Ellen Under The Stairs by John Stockmyer Read Free Book Online Page A

though what she'd be doing in
that room, he couldn't guess. He used it for storage space. Had
shoved some boxes of junk in there, plus a couple of pieces of his
parents' furniture he hadn't been able to use.
    In the up stairs hall again, looking
past the bedrooms, John saw that the door to the antique bathroom
was open. No Platinia in there.
    All possibilities checked off on
second, John trotted down the stairs, feeling good physically but
beginning to worry. If Platinia wasn't sleeping on the living room
couch ....
    And she wasn't. Nor was she in the
kitchen. Or in John's den.
    Entering the front hall again, John
had a wild thought. Was it possible Platinia had found some way to
use the static electric generator he'd left under the
stairs?
    No.
    The triangular door under the hall
stairs was closed and the catch in its keeper. Since the door could
be fastened from both inside and out, she could be back
there.
    Just to be certain, getting down on
his knees on the hall floor John unlatched the door and looked
inside. .... No tiny girl to be seen.
    Meaning ... no Platinia!
    Latching the wedge-shaped door,
standing, John out of places to look, he felt his heart begin to
skip beats. No need to panic, he told himself. At least, not
yet.
    To settle himself down, John forced
himself to cross the hall. To go into his den. Made himself sit in
his familiar chair. At his familiar desk.
    Something had happened to
Platinia.
    Someone?
    No. He didn't believe anybody had
kidnapped little Platinia. If a stranger had been in the house,
something would be out of place. And nothing was.
    No.
    Platinia had wandered off.
    Wandered off and gotten
lost?
    John couldn't make himself believe
that. There was no way she could lose her way in the scraggly patch
of woods surrounding the house.
    Slowly, deliberately, head in his
hands, elbows on his desk, John reviewed the possible explanations
of Platinia's disappearance. Could come to no other conclusion than
that Platinia had ... run away.
    Run away became she was terrified of
being here!
    But to leave the house knowing she
would enter a world where she lacked the most basic of survival
skills?
    John had only one thought. Phone
Paul.
    And John was up and striding across
the front hall into the living room.
    Sitting quickly on the far end of the
divan, he picked up the phone and dialed his office. If only Paul
.....
    Five rings. ... Six. ... And the
receiver at the other end was picked up. "Paul
Hamilton."
    "Paul, it's John.
    "How 'ya doin'?"
    "Listen Paul, I need to talk to
you."
    "Any time, my son," rumbled Paul,
being fatherly. "But I'm on my way to a meeting with the Dean. I
was already out of the office when I heard the phone. Had a devil
of a time getting my key out and the door unlocked. Figured I'd get
to the receiver just as the other party hung up."
    "It's about Platinia."
    "Platinia?" Paul sounded less harried;
and more interested.
    "She's ... missing."
    "What does that mean?
    "It means what it says. She's run
off."
    "Where?"
    "I don't know. And the worst of it is,
she wouldn't know, either. She's scared. Scared of this world.
Scared in general."
    "Right."
    "And I don't know what to do. I have
no idea how to go about finding her. I can't even call the police.
What would I tell them? Officially, she doesn't exist in our world.
She doesn't' have a birth certificate. No security card. No ...
past. She might not even have fingerprints, for all I
know."
    "It's a problem."
    "I just found out. So I haven't done
anything. Except to call you."
    "I've got to go to this meeting. But
it won't last long. Or if it does, I can duck out early. I'll use
the slumber time to think of something, don't worry. Meanwhile, my
advice is to do nothing. Because there's nothing you can
do."
    "I ... guess."
    "You're emotionally involved in this,
John. Trust your old chairman on this one."
    "I ... OK."
    "I've got your word?"
    "Yeah."
    "All right. I'll go to the meeting.
But I'll be thinking about what to do, so sit tight.