Vanishing Acts

Chapter 17

Found!

The next day, Madison developed a really bad cold just before Hamilton left for work. Hamilton was too distracted to examine his daughter carefully, and as he walked out the door, he told her to drink plenty of tea with honey and stay in bed. She felt guilty about tricking her father, but she thought it was necessary if she was going to solve the mystery of her best friend’s disappearance. Shortly after Hamilton left, Madison dressed and rushed to the stop where she could catch the bus to Prescott-Mather. Safely stowed in her backpack was a picture of Ann posing with Madison at a soccer game.

The bus stopped at the gate to the prep school forty-five minutes after she’d boarded it. Several of the riders were students at the school, and Madison mixed with them as they walked down the lane that led from the gate to the campus. Fishing Ann’s picture out of her backpack, she showed it to some of the kids, but no one recognized Ann.

Students were streaming into class when Madison arrived at a quadrangle made up of a large, open grassy space surrounded by school buildings. She was approaching another girl when she saw a mop of frizzy blond hair out of the corner of her eye. Madison turned around and found herself staring at Ann Beck.

“Ann!”

Her friend stared for a second before sprinting away.

“Wait!” Madison shouted as she took off after Ann.

Ann had always been faster than Madison, and Ann also knew the layout of Prescott-Mather. She rushed around the side of a building and Madison raced after her. When Madison got to the side of the building, Ann was gone. All of the side doors were closed. Racing to the corner, she saw Ann’s heels just before they disappeared again.

The gym was in the direction Ann was headed, and Madison bet that was where she’d find her. There were tons of places to hide in a gym. Madison took a gamble and streaked toward the scene of the scrimmage. She saw a door closing and grabbed the door handle at the last moment.

“Ann, stop!” she yelled as her friend skidded around the corner, using the polished linoleum floor like a skating rink. Madison followed Ann’s lead and glided around the corner just as the door to the girls’ locker room snapped shut. Madison pulled it open and dashed inside seconds before she heard a crash and her friend’s scream. When Madison ran around the end of a row of lockers, she found Ann sprawled on the floor. Next to her was an overturned metal bucket the janitor had left in an aisle.

“Wow, girl, you’re still faster than me,” Madison said, gulping air as she walked toward her friend.

Ann looked miserable. She rolled over, sat up, and put her back against the nearest locker. Madison walked over to her.

“Why did you run? I’ve been frantic looking for you.”

“I’m so sorry,” Ann said. Her head was in her hands and she was near tears.

“Seriously. You’ve been here at Prescott-Mather? Why wouldn’t you just call me?”

Ann looked up. “I was too embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed? To go here?” Madison was confused and angry. “It’s a really good school. I would have cared because we wouldn’t be playing on the same soccer team, but we’re best friends and I’d want what’s best for you. And knowing you’re at a prep school is better than thinking that you’ve been kidnapped or are dead!”

“I didn’t pick this school, okay? It’s not my fault.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just . . . ” Ann’s hands were clenched at her side in frustration. “I’m not just a student here. I’m in boarding school.”

“Huh?”

“My parents are getting a divorce, okay?”

“What?” asked Madison, her anger melting away. “When? And what does that have to do with your being a student here? And in boarding school?” It was a lot for Madison to take in.

Ann sighed. “My parents had been having problems, and you know I went to Europe with my dad this summer.” Madison nodded. “So he ended up getting a job there and just stayed.”

“And your mom?”

“She didn’t want to move to Europe or be with my dad. So they decided to divorce and she had a bit of a midlife crisis. She’s ‘working things out for herself’ or something and living in a meditation/yoga retreat center. She put me here while she sorts things out.”

“I saw your mom in Nordstrom the other day and she ran away from me.”

“Yeah. She comes home some weekends. I needed new clothes, so she ran to the mall before she came to see me.”

“And she looked, well, different,” said Madison thoughtfully.

“She’s ‘finding herself,’ and her new self wears gypsy dresses and doesn’t brush her hair.” Madison giggled and Ann joined in. It felt good to have her friend back. “She ran away from you because I made her swear she wouldn’t tell my friends about Prescott-Mather. She didn’t know what to do when she saw you and she didn’t want to lie, so she took off.”

“Gosh, I’m sorry I upset her.”

“It wasn’t your fault, it was mine,” Ann said.

“I stopped by your house and it looked like no one had been home in a while.”

“Yeah, well, my mom needs to decide whether to stay in the house or move when she gets done with her meditative journey or whatever. I guess she’s too busy with yoga and the retreat center to mow.”

“I thought I saw a light in a second-floor room.”

Ann blushed. “That was me. My mom dropped me off to get some stuff from my room while she went shopping for groceries. I saw you come up the walk and I hid so I wouldn’t have to tell you what I was doing.”

“Why didn’t you tell me all this? I could have helped.”

“I don’t know. At first I felt bad complaining about my family problems when you don’t even have a mom. And then things just got worse and worse and it was too much to tell. I wanted to tell you. I can’t have a cell phone here, dorm rules, and I was going to call during one of my mom’s weekend visits, but after all this time I didn’t know where to start.”

“I wish you had told me. I’m your best friend,” Madison said.

“I know, I was just really embarrassed to tell anyone about my problems, and especially that I’m going to Prescott-Mather after we’d spent so much time making fun of the kids who go here.”

Madison gave Ann a big hug.

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. A lot of our friends’ parents are divorced. I would have helped you through it even if you have to go to a snobby school.”

Ann laughed, but it was a nervous laugh, and Madison could see that her friend was still embarrassed and uncomfortable. Then Ann sobered.

“It sucks that we aren’t playing soccer together,” she said. “I feel like I deserted you. We had all those plans to win a championship. Now I’ll probably be watching you win championships without me.”

“We still can win championships. Just not this year. I’m only an alternate anyway. If your mom moves home, you can go to The Grove. Next year I should be starting, and we can wow everyone together. And there’s always high school.”

“I don’t know if I’ll be any good by then. I’m not playing this year because I was in Europe when they had tryouts.”

“You’re really good, Ann. A year off won’t kill you. You’ll take up where you left off when you decide to play again. And we’ll still be on the club team together this summer.”

Madison wrapped Ann up in another big hug.

“I am so glad I found you!”

“Me too,” Ann said, hugging her back. Madison found herself grinning from ear to ear. One mystery was solved, just one more to go.