One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf Read Free Book Online Page A

puts the receiver to his ear and then eventually hangs up. He pulls himself up onto the desk, his long legs not quite touching the floor. “Phone isn’t working,” he says. After a minute he reaches into his pocket for his cell phone and punches in three numbers.
    After several tries he finally says, “This is Jason Ellery from the school. Something seems to be going on here.” He listens for a moment. “Yes, everyone in my class is safe and accounted for.” He listens again and then reaches for his grade book that he keeps on his desk. One by one he reads off our names in alphabetical order. My name comes last, I suppose because I joined the class midyear. “Augustine Baker,” he says, and I hear Noah snort back a laugh. “Will Thwaite’s granddaughter.” Again there is silence as he listens. “The classroom phones aren’t working, my cell is about halfway charged.” He pulls the phone from his mouth and says in a loud whisper, “Anyone have their cell phone with them?” No one says anything. We’re supposed to keep our phones in our lockers and not bring them into the classroom with us. Supposedly, some kids were using their phones to look up test answers on the internet and texting during class and the principal banned phones in the classroom. “Come on,” he says more loudly. “We don’t have time for this. Does anyone have their cell phone with them right now?” Three hands slowly go up, including Noah Plum’s. No surprise there. “Make sure they’re turned off and bring them here.”
    “No way,” Noah snorts. “It’s my phone.”
    “Noah, I’m not kidding around here,” Mr. Ellery says sharply. “We don’t know how long we’re going to be stuck in here. The school phones don’t work and we need to conserve the batteries on the phones we do have.”
    “I want to call my mom,” Beth calls out in a soft voice. “Can I call my mom?”
    “Me, too,” someone says, and there is a chorus of me, toos and I find my voice joining in. I want nothing more than to talk to my mother right now. I wouldn’t freeze her out the way I have for the past two months, answering her questions in three words or less. Okay, I guess. I don’t know. Yeah.
    “I can’t stop you, but we could be here for a long time. The 9-1-1 dispatcher knows everyone is okay and will let your folks know. Someone is going to call us back when they have more info.” Mr. Ellery shrugs his shoulders and waits.
    Noah immediately starts punching numbers into his phone and before I can stop myself I whisper loudly, “What an idiot.”
    “Shut up, Augustine, ” he snarls, but snaps the phone shut and sets it next to where Mr. Ellery is sitting. The others with phones do the same.
    “Thanks, guys,” Mr. Ellery says. “You can have them back at any time. For now we just wait.” He pulls himself up onto his desk. He holds a long slim, wooden pointer that he uses to show us capitals of countries none of us will probably ever visit and I wonder if he really thinks that a simple stick can protect us from whatever is out there. But I’m still glad he’s here. Mr. Ellery won’t let anything bad happen to us.

Chapter 11:
Meg
    A s I move back toward the parking lot I see Dorothy Jones, the owner of Knitting and Notions, a local craft shop, and the president of the school board, walking toward me.
    “Hi, Dorothy, I don’t have any info. You’ll have to move back behind the tape.”
    “Please, Meg,” she begs. “I’ll just take a few minutes of your time. It’s important.” I invite her to join me in the cruiser. She walks around to the other side of the car, opens the door and climbs in.
    Dorothy is fiftyish with midnight-black hair that is cut into a severe, chin-length bob and is attractive in an eclectic, trendy way. She normally wears bright red lipstick and artfully ripped jeans and Chuck Taylor tennis shoes, but now her face is bare of any makeup and she has on sweatpants and a thin spring coat. She has resided in