by John Stone
“You’re not sleeping,” Grace asked?
“You’re not either,” Cindy replied.
“Can I come in?” Grace asked.
“Yes, of course. Come in and sit,” Cindy gestured.
Grace didn’t want to sleep alone that night. She was cold and the memory of the eerie hotel room in that little town gave her chills. Grace was injured, and her mother was angry. What Grace needed now was the warmth of a familiar bed, and an embrace from a loved one. Grace held her sister’s hand and requested, “Can I sleep with you tonight here?”
Cindy seemed overjoyed. Grace knew that there was nothing more Cindy wanted than to spend time with her sister. She believed it may have been the age difference that distanced the sister at times, but Grace knew there was genuine love between them. Cindy seemed very happy. She moved aside to make space for her elder sister. She arranged and fluffed the pillows before asking Grace to climb in. Grace had tears in her eyes, and could only utter a low, “Thank you.” Then, she hugged her sister tight and closed her eyes. Deep down, she hoped changing beds would help to remember the next part of her dream. Yet, Grace didn’t dream anything that night. She slept soundly in the cozy warmth of her sister’s embrace. The bed felt soft and welcomed her and she was lost, never wanting the night to end.
“Wake up! Mom is calling us,” her sister called the next morning. “I have to be at school.”
“You go on. I’ll come along.”
Grace didn’t want to get up, but lazily propped herself from the bed. Cindy agreed and went out first. Grace heard her mother preparing Cindy for school, but she never asked about Grace. It disheartened her, especially since she was still injured. She took a deep, satisfying sigh and laid back down, waiting for Cindy to go to school. Grace decided to have a word with her mother today, because she wasn’t going to get anywhere without her. Hiding away in the room was not one of her traits and she hated herself for that. So, she got up and put on some clean clothes, preparing herself for the big conversation.
“Mother, can we talk,” Grace asked?
“The truth,” Grace’s mother questioned back?
She never once looked up from her paperwork. Grace didn’t know what to say so she bowed her head down. Her mother was so submerged in work, that she didn’t notice the obvious guilt-ridden face of her daughter.
“I lied, but I am doing this for Emily. Mother, you have to trust me on this,” Grace pleaded. “I am not doing anything to harm myself, I swear to you.”
Grace’s mother softened up a little. She reached over and touched her daughter’s injured leg, tenderly stroking the wounded area. “Dear, I cannot imagine you hurt and in trouble, so I have to look after you. You lied to your college, didn’t tell me where you were going, and you kept me in the dark. What if something had happened to you…something worse? You and Cindy are all I have.”
“Mother, please!”
“Just let me know when you think it’s the right time, okay?”
Grace’s mother went back to work. The conversation wasn’t over and Grace intended to go on. “Mother, I need to go back to college and I want to leave first thing tomorrow morning,” Grace requested.
“But your leg, dear, it hasn’t recovered and you are still limping.” Grace’s mother refused her request, shaking her head absent-mindedly.
“But Mother, I think I can manage it. These are just a few scratches and they are not even hurting anymore,” Grace said. She stammered and protested, but she wasn’t able to fool her mother.
“Dear, you are not that good a liar,” she shot back. “Try as you might, but I will not listen to you until you are fully recovered. I spoke with your college the other day and I have informed them you will not be going back until you can at least walk properly and eat healthy again.”
Grace had to go back, but she couldn’t violate the conditions set forth by her mother. “But then, I will miss a whole lot of classes. What about them?” Grace tried to persuade her mother one last time.
“What about them? You should have remembered them before taking off without telling anyone. You must have had classes that you missed then, as well.”
Grace’s mother seemed determined not to allow her back to college until she was convinced that she was fit to go back again. Grace knew she wasn’t, but that didn’t change the fact that she wanted to talk to Emily. No amount of reasoning would convince Grace’s mother to allow her back on campus. Grace knew that it was a kind of punishment and she had no other option than to endure it. She would have to accept her fate and wait for her legs to heal.
She eased herself back to her bedroom and landed on the bed. While sitting through the entire day in the emptiness of her room, she had all sorts of thoughts going through her mind. Grace wanted to contact Emily. She wanted to know what had happened at school while she was gone, but contacting her friend and telling her what she knew might not be so easy. She knew Emily very well and knew how perplexed she was the day that Grace left her alone in the room. She was probably still upset about it, and now she was unable to go back. In desperation, Grace threw her notebook down on the floor. When it opened, the pieces of paper she had photocopied from the town library fell out of it. Grace picked them up, and started to go through them. Things were getting clearer to Grace now and she had no doubt about who sent the parcel to their dorm room a week earlier. Grace clutched the papers between her tightly clenched fists and went through them over and over again. Then, she took a deep breath and folded them neatly once more. She hid them in her drawer and locked it, hiding the key under her mattress. She couldn’t tell her mother this part, not yet at least.
Chapter 6
Meanwhile, back at Elmhurst College, Emily was still trying to cope with the recent events on campus and her friend’s unexplained absence. One week seemed like a year. It wasn’t easy being friends with Jamie and a part of her felt like she was trying to replace Grace. As she was seen with her more often now, students started talking about that, as well.
Thus, Emily submerged herself more into work. It was Wednesday night and Emily was busy finishing her latest class project. Denise passed on the offer to work together, sighting a mandatory party appearance with her friend. Emily didn’t push the issue; she preferred doing it alone. Although it would take more time to complete the entire assignment, she thought it was better than going back to bed. It was late at night around 10:00 p.m., and Emily was working so much that she missed her dinner.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. When she opened it, she saw Jamie waiting for there for her. Jamie’s face told her that there was something that she wanted to say.
“Come on in. What happened,” Emily asked?
“I have to tell you something and it’s important,” Natalie informed her, and walked inside in a hurry.
“Relax,” Emily said.
“Grace, your friend, do you know where she went or what happened to her?” Jamie questioned between panted breaths.
Emily didn’t focus on the question and asked instead, “Did you run all the way up here?”
“Emily, is that important? Now, tell me where Grace ran off to so suddenly. Did you receive any news from her?” Jamie really wanted to know.
Emily did receive a cryptic message from Grace the other day, but she hid that fact from Jamie. Now she wasn’t sure whether to tell her that or not. “Why do you want to know,” Emily asked?
“Because there’s something I know that you’re not aware of,” Jamie answered back.
“What are you talking about? I told you that she left her phone behind and I’m not able to contact her. That is true,” Emily firmly insisted.
“Did you even try to find out where she was or where she went?” Jamie questioned her again.
“She must have gone to her parents; that’s where she must have been,” Emily offered. That’s what she said, even though deep down Emily was pretty sure that Grace didn’t go back home. Otherwise, she would have never sent her the message. However, she had to
keep up the pretense of not knowing for a while longer.
“I don’t think she was on her way home,” Jamie countered back.
“What do you mean?” Emily knew exactly what Jamie meant, but she pretended not to understand.
“Grace must not tell you everything these days,” Natalie said. Then, she laid down what she knew. “She was going away somewhere else. A junior said he saw her on her way to the outskirts of Elmhurst.”
“What are you saying? Who saw her going there?” Grace asked the questions all at once.
“Slow down,” Natalie urged her. “You’re asking too many questions all at once. Wait, what I’m saying is true, but I don’t know what business Grace has in that little town. Do you think she has a friend living there,” Jamie asked?
“None that I know of,” Emily answered back. “Grace never told me about any of her friends living there. I don’t know,” she said, pausing to get her bearings. “I assumed she was going back to her home.”
Emily expressed her disbelief, but while she uttered these words, she knew exactly why Grace was on her way to Elmhurst. She knew that it had something to do with the delivery of the books or Mr. Gallagher, their criminology professor. Emily let out a breath of air, but remained silent. She looked at Jamie’s face to convince her that she was also in the dark.
“I was asking a few people I know if they have seen Grace on the morning she left, and one of them saw her on her way out. She was getting on the bus to the town. Her family’s house isn’t that way is it,” Jamie questioned.
“No, it’s not,” Emily admitted. “In fact, it’s in the opposite direction.”
“What are you two up to,” Jamie mockingly questioned?
“Jamie, you are not making any sense.”
“Oh, I am making sense all right. Grace didn’t go back to her home yet, she lied about it. She didn’t tell you anything about it? Do you think this has anything to do with the disappearance of the books or that creep Mr. Gallagher?”
“I told you before, she left suddenly and since then I haven’t heard anything from her. She must be coming back in a day or two,” Emily said in an assuring manner.
“How can you be so sure about it?”
“Well, I’m not, but she is my friend and I have confidence in her. She will be back.”
“Very well then,” Natalie was forced to say. “But I think her not going back home and being elsewhere doesn’t seem to bother you much. Let’s just hope she comes back safe then.”
Jamie was about to say something else, but Emily cut in, “It bothers me, but is there anything that I can do at this moment other than to wait for her to come back? Do you have any other solution?”
“You should try calling her at home,’’ Jamie suggested.
“Jamie, no, I can’t do that. You know that she’s not at her house and I don’t want to bother her mother or sister. Besides, what would I tell them? Hi, your daughter’s missing. That is absurd. What are you thinking,” Emily asked?
“We could go to where she went and investigate on our own. That’s not impossible,” Jamie suggested.
“We can’t do that either. We shouldn’t just go out of town without knowing why she went there in the first place.” Emily was having a conflict of ideas with Jamie. Both of them tried to convince each other to accept the other point of view, but neither of them complied.
“I don’t understand you,” Natalie said, shaking her head. “She might be in trouble right now and you can’t risk this much for your friend. Grace is not even my friend, yet I’m willing to go,” Jamie said in a raised voice.
“Don’t you judge our friendship,” Emily shouted out! Then, she tried to calm herself down. “I know what I’m saying sounds wrong. I only think that it’s hasty to run off to where Grace might have gone. We are not even sure if it is true. Some random student claims to have seen Grace on a bus going to Elmhurst; that is the most unbelievable story ever.”
Jamie chuckled a little, and then said, “You know it’s believable. My sources are always right. She was not on her way home, and just like us, she wants to find out the truth, too. Why are you constantly denying it? I fail to understand that.”
“So, that’s what it is to you,” Emily shot back. “You only want to prove how superior your sources are. Well, I’m sure they are great, but I am not going to turn this situation into one of your little games. So please don’t lecture me on my friendship with Grace. How about helping me find out who sent the stupid books and then stole them from me again,” Emily angrily reminded her.
“All right,” Natalie conceded, “but remember that’s not what you wanted me to do in the first place.”
Jamie was not finished, but there was a knock on the door. Both of them turned towards it to see who it could have been at that late hour. It was no one they expected, so both Emily and Jamie stood at the door looking at each other. It was the lady from the dormitory information desk.
Emily spoke first. “Do you have a message for me?”
Mrs. Kiely, the resident advisor, only came around to hand out information or messages to individual students. Emily hadn’t spoken to her a single time in all her years at the college. She never got a call to the dorm. The Internet and mobile network was enough for her to make necessary contacts. So, of all the things she expected, it wasn’t receiving a call at the dorm.
“What’s going on,” Emily asked?
Mrs. Kiely replied back, “Grace, is she your friend?”
“Yes, but why? Has something happened to her,” Emily asked? She couldn’t hide the concern in her voice.
“It will be better if you talk to her mother yourself,” Mrs. Kiely said. “She’s the one who wants to speak to you.”
In the many years of friendship between them, Emily never spoke with Grace’s mother. Grace was the chatty one. She had met Emily’s mother when she came to visit at the university the previous year and had talked over the phone on numerous occasions. Emily somehow always felt that Grace’s mother was reserved on most occasions. So, she never went forward and talked with her.
“She wants to speak with me?” Emily was clearly surprised.
“Yes, and you better hurry because she is on the line,” Mrs. Kiely said while walking away.
“Are you coming with me?” Emily turned back and asked Jamie.
Jamie was right on her heels. Her plan of following Grace to the town of Elmhurst wasn’t accepted by Emily, but she wasn’t going to hold back from expressing her disapproval of the idea. Both of them headed downstairs to receive the call. Jamie decided to stay behind a little bit and listen to the conversation from a distance. Emily didn’t protest.
“Hello, Mrs. Carlson, it's Emily,” she said answering the phone.
“Oh, hello, Emily, are you doing well?” Mrs. Carlson spoke very softly.
Emily saw that Jamie was gesturing something at her, but it was very distracting. Natalie mouthed a few words, indicating that she wanted Emily to ask Mrs. Carlson something. Emily ignored it and tried to concentrate on what was being said to her.
“Mrs. Carlson, you never called me before,” Emily said.
“I know that I never got the opportunity to speak with you, but this is important, because it's about Grace,” Mrs. Carlson said.
“About Grace,” Emily questioned back?
In her mind, she raced back and forth with the thought of what it could possibly be. Emily couldn’t tell her the truth about what she knew, so it was best to just listen. She wanted to deny knowing anything, but then she remembered that Mrs. Carlson hadn’t even said a thing to her.
“Emily, are you still there?” Mrs. Carlson was unsure if Emily was still on the line because she had gone silent.
Emily promptly replied back upon hearing the question. “Yes, Mrs. Carlson, I am here. What is it about Grace that you wanted to ask me?” Emily thought that if she had to, she would tell the truth.
“I never said that I wanted to ask you anything about Grace. I want to tell you somet
hing about her. Do you have the time,” she asked?
Emily’s calculations were wrong, and she couldn’t guess what it was that Mrs. Carlson wanted to tell her. “What is it, Mrs. Carlson?”
“Grace won’t be attending college for a few days. She is not well, more like she is injured and is unfit to walk,” Mrs. Carlson said.
Silence ensued, and Emily repeated the words in her head.
“Grace is at home?” Emily managed to ask a few seconds later.
Mrs. Carlson asked, “Where else is she supposed to be? Of course, she is at home. Grace had a little accident the other day that injured her left leg. She cannot go back to college right now, and she asked me to give this news to you.”
“Can I speak to her?” Emily held her breath waiting for a response.
“No, she is sleeping and I am afraid she requires rest. She was worried about you and asked me tell you that you don’t need to worry about her and she will meet you soon.” Mrs. Carlson waited for Emily to answer back.
However, what Emily couldn’t understand was why Mrs. Carlson didn’t want to give the call to Grace. She accepted what she was saying, and thanked Mrs. Carlson for giving her the message. Then, she placed the receiver down.
Jamie was observing her the whole time and right after the call ended, she jumped in. “What happened? Grace is at home?”
Emily sighed. She told Jamie every detail about the conversation she had with Mrs. Carlson and how Grace had injured herself. “Now what”, Emily queried her. “You said that one of your sources saw her leaving for Elmhurst.”
“What was she up to,” Natalie wondered? “This doesn’t make any sense.” Jamie was confused, but managed not to show it beyond what she had already expressed. “But Mrs. Carlson didn’t give the phone to Grace. Do you think Grace didn’t want to speak to you,” Jamie asked?