wedding, nor at Keesha's grandmother's funeral. They could only imagine what it would be like coming face to face with him in so long, after years of trying their best to keep him out of their lives. Would they be ready for what would feel like a trainload of awkwardness? Would that prevent them from doing their best to convince him to help them? Would his bitterness towards Ms. Frizzle still be the same after so long, and would that prevent him from even listening to them?
Only time would tell if they could get Arnold on their side. The weight of their nervousness was definitely getting to them, even if they didn't show it. Ralphie even felt like he was going to be sick. Luckily, their first flight would land anytime soon, so they would have some time to catch their breath before they got to San Jose. Still, they didn't feel like they would have enough time before they boarded the second plane to relax enough. They just hoped things would get better and play out well in San Jose.
Back in Walkerville, DA, Carlos, and Keesha had made it to downtown and made their way to the edge of the woods with Walkerville Lake on the other side. They were pretty close to the elementary school, and as DA said, it was not far from Phoebe's neighborhood.
"Okay, where should we look first?"
"Well, we should try looking for clues first. If we find something, we could get a general idea of where Phoebe could have gone." Keesha suggested.
"Let's just hope there are clues."
The group looked around but couldn't find anything. No footprints, no pieces of cloth, nothing that could tell them Phoebe was there. As time went on, they started to believe that maybe Phoebe had never come there. They were just about to give up when Liz started pointing to something.
"What's up, Liz?" Carlos asked. He looked over to where Liz was pointing, the elementary school. It looked like no one had been there, or so it seemed...
Carlos then saw what Liz was pointing to specifically. At the bottom of the chain link fence surrounding the school was a narrow hole. A hole that looked big enough for a person to slide through.
"Hey guys, over here!" Keesha and DA quickly hurried over to Carlos. "Look!"
The girls looked over to the school and saw the hole Carlos pointed to. "Wait, is that a hole? How did that get there?" DA wondered.
The group walked over to the hole and examined it further. "Do you think Phoebe made it?"
"Well, it does look like a Phoebe-sized hole, but how could she possibly make it?" Keesha pondered.
"You know Phoebe. She is very tough for someone her size. Remember how she was able to drag the busigator with all of us inside to warmth on her own." Carlos said.
"Okay, maybe she is really tough. But do you think she would still have the strength to make a hole in a chain link fence without some kind of tool?" Keesha asked, doubtful.
"You knows? The point is, we don't have any more clues, so right know, this hole is our best bet." DA said.
"Okay, let's say she did make the hole. Do you think she could have gone into the school?"
"She could have." DA answered. "She would be out of the woods and away from those demons. Plus, she knows the school very well, so she could probably feel a sense of comfort and familiarity inside. It would help her calm down after being chased."
Keesha pondered what DA had said for a minute. "I guess you're right. I mean, it couldn't hurt to check and see if she's in there."
"Alright, let's go." The group realized that the hole was too narrow for them to slide through, so they had to climb instead. Luckily, the fence wasn't very tall, or else the climb would have been very difficult. Once they were on the other side, they started making their way to the school.
"How could she get in there? You don't think she broke the door or something, do you?" Keesha asked.
"Maybe she didn't have to. Remember how Ralphie was here to help pack up all of Ms. Frizzle's stuff? The door was unlocked." Carlos reminded.
"That was back then. Would it still be unlocked now?"
"Only one way to find out." The group made it to the back door of the school. When Carlos grabbed the handle and tried to open it, it did open.
"See, it is open!" Carlos exclaimed.
"But why would it still be open?" Keesha wondered.
"Who knows? Let's just see if Phoebe has been here."
The gang entered the school with caution, not knowing if maybe the reason the door was unlocked was because someone was inside, and they would get in trouble for being there. The first thing they noticed was that it was really dark in the school, and they couldn't figure out how to turn on the lights, so they just had to deal with the darkness. Keesha took out her phone and used the flashlight to illuminate the inside. Soon enough, the group reached the end of the hall they were in, and it split into two halls.
"Why don't we split up. We could search faster that way." Carlos suggested.
"That's not a bad idea." DA said. "I'll go with you. We'll go down this hall." DA pointed to the right hall.
"I'll go down the left one then." Keesha said.
"But then you'll be all alone." As if on cue, Liz jumped off Carlos's shoulder and onto Keesha's.
"Well, looks like I have a companion now. Let's start looking." As Carlos and DA walked down the right hall, Keesha and Liz walked down the left. As decided to not try to call for Phoebe, again thinking that it would be best to not make any noise. As she walked down the hall, she began checking the doors to see if any were unlocked. Maybe Phoebe hid in a room, if she was there. All the doors Keesha came across were locked. Finally, there was one door that was unlocked: the door to the library. Keesha decided to investigate inside, readying herself in case Phoebe was not the one there.
Keesha opened the door and turned on the lights, the switch being just next to the door. Once the lights were on, Keesha came face to face not with Phoebe, but a very strange sight. In the library, there were a bunch of books that were not on the shelves, but were actually floating in midair. There were several books floating and moving. Some were moving to the right, and some to the left. It was a very strange sight indeed.
"Oh bad, oh bad, oh bad, bad, bad!" Keesha couldn't help but say that when she saw what was happening. Liz even covered her eyes.
Then, after a few seconds, the books just dropped onto the ground and lay there, perfectly still. Keesha started to get a bad feeling about this. Maybe she should just go? No! She could not just leave. Phoebe needed to be found. Keesha walked into the library, careful not to get too close to the books that were floating a second ago. She looked around for some time but couldn't find Phoebe or any evidence that she had been there.
Suddenly, the lights went out again, and Keesha decided that now was as good a time as any to get out of there. She quickly turned on her phone flashlight again, exited the library, and shut the door behind her.
Meanwhile, Carlos and DA were walking down the other hall. Carlos had turned on his phone flashlight to illuminate the hall. They were just walking in comfortable silence, keeping an eye out for any sign of Phoebe. As they continued walking, DA couldn't help but notice that Carlos seemed deep in thought. "Is everything okay?"
"Um, yeah. Everything's fine."
"No, it looks like something's bothering you. What's going on?" DA asked concerned.
Carlos looked over at the ocean blue eyes that were full of concern. DA could always tell when something was bothering him. He sighed. "It's just... I'm really worried about Phoebe. I know she is tougher than she looks, but she's still lost, all alone. Who knows what will happen to her.
DA nodded with understanding. Carlos and Phoebe always had a soft spot for each other. They were always like brother and sister. They were a little more than that when they had that brief relationship that no one expected would work out. Of course, he would be very upset that she was gone. "Don't worry. We'll find her."
"You think so?"
"I know so. Even if she's not here, we'll find her somewhere else, and she will be safe." DA then instinctively put her hand on Carlos's shoulder. "We are all worried about her, but we shouldn't let that worry us too much. We should focus on finding her, and she will be fine when we do find her."
Carlos looked over at DA and saw the sincerity on her face with that statement. "You know, that actually helped me feel a bit better." DA couldn't help but giggle a bit at that statement.
As Carlos continued to stare at DA, she started staring at him, too. They just stood there, simply taking in each other's features, DA's hand still on his shoulder. Then, after some time, Carlos felt like they were leaning in closer to each other. No! It couldn't be. It did not look like they were moving. Although, it did feel like it, but not so much. If they were moving, then the movement must have been so slow and small that it was almost unnoticeable. Carlos couldn't stop thinking, are we actually leaning into each other?
"Hey guys." DA and Carlos looked over to Keesha, who was coming towards them. DA took her hand off of Carlos's shoulder. "Find anything?"
"No, not yet." DA answered. "You?"
"No, nothing." Liz shook her head. "Maybe Phoebe's not here after all?"
"Or maybe she was here, and now she's gone." Carlos suggested.
"Well, if she was here, there's nothing to tell us that."
"Maybe we should keep looking a little bit more. Just in-" Carlos suddenly froze when his phone light caught something down the hall where Keesha had come from.
"Carlos? Carlos?! What are you-" DA, Keesha, and Liz froze when they saw it. Another of those demons was back. Once they realized it was there, it began running after them, with its loud, piercing roar. The group quickly ran away, not really paying attention to where they were running, just looking for a way to escape. After running for some time, they found a set of doors that they recognized as the front doors. Deciding that it was their best chance of escaping, they ran for the doors.
Once they got outside, they quickly shut the door and continued running. They ran through the parking lot and down the sidewalk, towards downtown. At this point, they couldn't care if someone saw them come out of the school and wonder what they were doing there. Once they ran for some time, they stopped and saw that the demon didn't even follow them outside. They were safe, for now.
"We should have known those things would come back. With us looking for Phoebe, we were still ignoring their warning." DA said.
"Definitely. We should probably get out of here. I don't think Phoebe was in there after all. She wouldn't be safe there." Keesha said. Liz agreed.
"Right, let's just get back to my car. We can head back to Phoebe's house and regroup." DA suggested.
No one objected to that plan, so the group walked back to the car, which wasn't far away from where they were. All the while, they planned their next moves.
Finally in San Jose, Ralphie, Tim, and Wanda still felt incredibly nervous about Arnold. Now was not the time to make it obvious, though. They had to show confidence. After killing some time, Wanda led them to Arnold's house, hoping that he was home by now. They saw a car in the driveway, which must have meant that he was home now. After knocking on the door, Arnold's wife answered instead.
"Hello. Can I help you?" Jyoti asked.
"Hi. You probably don't remember us, but-"
"Wait, I remember you, Wanda. And it was Ralphie and Tim, right?" Motioning to the two boys behind Wanda.
"Yes, ma'am." Tim answered.
"I do remember you guys, from my wedding. And I know that you are all so far from home! Almost 3,000 miles away!"
"Yes, well, we need to talk to Arnold." Wanda said.
"So, you came here to do it?"
"Yes. It's really important, so we had to do it in person."
"Well, it must be so important if you traveled across the country just to talk to him. He's not here, but he should be back any minute. Would you like to come in?"
"That would be nice." The three of them made their way inside and got comfortable on the couch in the living room. Jyoti offered them some Tulsi herbal tea, which they accepted. Once the tea was brought out, Jyoti began chatting with them.
"So, what was so important that you had to come all the way over here to see Arnold?"
"Well, it's kind of hard to explain, but it involves a certain former teacher of ours. I don't know if Arnold ever mentioned her to you, but she was our 3rd grade teacher, Ms. Frizzle."
"Oh, yes, Arnold has told me about her. Although, now that you mention, he doesn't exactly have the highest opinion of her."
"So, he always talks about how much he hates her?" Tim asked.
"No, not really. He almost never mentions her. Although, whenever he has, he does seem to get kind of angry."
Before anyone could respond, the sound of footsteps came down the stairs, and a little kid's voice was heard. "Mommy, I'm hungry."
"I know, sweetie. Daddy will be home soon, okay."
"So this is Ben? I don't think I've ever met him." Ralphie said. Tim nodded in agreement.
"I haven't seen him since Arnold showed him to me over video chat, when he was a few months old." Wanda said.
"Benny, these are some old friends of Daddy. Say, 'hi'."
"Hi." Ben said.
"Hi."
"Hey, little man."
"Hey."
"Hey, Benny, why don't you go wash your hands and get ready for dinner. Daddy will be here any minute."
"Okay." Ben then started going back up the stairs.
Once Ben was at the top, the door opened. Arnold came inside. "Arnold, honey, you have some visitors here to see you."
"Okay, what's-" Arnold froze when he looked up and saw who it was that was here to see him. "-up?" Arnold dropped his briefcase.