Fiona by Meredith Moore Read Free Book Online

all.”
    â€œBut—Albert and I dropped her off this morning. I saw her walk into the building.”
    Mabel points her finger at me. “She’s not answering her mobile, and no one knows where she is. It’s
your
responsibility to make sure she’s where she’s supposed to be. You need to find her. And if she’s hurt because of your negligence, you will find yourself fired immediately.”
    Her voice is nearly shaking with anger. She marches away from me, and I watch her go, my mouth open in shock.
    I try to think. Where would Poppy go? I don’t know anything about this girl. I don’t know if she has a favorite place on campus to escape to or has friends who do this kind of thing.
    I need help. I sprint out to the garage, a separate building several yards from the side of the castle. Albert lives in the apartment above, and I climb the rickety spiral staircase and knock on his front door.
    He opens it, a napkin tucked into his shirt collar and a questioning look on his face.
    â€œPoppy’s missing. She didn’t go to school today,” I say in a rush before he can ask what’s wrong.
    He sighs, as if he’s not entirely surprised. “Where do you think she’s gone?” he asks, pulling the napkin out of his collar and gesturing me out the door.
    â€œI don’t know,” I say, grasping the bannister tightly as I descend. “She couldn’t have gone far from the school, right?”
    â€œUnless she had a friend’s parent drive her someplace. She’s friendly with a couple of other day-student girls.”
    I look back at him as we hurry for the car. He must see the growing horror on my face, because he smiles reassuringly. “Och, lass, I’m sure she’s fine. Not much trouble to get up to in these parts.”
    I can think of plenty of trouble someone could get up to anywhere, but I don’t say anything as we buckle up and head for the school. Poppy’s young and grieving, but she seems pretty smart. I can’t see her shoplifting or smoking a pack of cigarettes or something crazy like that.
    I pick at the cuticle of my left index finger, bouncing my knees as we wend our way through the hills to the school. I can’t keep still. I can’t focus on anything out the window. All I can see is Poppy’s face, the grief and hurt always present underneath the surface. I see her in the back of a stranger’s car, lost in the woods somewhere, her broken body at the bottom of a cliff.
    I tell myself to stop, but the images keep coming.
    I’m out of the car before Albert even comes to a full stop in front of Bardwill, Poppy’s school. It’s two in the afternoon, and all of the girls are still in class. Safe, where they’re supposed to be.
    You’re not going to find her
, I think, and then I freeze. Because my mind did not create that thought. It seemed to come from a voice in my head. A stranger’s voice, like the ones my mother used to complain about, two hands pressed against her temples like she could squeeze them out. It’s the first time I’ve heard a voice that wasn’t my mother’s.
    I close my eyes, straighten my shoulders, and take a deep breath.
It’s just me. Just my thoughts. I’m worried about Poppy, that’s all.
    The guard at the front recognizes me from drop-off, and he takes me to the headmistress’s office while Albert searches the grounds outside the school.
    The hallway that I step into is ornate, beautiful. Nothing like the cold linoleum and buzzing, harsh fluorescent light of my Texas public schools. Paintings and photos of distinguished-looking women line the hallways, their knowing countenances radiating confidence and superiority. I keep my head down as we climb the stairs to the third floor.
    The headmistress’s assistant, a woman with a dark gray bun and a kind smile, ushers me right into the office. “Headmistress Callahan will be with