Globe Tracers 1: The Case of Thomas Crain

Chapter 11: Prisoner

Kyle:

Allen was surprisingly less of a help than one would have thought. When Jessica and I got out of the car Allen got out himself, looking around like he had no idea what he was looking at. "I guess... you say he just leaves here every day right?" Allen asked.

I looked around. "That's what the tracer basically says happens... every day almost." I looked at a nearby sign. On the sign was a picture of what appeared to be a vehicle of some sort. If the vehicle were real, it would have been long and black with about ten windows on each side. It didn't seem like it would have been much to look at in reality, like a large brick with wheels. "Any idea what that means?" I asked, pointing at the sign.

"Never seen one in my life," Allen replied. "Looks like a drawing of a vehicle of some kind."

"Ya know, I figured bringing a native would help, but yeah... a vehicle..."

"Real Sherlock Holmes this one eh?" Jessica chided, playfully kicking his leg.

"Sherlock?" I asked. "Who in the world is that?" Both creatures stared at me, completely unmoving. "What?" They still didn't move. What was a Sherlock Holmes? Sounded like a house security system. Why was that such a big deal? "Okay... we still have a kid we're looking for."

"Right um." Jessica looked around herself. "Well, when does this vehicle, or rail car or dinosaur or magical moth pick Tommy up exactly?"

"Magical mo-" Allen began.

"Don't ask- I think it's in reference to something, just don't ask," I cut Allen off. I remembered something from last night, but it probably wasn't important. "I don't really know when the vehicle arrives."

"Magical moth!" Jessica demanded.

"What?" I asked. Okay, so I realized it was about to become important.

"Until we know what picks Tommy up, henceforth it shall be known as a magical moth!"

"Sure," I said. "There can't possibly be any more reasonable concepts, right?" I shook my head, realizing I was with Jessica, "reasonable" wasn't in her vocabulary. I stopped in place. "Alright." I turned around. "Allen, you know exactly what this is don't you?"

"What makes you say that?" he asked.

I rested my chin on my fist. "You keep turning away and chuckling at me."

"Am I that obvious?"

"What is it?" I simply asked, tired of people playing with my head. Seemed like a sport in those days.

"It's a bus stop," Allen said. "They're as commonly known on this world as... well the children who ride them, every day, in the morning, to get to school. Really, you didn't do too badly in your deductions."

Was he sure about our deductions? I mean mine were okay but- "So it's not a moth?" asked Jessica.

"No, it's not," Allen replied.

"If you put wings on it, could it pass as a moth?"

"No- well actually... okay I'm envisioning that and..." Allen froze. "Kyle... she's making sense to me- help." I looked at both of them, eyes traveling back and forth several times. "Really, if you put wings on a bus it would look like well... a moth."

I shivered. Jessica can sometimes get to people. "Okay, that happened," I stated, Allen still staring at Jessica. I did too, knowing that from that point on, she had won and I would be mentally attaching moth wings to every vehicle I saw for the rest of the day. "You said they get picked up in the morning... so we just wait here."