Pasta Imperfect - By Maddy Hunter Page 0,8

colonnade, ending up on what looked like a residential street. But as I paused on the sidewalk, I noticed a minor problem.

Fifty-three people had come this way, right?

I looked left at the deserted street and sidewalk. I looked right at the deserted street and sidewalk.

So if fifty-three people had come this way, WHERE WERE THEY NOW?

Chapter 2

Click click click click. "Ten seconds!" Jackie complained as her heels clacked on the pavement behind me. "You couldn't wait ten seconds while I took my picture?"

"They're gone!" I cried in a semipanic. "How can they be gone? They were here a minute ago. I saw them!" The street dead-ended to my right, but to my left, it intersected with a noisy artery of traffic about a block away. I ran to the opposite sidewalk and peered down a long pedestrian walkway that tunneled beneath the main road and emerged on the other side.

Empty.

"Where's the bus?" Jackie called out to me.

Fifty-three people could not disappear into thin air! I squinted toward the street, where small, angry cars chased after each other. That had to be where the bus was picking us up. I gestured wildly in that direction and took off at a dead run.

Click click click click. Jackie pulled abreast of me halfway down the street, a throwback to her high school track days when she'd laced herself into running shoes instead of satin corsets. "Emily..." she gasped out beside me, "why are we running like this?"

We skidded to a halt at the traffic-jammed street running perpendicular to us. I looked left. I looked right.

No bus. No group. No nothing.

"They've disappeared," I choked out, numb with disbelief. "They were here a minute ago; now they're gone. How is that possible? HOW CAN THEY HAVE VANISHED?"

Jackie dug a tissue out of her bag and mopped her throat, looking curiously left and right. "Gotta be alien abduction. I bet it happens a lot more than people realize."

"I knew something like this was going to happen. I knew someone was going to get left behind. But it was supposed to happen to someone else! It wasn't supposed to happen to me!"

Jackie's face lit up. "Female intuition! That is so cool. I'm dying to have my first flash of female intuition, but it hasn't kicked in yet. I hope I don't have to wait too long though. I have zero intuition at the moment. It's like being a guy again." She balled her tissue into her fist and regarded me hopefully. "So, now what?"

I was racking my brain to recall what my Escort's Manual said about getting lost when I suddenly realized why I couldn't remember. There was no section on getting lost. The topic was considered unnecessary because, unlike directionally challenged people in the rest of the civilized world, Iowans didn't get lost! Ever!

"Should we call someone or something?" Jackie prodded.

"We should, but..." I took a deep breath and spoke in a rush of words. "My address book and phone are in my shoulder bag."

Jackie lowered her head and stared at me over the tops of her sunglasses. "Good one, Emily. What about a public phone? Call your cell and when your mom picks up, she can tell you where the group is."

I bobbed my head a little sheepishly. "I uh...I didn't memorize the number."

"You WHAT?"

"I said, I DIDN'T MEMORIZE THE NUMBER! Why should I? I wasn't planning on calling myself!"

"Oh, this is lovely. Just lovely." Her hand flitted to her face where she massaged her temple with long-suffering fingertips. "Good timing. My female intuition just kicked in, and you know what it's saying? It's warning me that we're going to be wandering around here forever. Like...like the Robinson family in outer space!"

"Didn't they eventually get back to earth?"

"Did they? I must have missed that episode."

I checked my watch. "Okay, wherever everyone is, this was the last stop of the day, so I suggest we just hop into a taxi and meet the bus back at the hotel."

Jackie straightened up, seemingly electrified. "Meet them back at the hotel? Take a taxi? Right. I...I hadn't thought of that yet." She opened her arms and crushed me to her chest. "I knew you'd think of something! You're so clever, Emily."

That's what I've always loved about Jack. Consistency. I wiggled out of her embrace and straightened the bodice of the Laura Ashley sundress that fell modestly to my ankles and buttoned up the front -- not my usual style, but it had been perfect for traveling eight hours on