The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel

by Sheela Chari

  “That’s what it sounds like. Which means Aurora and Jonas, too, doesn’t it?” Mars clicked the link. “Shoot. I’m not getting a strong enough signal here to download it. I’d have to go outside to get the link to open. But that means leaving the dance.” He wavered.

  It had taken an awful lot to get inside the school. If he went outside now, he might not be able to get back in. And Caddie was there, thinking he was coming. But what if the link solved the mystery at last? How long could he afford to wait? Any minute someone might find him — Oliver, one of the security guards, or worse, his mother.

  JP saw Mars’s face. “Look, I’ll tell Caddie to wait for a few minutes. You go out and check the link, then come right back inside. That way you won’t be thinking about it all night like I know you will.”

  “Thanks, JP,” Mars said gratefully. “You’re the best! I’ll be back in five. I promise.”

  “Yeah, you better.”

  The air felt cool as Mars stepped out of the gym. Of course he would get back in. He’d done it before; he’d do it again. Just one link, right? Could this be the answer he was looking for? Just think: if he found Aurora and Jonas, maybe his mom would see what he’d been trying to do all this time. Maybe she’d change her mind about Cleveland. Maybe the school would let him back in, too. Who knows, maybe the newspapers and TV stations would all want to know how he’d solved the mystery of the missing kids around the world, and he’d finally meet LIL and find out why she was willing to help. And then Caddie and he would . . . well, one step at a time.

  When Mars got outside the school, it was strangely quiet as he made his way to the parking lot. It took him a few minutes to realize that it was because the drone was gone. Already he was so used to it, that the whirring had become a part of the background air, like traffic or rain drumming across the tops of cars and rooftops.

  But now the drone was gone. And so were the guards. In the parking lot, for the first time, Mars was completely alone. He breathed in and out, feeling the quiet night calm him. This is how it should be, he thought. This is how it used to be. Quiet. Alone. Not looking over your shoulder. He took out his phone and found the text from LIL.

  LIL (Lost in London)

  Click this, it’s what you’re looking for: https://yfxmp2g

  As he was about to follow the link, a sudden sound disturbed the air.

  Mars’s eyes darted up. “Hey!” he said.

  The movement was swift — he felt himself in the air, almost weightless. Above him, he noticed the moon for the first time, peeking from behind an opaque cloud. It was a silver, crescent moon, like a boomerang going nowhere. His phone fell from his hands. He heard it thud on the asphalt.

  “My phone . . .” he called out.

  It was the last thing Mars said before he disappeared.

  Caddie was the one to find the phone. In the gym, she’d sensed Mars as soon as he came in. Then she’d seen him talking to Toothpick and JP. The whole time her head had been throbbing, worse than it ever had, but she was getting better at not showing it. She didn’t want Mars to notice. In fact, she’d been afraid to approach him. She knew that he and Clyde hated each other, and the last thing she wanted was a confrontation. Mars wasn’t even supposed to be at the dance.

  When Mars had left the gym, she’d known it was a mistake. She’d followed quickly, not even pausing to talk to Toothpick or JP, walking past the protesting chaperone who said Caddie wouldn’t be able to come back in once she’d left the dance, and headed straight for the parking lot. It hadn’t taken long for Caddie to find the phone. It was the only phone at H. G. Wells and possibly the entire state of Washington that was maroon with planets and stars covering the back. And it had been lying abandoned on the cracked asphalt of the parking lot that H. G. Wells Middle School still hadn’t fixed, despite all the money they had poured into their security and surveillance systems. The same system with all those security videos that should have shown where Mars had gone, but instead would seem to suggest later that he had never been on the school premises, as if someone had erased him from the feed.

  Caddie stooped down in her red chiffon dress and held the phone up to her ear. Nothing. It was on . . . Mars had been here only seconds ago. The text to LIL was still open with an expired link.

  She clicked to send a voice message.

  “I don’t know who you are, LIL,” she said, her voice wavering only slightly. “Mars was here and now he’s gone. I don’t know where he is.” She pushed up her glittery-framed glasses, the pair she always secretly wanted to wear but never did until today. Behind her an owl hooted and the night was clear. “But we’re going to find Mars,” she said. “His friends . . . and me.”

  Caddie

  it’s been five days since ur gone

  JP and Pick look at me for answers

  but I don’t have any

  I’m not u

  Caddie

  wish I could feel what ur thinking

  it would rly help

  Caddie

  did u find what u were looking for in the parking lot

  Caddie

  I know u can’t read these texts

  Caddie

  but I have a plan

  I’m making it up as I go

  Every afternoon after detention, Caddie, Toothpick, and JP climbed the fire escape to Mars’s apartment to see if he had returned home. For JP it was a breeze climbing up the branch of the nearby tree and jumping onto the fire escape. For Caddie and Toothpick, it was another story. They weren’t nearly as strong, so Toothpick came up with the idea to use the rope ladder that had come with his camp equipment.

  “But Pick, you and your family don’t go camping,” JP said.

  “We want to,” Toothpick said. “We just never have. We’ve bought all the equipment.”

  The first time, JP had climbed up and tied the rope ladder to the fire escape, then Toothpick and Caddie climbed up afterward. So far they hadn’t been able to get into the apartment, but they could look in through the window, and what they saw were boxes and boxes. Then every day, there were fewer boxes until there was only one box left.

  “Are you sure we should keep doing this?” JP asked Caddie on the fifth afternoon when they met at the bottom of the fire escape. “So far we haven’t found anything. And where’s Pick? He disappeared after detention.”

  “I’m here already.” Toothpick leaned over the railing from the top. “And you’re late.”

  JP scowled. “How can we be late when all we’re doing is counting boxes?”

  “We want to go somewhere later. Right, Randall?” A second face peered over the railing.

  “Epica!” JP exclaimed.

  “I thought there was someone else up there,” Caddie said. “I could sense it. What are you doing up there, Epica?”

  “Randall invited me,” Epica said. “He says you guys are always late and he needed company.”

  JP and Caddie climbed up to the landing.

  “Why on earth would he call her?” JP muttered under their breath.

  “Because she’s my girlfriend,” Toothpick said. “We want to hang out.”

  Epica looked around the fire escape. “Kind of drafty. And hard to stand in my wedges.”

  “Then maybe you should leave,” JP said.

  Caddie suppressed a smile. “OK, so Toothpick, did you see anything different this evening?”

  He shook his head. “That one box is still there. No one has come by.”

  “I don’t get it,” Epica said. “If Mars’s mom is moving to Cleveland like Randall says, why not get a moving truck and move all the boxes at the same time? Seems like a drag.”

  “I think it’s to avoid detection,” Caddie said. “Maybe Mars’s mom doesn’t want anyone to know.”

  “So she’s mailing boxes one at a time,” Toothpick said. “Because a moving truck can be followed.”

  “Poor Mars,” JP said. “He’s been snatched, and now his mom is moving out all his stuff.”

  “Yeah,” Caddi
e said. “He came to the dance even when he wasn’t supposed to, just because he promised. Mars has come through for us. We need to do the same for him. We need to find out what happened to him.”

  “Guys,” said Epica, who was looking through the window. “What about those people inside? The ones in the white suits? Are they, like, movers?”

  Toothpick looked where she was pointing. “Those are not movers,” he said. “Look at the logos on their coats. Pruitt Prep. They’re working for Oliver Pruitt!”

  “Oh my god, let’s get out of here before they see us!” JP exclaimed.

  “Too late,” Toothpick said.

  Inside, the people in the white suits had spotted Caddie, Toothpick, JP, and Epica on the fire escape. They pointed at them and started toward the window.

  “Oh no, guys, run!” Caddie said.

  All of them scampered down to the bottom rung of the fire escape. The ground was several feet below.

  Above them a voice cried out, “Stop!” One of the White Suits had reached Mars’s fire escape.

  “We have to jump, guys!” JP called out. “No time for the rope.”

  JP was the first to leap down. Caddie was next. She thought about the gym class, swimming pools, and all the places she was bad at jumping, and then she jumped anyway. The ground met her hard and gloriously. She’d done it! Toothpick jumped easily, then rolled out of the way. “That’s how they do it in parkour videos,” he said. He looked up. “You can do it, Epica.”

  “Randall, I can’t jump in wedges,” she wailed.

  Toothpick smiled at her patiently. “I believe in you, Epi. Just don’t look up, OK? They’re gaining.”

  Epica groaned and jumped. She landed partly on Toothpick.

  “That wasn’t so bad, Randall,” she said.

  Just then they heard a bus rounding the corner. It screeched to a halt in front of them and the doors opened. “Get in! Get in!”

  JP’s eyes doubled in size. “Mr. Q?”

  “Hurry — I know, they’re almost at the bottom,” Mr. Q said. “I’ll explain later!”

  All four kids dashed into the bus, and it pulled away just as the first of the White Suits made it to the ground. “Heyyy!” he yelled at them, and then his voice disappeared as the bus drove away.

  Inside, Caddie collapsed on a seat while Epica checked to see whether her wedges were broken and Toothpick helped her. Meanwhile JP stared and stared at Mr. Q.

  “Why are you driving this bus?” they demanded.

  Mr. Q overtook a car to merge onto a busy boulevard ahead of them. “Because they’re watching my car,” he said.

  “Who?” JP asked.

  “It’s complicated.”

  “We’ve got time,” JP said. “What’s going on?”

  “How did you know where we were?” Toothpick said. “Tell us the truth.”

  At the stoplight, Mr. Q turned to look at them. His glasses were on crooked and his usually neatly combed hair was standing on end. “There’s more to this story than I’ve told you. You’re right. I’m here because I’m tracking you guys. I’ve been doing that for some time.”

  “Then Mars was right about you!” JP exclaimed.

  “No! I’m on your side.”

  “You mean you’re helping us?” Caddie asked. She watched Mr. Q. He seemed to be inside some kind of box, unreadable. Caddie realized then that she’d never really been able to tell what Mr. Q was thinking. So far, he’d never done anything fishy. Until now.

  “How do we know we can trust you?” she asked.

  “Sometimes you have to go with what you know, Caddie,” Mr. Q said. “Have I ever done anything to earn your distrust? Think long and hard and you’ll know the answer to that.”

  “Well, when he puts it that way . . .” Toothpick said.

  “You’ve got to trust someone, dudes,” Epica said. “Or who’s going to trust you?”

  “Thanks, Epica, but you literally have no idea what’s going on,” JP said.

  “Listen, everyone, this is what I know,” Mr. Q said. “And maybe you know it, too. Something’s not right about Pruitt Prep. Something’s been off about Pruitt Prep for a long time.”

  “Yeah, it doesn’t exist,” JP said.

  The light changed and they could see the green signal reflect off Mr. Q’s glasses as he started driving again. “Oh, it exists all right,” he said. “You won’t believe how it exists.”

  It seemed like they drove forever — past the wharf, past Captain John’s Grill, which served the best mac and cheese Caddie had ever eaten, past the bowling alley, past Jonas’s favorite arcade, up hilly streets, and then past Lookout Point, where you could see Mount Rainier on a clear day — and still they kept driving and driving.

  “Where are we going?” Epica whined. “Let’s step on it — Randall and I have plans. We didn’t come for a Port Elizabeth bus tour!”

  “Put a lid on it,” JP growled. “You’re not the only one on this bus with a life.”

  “I’d prefer you talk more respectfully to my significant other, JP,” Toothpick said. “She’s not used to our escapades, and we have been on this bus for seventeen minutes.”

  JP rolled their eyes. “So, where are we going, Mr. Q? You still haven’t told us anything about Pruitt Prep.”

  Caddie nodded. “We have a right to know.” She could feel everyone’s growing apprehension. It wasn’t just the White Suits who’d almost got them but Mr. Q turning up when he had, just like he had at Gale Island. It was too many coincidences. On top of that, there was something about being stuck inside a bus, she decided, that made you want to go bonkers.

  Finally Mr. Q pulled into a Safeway parking lot. He shut off the engine and turned to everyone. “Sorry, kids. I didn’t want to stop until I was sure we’d lost them. We’re safe now.” He took out a brown paper bag. “Cookies, anyone?”

  “Are those flaxseed?” JP asked.

  “Chia,” Mr. Q said. “Locally grown.”

  “Sorry, but no thanks!” JP said.

  “I’ll have one,” Toothpick said.

  “I guess I could try one, too,” Epica said. “Anything Randall does. JP’s a wuss.”

  “I’d like to wuss you,” JP said darkly.

  “That doesn’t even make sense,” Epica said.

  “Everyone, please. Mr. Q, answer us: What does Pruitt Prep have to do with Mars disappearing?” Caddie was still trying to read Mr. Q, but he had a way of keep his feelings under the surface. Like, right now all she could tell was that he believed in local ingredients, and that the cookie he was eating was very satisfying. But there seemed to be something going on underneath: concern, doubts, and a growing impatience.

  “Your friends aren’t the first of my students to go missing,” he said as he chewed his cookie.

  “You know about the missing kids?” she asked, surprised.

  “Sure. I’ve wanted to bust open the case for years. And it’s not just Port Elizabeth.”

  “Oh my god, are you talking about the missing kids?” Epica jumped in. “It’s HUGE. I’ve been reading about it.”

  “The last thing I showed Mars was a map of all the countries involved, based on the flyers,” Toothpick said. “There are forty-eight so far.”

  “Whoa,” JP said.

  “Mr. Q, the point is,” Caddie said, “we really want to find Mars, Jonas, and Aurora.”

  “And I get that,” he said. “I know how badly you want to find your friends. In fact, that’s why I tried to encourage Mars to keep looking for them. I tried to help whenever I could without drawing attention to us. But now you guys have stepped into more dangerous territory than you realize. This is too big for you.”

  “What do you mean?” Toothpick asked. “You mean because Mars’s video went viral?”

  “Hey, I saw that video,” Epica said. “Three million views. What gives? So Mars was mad at Oliver Pruitt. Who cares?”

  “Oliver Pruitt cares! And now you guys are taking on Pruitt, the most powerful man on the planet.” Mr. Q’s eyes
flashed. “You have no idea what he’s capable of. The podcast? That’s nothing. There is a lot more to him than you know about. You’re no match.” Mr. Q ate the last of his locally grown chia cookie. “I mean, look at you guys. How are you going to do it? You’re just kids.”

  “Mars thought we could do it,” Caddie said slowly.

  “Yeah, well, look what happened to him,” Mr. Q. returned. “If I were all of you, I’d go home and forget about Oliver Pruitt and his school. It’s not worth it.”

  “But if he’s the reason Mars is gone,” JP said, “then shouldn’t we go back to Pruitt Prep?”

  “Back to Pruitt Prep?” Epica repeated. “When were you there before?”

  “We weren’t,” Toothpick said. “The school doesn’t exist, even though the website says it does.”

  “Toothpick, the school does exist,” Mr. Q said. “But you shouldn’t go back. It’s too dangerous.”

  “Fagan is big on rules,” Caddie said suddenly. “Pick, isn’t there a rule she has that says we need to fill out a permission slip to travel anywhere with a teacher? Otherwise the teacher could get into big trouble.”

  “Yes, Caddie. It needs to be signed by our parents and include allergy information.”

  Mr. Q sighed. “I know where you’re going with this, Caddie. Threats don’t suit you.”

  “Then help us!” Caddie beseeched. “We have to go back to the island. Back to Pruitt Prep. You said it yourself. Mars could be there. They could all be there.”

  “You said you saw nothing there,” Mr. Q replied.

  “Well, we didn’t try during the day.” Caddie looked outside, where the afternoon sun hung above the horizon. “And there’s still time. It isn’t evening yet.”

  “Mr. Q could give us a ride to the ferry,” Toothpick pointed out. “We are on a bus. Though I’m still not sure why.”

  “So I can take you home!” Mr. Q said. “Why else?”

  “Pick’s idea is better!” Caddie said. “Mr. Q, you could take us to the ferry.”

  “No,” said Mr. Q. “No, I could not!”

  “You said it yourself: you want to find those missing kids. So take us there. We have to go back to that island. On that island all three of us have special . . .” Caddie’s voice trailed off.