Ch. 23
While Miss Spider loved her new family with all her heart and would never trade them for anything, she did look forward to moments of quiet solitude. Thankfully, with Dylan and James at school and most of the family gone off to their respective jobs, Miss Spider was left alone in the living room to pour over some paperwork for her nightclub and prepare for the evening.
Not that there was much to do. Aside from the new desserts her kitchen was preparing, there would be the usual dinner menu, drinks and entertainment. Miss Spider was holding off on bringing in any new musical acts until spring, though she was considering having auditions for new dancers come March. And perhaps she should set up a program for New York college students who needed part-time jobs as waiters or cleaners...
The sudden blare of the telephone snapped Miss Spider out of her thoughts. She put the papers down and made her way over to the phone, mentally running through who it could be. Earthworm and Glowworm were both off today- Earthworm had remained in his dirt piles while Dylan was home- and Mr. Grasshopper and Centipede would both be home not long after noon. Perhaps it was Mrs. Ladybug calling with news about Amelia Anderson's surgery and current condition.
"Hello?"
"Yes, hello, my name is Kathy Berger. I'm one of the office secretaries for the New York City 14th public elementary school. Have I reached the Peach Pit?"
"You have. This is Miss Spider speaking." A flutter of fear ran through Miss Spider's body as she asked,
"Is everything alright? Is my son alright?"
"I'm calling about a boy named Dylan Anderson."
Oh no, what now? "Yes, my family and I are looking after him while his grandmother is in the hospital."
"Is he also unwell?"
"Not as far as I know." Miss Spider frowned at the silence coming from the phone. "Has Dylan claimed he is ill? Is he with the school nurse?"
"Dylan Anderson. was reported as absent by his teacher. That's why I'm reaching out to you; I wanted to see if you'd kept him home."
"We did not. Mayor Centipede and I walked both our son James as well as Dylan Anderson to school today."
"You did?"
"Yes, we did. In fact, we also watched him enter the school this morning, alongside our son's friend and her parents. You are telling me Dylan is not in school?"
"As per his teacher, Miss Eileen Hart, no he isn't. Who else saw this boy enter the building and can you describe what happened?"
Miss Spider quickly told the secretary what had happened when she and Centipede had reached the school, along with the names of Tessa's parents. Behind her, she heard the familiar sound of Earthworm sliding down the stairs and heard him pause at the far end of the living room.
"And no one has seen him?"
"No, Miss Spider, like I said, he was marked absent, as he was yesterday."
"Yes, he claimed he was feeling poorly yesterday, so we kept him home. I informed the school of this."
"Yes, I saw the notes. I wondered if someone else took a message regarding the status of Dylan Anderson's health today and was calling to confirm with you."
"I can confirm with you that Dylan was in school before the bell rang. How could he not be there?"
"I'm not sure, but seeing as to how you are one of his temporary guardians, do we have permission to inform the authorities of his absence?"
"I will handle that myself and call Mayor Centipede and Police Chief Michael Beatcom immediately. Please let me know if you hear anything regarding where he is."
"Of course. Should the need arise, may the principal question your son James?"
"That is fine. But please, be gentle with him. Dylan... he has not been very kind to my James and it has caused some distress in our family."
"I understand, Miss Spider. We will let you know right away if he turns up."
"Thank you." Miss Spider hung up the phone, her head feeling as though it had detached from her body as a whirlwind of thoughts blew through her mind.
"What? Is Dylan really missing?" Earthworm's superior hearing had served him well enough so that Miss Spider didn't have to repeat the conversation she'd just had.
"It appears so."
"But... but... you took him to school."
"I am aware of that. But it seems Dylan did not remain at school."
"How could he just leave?" Earthworm began crawling in circles around the room. "The school doesn't just let children run off whenever it suits them! How safe would that be? And where could he have gone? And what if we-"
"I am not sure, Earthworm, but we must let everyone know immediately." Miss Spider was already in the process of calling Centipede. "And we must hope we find him before the weather turns. If Dylan is caught out in the storm..."
"Oh, this is bad. This is very bad! What are we going to do?"
"We are going to find him." Miss Spider listened to the phone ring, waiting for someone in Centipede's office to pick up. "At least, I hope we will."
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"That's gonna have to wait till the weather warms up."
"What? Mayor, I promised my clients this would get done by May."
"George, ya didn't even have the permits you'd need to even hire people until today and this is a four-month project, at least."
"But-"
"Plus, the ground won't be soft enough to start buildin' until mid-March and you can trust me on that!"
"WHAT? What am I supposed to do? I have people's money riding on this! I promised them this back in December!"
"Yeah? Did they know you didn't have permits?"
"I..." The man standing in front of Centipede seemed to sag a bit under the Mayor's stare. "Well..."
"Uh-huh. We're gonna look into this."
"Mayor, please! I-"
"Yeah, I'd prepare for the worst if I were you. I hope your company's records are up to date. For now, though, I suggest you head home and hunker down. And don't think you're gonna skip down, George; with all the snow we're about to get, you ain't goin' nowhere."
Centipede watched as the portly man staggered out of his office, ashen-faced and looking like he needed a stiff drink. Well, serve him right; more than anything, Centipede loved taking obviously corrupt officials down a peg or two. Granted, what George was doing wasn't too bad in the grand scheme of things, but it was unlikely the people who'd invested in George's business would think that. Speaking of which...
"Hey, Wren? Can you make a note to start an investigation into George Kleff on Monday?"
"Sure thing, sir. I'll do that now." Wren began scribbling something onto a legal pad when the phone wrang. Without missing a beat, the young woman picked up the receiver and spoke into it as she finished her note.
"Mayor Centipede's office, how may I-"
Wren straightened up. "Yes, hello. Yes, he's here." Wren looked up, catching Centipede's inquiring look and waved him over. She held out the phone to Centipede explaining,
"It's Miss Spider. She sounds worried."
"Hey, Angel, what's up?" Centipede asked, leaning against Wren's desk.
"Centipede, Dylan is missing." Miss Spider's husky voice did indeed sound worried.
"Missing? Whaddya mean missing? He's at school."
"No he is not. The school just called me and said Dylan never appeared for class. His teacher thought he was staying home to day and had the office call to confirm."
"And ya told 'em we saw the kid go inside, right?"
"Of course! They are as stunned as we are. But the fact remains that Dylan is missing and we must find him before-"
"-before the storm hits. Yeah, I know." Centipede rubbed the knuckles of several hands against his forehead. "Dylan picked a hell of a time to make a break for it."
"How do you wish for me to help? Shall I call Chief Beatcom or do you wish for me to inform the others first?"
"You better let Grasshopper and Ladybug know. I'll call the Chief and then head down to the station myself. You can stay and man the phone at home until it's time to get... wait, is Jimmy okay?"
"I believe so. The school asked if the principal may question him and I said they could so long as they were kind about it." Miss Spider paused, then added,
"They may question Tessa as well, as I mentioned she and her parents witnessed Dylan entering the school building."
"Alright. I'll see what Chief Beatcom can do and then either head home or meet you at the school, depending on the time."
"Thank you, Commodore."
"What's wrong, sir?" Wren watched as Centipede hung up the phone. "What happened?"
"Somethin' that's gonna need a lot more than a few aspirin to solve. Wren, you got a way to get home?"
"Yes, but I'm fine to stay until-"
"Go on home."
"Mayor, I-"
"It's alright. I gotta family situation to deal with and I don't wanna risk holdin' you up, Wren. Get home where you'll be warm and safe and I'll see you on Monday, weather permittin'."
"I... alright. Thank you, sir. I hope everything works out."
"Me too."
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"So with carracks being able to handle longer voyages and rougher seas, early explorers found new lands and new adventures."
"And using the stars, they were able to learn more about the world both on Earth and beyond it."
A round of applause greeted James and Tessa's closing statements, Ms. Devon included.
"Excellent job, you two, really wonderful! And such adorable little helpers you have."
"Thank you, Ms. Devon."
"Is it true that otters were good luck?" one of the girls piped up.
"A lot of people thought so," James answered. Smiling, he patted the stuffed otter captain of Waterdog. "She certainly is."
"Was Sirius a golden lab like yours, Tessa?"
"No one's really sure. I've seen a lot of pictures of Sirius that make him look like a greyhound, but he could be any kind of dog you want."
"Either way, you wanted some kind of dog with you if you were going on an adventure," James said.
"Well said," Ms. Devon agreed. "And once again, great job. You can put your projects on the table with the others and take your seats."
"Is it okay if I bring my otter home with me? I promised I would."
"That's fine. If anyone has a part of their project they need to take home at the end of the day, you may do so. You can bring the rest of your projects home next week. Now, who's next to present?"
"Ms. Devon?"
The door opened as James and Tessa slid back into their desk seats and the class watched in slight trepidation as Mr. McDonough, the principal, entered. Tall and a little severe looking in a three-piece grey wool suit, Mr. McDonough had white hair that he combed straight back from his forehead and a pair of steely blue-grey eyes. His white beard and mustache were short and clipped to perfection and whether walking or sitting, his back was always ramrod straight. Mr. McDonough brooked no nonsense from troublemakers and even kids who made a habit of misbehaving always felt nervous when summoned to the principal's office. Nonetheless, he was not unkind and his way of speaking to most students was less like a stern educator and more like a kind, if slightly aloof, grandfather. Despite having a PHD, the principal asked that the children refer to him as "Mr. McDonough" rather than "Dr. McDonough" and he could usually be counted on to give a kind word or a flash of an indulgent smile if met in the halls.
Today, however, the principal did not look happy and even Ms. Devon looked like she was trembling slightly as she stepped into the hall to speak with him. The door closed as the two adults stood outside talking in hushed voices. After a moment, the door opened again and Ms. Devon poked her head out.
"James, could you come here for a moment?"
A flash of horror ran through the little boy's body as the class turned to look at him. Almost automatically, James stood up and began walking toward his teacher, but he could feel his legs trembling and hoped he wouldn't fall flat on his face from fear. Though it was only a short distance between his desk and the classroom door, James's mouth was bone dry and his stomach was in knots by the time he reached his teacher and she gestured for him to join her and Mr. McDonough in the hallway. The door of the classroom closed behind James like the barred gate of a prison cell and the little boy was alone with the two adults.
"Hello there, James," Mr. McDonough greeted in his low voice.
"G-Good morning, sir." James bit his lip as he realized he couldn't keep his voice from trembling.
"Don't worry, you're not in any sort of trouble." The principal gave the little boy a kind smile. "In fact, Ms. Devon tells me you just turned in a very well-made project about ships."
"Y-yes. Thank you." James glanced up at his teacher, who was also smiling, but her eyes still held a flash of worry.
"James, your family is helping look after a third grader named Dylan Anderson, right?"
Oh, this was about Dylan. James nodded, feeling relief run through him like hot water on a cold day. Now that he thought about it, James supposed it was only a matter of time before Mr. McDonough had to deal with Dylan himself. But what could Dylan have done that would warrant the principal asking about him now?
"Was he in school today?"
"Yes," James answered, a little confused. "Miss Spider and Centipede walked us to school together."
"And did you see Dylan enter the building?" Mr. McDonough asked, bending down so he could meet James's eyes.
"Yes, sir. He ran inside because he was cold. Dylan doesn't like school much, so I was surprised he did that. But it is cold out today and it's going to get even colder."
"That it is. Even I was chilly this morning and I grew up in Vermont," Ms. Devon said.
"Is Dylan alright?" James asked. "Did something happen?"
"Dylan never showed up for class this morning and Miss Hart, the third grade teacher, marked him as absent. He was sick yesterday, wasn't he?'"
Well, not really, but James didn't want his family to get in trouble. "Dylan said he wasn't feeling well yesterday, so my family let him stay home and rest."
"Yes, we were informed about that, so his absence yesterday was accounted for. But his being absent today was not and both you and your family mentioned he was taken to school."
"And my friend Tessa and her parents were there. They saw Dylan go inside too."
"Did they?" Mr. McDonough nodded. "So altogether, at least six people saw Dylan Anderson enter the school building this morning. Hard to argue with that."
"Argue?" James felt fear run through him again.
"We think Dylan may have left of his own accord," Mr. McDonough explained. "There is the possibility that someone took him, but no one reported any suspicious activity and now that we have several witnesses stating he entered the school building of his own free will, it's more likely he left the building of his own free will as well."
"From what I've heard, given his track record, that's not too surprising."
"Sadly no it isn't, but he's never done this before. Can you think of any reason why he'd run away from school, James?"
"His grandmother's in hospital and he really misses being at home with her."
"Yes, I heard about that. Did Dylan mention wanting to see his grandmother?"
"He wants to go home, but..." James fell silent, his brow furrowing in thought.
"But what, James?" Ms. Devon asked. "Did he say anything else?"
"Well... Dylan wants to go home to his grandmother because she lets him stay home from school and watch TV whenever he wants. My family told him he has to go to school if he's not sick and Dylan... he didn't like that."
"Ahhh, I see." Mr. McDonough straightened up and frowned. "I am aware of the fact that Dylan Anderson is not the most diligent student and Miss Hart has marked him absent quite often this year. I'm going to go over his record and compare this year to his previous time at this school. Do you think he may be trying to go see his grandmother?"
"I don't know. He never really talked about missing her; he really just wanted to go home." James started a bit as the thought occurred to him. "Maybe that's where he's going. Dylan might think that if he goes back to his home, he can just watch TV and eat all the sweets he wants with no one to stop him."
"You may be right, James." Mr. McDonough smiled at the little boy. "I'll call your family and let them know what you said; they're getting into contact with the police to see if they can find Dylan. But I think you may be quite correct in the sense that Dylan may try to go home. Thank you so much for your help."
"You're welcome. I hope Dylan's alright; my family said there's going to be a bad storm tonight and it's going to be really cold."
"Which is why we don't have a lot of time here," Ms. Devon said.
"Right. You can go back inside, James, but could you send your friend Tessa out? I just want to ask her what she saw and if she noticed anything this morning."
"Yes, sir. Thank you."
"Thank you, James."
The class was full of murmuring when James walked back inside.
"Tessa, Ms. Devon and Mr. McDonough need you. It's about Dylan."
"Oh no, what'd he do?"
"You'll see." James nodded toward the door. "Don't worry; no one's mad at us."
"Okay." The little girl got up and trotted to the door, her braided pigtails jostling against the shoulders of her dress as she stepped out into the hall. James sat down at his desk and leaned back in his seat as the rest of the class turned to stare at him.
"Did Dylan do something bad?" Ricky asked.
"Yes. He... he left school."
"Wait, you mean he just walked out?" one of the other boys said. "What'd his teacher say?"
"She didn't know. Miss Hart- she's the third grade teacher- thought Dylan was absent, but he wasn't because Miss Spider and Centipede walked both of us to school."
"So, what, did he run away from the playground?"
"No, we saw him go inside. Tessa and her parents did too; that's why Ms. Devon and Mr. McDonough wanted to talk to her."
"Whoa, I never knew a kid who would just leave school before."
"Yeah, you can get in big trouble."
"You think Dylan's gonna get in big trouble?"
"I think so," James said. "My family is asking the police to help find him."
"Uh-oh, he's probably gonna go to jail."
"Nah, they don't send you to jail for running away!"
"Not if you run away from home! It's different if you run away from school."
"I guess..."
"It is. There's a special police officer who hunts down kids who skip school. My dad said so."
"But you said Dylan skips school all the time, right, James?" Ricky cocked his head at his friend. "Wonder why the special police never got him."
"Because Dylan's grandmother let him stay home," James explained. "Yesterday, Dylan said he was sick, so my family let him stay home and they called the school to let them know. When that happens, you don't get in trouble for not going to school."
"Oh yeah, we know that. But how much does Dylan stay home with his grandma?"
"A lot," James admitted, nodding at Ricky. "Whenever he wanted to and he really doesn't like going to school."
"Whoa."
"Yeah, my mom and dad wouldn't let me do that!"
"That's 'cause they're not supposed to. If your mom and dad let you stay home too much, the special police get mad at them."
"Then how come they're not mad at Dylan's grandma?"
"Maybe they are."
"You think?"
"I dunno. James, is Dylan's grandma in trouble with the special police?"
"I don't know. Maybe." James remembered his conversation with Mr. Grasshopper and how Dylan would likely have to go live somewhere else, even after Mrs. Anderson was better. Had Dylan learned about that and decided to run home where he thought he would be safe from being taken somewhere else? Well, James knew from bitter experience that being in your home did not mean you were safe when grownups decided to take you away.
Do you really feel bad for him?
Yes! No one deserved that!
The nagging voice in James's head didn't reply, but the rest of class was still locked in a fierce debate.
"Where do you think he's gonna go?"
"I don't know. Where would you go?"
"The toy store."
"I'd go to the movies."
"I'd go to the park."
"But what if you get caught?"
"I'd just run. Do you think Dylan could run away from the police, James?"
"I think he'd just yell and scream."
"Oh. Where do you think he went?"
"I think he went back to his old home," James said. "He's probably going to just sit and watch TV and eat cookies and ice cream."
"That doesn't sound too bad. My mom said I could do that this weekend because of the snow storm."
"You didn't run away from school," James reminded the boy who'd spoken up. "Dylan did and he's been bad all week."
"Yeah."
"Oh boy, Dylan's gonna be in so much trouble when the police catch him."
"I just hope they catch him soon," James said, glancing at the window at the slowly darkening sky. "And that Dylan doesn't get caught in the storm, wherever he is."
Unbeknownst to James and his classmates, Dylan was just fine.
For now.