some jeans and a T-shirt and went downstairs. It was quiet; there was no smell of anyone having been making breakfast down there. I may be the only one up. And there was her phone, on the table. She grabbed it, speed-dialed Kit’s number.
It rang a couple of times, then someone picked up. “Hello?”
It was Kit’s sister. “Hola, Carmela!”
“‘Ola, Nita,” said Carmela, in a somewhat odd voice—she had her mouth full. There was a pause while she swallowed. “Sorry, you missed him; he’s not here.”
“Where’d he go, do you know?”
“Nope. He left a note on the fridge; must’ve been early… said he was going out to do some wizard thing and he’d be back later.”
“Today, you think?”
“Oh yeah, today. If he was gonna be gone longer than tonight, he sure would have told Pop and Mama, and they would’ve screamed, and I would’ve heard it.”
Nita had to chuckle. “Okay, Mela. If he comes in, tell him I called?”
“Sure, Neets. No problem.”
“Thanks. Bye-bye.”
“Byeeee…”
Nita hung up and shoved her phone into her pocket. He’s out on errantry. But where? I should have been able to find him. It shouldn’t matter if he was on the Moon, or even halfway out of the galaxy. His manual still would’ve taken the message. It’s not like the manuals care about distance or lightspeed.
After a few moments Nita went back upstairs to see what her manual might be showing. The last page still hadn’t changed.
I don’t believe this , Nita thought. I ought to call Tom and Carl and see what they say. Where is he that the manual can’t find him?!
She picked up the manual and pulled out her phone again, then paused as she realized she’d have to Tom and Carl what had been going on. She was too embarrassed.
But where was Kit?
Down the hall Dairine’s door opened, and her sister wandered down past Nita’s door in the direction of the bathroom, wearing nothing but a huge Fordham T-shirt of their dad’s. She looked at Nita vaguely. “What’s for breakfast?”
“Confusion,” Nita said, rather sourly.
“What?”
“Nothing yet. Nobody’s up. And I can’t find Kit.”
Dairine stopped and stared at her, pushing the hair out of her eyes and yawning. “Why? Where is he?”
“Somewhere the manual can’t find him.”
“ What? ”
“Look at this!” Nita was concerned enough to show Dairine her manual, even though it meant she would see the messages above the strange new notification. Dairine looked at the back page and shook her head.
“Never seen that before,” she said. “You sure it’s not a malfunction or something?”
Nita snorted. “Have you ever seen a manual malfunction?”
“I have to admit,” Dairine said slowly, “if I did, I’d get real worried, considering What powers them. Come on, let’s see if mine’s doing the same thing.”
Nita followed Dairine to her room and glanced at where the pile of stuff from yesterday had mostly been dumped on the floor. “You’d better take care of this before Mom gets up,” Nita said. “She’ll have some new and never-before-seen species of cow.”
“Plenty of time for that,” Dairine said, going over to her bed and knocking one knuckle on the case of the black laptop cuddled down beside her pillow. “She was up till half past forever last night with Dad’s stuff. Spot?”
Spot sprouted his legs again, stretching them one after another like a centipede that thought it was a cat. “Morning,” Dairine said.
“ Mrng ,” said the laptop in a small scratchy voice.
“Manual functions?”
“ Spcfy .”
“Messaging,” Dairine said.
The laptop popped open its lid, and its screen flickered on, showing the usual apple-without-the-bite logo, then blanking down again. A moment later the operating system herald faded into view, a stylized representation of a white book open to a small block of text. This was then replaced by a messaging menu, overlaid on a shimmering blue background subtly watermarked with
It rang a couple of times, then someone picked up. “Hello?”
It was Kit’s sister. “Hola, Carmela!”
“‘Ola, Nita,” said Carmela, in a somewhat odd voice—she had her mouth full. There was a pause while she swallowed. “Sorry, you missed him; he’s not here.”
“Where’d he go, do you know?”
“Nope. He left a note on the fridge; must’ve been early… said he was going out to do some wizard thing and he’d be back later.”
“Today, you think?”
“Oh yeah, today. If he was gonna be gone longer than tonight, he sure would have told Pop and Mama, and they would’ve screamed, and I would’ve heard it.”
Nita had to chuckle. “Okay, Mela. If he comes in, tell him I called?”
“Sure, Neets. No problem.”
“Thanks. Bye-bye.”
“Byeeee…”
Nita hung up and shoved her phone into her pocket. He’s out on errantry. But where? I should have been able to find him. It shouldn’t matter if he was on the Moon, or even halfway out of the galaxy. His manual still would’ve taken the message. It’s not like the manuals care about distance or lightspeed.
After a few moments Nita went back upstairs to see what her manual might be showing. The last page still hadn’t changed.
I don’t believe this , Nita thought. I ought to call Tom and Carl and see what they say. Where is he that the manual can’t find him?!
She picked up the manual and pulled out her phone again, then paused as she realized she’d have to Tom and Carl what had been going on. She was too embarrassed.
But where was Kit?
Down the hall Dairine’s door opened, and her sister wandered down past Nita’s door in the direction of the bathroom, wearing nothing but a huge Fordham T-shirt of their dad’s. She looked at Nita vaguely. “What’s for breakfast?”
“Confusion,” Nita said, rather sourly.
“What?”
“Nothing yet. Nobody’s up. And I can’t find Kit.”
Dairine stopped and stared at her, pushing the hair out of her eyes and yawning. “Why? Where is he?”
“Somewhere the manual can’t find him.”
“ What? ”
“Look at this!” Nita was concerned enough to show Dairine her manual, even though it meant she would see the messages above the strange new notification. Dairine looked at the back page and shook her head.
“Never seen that before,” she said. “You sure it’s not a malfunction or something?”
Nita snorted. “Have you ever seen a manual malfunction?”
“I have to admit,” Dairine said slowly, “if I did, I’d get real worried, considering What powers them. Come on, let’s see if mine’s doing the same thing.”
Nita followed Dairine to her room and glanced at where the pile of stuff from yesterday had mostly been dumped on the floor. “You’d better take care of this before Mom gets up,” Nita said. “She’ll have some new and never-before-seen species of cow.”
“Plenty of time for that,” Dairine said, going over to her bed and knocking one knuckle on the case of the black laptop cuddled down beside her pillow. “She was up till half past forever last night with Dad’s stuff. Spot?”
Spot sprouted his legs again, stretching them one after another like a centipede that thought it was a cat. “Morning,” Dairine said.
“ Mrng ,” said the laptop in a small scratchy voice.
“Manual functions?”
“ Spcfy .”
“Messaging,” Dairine said.
The laptop popped open its lid, and its screen flickered on, showing the usual apple-without-the-bite logo, then blanking down again. A moment later the operating system herald faded into view, a stylized representation of a white book open to a small block of text. This was then replaced by a messaging menu, overlaid on a shimmering blue background subtly watermarked with
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