Missing on Superstition Mountain by Elise Broach Read Free Book Online Page B

months.”
    They trailed behind her to a carpeted area in the corner of the library, surrounded by tall wooden shelves. The upper ones were arrayed with glossy magazines; the lower ones held stacks of newspapers.
    â€œIs there something you’re looking for?” The librarian fixed her bright eyes and persistent smile on Henry.
    Henry shifted from one foot to the other. “Not really…”
    â€œWe want to learn more about the town,” Simon blurted. “We just moved here.”
    Henry thought the librarian’s gaze sharpened, but her mouth stayed exactly the same. That’s what was so strange, he realized. The expression on her mouth didn’t match her eyes.
    â€œI thought you must be new. I didn’t recognize you. Let me know if I can help you find anything. We have lots of wonderful books for boys your age,” she said pleasantly, and went back to her desk.
    â€œShe’s creepy,” Jack said.
    A man at one of the nearby tables glanced at them. He had round wire-rimmed glasses, and Henry thought he looked smart and serious, like a high school teacher.
    â€œShhh, Jack,” Simon warned. “The librarian will hear you.” He sat cross-legged in front of the shelves, and Henry and Jack squatted beside him.

    Jack asked loudly, “What are we looking for?”
    The man at the table sighed and closed his computer.
    Simon glared at Jack. “You have to WHISPER. It’s a library.”
    â€œOkay,” Jack said, but Henry knew Jack’s whisper was as loud as most people’s regular voices. And the library was so quiet that even small sounds were forcefully distinct—the whirr of the air conditioner, the faint tap of computer keyboards, the creak of shifting chairs.
    Simon handed them each a stack of newspapers, which they carried over to an empty table. Henry spread the first one out in front of him. Large black letters blared across the masthead: SUPERSTITION SENTINEL.
    â€œWhat’s a sentinel?” he asked Simon.
    Simon shrugged. “Just some goofy name for a newspaper.”
    The man began gathering his things, which included large rolls of paper that looked like blueprints. “It means a lookout,” he said. “Or a watchman.”
    â€œLike a guard?” Henry asked.
    The man nodded.
    â€œSee, Jack,” Simon said softly. “He’s leaving because you were too loud.”
    Jack frowned, but the man shook his head in their direction. “No, that’s not it. The internet’s down again.”
    â€œOh,” Simon said. “That happens all the time at our house.” It was one of the peculiarities of their new home that the internet frequently went out, as did the phone service, as did the electricity. “We might as well be living on the frontier,” Mrs. Barker said, when she tried to e-mail something to one of her editors and it wouldn’t go through.
    Jack clambered up on a chair to lean over the newspaper. “What are we looking for?” he demanded.
    â€œSomething bad that happened on the mountain,” Henry said.
    â€œYou won’t find it there,” the man said, hoisting his computer bag over one shoulder.
    The boys looked up, startled.
    â€œYou should check out the local history area.” As he walked away, he gestured to a low bookshelf across the room, beneath a colorful map of Arizona.
    â€œThanks,” Henry said shyly, though he wondered … how could the man be so sure there was nothing in the papers?
    When the man was out of earshot, Simon returned to the newspapers. “He doesn’t know what we’re looking for. Let’s go through these first.”
    Of everything about Simon, it was the thing Henry most envied, how he was always certain he knew best, even when adults disagreed. It had less to do with being smart than being sure, Henry thought, wishing he were more that way himself.
    They began leafing through the newspapers, pages