Agent Crew

Donuts and disaster

The school day went slowly. Clancy lost count of the amount of times he glanced at a clock. Had Ruby been here he would have asked to look at her watch (mainly because looking at a spy watch and knowing it's a spy watch never loses its thrill), but the hours ticked by painfully slowly and there was still no sign of Ruby.

Finally, Clancy left his last lesson. He was about to celebrate when he remembered he had detention. Resigned, he turned back around and trudged to the detention room, today presided over by none other than Mrs Drisco. Perfect.

"Sit down, Crew," she barked as he entered the room. Clancy shuffled over to the back row and dropped into a seat. There were a couple of other people in the room, looking just as dead as he felt.

Clancy pulled out his French exercise book, and copied down the essay title his teacher had given him: 1000 words on the importance of punctuality.

This was not a problem Clancy ever had (excepting Ruby-related issues, obviously), since painfully punctual was kind-of his style. None-the-less, he had plenty of material to draw on. There was his dad, for one, who had instilled punctuality in him and his siblings from a young age. Then there was the many lectures Ruby's teachers and parents had subjected her to in his hearing.

All in all, it wasn't an impossible essay, just a dull one. Clancy let out a soft sigh and started to write.

He was about 200 words in when a knock at the door startled him out of his essay-writing stupor. He looked up as the door clicked open and was shocked to find Hitch standing in the doorway, looking very out-of-place.

He stood with his usual air of suave detachment, but was it just Clancy or was there a trace of stress around his eyes? His shoulders were dropped almost imperceptibly and, to Clancy at least, he looked tired.

"What do you want?" snapped Mrs Drisco, possibly the first person ever to be unaffected by Hitch's undeniable charm.

"Hello," said Hitch, beaming despite Mrs Drisco's scowl. "I was told I could find one Clancy Crew here?" His eyes scanned the room as he was talking, and landed on Clancy. He gave a quick wink, then turned back to Mrs Drisco, who - if possible - looked even more unhappy than before.

"Mr Crew is serving detention," she said. "With me. He will be let out in another forty minutes."

Hitch's easy smile remained unfazed. "I can see that you're doing a sterling job in your educating," he said. "Unfortunately, I need Clancy now. I know he will be just devastated to miss your wisdom, so he'll be sure to make it up to you tomorrow. Right Clancy?"

Hitch looked to Clancy for confirmation, and he nodded. He wasn't sure when Ruby had passed on her 'pulling Clancy out of detention any time I have a crisis' technique onto Hitch, but one thing he did know was that it was a crisis that had Hitch down here.

Clancy began to get a bad feeling. This was only made worse by the poisonous look Mrs Drisco shot him as she was forced to read Hitch's note, wherever he'd got that from.

"Well," she said at last. "That all seems... in order." She shot Clancy another loaded look. "I'll see you tomorrow, Mr Crew."

Clancy nodded, already stuffing his things back into his bag. The other students watched him enviously as he followed Hitch out into the corridor.

"Phew," he said as the door shut behind him. "I don't know why you're here, but thanks."

Hitch raised an eyebrow, amused. "Anytime, kid," he said. Then his expression dropped back into one of seriousness.

"What's up?" Clancy asked, noting the change. "Where's Ruby?"

As soon as he said it, he got a nasty feeling in his gut. Hitch's haunted eyes weren't helping.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Hitch said.

Not again, thought Clancy, his breathing coming fast. He commanded his arms not to flap, but his fingers still twitched. Darn it, not again, Ruby.

"Hey," said Hitch quietly. "Hey, hey kid." He leant down and placed firm hands on Clancy's shoulders forcing the boy to meet his steely eyes. "You got this," he said quietly.

Clancy took a shuddering breath in, and nodded. "I haven't seen Ruby all day," he said. "I thought she must be with you." Was he a terrible friend? Why hadn't he realised something might be up?

Hitch shook his head. The gesture was redundant, but it made Clancy's stomach seize up in fear. No matter how many times Ruby got herself into life-threatening situations, Clancy could never get over the fear of losing his best friend.

"I didn't want to worry you," Hitch continued, "but you're the only one who can help?" He shook Clancy's shoulders gently. "You got that, kid? I need you."

Ruby needs you, thought Clancy. Pull it together.

He pulled in one more shuddering breath, then stood up straight, shaking Hitch's hands off his shoulders.

"What do you need to know?" he asked.

"Not here," said Hitch. He glanced down the deserted corridor, then back at Clancy with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Fancy a donut, kid?"

Ten minutes later they were sat in the Double Donut, a paper bag between them. Hitch, out of habit, had ordered takeaway, and neither of them felt up to asking for a plate. Clancy could see the oil seeping into the brown paper, but he made no move to open the bag.

"Yeah, Ruby called this morning," he was saying.

"What time?" asked Hitch, his voice betraying just a hint of desperation.

Clancy scrunched his nose up. "It was really early. About 6, I think?" As he said it, he slapped a palm into his forehead. "Man, how could I be so stupid? Ruby never gets up that early."

"Don't beat yourself up," said Hitch. "You weren't to know."

But Clancy should have known, that was the point. He was Ruby's best friend, for goodness sake.

"She wanted to meet at Dasher's Peak," he continued, "but she never showed."

Hitch sighed deeply.

"Why would she ask to meet and never show?" wondered Clancy allowed. He looked up at Hitch hopefully, but the agent looked just as flummoxed as he felt.

"You don't think..." Clancy trailed off as his mind started to catastrophise. "You don't think someone took her, do you?"

Hitch didn't answer, which did nothing to abate Clancy's growing panic. They both sat silent, thinking about all the times Ruby had gone missing before. It didn't make them calmer.

Finally, when he could bear the silence no more, Clancy looked up at Hitch again.

"What are we going to do?" he asked, his voice coming out in whisper.

For a second, Hitch hesitated. Then, "I don't know, kid. I really don't know."