Moondust - Chapter 7

 

Chapter 7

 

It was nearing afternoon and Iris knew they would have to head back. They got their bikes and rode slowly back into town. Neither of them spoke and Iris wondered if Matt suspected her. She knew she was keeping something big from him and now it felt like every time they were together she had to work hard to not tell him. It made her feel so guilty she was sure he could tell at times.

“Do you think your dad will help us?” Iris finally asked.

Matt shook his head. “Nope. Not at all.” 

Iris’s eyes grew wide. “You said-“

“I know. I have a plan.”

Iris frowned. “What’s your master plan?”

“I use his computer to play games sometime. I think I can get into the database.”

“You think?”

“You got a better idea? There’s no way he’s going to tell me someone’s name if he thinks we’re going to run off talking to strangers.”

“True point.” Iris said, nodding. 

“Let’s go.” Matt made a turn at the next street. Iris knew he was headed for the police station. It was closer than their neighborhood, and the only one in town. The police station was an old building. It was built when the town of Sparks was founded. The original building was made of thick stone blocks, but as the town grew the station was added on to. This made it a mix of 1800s architecture with an ugly cement rectangle addition attached to the back. Matt and Iris pushed through the big doors at the front. 

“What are we going to tell your dad?” Iris whispered as they walked.

“I dunno yet. Let me think.” Matt replied. Iris nervously looked around as they walked. She wasn’t afraid of police in general, but she was worried about getting caught without a good reason to be here. What would she say if someone stopped them?  Matt didn’t seem worried at all. How was she going to be a good UFO investigator if she worried about everything so much? She asked herself.

They made it to Matt’s father’s workstation. He wasn’t there.

“What now?” Iris asked.

“Just a sec.” Matt sat down at the computer. Iris kept a nervous watch while Matt put the password in. He began searching the desktop, then the programs. Officers and other staff didn’t pay them any attention. They knew Matt, even if his father wasn’t there. Then, someone looked right at Iris. They locked eyes and she looked down quickly.

Please don’t come over here. Please. Please.

The man began to head in their direction. 

“Someone’s coming.” Iris breathed. 

“Hold on a sec.” Matt continued to scroll though file names.

Iris rubbed the metal scrap in her pocket nervously. She kept it with her, not sure if she should tell Jam about it yet. It was from a Folum ship, and Jam was also Folum. She took a deep breath. She hated how afraid she was. She hated how Matt seemed not to be worried at all. Iris knew if the man came any closer he would see the computer screen. She felt herself freeze up. It was the worst thing that could happen. She knew she should step in front of Matt. She should talk to the man, stall him if possible, but she couldn’t move. It always happened when she was scared. She hated it.

“Hey.” The man called to them, staring down at the screen. “Catching up on some solitaire?” He asked Matt.

“Yeah, you haven’t seen my dad, have you?”

“He’s on patrol now. Thought you would know that.”

“Oh, geez, right. My days get mixed up in the summer.”

The man smiled. “Right, no school to keep you straight.”

Iris listened, glad Matt was able to take control where she wasn’t, but still angry at herself. She snuck a glance at the screen. It was filled with the familiar green playing board and neat stacks of poker cards. She breathed a silent sigh of relief. 

“We better go then.” Matt said. He moved the mouse to close the app, but paused. “Thank you, Jun.”

“Don’t mention it. You kids need to make the most of your summer anyway.” The man nodded and walked away. After he was gone, Matt closed the game. Behind the game was the missing persons and a list of contacts. 

“There’s only one person here who isn’t family or a supervisor.” Matt pointed to the name on the list.

“Jaime King.” Iris whispered. She memorized the name and phone number.

 

Matt and Iris rushed from the police station. Iris nearly jumped out of her skin when a horn honked from the road. Tyler waved from his camper. Matt waved back and they ran over to join him. 

“Jamie King.” Iris said, stepping into the RV. She gave Tyler the number. Tyler hesitated.

“What’s wrong?”

“Sorry, I don’t really do phone calls.”

“What?” Matt and Iris looked genuinely confused.

“I don’t know, I’m just not good with strangers.”

“Let me have your phone, I’ll do it.” Iris called the number and after a short conversation she hung up. “We can meet her at the park on Spring Avenue.” 

Tyler followed Matt and Iris on their bikes to the park. They looked around. The park was a popular hangout, especially during the summer. Kids played on every surface available, whether it was one of the many playing fields, the lower branches of trees, or the large playground the city installed a few years back.  Matt nudged Iris. He was looking at a middle-aged woman sitting by herself on one of the park benches. The hot sun glistened off her shiny black hair and sunglasses. She wore a yellow sun dress that showed off her dark complexion. Iris noticed something clutched tightly in her hands.

Iris didn’t bother to wait for Tyler who was parking his camper. She walked over to the woman.

“Hello? Are you Jamie?”

The woman looked at her in surprise. 

“You’re not the one who called me.”

“No, I’m Iris. We’re all together.” Tyler came jogging up behind them.

“I’m Matt, this is Tyler.” They introduced themselves. 

“Yes, I’m Jamie. I don’t like talking about what happened, but you don’t have any cameras or anything.” Although she was wearing sunglasses, Iris could sense he looking at each of them.

“Sorry, I understand it can be hard. Let me start by saying that we want to know because we believe other people are being abducted. We’re not here to ridicule or judge you.” Tyler said. He talked to people all the time who didn’t want to talk because of all the bullying they got. It’s easy to make fun of someone who says they were abducted or even just claimed to have seen a UFO.

“It’s not so much about me, I just wish they would stop doubting her.” With that, Jamie held out the object in her hand. It was a book. 

“Is this-“ Tyler stopped short, eyes fixed on the book.”

“It’s her journal.” 

“Elsie’s journal?”

“She gave it to me before she left. You know most people think she’s living in Russia, that she went there to get away from her family or an abusive relationship.”

“What do you think?” Iris asked.

“I know she isn’t there. I know there was no one abusing her in her life except at night when no one else was there.” Jamie handed the journal over to Iris. “You won’t find anything definitive in there, but I can tell you that something was going on.”

“How do you know?” Matt asked.

“One night when things were really bad, she came to my house to stay over. She said that she just couldn’t go home. She was afraid of sleeping alone. I was ready to call the cops. I thought for sure someone was stalking her or something. So, I let her come over. I live on the fourth floor, mind you. I was up in the living room all night and I swear I heard her up talking to someone. There was a light coming from under the door, blue, not the lightbulb. She was chatting with someone in the room.”

“Could she have been on the phone?”

Jaime looked straight at Tyler. “I heard him speak back. I heard him get up and walk around. Then there was a flash of light and when I went in to check on her, she was asleep! In her bed!” Jaime’s voice was getting louder. She calmed back down before continuing. “Look, I don’t know what all happened, but I know she was involved in something she couldn’t get out of. I agreed to meet with you because I needed someone to give this too, someone who would treat it right.” She motioned to the book in Iris’s hands. “You guys might be kids, but that may be the very reason I feel like I can trust you. You guys are in this because you want to be. You are looking for the truth, not just a hot story.”

“We’ll do our best.” Iris reassured her. 

 

The group said their goodbyes with plans to meet up again at the fishing hole the next day. Iris had the journal. She knew what she needed to do. Instead of turning down her street, she made the turn out of town towards the old cabin. She needed to show Jam and Phina. Doubt struck the back of her mind again. Should she tell Jam? He was gone when she found that piece of Folum metal. It seemed like an odd coincidence, but how many Folums were near Sparks anyway? Maybe she could just tell Phina. Either way, she needed to get the latest information from them. It would be so much easier if she could tell Matt about everything. She couldn’t do it on her own, not like Petra. Petra could come up with a solution for anything. She was a brilliant student, and her mother was always praising her older sister. Iris found it difficult just to sit though class without passing out from boredom, she couldn’t find the solution without painful thought and lost time. 

Iris pushed her negative thoughts away as she rode faster. That wouldn’t help right now. She had to figure out on her own if Jam was trustworthy. The cabin was a dark splotch against the forest in the dim light of evening. Iris hopped off her bike and heard a crunch behind her. She spun around to see Matt. He had followed her the entire way.

“So you have been coming back here.” Matt looked angry.

“Matt!” Iris almost shouted in surprise. He didn’t respond, he looked like he was trying to hold back his anger.

“Sorry, I’m sorry. I have been coming out here. I should have told you.”

“You’re not in any trouble?”

“No.” She looked at him puzzled.

“No gangs or thugs?”

Iris wanted to laugh out loud, but she restrained herself. “No, not at all. No one lives here except Bast.” 

“Bast?”

“The cat.”

Matt remembered the black cat from the first time they had come. He breathed a sigh of relief.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“I wasn’t worried!” Matt responded quickly. “Just looking out for you.”

“Well, I guess we can go in. No use reading this thing out here.” She held up the journal.

Matt pushed open the door. Bast was strangely missing. 

“This place is a dump.” Matt said, looking around.

“It’s just dusty.” Iris followed him in, then stopped. Her mouth dropped. The whole cabin had been turned upside-down. Furniture was overturned, old hunting magazines were all over the floor, everything from the shelves and cabinets had been emptied, and dust had been blown around everywhere.   

“What happened?”

“Looks like someone was looking for something.” Matt observed. “It was methodical. See, there is nothing on any surface, and everything that was on the floor has been moved to another spot, everything. Someone was searching for a secret compartment or an object that might easily be hidden.”

Iris resisted the urge to run to the gun safe in the back room. She made her way there slowly, pretending to look at the mess around her, trying not to give her secret away. The safe in the back of the room was scratched and scraped but closed.  Everything else in the room, including the heavy desk in the corner was in ruin. Iris had the un-nerving desire to go through the doorway and check that the Moondust was untouched. She knew it had to be, the door was closed. She didn’t noticed how dark it was getting until Matt picked up a flashlight from the floor and turned it on.

“Did you leave anything here? Anything anyone would want?” Iris thought of the small scrap of metal in her pocket and shook her head. No one knew about that except Chris. 

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Maybe our investigation is more serious that we thought.” Matt’s voice was almost a whisper. 

“Yeah.” Iris breathed, still looking around. She had no idea what could have lead to this. 

“Let’s come back tomorrow with Tyler. There’s probably a clue somewhere in all of this.”

Iris nodded and they left the cabin. The ride through the woods was oddly silent. There were no birds, no rustling in the bushes, not even a breeze. It all seemed deathly quiet. There was a person. Iris could see someone on the main road ahead.  

Matt and Iris slowed as they approached the road. The figure turned. Pale skin and dark hair, Chris met Iris’s eyes and smiled devilishly. 

“Iris! Hello!” He waved. Matt looked astonished. “Still working on the case of the missing girl?” 

“Oh, that. I guess so.” Iris tried to play it down. She didn’t want to get anyone else involved. Matt didn’t look happy at all. That seemed to please Chris even more.

“So who’s this? Your sidekick?”

“I’m her best friend.” Matt shot back.

“Oh, sorry.” Chris replied in a not-very-sorry voice. 

“What do you want?” Matt demanded. He had had enough of Iris keeping secrets, first it was the cabin, now it was this guy. Why was she talking to him about their investigation anyway?

“I’m helping. I’m interested in the abduction cases too. Which reminds me.” He turned his gaze on Iris. “Your little Folum friend is a lot of trouble.”

“What’s he talking about?” Matt asked.

“I-” Iris paused. She couldn’t tell anyone about Jam. She didn’t know how Chris found out. “I don’t know what he means.” She did her best to side-step the comment.

“Sure, right. You seem to know a lot about things and I don’t seem to be a part of it.” Matt was spitting his words out like fire. He clamped his jaw shut and got on his bike. 

“Matt, wait!” Iris protested, but he was already riding off. Iris tried to follow him, but Chris stopped her.

“Let him go blow off some steam. It won’t do any good to chase him down when he’s mad.” Chris put a hand on her shoulder. “Listen, I’m worried about you. It seems you have a lot on your plate. I want to help.”

“I don’t think there’s anything you can do.” Iris replied. She still didn’t acknowledge she knew anything about Jam or the Moondust.

“Well, let me walk you home. It’s dark. You shouldn’t go alone.”

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