Small as an Elephant - Jennifer Richard Jacobson [46]
He read the label on one of the boxes: Left Bank Books. Maybe the store used to be a bank?
He was about to exit the vault when the light from outside was blocked. The girl from the café was standing three feet away, peering inside. He froze against the wall, hoping she wouldn’t notice him in the shadows.
“Hello?” she called hesitantly.
His breath caught. Could she see him?
“Mrs. Magillicutty?”
That must be the woman who was behind the counter when he came in. So she couldn’t see him! He wanted to exhale in relief, but he was afraid even the slightest movement would give him away.
As the girl continued to peer into the vault, Jack could hear the woman — Mrs. Magillicutty — at the front of the store. Please go away, Jack thought at the girl. Please!
The girl poked her head back outside the vault. “Mrs. M., have you seen —?”
She was going to ask about him! And this would be the first place they’d look. He couldn’t let that happen!
Not knowing what else to do, Jack reached out, grabbed the girl’s wrist, and pulled her into the vault with him.
“Ouch!” the girl cried, and then opened her mouth to yell.
Quickly, Jack pulled the door of the vault shut.
“What’d you do that for?” the girl shouted. “We’re locked in here now, you know. And it’s no use yelling. The Morris twins did that for hours, but no one heard them.”
Jack couldn’t see the girl’s face in the dark, and so he stammered in her general direction. “Y-you were going to turn me in!”
“Of course I was going to turn you in. The whole state of Maine’s looking for you! Your poor grandmother is worried sick.”
He bristled at that but was glad she couldn’t see it. “I can’t let you turn me in,” he said.
“But why? What’d you do?” The girl pulled her cell phone out of her bag and flipped it open. “I’d better get reception in here. I have a test this afternoon.”
Jack couldn’t even remember a time when his biggest worry was some test at school. “I didn’t do anything.”
The girl looked up from the screen. “Then why’d you run away?”
Where would he even start? he wondered. Not that he was actually going to tell this girl anything.
“I can’t believe this. Not even a single bar!” She snapped her phone closed in frustration. “I wonder if Mrs. M. will hear us if we bang on the walls.”
The thought of being discovered sent Jack’s heart racing. “Couldn’t you just pretend you locked yourself in by accident? I mean, when she realizes there’s someone in here? I could hide in the shadows and slip out once the coast was clear.”
“Slip out?” He could hear her sit down on a box. “You’ve got to be kidding. First of all, there’s no telling how long it’ll take for us to be discovered. We could be in here all day! Secondly, when we are discovered, Mrs. M. will be furious, and that’s nothing compared to what will happen if anyone finds out I let you go.”
“But no one would have to know you ever saw me. Like I said, I could just slip —”
“Slip out, I know. But how am I going to explain how I ended up in this vault in the first place without mentioning that I was following you? Besides, if I turn you in, I’ll be a hero. And if I don’t, and someone finds out about it — which they will — I’ll probably be grounded for the rest of eighth grade.”
Jack sat down on a box as well. His legs no longer felt like they could hold him. “Please,” he said. “I know turning me in seems like the right thing to do, but sometimes things aren’t what they seem.”
“Well, why don’t you enlighten me, then?”
“Huh?”
“Convince me that I’m wrong. And everybody who’s out looking for you, everybody in the state of Maine and your grandma and the police — convince me that we’re all wrong, and that you’re better off on your own.”
Jack wrapped his good hand around the plastic elephant in his pocket. All of his instincts were telling him not to trust this strange girl, not to let her get any closer than she already was. But he felt trapped, cornered. What choice did he have, really?
“I don’t even know you. . . .” he began, but he knew he was just stalling.
“Sylvie