The Case of the Missing Auntie

by Michael Hutchinson

  The inside seemed bigger than the outside. The tall cathedral roof along the front facade allowed the light from the little square windows to shine into each floor of offices. The inner parts of the building were crafted with much smaller blocks of limestone. Every sound seemed sharp. Chickadee could hear a lady’s high heels click against the hard floor.

  She counted seven floors above the one she stood on. Chickadee imagined all the people stacked up in this building, working at desks, clicking on computers, answering phones. More people than all of Windy Lake, maybe.

  Tellers were helping people or working on computers behind the big counter about thirty steps in front of her. But closer, and off to one side, was a small information desk. A young, blonde woman smiled expectantly at Chickadee. When their eyes met, the lady asked if she needed directions.

  “I’m looking for information on my Great-Aunt Charlotte.” Chickadee tried to sound businesslike.

  “Well, I think we can help with that. What kind of information were you looking for?”

  “She was adopted out in the Sixties Scoop, and I’m trying to find her.” Chickadee approached the desk.

  The government worker made a face. “Uh…maybe I spoke too soon. Give me a moment.” The lady picked up a phone and spoke to someone about Chickadee’s request.

  When she hung up, she pointed to the big counter. “Someone will meet you over there to discuss your request.”

  Chickadee smiled and thanked the young woman. She thought it was funny that all the information the lady behind the Information Desk had was that she should go to the great big counter with all the people sitting behind it.

  As Chickadee approached the counter, an older woman with long, auburn hair waved at her from the far end. Once she got Chickadee’s attention, she stood and waited with her hand on her hip. Her face wasn’t very welcoming but it changed a little as the woman realized how young Chickadee was.

  “How can I help you, young lady?” The woman didn’t smile, but she didn’t seem annoyed either.

  “My great-auntie Charlotte was taken by the government when she was around seven. I’m trying to find her now.” Chickadee continued with her businesslike attitude.

  “How old would she be now?” The woman raised an eyebrow.

  “Uh…” Chickadee remembered back to the details her grandpa had told her. Auntie Charlotte would have been around six or eight when she was taken some time in the late 1950s. Grandpa figured 1958. Chickadee quickly did some math, but realized, without a birth date, she didn’t know for sure. “Around her late 60s, I guess. It was a long time ago. Do you have records that go back that far?”

  “We do, but not those kinds. Adoption records are only available from the post-adoption registry, which is not far away.” She looked down at Chickadee as though remembering she was a young person. “It is in a different building.”

  Chickadee listened to the directions the lady gave her and took the little piece of paper she had scribbled a map on. She left in a fog. She knew this search wasn’t going to be easy, but even so, she was disappointed to hit this first obstacle. She thought of her grandpa. He’d tell her that she had some sign now, some clue as to what her search involved, where it was heading. This was just the first track on the trail.

  She looked at the map in her hand. She held it to match the landscape before her. She’d have to cross the park and walk two streets down to find the building she was looking for. Three blocks, tops, and then she would walk the three blocks back here to catch the bus. No problem.

  Chapter 10

  The Boys Bounce

  The boys woke after Samuel moved in his sleep and kicked Otter in the face. After some groaning and complaining, Otter and Samuel sat up and rubbed their eyes. Only then did they notice the empty spot on the pull-out couch.

  “Where’s Chickadee?” Otter leaned back to look past the staircase and into the laundry room.

  “I don’t know.” Samuel checked out her bags. “Looks like her hoodie is gone. Maybe she’s gone out already.”

  Atim sat up. “Do you think she’d say anything to Auntie Sadie about yesterday?”

  The boys all looked at each other.

  Samuel shook his head. “I doubt it. She would have said something last night.”

  “Well…” Atim yawned and rubbed his face, “…maybe. Let’s get up and out of the house. I can send Auntie Sadie a text or something later.”

  The boys agreed they’d go out for breakfast. They dressed quickly, tried to tame their bedheads using water from the basement bathroom sink, and slunk out the back door.

  Once they were on the bus, Atim texted Auntie Sadie and told her that they were going to the mall.

  A few minutes later, she replied, “Did you guys eat? It’s almost lunchtime.”

  He texted back, “We’re eating out.”

  She returned, “LOL. You guys need to eat some real food. Stay safe and take care of each other.”

  “Looks like we’re good to go.” Atim smiled and leaned back in the seat.

  “Did you hear anything from Brett?” Samuel’s brow furrowed.

  “Not yet. Do you think we will?” Atim looked skeptical.

  “I have no hard feelings.” Otter shrugged. “I can understand why he was upset yesterday.”

  “Text him,” Samuel said to his brother.

  Atim texted their friend and told him they’d be at the mall.

  After the bus stopped, the boys made their way to the food court. They had taken some extra change from the bowl Auntie Sadie had offered. They had enough money for some fries and a Coke. They agreed to share. Samuel and Otter knew it was doubtful all the fries would get back to the table if Atim went to get them, so Sam volunteered to go up to the counter.

  “Fries and a Coke that we’ll have to share!” Atim rubbed his aching belly as he waited. “I’m hungry, I’m in the city, and now I’m eating like I’m back at the House-teraunt.”

  “With that much money back home, we’d be sharing a burger too,” Otter chimed in. “With spicy freezer burn.”

  Atim tried to stay annoyed, but Otter’s joke made him giggle.

  When Samuel came back, he had the fries, soda, and three paper cups.

  “Very fancy,” Atim said as he poured out the pop equally.

  “That’s what I figured.” Samuel chuckled. “Now I don’t have to taste your backwash.”

  The borrowed phone vibrated. Atim read aloud a text from Brett. “Sorry for being a loser last night. I know a guy who has tickets for sale. Meet me at back door of the mall.”

  “What do you think?” Atim’s eyes moved from the phone to Sam and then Otter.

  “If Brett knows a guy, we may be able to cross the tickets off our list,” Samuel said.

  Otter waggled his head from side-to-side, considering, and then he nodded as a small smile crossed his face.

  The boys cleaned their table and dumped the recycling and garbage. They dodged adults as they filtered through the mall to the back doors.

  In the bright, summer sunlight outside, they all squinted after leaving the sparse lighting of the mall. Eventually, as their eyes adjusted, Otter picked out Brett waiting near a taxi stand. A taller teen stood with him.

  “Hey, Brett,” Samuel said as they strode up.

  “Hey, kids.” Brett turned and smiled at the Muskrats.

  Brett calling them kids caused all the boys to slow down.

  “I got a friend here.” Brett indicated the freckled teenager with his red hair in a groomed mess, and clothes that looked freshly picked from the mall. “He has some tickets to Wovoka’s Wail for sale, but you have to go to his house to get them.”

  “Okaaayyy.” Atim sounded more than a little skeptical.

  “How do we get there?” Samuel pinched his chin.

  Brett presented the first taxi at the stand as thoug
h he were on a game show. “Step right up, young man. Our chauffeur will drive us to, like, the castle in question.” Brett opened the back door.

  The driver yelled out the open door. “I can only take four passengers.”

  “Gentlemen, one of you will have to stay.” Brett motioned for his friend to get in the back. After the teen got in, Brett said, “Probably best if Atim stays, he’s the biggest and will be able to fend for himself while we’re gone.”

  Atim nodded his assent and agreed to wait for them there. Samuel and Otter walked toward the cab. Otter slipped into the back seat with Brett and his friend. Samuel sat in the passenger seat beside the driver.

  Chapter 11

  Bullies and Betrayal

  The cabbie was tall, thin, and hadn’t shaved in a few days. His long salt-and-pepper hair hung around his shoulders. It was mostly salt. He smelled like an ashtray but smiled at Samuel with intelligent eyes and a long face full of smile lines. “Where we off to, young man?”

  “We’re heading to the apartment building at the corner of Home and William,” the redhead shouted from the back.

  “Really?” The grizzled cabbie looked in the rearview mirror.

  The redhead nodded.

  “Okay, you’re the boss.” The driver turned on the meter and the car began to roll.

  “How long you know Brett?” Samuel asked the teenager.

  The redhead grunted and didn’t stop looking out the window.

  “He doesn’t, like, talk much,” Brett said. “We’ll be there soon.”

  The taxi continued into a run-down area of the city. Apartment buildings and rowhouses were squeezed between the occasional industrial buildings. A thin drizzle began to distort the picture outside the windows of the cab. Eventually, they pulled up beside an old, brick apartment block that seemed to be crumbling right in front of them.

  “Here we are.” Brett motioned for the redhead to get out. “One of you pay.”

  “But what about the money for the tickets?” Samuel asked.

  Brett looked over his shoulder as he got out of the taxi. “Just pay for it, we’ll take, like, whatever is left.”

  The cousins looked at each other. Otter gave Samuel ten dollars to give to the cabbie and then left the car.

  “You sure you boys want to stop here?” the cabbie asked, looking at the apartment building.

  “This is where my friend says his buddy lives,” Samuel told him.

  “Are you sure he’s your friend?” The gruff driver smiled, but Samuel could see he was serious.

  “We’ll be okay.” Sam tried to sound confident as he handed the man the cash.

  “If you say so.” The cabbie slipped the bills into a cigar box and shoved it back under his seat. “Sounds like you’re going to check it out, no matter what I say.” He chuckled, and his face broke out into a well-used smile.

  Doubts began to creep into Sam’s mind, but he knew that he would still follow Brett into the building. The mixture of apprehension and certainty almost made his brain tickle.

  “Yeah. But…thanks for caring.” Samuel liked the old guy immediately.

  “No problem. Glad to spread a little warning here and there.” The cabbie smiled as Samuel got out and closed the door. The taxi, slowly, pulled away.

  Samuel caught up to the boys as they reached the front door of the building. His worry grew the closer they got. The building looked deserted. The windows were filthy and broken.

  The redhead pulled the door open. The hinges complained loudly, obviously forced to do a job they hadn’t been asked to do in a while. With a nod of his head, he indicated that Samuel and Otter should enter.

  “You live here?” Sam asked the teenager. He looked back but didn’t answer.

  “Upstairs, third floor,” Brett said. Samuel regarded his friend from Windy Lake. Brett pointed with his chin at the open door.

  Otter and Sam stepped inside. Now it was obvious the building was abandoned. The floor was a haze of dust. Dozens of footsteps betrayed their age as they headed off into the building’s crumbling depths. Wallpaper hung in jagged tears from the walls. Samuel stopped. “It looks like nobody has lived here for years.”

  “Makes for cheap rent.” The redhead laughed and gave Samuel a little shove toward the stairwell. “I live on the third floor.”

  Sam and Otter hesitated.

  “Go!” Brett barked angrily.

  They started up the stairs and almost immediately heard footsteps descending. When they arrived at the first landing, they were met by those coming down. It was the denim-clad teenager from The Crystal Palace and his track-suited buddy.

  “Hey children, we meet again,” the hefty teenager drawled.

  Samuel and Otter turned to Brett, who ignored their gaze as he stood behind the redheaded teen.

  “If you had coughed up all your cash for Brett’s little scam yesterday, none of us would be here!” The big bully laughed and blocked any escape upward.

  The redhead stepped forward and slammed Otter against the wall.

  At the same time, the larger bully grabbed Samuel by the arm and forced him up against the bannister.

  “Who’s got the rest of the cash?” The big teen spit in Sam’s face. He leaned his full weight on Samuel’s torso, making it hard for him to breathe. Sam tried to push the bigger teen back but couldn’t move him.

  The redhead gave Otter a quick jab to the lower ribs. The wind left Otter’s lungs. As he bent over, trying to catch his breath, the redhead dug in his jean pockets for the money.

  Suddenly, a pounding thundered up the staircase, and Brett went flying down the steps. The old cabbie stepped onto the stairwell landing. The redhead aimed a punch at the old man, but the driver stepped around it and tossed the freckled teenager down the stairs after Brett.

  He grabbed Samuel’s arm and pulled him away from the denim-clad bully. Then he grabbed Otter’s arm and began running down the staircase with the boys in tow. Down they stumbled, jumping over the groaning hoodlums at the bottom, and out the open door of the abandoned apartments.

  Only then did the cabbie let go of them. “Get in my cab!” he shouted as he waited by the door for any of the thieves to come out. When none dared to show a nose out the door, he loped back to the taxi and got in. He laughed as he put the car in drive and sped away.

  Chapter 12

  Cabbie John

  “I can’t believe it!” Otter held his side and rocked back-and-forth in the backseat. “I can’t believe he lied to us!”

  “Believe it!” Samuel said, shaking with anger. “Right from the beginning it was a scam.”

  “Nobody has used that building in ages. I thought something was up when they wanted to take you there. You boys should be more careful. Where are you from? Up north?” the cabbie asked as he navigated the thickening traffic.

  “How did you know?” Otter gingerly inspected his aching ribs.

  “Ahh. You kids from up north come down here and have no idea what the city is like. You just assume everyone will take care of you, like in your small town back home.” The grizzled man shook his head.

  “Thank you for what you did.” Samuel nodded in appreciation at the man. “One of those guys was a friend of ours. Or…we thought he was a friend.”

  “Well, I couldn’t let those meatheads hurt you.” He looked at Sam. “They call me Cabbie John.” He stuck out a hand.

  “I’m Sam and this is Otter.” Samuel shook the cabbie’s long-fingered paw. “And we can’t believe Brett took us to those…meatheads.”

  “Don’t judge your friend too harshly. People do a lot of stupid things out of desperation. I always say, a guy has got to eat. If a young man can’t feed his family from what happens in the daylight, he’ll get what he needs from the night.” The driver sounded like a professor.

  “Where are we going?” Samuel asked looking
back at his cousin. Otter was leaning against the seat. He held his stomach.

  “I was going to drive you back to the mall, but I’m willing to drive you home.” Cabbie John watched Otter in the mirror. “You should get him home, Sam. A strong punch can damage things on the inside. Especially, if he wasn’t expecting it.”

  “We can’t go back without Atim.” Samuel had no idea how Auntie Sadie would react to a badly bruised Otter and no Chickadee. There was no way he was going to show up without Atim.

  “We haven’t been gone that long; he could still be at the back of the mall.” Otter spoke through gritted teeth.

  Cabbie John drove the boys to where he had picked them up, and sure enough, Atim was still waiting there. After Atim heard the story, and freaked out a little, Cabbie John drove them back to Auntie Sadie’s. He shot a concerned look at Otter in the backseat.

  When they arrived, Atim helped Otter out of the car and into the house.

  Samuel said good-bye to the man who had saved them. “Sorry, I don’t have any money to give you. But we really appreciate all that you did for us.”

  “Ahh.” The long-haired, old man looked at his watch. “I can still catch the tail end of rush hour…if I want to.” Cabbie John gave him a mischievous smile. “But I have to ask. You knew there was something up with your friend Brett and his buddy. Why did you go with them?”

  “I don’t know. Deep down, I guess, I knew. But I thought it was worth it to find out if Brett had really…betrayed us.” Samuel looked at his hands.

  “Well, courage isn’t always smart.” Cabbie John chuckled. “It was instinct that told you something was wrong. You should trust that more.”