The Super Spies and the Pied Piper (4 page)

“I'm in the back,” a muffled voice answered. “Come on back toward the pharmacy.”

The group exchanged glances before proceeding to the back of the store.

“Hello, hello, hello,” a pixie of an old woman said as she hurried out from behind the counter.

“Hi.” Sarah smiled. She studied the woman while the rest of the Super Spies greeted her.

She wore a white smock over a blue, cotton blouse. The spritely woman wore her white hair twisted into a neat bun and even though she was old, her brown eyes flashed with vitality. She stood about Sarah's height with a slight bend in her back, giving her a hunched appearance.

“Well… we don't get many youngsters this time of year.” She gave each teen the once over with her intense eyes. Then she touched the blue and white name tag pinned to her chest. “I'm Dottie. What can I do for you kids?”

Sarah stepped forward and held out the photo of her parents. “We're looking for our parents and we were wondering if you'd seen them around town?”

Dottie frowned and took the picture. “Hmmm… can't say that I have, but I've just moved here last week to help my son and his wife. She had a baby just three days ago and I'm filling in where I'm needed you see.” She tapped her chin with one gnarled finger. Her hand trembled — from age? Or was she anxious about something? “They needed help and wouldn't ask, so I made it easy on them and told them I was gettin' on in years and needed to be around family.” She winked at Sarah and returned the picture. “Why don't you stop back in about an hour and ask my son Hank. He's been living here for… oh, I'd say about five years now. He'd know better than me.”

“Thanks, we'll do that,” Sarah said with a smile.

The group turned to leave and Sarah glanced toward the back area of the store. She took in the old fashioned lighting and high ceilings. The wide beams reminded her of a barn and she imagined the musty smell of dusty hay. She spun back toward the old woman. “Was this building a barn at one time?”

“You know.” Dottie frowned and pointed a trembling index finger toward the ceiling. “I think it was. It used to be the stable back in the old days when this town was hopping from the shipping industry. My son and I had a talk about that just the other day.”

“Wow, that's impressive, all that history in this building.” Sarah glanced around again and then waved to the old woman. “We'll be seeing ya.”

“Bye, now.”

The group strolled out of the store and stopped on the sidewalk in front of it.

“We've got an hour to kill, why don't we check out the bakery?” Jackie suggested.

“Good idea.” Sarah nodded. “I could go for a cinnamon roll. Let's see if they sell them in singles.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“I'm kind of hungry, too,” Alex said, flashing a quick grin in Sarah's direction.

Sarah stepped toward the bakery and the rest of the group trailed behind her. Walking past the hardware store, she gazed into the front windows. Rakes and shovels clung to hooks on one wall. A window display featured hammers, wrenches, and screwdrivers beneath a sign that read “home improvement sale.” But the tools didn't interest Sarah, so she turned her head and quickened her pace. The rest of the Super Spies matched her stride.

As she stepped through the door of the bakery a small bell tinkled, signaling to the owner customers had arrived. Sarah stopped and inhaled deeply. The aroma of different breads filled her nostrils. She loved the smell of baking bread; it always seemed to comfort her, much like a cup of hot chocolate warmed her after a day of sledding in the icy coldness of winter.

Sarah stepped forward and found the bakery counter in the back. She examined the baked goods behind the counter, hoping to spot her beloved cinnamon rolls. And there they were! Sarah's mouth watered. The heat lamp cast a golden glow over the sticky-looking buns dripping with white icing.

Behind the counter stood a chubby man waiting patiently for Sarah to make her selection. Everything he wore was white including the little sailor hat sitting on his bald head.

“Hi.” Sarah brushed her hair from her eyes. She dug into her backpack for the wad of bills she had hidden there earlier that day. “I'm going to have one of those cinnamon rolls.”

“Good choice,” the man said around the toothpick wedged between his teeth. He met Sarah's gaze with bright, blue eyes twinkling with amusement. “Haven't seen you kids around these parts before,” he continued as he grabbed a piece of wax paper and proceeded to wrap Sarah's cinnamon roll in it. He moved to the right toward the relic of a cash register sitting at the end of the long counter. “That'll be a buck.”

Sarah stepped forward and handed the man her dollar and accepted the roll. After placing the roll on the counter, she stooped and rummaged around in her backpack again. This time she pulled out the photograph of her parents. “Have you seen these two people around town before?”

The man clamped down on his toothpick and reached for the picture. He furrowed his brow as he studied it. “They look familiar but I can't say where I've seen them.” He handed the photo back to Sarah. “Why are you looking for them? Do they owe you money or something?” He chuckled at his own joke. “You kids aren't from the mob are you?” He placed his hands on the counter and leaned forward and whispered. “You're not loan sharks are you?”

“No,” Sarah said in an exasperated tone. She refrained from rolling her eyes, but it was hard. “They're my parents and they've disappeared and we're trying to find them.”

“Really,” he said in a frosty voice. He stood abruptly and his eyes lost their twinkle and grew wary. He searched the counter and found a pad of paper and a pen. He placed the items in front of Sarah. “Why don't you leave your name and number and I'll call you if I spot them.”

“Cool,” Sarah said as she grabbed the pen and paper.

He turned his attention to the rest of the group. “You kids want anything?”

As Sarah wrote down her information the rest of the group bought their own cinnamon rolls. When everyone had their purchases, the group wandered outside munching on the warm rolls.

“These are to die for,” Jackie stated with a theatrical shake of her head.

“You got that right,” Sarah agreed and took another bite.

They strolled down Main Street, peeking in shop windows as they devoured their treats. Sarah envisioned what the street must have looked like in the olden days, with wooden sidewalks and a dusty dirt road. She imagined the stores were pretty much the same as they were now, just older versions of what she saw today. She stuffed the last bit of her cinnamon roll in her mouth and licked her fingers. She stopped and looked into a novelty shop that sold plaques with witty quotes on them.

Alex grabbed her arm. “Quick, inside the store,” he muttered in a low voice.

Not waiting for an answer he propelled her into the novelty shop and the rest of the Super Spies followed close behind.

Alex put his mouth close to Sarah's ear. She felt his hot breath as he whispered, “pretend you're shopping.” Then he walked past her and feigned preoccupation with the many plaques hanging on the wall.

Perplexed, Sarah followed him. “What's going on?” she asked as she came to a stop beside him.

“There's a weird guy outside, and I think he's following us.” Alex spoke in a hushed tone and out of the corner of his mouth as if he didn't want anyone to know he was talking with her. “Don't look out the window.”

Sarah stepped away from Alex and pretended to browse. Moments later, the tinkle of the chime above the door drew her attention and a swarthy man sauntered inside. Faking interest in one of the plaques, Sarah studied the man out of the corner of her eye.

His coarse, dark hair appeared to be thinning. He had a long thin nose that seemed off center, as if it had been broken once and hadn't healed properly. His face showed scars that were possibly from a severe case of teenage acne that never really went away. The man brushed past Sarah and glanced at her briefly taking her in.

Sarah gasped when she made eye contact with him. There seemed to be something smoldering in his dark eyes, madness maybe? She wasn't sure. She just knew he scared her. Moving out of his way, Sarah took in his bulk. He was gargantuan and his muscles seemed to flex of their own volition.

Taking a few steps away from the man, Sarah bumped into Alex and he whispered in her ear. “That's the guy.”

Sarah spun around and faced him. “Oh sorry, I didn't see you there,” she said in a raised voice, then whispered, “why do you think he's following us?”

“Because, he was behind us out on the street.”

“He could be just some tourist that happened to be on the street the same time we were.”

Alex frowned. “Maybe.” He glanced at the man, who was inspecting some ceramic beer mugs with the town's name written on them. “Let's find out. Let's walk out and see if he follows us.”

Sarah frowned. “Okay.” She strode toward the door and motioned for Jackie to follow her.

Jackie gave her a perplexed look and then trailed behind her.

Alex grabbed Scott and Lacey and headed for the door.

Scott struggled against Alex's grip. “What the—“

“Shh…” Alex whispered.

Scott stopped struggling and gave his friend a perplexed look. “What's going on?”

“I'll tell you more outside,” Alex promised.

Once out on the street the Super Spies huddled together.

“What's going on?” Jackie asked.

“Yeah.” Lacey's mouth was set in an angry line. Sarah could tell she didn't like the rough way she had been propelled out of the store.

Sarah cleared her throat. “That big guy in the store seemed suspicious to Alex. He's afraid he's following us.”

“That's right” Alex agreed as he glanced toward the shop.

“I say we hide somewhere and see if he comes out looking for us,” Jackie said, giving Sarah an intense look.

Sarah popped her thumb into her mouth and glanced at the novelty shop. “Good idea. But how are we going to know if he's looking for us?”

Alex frowned and pursed his lips. “You've got a point.” He cast a worried glance toward the store. “All right, this is what we'll do. We'll split up. You girls get out of sight and Scott and I'll hang out here until he comes out.”

Sarah grabbed his arm. “Excellent idea. Then you guys lose him and we'll start following him.”

“I don't know about you guys following him,” Scott said as he cast a suspicious glance over his shoulder.

“What?” Sarah asked in an exasperated tone.

“He could be dangerous.” Scott frowned and cast another glance toward the novelty shop.

“Do you really think you guys need to follow him?” Lacey asked, twisting the hem of her shirt in her fingers.

Scott put his arm around her and gave her a quick squeeze. “Yes. This guy's up to something and I want to know what it is.”

“Then you guys lose him. And we'll pick up the trail,” Sarah insisted in a voice filled with conviction. She glared at Scott, challenging him to disagree.

“Yeah, we'll walk down the street. You guys hide in one of these doorways and when he starts to follow us, you follow him. Then we'll duck inside one of the stores and lose him and…”

“We'll keep following him and you'll circle around and catch up, right?” Sarah finished.

Alex nodded and then grabbed Scott. “Okay, let's go, dude.”

“Be careful, Scott,” Lacey said with a tremulous smile.

Scott gave her a quick wink. “Don't worry. We'll be fine.” He turned around and followed Alex down the street.

“Let's duck in here,” Sarah said after glancing around for an adequate hiding place.

The remaining Super Spies ducked into a bookstore. Sarah browsed for a moment, reading book jackets and thumbing through some of books. Then she positioned herself at the front of the store where she could look out the window and see any activity on the street.

Taking a deep breath, she took in the scent of the building. It smelled of ancient wood and dusty pages, as if the store and these very books had been here since the eighteen hundreds. Sarah gazed around the store, expecting to find layers of dust and cobwebs on the bookshelves lining the walls. She stepped toward the right side of the shop; the wood beneath her feet creaked, protesting her intrusion. Casting a quick glance out the window, she moved toward the book shelf and quickly grabbed a book on chocolate.
I must
be in the cooking section
.

Dashing back to her previous position, Sarah stood vigilant at the window. She didn't have to wait long before the swarthy man stepped out of the novelty shop and cast a worried look around him. He seemed relieved when he spotted Scott and Alex strolling down the street. He stepped in their direction and started to follow them.

“Psst…” Sarah whispered in Jackie's direction.

Jackie made eye contact with Sarah and then as if reading her mind she grabbed Lacey and whispered, “Come on.”

Lacey stumbled, but stopped herself from falling by grabbing Jackie's arm.

As they drew closer, Sarah whispered, “He's on the move. Let's go.”

The girls stepped out of the shop. Sarah held up her arm, signaling to the others to wait. When the man had travelled enough of a distance, Sarah stepped out of the shadows of the store. Jackie and Lacey followed her.

The girls stayed close to the storefronts, traveling single file. Sarah prayed the notorious man wouldn't turn around.
I'm going to call hi
m the Stalker
, she said to herself.
Yeah, he's a Stalker
.

She moved forward slowly, making sure to keep enough distance between them so she didn't draw the man's attention. He seemed to slow down and then squint into a shop window. Sarah moved quickly and ducked into the entryway of a clothing store. Jackie and Lacey scurried in behind her.