Ms. Zephyr's Notebook by KC Dyer Page B

go get her tomorrow, Logan? Are you going to bring her back safe to the hospital?”
    Logan’s stomach clenched and the excitement of finding the clue he was looking for drained away. Cleo was hours ahead of him. Even if she was really only going to see her grandmother, he had a long way to go to find her. And if she was headed somewhere else — well, he couldn’t even let himself think of that possibility.
    â€œI think I’d better go now,” he said quietly. “I’m pretty sure there’s a bus I can catch that will get methere by morning. It’s not a big town. I’ll be able to find her, no problem at all.”
    Kip leaned forward and began pulling at the IV tape on the back of his hand.
    â€œWhoa, hold on there, buddy. What do you think you’re doing? If you bump that wire, you’ll have the nurse back here in a flash, and that, my friend, will wreck everything.”
    â€œI want to come with you to find Cleo,” said Kip, still peeling tape.
    Logan reached over and pulled Kip’s hand away. He took a deep breath to keep himself from yelling at the kid. “You can’t come, Kip,” he said, as calmly as he could. “If we want to find Cleo, I’m going to have to move like lightning.”
    He looked straight into the kid’s eyes. “If you leave the hospital, you’ll get really sick. You know that. But I can’t do this without you. You can be my partner, okay?”
    Kip’s face brightened. “Your partner? Really?”
    Logan nodded. “But we’re going to have to work really fast, dude. We figure she’s headed to Clearwater, right? So you can help me find her when I get there.”
    He grabbed Kip’s laptop computer and flipped open the lid. Kip’s face lit up with a reflected glow as Logan thrust the computer into his lap.
    â€œFirst, we need to find out if I still have time to catch a bus before the station closes. Can you look up the bus schedule?”
    Kip nodded and began tapping keys. Logan looked at his watch. “It’s eleven thirty-five. Are there any more buses tonight?” He paced back and forth between the bed and the window.
    â€œIt says here that the last bus leaves Evergreen at midnight, Logan.” Kip looked up from the screen. “Wow, that’s really late.”
    â€œBut does it go to Clearwater?”
    â€œUh,” Kip ran his finger down the screen. “Yes! But it stops a whole bunch of places first.”
    â€œOkay, that’s really good news.” Logan stopped pacing and came to stand at the head of Kip’s bed. “So here’s the thing. My Blackberry is broken from the time I dropped it down the stairs, but I know there is an internet terminal at the bus station in Clearwater. My team went there last year for a rugby game. I think the café is called ‘The Bean’ or something.”
    Kip tapped the keys again. “It says here there is a ‘Bean and Gone Café’ at the Clearwater Bus Terminal with internet access.”
    â€œYes!” Logan clenched a fist. “Soon as I get there, I’ll send you an e-mail. And while I’m on the bus, you can look up any information you can find on Cleo’s grandma. Between the two of us, we’ll find her in no time.”
    â€œOkay,” said Kip. “But maybe we should use instant messaging. It’s faster.”
    â€œYou’re right, you’re right. Okay, my e-mail addressis [email protected]. ‘Rugbyrox’ is one word, and ‘rox’ is spelled with an ‘x’. Got that?”
    â€œYeah, I got it. As soon as you e-mail me, I’ll log into IM and we can talk on-line.” He beamed, and Logan was suddenly glad he’d included the kid. He might actually end up being a help.
    â€œGreat. Okay, when I get there in the morning, I’ll head over to the coffee shop and e-mail you. So just pretend to Abbie like you’re