with Aunt Cecelia, on the condition that I would get home in time to help with dinner. So, let’s synchronize our watches, like on TV."
"Okay." Claudia checked her Swatch and announced that she was already synchronized with Kristy. The rest of us made sure the time on our watches, matched theirs.
Charlie pulled up at the mall entrance. "I'll drop you off and go park," he said. "I'll catch up to you, wherever you are. I want to help find those kids."
We ran into the mall and gathered near the main escalators. "I've been thinking," I said. "We have to be careful about this search. I mean, we want to find the kids as soon as possible, but we don't want to scare them off. Also, we don't want to make anybody suspicious, especially Mr. Morton."
"That’s right," said Kristy. "Plus, we don't know if anybody else at the mall is working
with him. So we can't assume that anyone is trustworthy."
"We have to work fast, and work quietly," said Jessi. "No problem. Should we split up into teams?"
"That’s a good idea," I replied. "We do have a lot of ground to cover. How about if Claud and I start on the top floor and work our way down, while you and Kristy and Mary Anne work from the main floor up?"
"Okay," said Kristy. "What are we waiting for? Let’s go for it! We can check in with each other at Critters in, say, half an hour?"
The search was on. I felt as if I were in one of those adventure movies in which the hero has to find a bomb within one hour, or else it will blow up the whole city. You know, the kind of movie where they show a dock ticking away the minutes, and you feel more and more tense as the minute hand moves nearer and nearer to midnight? Well, in our case the minute hand was moving nearer to five-thirty. Here's how our search went:
Three-forty: Claud and I headed into the Cheese Outlet, and Mary Anne, Jessi, and Kristy hopped onto the escalator. In the cheese store, Mr. Williams was glad to see us and wanted us to taste some free samples. "We're in kind of a hurry," said Claud. "But thanks."
We glanced around the store, but didn't dare ask Mr. Williams if he had seen the kids. What if he were working with Mr. Morton?
Three-fifty: We checked the upstairs bathrooms. Charlie showed up just in time to look into the men's room. Report: no kids, but some sign of them. Charlie found a comb on the sink in the men's room, and in the women's room I found a towel — the stolen one? — draped over one of the stalls to dry. "We could be right behind them!" I said. "Let’s keep moving."
Four-ten: After searching through Stuff 'n Nonsense, the candy store (I had to drag Claud away from the jelly-bean display), and Soundscapes, we were beginning to feel frustrated. Since the bathrooms, we had seen no sign of the kids.
Four-fifteen: We met up in front of Critters. Nobody else had seen any sign of the kids, either. We decided to re-form our teams and stay on the bottom three floors where we'd spotted the kids most often. Jessi and I went down to the BookCenter, while Claud stopped in at the Artist’s Exchange and Mary Anne visited her boss at Critters. Charlie and Kristy moved ahead to the food court, where we would all meet again in ten minutes.
I cruised up and down the aisles in the BookCenter, peering over displays and checking behind the puppet theatre. "Jessi!" I hissed at one point. I gestured toward a small blonde kid who I could only see from the back. He — or she — was nestled into one of the reading corners with a book. Jessi crept along one of the shelves, trying to remain hidden, until she could check out the kid's face. Just as she looked back at me and shook her head, I felt someone behind me.
"Can I help you girls?" asked Ms. Munro. "Aren't you friends of Mallory's?"
"No — I mean yes — I mean, we are friends, but we don't need any help, thank you," I stammered. "We're, uh, just looking." It wasn't a lie. We were just looking. We weren't looking for books, though.
Four-twenty-five: We met at a
"Okay." Claudia checked her Swatch and announced that she was already synchronized with Kristy. The rest of us made sure the time on our watches, matched theirs.
Charlie pulled up at the mall entrance. "I'll drop you off and go park," he said. "I'll catch up to you, wherever you are. I want to help find those kids."
We ran into the mall and gathered near the main escalators. "I've been thinking," I said. "We have to be careful about this search. I mean, we want to find the kids as soon as possible, but we don't want to scare them off. Also, we don't want to make anybody suspicious, especially Mr. Morton."
"That’s right," said Kristy. "Plus, we don't know if anybody else at the mall is working
with him. So we can't assume that anyone is trustworthy."
"We have to work fast, and work quietly," said Jessi. "No problem. Should we split up into teams?"
"That’s a good idea," I replied. "We do have a lot of ground to cover. How about if Claud and I start on the top floor and work our way down, while you and Kristy and Mary Anne work from the main floor up?"
"Okay," said Kristy. "What are we waiting for? Let’s go for it! We can check in with each other at Critters in, say, half an hour?"
The search was on. I felt as if I were in one of those adventure movies in which the hero has to find a bomb within one hour, or else it will blow up the whole city. You know, the kind of movie where they show a dock ticking away the minutes, and you feel more and more tense as the minute hand moves nearer and nearer to midnight? Well, in our case the minute hand was moving nearer to five-thirty. Here's how our search went:
Three-forty: Claud and I headed into the Cheese Outlet, and Mary Anne, Jessi, and Kristy hopped onto the escalator. In the cheese store, Mr. Williams was glad to see us and wanted us to taste some free samples. "We're in kind of a hurry," said Claud. "But thanks."
We glanced around the store, but didn't dare ask Mr. Williams if he had seen the kids. What if he were working with Mr. Morton?
Three-fifty: We checked the upstairs bathrooms. Charlie showed up just in time to look into the men's room. Report: no kids, but some sign of them. Charlie found a comb on the sink in the men's room, and in the women's room I found a towel — the stolen one? — draped over one of the stalls to dry. "We could be right behind them!" I said. "Let’s keep moving."
Four-ten: After searching through Stuff 'n Nonsense, the candy store (I had to drag Claud away from the jelly-bean display), and Soundscapes, we were beginning to feel frustrated. Since the bathrooms, we had seen no sign of the kids.
Four-fifteen: We met up in front of Critters. Nobody else had seen any sign of the kids, either. We decided to re-form our teams and stay on the bottom three floors where we'd spotted the kids most often. Jessi and I went down to the BookCenter, while Claud stopped in at the Artist’s Exchange and Mary Anne visited her boss at Critters. Charlie and Kristy moved ahead to the food court, where we would all meet again in ten minutes.
I cruised up and down the aisles in the BookCenter, peering over displays and checking behind the puppet theatre. "Jessi!" I hissed at one point. I gestured toward a small blonde kid who I could only see from the back. He — or she — was nestled into one of the reading corners with a book. Jessi crept along one of the shelves, trying to remain hidden, until she could check out the kid's face. Just as she looked back at me and shook her head, I felt someone behind me.
"Can I help you girls?" asked Ms. Munro. "Aren't you friends of Mallory's?"
"No — I mean yes — I mean, we are friends, but we don't need any help, thank you," I stammered. "We're, uh, just looking." It wasn't a lie. We were just looking. We weren't looking for books, though.
Four-twenty-five: We met at a
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