21

A Missing Girl

Rap! Rap! Rap!

Maria tossed and turned in the dark cavern of her bedroom.

Rap! Rap! Rap!

The heavy knocks shook the wall, waking Maria up. She opened one eye slowly.

It had to be her mother making that racket.

Maria pulled herself up from her mattress and stretched, glad to have the coats packed away so she could spread out.

“We got a customer!” said Madame Destine through the wall. The trot of heels echoed through the apartment until the front door slowly creaked open.

Maria wiped the sleep from her eyes and shook her head. Had she really gotten in a fight with Sebastian two weeks ago? She’d gone straight to her closet the night of their fight, beating her mother home by an hour. Maria had debated knocking on Sebastian’s door, apologizing, and telling him everything. But something wouldn’t let her do it, and with each passing day, the pain of not seeing him grew worse. A few clients had visited Madame Destine after seeing the flyers, which had kept her family from moving as they tried to gather funds for the road.

Maria placed one groggy eye against the hole that looked into the parlor. She could just make out her mom blocking the front door.

“I’m sorry to trouble you,” said the voice at the door.

“Go on,” said Madame Destine.

“I’m looking for a girl. She may have lived here. I’m hoping that I can find—”

“Step right in, my dear, step right into this parlor, and I’ll produce the girl you speak of!” Madame Destine said with a bow. “For twenty dollars, I can supply all the answers!”

The lady hesitated before she walked in, her tiny figure and mass of curly hair backlit by the glow from outside. “I’m not sure I know what you mean,” she told Madame Destine. The figure looked familiar to Maria, but she couldn’t make out the details with her in silhouette.

“Come!” Madame Destine motioned for the lady to enter the parlor. “Have a seat! I, the great Madame Destine, will settle this matter for you!”

The tiny woman stepped into the parlor. Madame Destine pressed her hands on the woman’s shoulders and drove her into the foldout chair. Once she was seated, the light from the window fell across the lady’s face.

Maria gasped. It was Ms. Madigan!

But what was she doing in her house speaking to her mother? Surely she wasn’t there to have a permission slip signed. Maria tried to swallow, but she couldn’t. Then she broke into a sweat. There was nothing she could say or do behind the wall but watch with her eye glued to the hole.

“Now I need to visualize this lost girl,” said Madame Destine.

“LOST GIRL! LOST GIRL!” echoed Houdini.

Madame Destine hit the cage hard. “Knock it off!” Feathers flew about the room, and Houdini went back to pecking at his seeds.

Maria’s mother fanned herself to keep her composure. Then, in a gentler voice, she asked, “What’s her age?”

“Shouldn’t you know?” replied Ms. Madigan in a sharp tone. “I suspect she’s ten or eleven. Brown eyes, curly hair. Skinny as a rail. Sweet as can be. You should know the age of your own—”

“SHHH! Don’t tell me!” Madame Destine said. “I’m starting to visualize her!” Madame Destine’s eyes opened wide, her irises becoming islands surrounded by white. “I need absolute silence!”

Ms. Madigan cleared her throat and began to tap impatiently.

Maria took a deep breath. She glanced around her room. Should she stay and continue this charade, or should she warn her mom? It was clear that she was the girl Ms. Madigan was looking for. Why her mother was unaware of this was beyond her. But then her mom had posted those flyers everywhere a couple of weeks ago.

Maria closed her eyes and waited for the familiar tingle against the back of her neck.

Nothing.

Maria sighed. Then she pressed her eye back against the hole and listened.

“Spirits of the next world. Tell me, oh, tell me where this girl may be!” Madame Destine said. “A young woman wishes to be reconnected with her!” Madame Destine shook and rattled her bracelets as she pretended to be possessed by a spirit.

This was not good. Not good at all, Maria thought.

“Honestly, Ms. Destine, I just need to know if she’s here or if she’s safe—”

Madame Destine grabbed Ms. Madigan’s arm and pulled. “SHHHHHH!” she said. “She’s here!”

Maria didn’t know if she should turn on the fan. The loud clang of pipes beat through the apartment, and Mr. Fox’s moans rang painfully in her ears. What was the point of continuing with this act? Ms. Madigan was not a gullible widow. She already suspected her mother of being involved with a fake nonprofit.

Ms. Madigan tapped her fingers on the table. “If she’s here, I need to speak with her.”

Houdini beat his wings in the cage.

Slowly, Madame Destine brought her head up from the table; her eyes rolled back in her head.

In a high-pitched voice, she said, “I’m here! It’s so cooooold where I am now!”

Ms. Madigan lifted an eyebrow. “If this is some sick game, Ms. Destine, I’ll have you know—”

“It’s no game, Mommy. I’m here!”

Maria gritted her teeth. There was no way they would be staying in her apartment tonight. Within the hour, Ms. Madigan would send her family packing. Goodbye, Mrs. Fisher! Goodbye, Sebastian!

In a low and controlled voice, Ms. Madigan said, “I thought I’d seen it all until now!” She hopped off her chair and fumed. “I’m looking for your daughter, Ms. Destine! Is Maria here?”

Madame Destine’s mouth fell open, and her eyes focused back on Ms. Madigan. “What?” she said.

“I’m here to find Maria Russo. I assume that you ARE her mother.”

Madame Destine said nothing. She shook in silence.

“I’ve been calling your number, which was supposed to be a nonprofit, but after some research, I realized that, like this psychic act you’re pulling, it’s all a scam!”

Madame Destine looked worse than a teakettle about to steam. Her face was red and flustered. Sweat ran down her forehead; the black curls fell from her turban. Finally, she exploded, “Get out! Get out of my home!” She pushed Ms. Madigan so hard her back hit the wall.

The librarian stumbled. Then she straightened her posture and took deliberate steps to the door. In a shaky voice, she said, “I’ll return for your daughter, Destine. But I’ll be bringing Child Protection with me!”

Maria glanced at her mattress. The lump in her bed told her Sebastian was only a short distance away. She needed help, and she needed it now. Quickly, she dug under the bed for the walkie-talkie and turned up the volume. “Sebastian!” she called. “Are you there?”

“Get out of my hoooooooome!” Maria’s mother screamed through the wall. There was a loud crash. Then the pipes clanged and echoed loudly through the apartment as soft moans from Mr. Fox wailed from the kitchen.

“SEBASTIAN! ARE YOU THERE?” screamed Maria into the walkie-talkie.

Madame Destine’s steps beat across the floorboards.

“Never in all my life have I seen such deception!” said Ms. Madigan.

“GET OUT OF MY HOME!” barked Madame Destine.

“Sebastian!” screamed Maria. “Answer me, please! I’m sorry!”

The clangs of the pipes died down, and the moans became soft whispers.

The front door slammed shut.

“OUT OF MY HOME!” echoed Houdini from his cage. “OUT OF MY HOME!”

Maria dropped her walkie-talkie on her bed and threw on her hoodie.

She burst through the door of her mother’s closet and jumped onto the queen-size bed. The bedsprings grumbled as she crawled across it before she pulled the curtains away from the window. Then she used all her strength to pry open her mother’s bedroom window.

“MAAAARIA!” shrieked her mother from the other room.

“MAAAARIA! MAAAARIA!” echoed Houdini.

Maria pulled half of herself out the window, the wind stinging her face and sending a chill through her. But her feet kicked back and forth inside the warm bedroom.

“Maria!!!!”

Maria pulled the rest of herself through the window. Then she jumped and caught hold of the bottom of the ladder of the rusty fire escape and pulled herself up.

“Maaaaaaaaria!” boomed her mother, her footsteps growing louder like an approaching thunderstorm.

Maria grabbed hold of the ladder and tried not to look down.

The fire escape swung a little in the wind, so she placed one foot ahead of the other and willed herself up the rungs.

The cool wind howled, drowning out her mother’s screams inside. The fire escape clanged and moaned with her every step.

“Maria! Where are you?” screamed her mother from inside. “You double-crosser!”

“MARIA! MARIA!” echoed the parrot.

The noises grew faint as Maria reached the third story of the brownstone and beat on Sebastian’s window.

“Sebastian!” she said. “I’m sorry about everything! I’ll explain. Just let me in!”

The wind sent a shiver down Maria’s spine. She stared at her blurry reflection in Sebastian’s window. He was gone. Maria felt like she was trapped in a box of nails. However she looked at her situation, she was pricked with knowing she was helpless.

But then she saw him, and the pain stopped.

Sebastian held his walkie-talkie and spoke into it.

Maria rapped on the window. “Sebastian! Sebastian!”

He dropped the toy on the floor and rushed to the window. Then he unlocked the latch and pulled up the pane.

Maria scrambled to fit herself through the window. Arms in front, she pulled herself halfway through. Then she reached out for support.

Sebastian grabbed Maria’s hands and pulled her the rest of the way in.

Maria shot through the window and tumbled to the floor.

“Sebastian!” she cried, trying to catch her breath. “I need your help!”