Lost in a Book
an excerpt

Chapter 1
The headline for the Sunday paper read: “Daughter of Famous Author Still Missing.” News shows aired segments of search teams scouring the woods around Earlham College. Bloggers debated her whereabouts and conspiracy theories began to arise. Some said she was being held ransom by those offended by her father’s books. Others said she ran away because of her mother’s instability. Still others said it was just a publicity stunt set-up by the publishing company. The truth of the matter was this: Malarie Sutton was missing, but not where they were looking; she was in mortal danger, but not at the hands of real people; and it was only a matter of time before she saw those fatal words: “The End.”

But let’s not begin our story there. Let’s go back to the previous weekend – the last days Malarie was seen. Friday afternoon found her at the public library looking for a book to read. Malarie was tall for her age and slender. She was very active and years of gymnastics and karate training had built her into five feet of muscle. Her long brown hair, with natural touches of blond mixed in, flowed down her shoulders and curled off her back. Her big brown eyes were thoughtful and her smile perfected by braces a few years earlier. She looked over the long row of books, but nothing caught her attention. They were all the same old stories, retold and rehashed a hundred different ways. She would never find the right book, and never please old Mrs. Robinson, the terror of the sixth grade. At least, Malarie had been told she was a terror. Her only personal knowledge of The Terror was a brief meeting on the last day of school when she told those who would be coming to class that they had to read an entire chapter novel over summer vacation and report on it the first day of school.
Malarie couldn’t believe it. Homework during the summer. Even though she liked to read, she didn’t like being forced to do it, especially during the summer. That’s why it was called vacation. She had an inkling to give her report on Teen Magazine, but that wouldn’t make a good first impression and you never wanted to get off on the wrong foot with The Terror. If she didn’t like you, she would keep you in the room to do work while others had recess, or worst of all, she’d call your parents and keep you after school.
Picking out a book might have been easier had Farrah not been with her. Farrah was Malarie’s best friend. She was quite a bit shorter than Malarie and had fluffy blond hair. She often fancied herself as a movie star because she was named after some star her dad was in love with as a boy. Farrah was a lot of fun, except in the library. Then it was obvious that she talked too much. One of the librarians had already told her to keep her voice down. But that didn’t stop her from talking. She just whispered in a voice that seemed louder than what she was doing.
“And then Justin Bradway walked past me and brushed against me.” She giggled. “His arm actually touched mine.” She giggled again, which brought a stare from a passing librarian. The librarian noticed Malarie and smiled that knowing smile at her. They all thought they knew her because her dad’s books were on the shelves.
“Yeah, and now you probably have some skin disease – like psoriasis.” Malarie rolled her eyes and moved to the next shelves. “Now help me out.”
“What’s your problem with Justin? He’s the closest thing we have to a rock star in this town. He’s the captain of the football and basketball teams and he is an all-star baseball player.” She pulled out her BlackBerry and looked at something on the screen. “In fact, he has a game tonight.”
Malarie jerked the BlackBerry from her hand. “You have Justin’s baseball schedule on here?”
Farrah jerked it back. “Among other things. It’s like a hobby.”
“It’s called stalking.”
“I’m twelve years old. It’s called a crush.”
“A crush is stopping and smiling at a boy or watching him from across the room. You are so beyond that.”
“I know; it’s a deep crush. You know, people fall deeply in love. Well, I’m deeply in crush.” She sighed up to the ceiling as if she were talking to God.
Malarie shook her head. “You are deeply insane.” Farrah kept on about Justin, but Malarie shut her out and turned her attention back to the books. She wanted to find something to take her mind off the things going on at home. She was at the row of her dad’s books, and while she should take some pride in them because they were a part of her life, she also despised them. People always wanted to compare her to the girl in the stories. If the girl went to Rome, then everyone wanted to know if she went to Rome over the summer. If the girl got sick and fought off some terrible disease, people asked her if she were feeling all right. It was like people didn’t know the difference between the real world and the fictional world that her dad was so good at it. No, he was great, and she loved him so much, even if he was a little strange. Okay, he was a lot strange. He worked all times of the night and slept a lot during the day. He didn’t get out of the house much or mingle with other people. He was probably clinically a schizophrenic, at least that’s what her mom said. But because he was a famous artist he was just considered eccentric. Malarie wasn’t sure which was true, but she really didn’t care. He was her dad and she loved him. But back to the books, there was nothing she wanted to read.
Suddenly, an elderly librarian appeared from around the shelf. Her looks were a little unsettling, and Malarie wasn’t sure she had ever seen her before. Her sudden appearance even startled Farrah, who finally shut up. “How’s your father?” she asked in a hoarse voice.
“Okay.”
“We can’t wait for the last book in the Malruth Series.”
Smiling was one of her key character traits, but Malarie was finding it hard to get her mouth to cooperate. There was something she didn’t like about this librarian. “He’s busy at work on it now.”
The librarian lowered her head and whispered. “Is he really going to kill Maruth?”
A lump rose in Malarie’s throat. “No, he would never do that.”
“But isn’t he true he just writes as he sees it happening in his head?”
“That’s what he says. I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been there.”
“Well, I guess we shall see.” She shoved a book in Malarie’s face. “Here’s a book I think you’ll like.”
“What is it?”
She smiled and Malarie was taken back by the woman’s yellow teeth. “A young girl’s adventure.”
Malarie thumbed through the pages and noticed that more than half of the book was blank. She held it up to the librarian, who still smiled. “Oh, that’s nothing. You have to read the beginning of the book to understand what happens at the end.” She shook a bony finger in Malarie’s place. “You should never skim pages. You never knew what important stuff you missed.” Then she walked on and disappeared around the corner.
“Talking about a freak,” Farrah exclaimed, probably a little too loudly. “No wonder librarians never marry. And where did she come from? It’s like she was magic.”
Malarie thumbed the pages again and wondered if she could like a book that was only half finished. But she had nothing to loose and the librarian surely knew what she was talking about. It was worth a try. If it wasn’t very good, she could always read the new issue of Teen Magazine.
The hot, humid air of summer hit them as they walked out the door. Malarie stuffed the book into her large purse, then pulled her bike from the rack. Farrah did the same and the two of them headed down the street in the direction of Malarie’s house. But first they passed the city pool, which had been open for two weeks. They pulled up to the fence to see if any of their friends were there.
“Hey, Hannah!” Farrah screamed, waving her hand.
Hannah, a girl from their class, rose from her tanning position and waved back. Next to Hanna was her sister, Kristi. She was now in junior high and had spent time during the year modeling for summer clothes ads. At least that’s what Hannah had said. Malarie didn’t really believe her, but now that she saw Kristi for the first time in two years, she realized Hannah was probably telling the truth. Along with Kristi were other girls who weren’t as pretty as her, but still beautiful. A group of boys gathered around them, laughing and talking about sports. Kristi saw the girls and ran over to the fence.
“Whatcha doin’?” Kristi asked.
“On our way home,” Malarie replied.
“Who are the hot boys?” Farrah asked.
“Those creeps are some of my sister’s friends. They just hang around and make stupid jokes all day. They even fart, then laugh about it.”
Malarie and Farrah moaned in disgust. “That’s repugnant,” Farrah said, sticking out her tongue. Malarie and Kristi just stared at her. “What? Ain’t I allowed to be smart?” They kept looking at her. “All right. I heard it on TV last night and that it was a cool word.”
“Why don’t you two come swimming,” Kristi said. “It’s kind of boring without you two.”
“We’ll see,” Malarie replied, turning her bike away from the fence. “I’ll text you to let you know.”
They left the pool and rode down the road toward the park. The trees along the road were green and in full bloom. The park was a long strip of land along Fall Creek. There were different playgrounds for different ages and bike/walking paths that went in and out of the surrounding woods. They took the path that lead through the cemetery and into Malarie’s neighborhood. It should have been a quick ride home, but it wasn’t with Jack Bennet and the other sixth grade boys from school. They liked to consider themselves a bike gang. They even wore all black clothes and bandannas. Their favorite activity was to terrorize little kids and girls. For some reason they lived to scare and this day would be no different.