Chapter Four: A Dangerous Foe
“I think we should have her party in the garden,” Star said, sitting down on the grass. “We should work together to paint a banner that says ‘Happy Birthday!’ or something along those lines.”
“We should also have a barbecue,” Sharkell added.
Scazzarda nodded. “Might work.”
The puppies, their parents, Miriam’s mom, Meta Knight, and Scazzarda were suggesting some last-minute touches for Liloy’s party. As they talked, Cloudy kept sneaking glances toward Miriam’s house, hoping Miriam would return early so she could join the discussion.
Waffle frowned. “I don’t know if I want to do a banner or a piñata. I think a piñata would be more fun.”
“Isn’t Liloy a bit too old for a piñata?” asked Yodi.
Scazzarda chuckled and reminded him, “Yodi, you’re never too old for a piñata.”
“Cloudy, what do you think?” Meredith asked.
When there was no reply, Meredith looked up to see Cloudy staring off across the road, her eyes distant. “Cloudy? Cloudy? Cloudy!”
“What?!” Cloudy snapped, then put her paw over her mouth in dismay as she realized who had spoken to her. “I-I mean, yes, ma’am?” she said in a soft, sheepish voice, gazing fearfully at Meredith as though expecting to be punished.
Meredith had to laugh. “Lost in space, huh? I guess we all suffer from the wandering mind disease at one time or another. Anyway, what I asked you was, do you think we should make a banner or a piñata for Liloy?”
Cloudy shrugged. She didn’t really care which one they picked; either one was acceptable. “I don’t know. Why don’t we just try both?”
“Good idea!” Showerstorm said. “But you know, we don’t really have to make the piñata. We can buy one. Now, we can make the banner by hand—or by paw,” he hastened to add, grinning at Cloudy. “It’ll be very colorful and vibrant.”
“Yeah!” Yodi chimed. “It’ll be so radical! We should paint the letters in rainbow colors and add some glitter to it! And maybe we can also add some little plastic flowers and stars! Liloy would really love that!”
“Speaking of Liloy, where is she?” Cloudy asked Meta Knight.
“She went to the Spring Breeze Mall downtown,” Meta Knight answered. “She said she would meet us here in an hour or so after leaving her purchases at her house.”
Cloudy’s eyes widened. “What?! Spring Breeze Mall?!” she blurted. “But that’s where Miriam is!”
Meta Knight was surprised. “Let me guess. . .to buy Liloy a gift.”
Cloudy nodded. “Why did Liloy go?”
Meta Knight shook his head. “In truth, I have no idea. She said she wanted to catch up on some errands, but was being very mysterious about the whole thing.”
Cloudy grinned. “I hope they don’t meet.”
Star cleared her throat meaningfully to bring the two back to the topic at hand. “Ahem,” she said loudly. “I think we should take Yodi’s suggestion on how to make the banner. Who agrees?”
“I do!” hollered Sharkell.
“Me too!” Meredith conceded.
“Me three. I want her to have a wonderful party, especially considering she hasn’t had a decent birthday celebration in five or six years,” said Cloudy.
“How do you know that, darling?” Springtime wondered, seeming shocked by Cloudy’s statement.
“Meta Knight told me the day we had the picnic.”
“I did,” Meta Knight nodded.
Star smiled at her younger sister. “I love the fact that Cloudy is willing to help anyone in need. She truly has a magnanimous spirit.”
Sniper, sitting a few feet away from Star, scoffed and called out, “Are you gonna start using gobbledygook now, Sis?”
Star shot her eldest brother a dirty look. “Why don’t you shut up?”
Sniper rose to his feet, stretched. and peered at Scazzarda’s watch. “Personally, I don’t even know why we’re sitting around yakking about party banners and piñatas and magnanimous spirits. What I’m wondering is, where in Planet Popstar is Miriam? It’s ten minutes past the time she was supposed to come back.”
Meredith instantly began to look worried. “Hmm, you’re right,” she declared, glancing at her own watch. “I hope nothing happened.”
“Maybe it’s nothing,” Sniper said lazily. “Probably her bus just got delayed or something.”
Everyone wanted to believe Sniper. So they waited. And waited and waited. Cloudy was getting restless. Several time she stood up and looked across the deserted road to see if Miriam was home, but saw no sign of her friend. By the time forty minutes had passed, Meredith had had enough.
“All right, now I know something happened to Miriam,” Meredith stormed anxiously. “She should have been back by now. Something happened. I just know it.”
“You know,” Meta Knight began, sounding troubled, “Liloy is late too. But she’s never late. That’s not her.”
“Bruh,” Sniper sighed. “If something did go wrong, it’s your fault. You shouldn’t have let them go alone.”
“Thank you, Mr. Know-It-All!” Meredith retorted. “I hadn’t quite figured that out for myself!”
“Girl, take a chill pill,” groaned Sniper. “I was only saying.”
Meredith sighed, her face showing irritation and concern. “We need to look for them now. And the first place we should check is the mall, for that’s where they were last seen.”
“Congratulations,” Sniper said sarcastically. “A nice piece of detective work. Maybe we should buy you a pipe and detective hat.”
“Ohhh!” Cloudy whirled and screamed at her brother, “Why can’t you learn to be quiet for once in your whole life?!”
Sniper withdrew, shocked at his little sister’s shrieking tone and the anger flashing in her eyes. “I-I was just kidding,” he said in a small voice. “I didn’t mean anything.”
“Cloudburst.” Springtime’s voice was stern. “Do not yell at your brother like that. He may be annoying, but you don’t have to react.”
Cloudy blinked and stared at her mother, then at Sniper, who was watching her cautiously. Then she realized what she had done was wrong. Her mother was right. Sniper could be bothersome, but screaming at him out of sheer anger and annoyance was downright disrespectful and rude. Dropping her head, she murmured, “I’m sorry, Sniper. Truly.”
Sniper stepped forward and gently laid his paw on Cloudy’s shoulder, which surprised everybody. He wasn’t normally so tender. “That’s okay, Cloudy. You didn’t mean any harm. Besides, I probably deserved it anyway.”
Springtime smiled warmly at her son and daughter bonding. Then her expression became somber,. “But we have to look for Miriam and Liloy. Let’s take the bus to the mall and see what we can find.”
* * * * *
As soon as the bus ground to a halt, Cloudy was the first one off. She jumped into the road and slipped on a rock, scraping her paw, but she ignored the pain. Her friends were more important than a stupid injury. Scrambling to her feet, she hurried into the mall, her family and friends behind her.
“Okay, we need to split up,” Springtime ordered. “Split into four groups. One searches the northern parts, another the southern, and the other two the eastern and western. Got it?”
“Got it!” Meredith said.
Cloudy and Meta Knight made a group, along with Star, and they searched the northern area of the mall. But though they hunted in every store, they could not find either Miriam or Liloy.
After thirty minutes had passed, the four groups met up in the center of the mall and reported their findings to one another. All were dismayed to learn that none of them had found the missing girls.
Meta Knight clenched his fist in frustration. “Where are they?”
“I don’t know,” Springtime replied. “But they have to be here, unless they’ve already taken a bus home.”
“Then they should have already met up with us at the house!” Star insisted. “And that’s not the case!”
“Why don’t we just ask someone here if they’ve see Miriam or Liloy?” Scazzarda suggested. “Someone here must have spotted them.”
“Good idea,” Showerstorm said. “Why don’t we ask the clerks here?”
Again they divided into four groups and went to all four areas of the mall, asking the salesclerks if they had seen any girls who resembled Miriam or Liloy.
“A dark-haired girl about seven years old with dark skin?” a young female clerk of the shoe store asked.
“Yes, along with a woman who has dark-yellow eyes and is pregnant. Have you seen them?” Meredith asked.
The woman pondered the question a moment, then shook her head. “Well. . .no, I do not recall seeing any girls like that all the time I’ve been here behind the register today. Sorry I can’t help you.”
“That’s fine.” Meredith told her. She, Sharkell, and Yodi exited the store.
“Well, we’ve been all over the eastern section of this mall, and nobody’s seen Miriam or Liloy,” Sharkell said morosely.
“I wonder if the others are having better luck than we are,” Yodi wondered.
* * * * *
Showerstorm, Scazzarda, Pancake, and Waffle asked around in the southern area of the mall, but none of the salesclerks had seen Miriam or Liloy. They said they really didn’t pay much attention to customers’ appearances.
* * * * *
Meredith, Springtime, and Sniper were exploring the western portion of the mall, but had no more luck than the southern and eastern groups had.
* * * * *
Cloudy, Meta Knight, and Star roamed the northern part, asking the clerks whether they had seen any girls resembling Miriam or Liloy. Every question resulted in a puzzled frown from every clerk, a single shake of the head. Luckily, there was still one more store to try—the jewelry store.
“Come on!” Star said impatiently. “This could be our lucky break!”
It was a small hope. But it was still hope.
Meta Knight and the sisters entered and walked up to the counter. Behind it stood the same humanoid lady. As she turned, she smiled at Meta Knight, but then her smile dropped and she stared at him, recoiling slightly.
“Is there something wrong?” Meta Knight asked, puzzled.
The woman shook her head. “No. . .sorry I’m being rude. But you look so much like that—that girl who was here not too long ago. . .”
Meta Knight started. Cloudy and Star gasped ad stared at each other, wide-eyed.
“What girl?” Meta Knight demanded.
“A girl who looked very much like you—but she didn’t have on a a mask. And she was. . .well, it looked she like she was expecting. There was a child with her, too—cute little girl with black hair and dark skin.”
“Was the little girl wearing a yellow dress?” Cloudy piped up.
The woman thought a few seconds and nodded. “Come to think of it, she was.”
Cloudy was thrilled. They had stumbled upon a valuable clue!
Star grabbed Meta Knight’s cape i her fangs and gently tugged on it. “Meta Knight, should I go round up the others?”
“Yes,” Meta Knight said, his voice sharp. “And hurry.”
Star nodded and darted away.
When Star had rounded up the other groups, herded them to the jewelry store, and everyone was assembled in front of the counter, Meta Knight said to the clerk, “Now please tell us about these girls. Where did they go?”
The woman shot him a suspicious look. “Why do you want to know?” she demanded. “I don’t give out certain information to strangers.”
“The pregnant girl is my daughter,” Meta Knight said shortly. He gestured to Meredith, who stood a few feet behind him. “And the little girl is this woman’s child. They were supposed to meet us nearly an hour and a half ago, but they didn’t, and we fear something went wrong. You must tell us where they went.”
The woman’s suspicious look was replaced by one of contriteness. “Oh,” she said simply. “Well, I’m very sorry. I didn’t know. All right, I’ll tell you. I talked to the little girl for a bit, and then she met up the other woman. Both went off and were gone for a while. The next time I saw them was outside at the bus stop, and this strange car drove up.”
“Strange car?” Scazzarda clarified, confused.
“Yes. A crazy-looking man was driving it. He had very dark hair, maybe black, and he was smoking a cigarette. He stopped to talk to the two girls, and they both got in the van and they drove off. When they did, the tailgate fell off.” She pointed outside near the bus stop, and all saw the shiny hunk of metal lying in the road.
Meta Knight shook his head in disbelief. “But Liloy’s not one to hitchhike with random strangers she doesn’t know!”
“Maybe she’s flipped,” Sniper joked.
“I’m gonna flip you if you don’t shut up,” Yodi snarled.
“I’ve told Miriam not to hitchhike anyway!” Meredith moaned. “Oh, what am I gonna do with that child? She doesn’t listen, for goodness’ sake!”
Cloudy nudged Meta Knight. “Meta Knight, does that guy sound like anyone Liloy knows or used to know?”
Meta Knight looked down at her and his eyes flashed light green. Then they reverted back to yellow and he nodded. “Yes, Cloudy, he does, in fact. The description fits Joseph Unswall, a classmate of Liloy’s who used to want to date her.”
“What was he like?” asked Showerstoem.
“He was very kind to Liloy, but was continually clashing with Tilry. They were archenemies, so to speak, or maybe rivals is the better term.”
The woman had been listening to the conversation with little interest, but when Meta Knight mentioned the name of Joseph Unswall, her face grew dark. “Joseph Unswall! Did you say joseph Unswall?” she asked.
“Yes.” The knight’s eyes glowed orange. “Why?”
“Hold up.” The woman moved to a small computer she kept in the back and turned it on. The others exchanged funny glances. “What is she doing?” whispered Star.
Cloudy shrugged, her ears perking up ever so slightly. “Wish I knew.”
The woman typed something on the keyboard, pressed a button, and hurriedly scanned the screen. “Ah, here it is,” she said, her voice grim. “Joseph Samuel Unswall’s prison record.”
“Prison record?!” Cloudy exclaimed.
“You mean he’s been jailed before?” Star asked.
“Joseph Samuel Unswall,” the woman said, “is a notorious serial killer who got out of jail three months ago. He got six years for killing a woman and her child, three young girls, and a man.” She glanced at the children. “And, um, he was also jailed for some other stuff that’s not fit for these children to hear. I’ll only say that.”
Cloudy’s mouth was agape as she stared a the woman, completely and utterly astounded. A killer who had murdered six people? And he only got six years in jail? Seriously?!
“I can’t believe he got six years for killing six innocent people,” Sniper said, disgust strongly evident in his tone. “He ought to have died!”
“You’re right, young man,” the woman said dryly. “We need some justice for those who were so cruelly used and murdered.”
Meta Knight said no words, but Cloudy glanced at him and saw that he was trembling all over. Her eyes widened and she glanced at the clerk with a frightened gaze. The salesclerk gave her a solemn look in return.
“I hate to say this,” the woman said slowly, “but if your daughters are with that man—” Here she looked directly at Meredith and Meta Knight. “—they will probably not last long.”
“Oh my word,” Meta Knight muttered.
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