Angel Among Us Read Free

away.
    I returned in the morning in time to see Arcelia stepping from the kitchen door, a piece of toast still in hand as she struggled with a pocketbook, a tote bag of fresh vegetables and a comically large ring of keys. When she drove away in her old Volvo, I rode shotgun and enjoyed the cool morning breeze alongside of her. She headed back toward town to the elementary school where she worked, parked in the lot set aside for teachers and trundled slowly toward the entrance, her pregnancy slowing her down. The janitor hurried out the door and took her packages from her, ignoring her protests as he gallantly led her inside. Children and their parents began arriving soon after. As they were delivered to Arcelia, their cries of delight told me that the children still adored their Seely.
    Arcelia ruled her classroom the way she did the playground: with gentle admonitions, warning glances and frequent smiles. The children gravitated toward her as if she were a beacon and absently wrapped their arms around her legs for comfort.
    I had not been so clueless as a father that I did not remember school typically ended in mid-June. The school year was winding down. I knew there were only a few days left to watch her at work and so I decided to return the next day and spend another pleasant morning watching the children barrel about in their sturdy bodies, testing the boundaries of their world. But when the next morning dawned, I was distracted by a family of rabbits exploring the clover in a nearby park. After that, I followed a pack of feral dogs to see where they went during the day (deep into the park bushes to sleep). By the time I reached the elementary school that day, it was already mid morning. Arcelia had not yet arrived. Parents stood in annoyed clusters, looking at their watches, anxious about being late to work. The children were less concerned. Any extra time to swing or slide was fine with them. The principal was the only one who looked anxious. He was a tubby man with close-cropped gray hair and kept offering his opinion that Arcelia must have gone into labor early; there was no other explanation for her tardiness. She had never been so much as a minute late before.
    A substitute teacher finally arrived and the remaining parents fled, leaving the principal to deal with where his teacher was and why. He handed over the care of the children to the substitute and returned to his office. I followed and watched as he searched through his emergency contact files until he found the one for Arcelia. Improbably, her last name was Gallagher and her husband’s name was Daniel. He did not answer his phone. The principal’s agitation was growing and I wondered at his anxiousness. She was only three hours late at that point, but I saw fear in the way he dialed number after number looking for her.
    He spoke briefly to someone on the other end of his last phone call without success, then hung up and stared at the wall across the room. A woman poked her head in the doorway and asked, ‘Any word?’
    The principal shook his head. ‘A neighbor said he would try to find her husband. He thinks he may be in the fields.’
    â€˜I called the hospital,’ the woman said. ‘She’s not there.’
    The principal and his secretary exchanged a glance I could not understand. A silence filled the room. ‘Perhaps she had car trouble?’ the man suggested.
    His secretary nodded, acknowledging the possibility. She did not look convinced.
    â€˜If we don’t hear from her soon, I’m calling the police,’ the principal decided, sounding like he was trying to find the courage to do so. ‘You never know.’
    The woman’s hand flew to her mouth, as if she were trying to suppress her opinion. She did not want to agree with whatever it was the principal was thinking, but they knew more than I did. That much was obvious. They were both deeply afraid.

THREE
    T he principal was a plump little