Our Quarterback is Missing

Written by Moe Zilla

"Eddie's missing."

"How is that even possible? He weighs 240 pounds!"

The classroom laughed at Reggie's joke, but I was worried. Eddie Cavanaugh was the high school's star quarterback. Each week his expert passing led the football team to victory, and no other school in the state had ever won this many games in a row. "People say jocks are stupid, but Eddie isn't," sighed our history teacher. "He was making our little town famous, and now he's gone."

Eddie's mother had called the principal's office about one o’clock when she noticed Eddie was missing, and soon everyone in the school was talking about the news. He'd come to school that morning, but then somehow, he'd vanished! As the last school bell rang, I asked Reggie if he wanted to search for Eddie. "Sure, why not?" Reggie laughed. "If we find our missing quarterback, then WE can be the school's heroes."

But where could we find some clues?

The locker room was a good place to start. As we approached, we heard the team shouting enthusiastically "One! Two! Three! Go!" as they shuffled out onto the field. Tomorrow they would play an away game in Capitol City - a two-hour drive - so they were getting some extra practice today. We smelled grass and sweaty uniforms, but then we spotted Mr. Roster, the assistant coach, talking on his cellphone. "Eddie's mother just called me," he was saying with exasperation. "Look, we're doing everything we can." His brow furrowed in anger. "No, we're not canceling the game..."

We waited until the call was done, then asked about Eddie's disappearance.

"You don't realize how important someone is, until they're not around!" Mr. Roster sighed. "The team knows it, too. Eddie always led an inspiring cheer after school before each practice. We miss him already."

Can we search his locker? Reggie asked.

The coach looked at us suspiciously, but realized we were trying to help. He led us into his office, where he retrieved a clipboard with all the lockers' combinations. Inside Eddie's we saw his jersey - number 17 - dangling from a hanger. There was nothing unusual in the locker. There were his cleats, his helmet, shoulder pads, kneepads and a sack lunch. But on the door of the locker, we found Eddie's secret motivational tool. He'd drawn a graph for himself, showing various records for high school football. First it showed the school's record for consecutive wins and then the state's and then the record for the entire country.

As Coach Roster ran after two players who were arguing, I motioned to Reggie. Coach Roster's office door was open, and we snuck in to search for clues. Reggie opened a filing cabinet and saw manila folders in alphabetical order. He quickly looked for the C's, while I started searching Coach Roster's desk. Its top was filled by a giant desk calendar. I checked yesterday's date, which just said "Practice," like every other day this week. But today's date had an unusual entry, "Visit Dr. Lazlow, 9 to 11a.m. Capitol City."

Reggie retrieved a file labeled "Cavanaugh, Eddie." There was a handwritten note. "Eddie, stop playing, or you'll get hurt, Mae" it warned.

"What are you doing!" shouted a voice behind us.

Coach Roster had returned and caught Reggie and me by surprise.

"We were looking for clues about Eddie," I answered nervously.

"Well, you might as well know," sighed Coach Roster wearily. "That note turned up on the locker room door yesterday. I should've taken it more seriously - but who the heck is 'Mae'?"

Reggie had an idea. "Eddie's girlfriend is named Marissa! I bet Mae is her nickname."

Now we had a trail to follow - but where was Marissa? If she was missing too, it might explain Eddie's disappearance.

Marissa wasn't a cheerleader, just a hard-working student from a very poor family. Reggie found her family's listing in the phone book, and soon we were traveling to her address. It was a small apartment in a large complex. Marissa's father answered the door, then called out "Marissa, are you here?"

"Go away!" shouted a voice inside.

"Marissa, get out here!" her father yelled. We waited anxiously, until a bedroom door opened, and we saw our unhappy classmate. Her hair was messy, and her make-up was smeared. It was obvious that she'd been crying.

"What do you want?" she asked us.

We're looking for Eddie, I told her.

"So's half the town," she said bitterly. "Everyone loved Eddie."

We agreed and couldn't help talking about his popularity.

"It's so unfair," Marissa complained. "Eddie was always so alone. He didn't have a father or even a brother or sister. There is just his mother. And yet this town became his family. He'd made everyone so proud."

Reggie and I nodded, but Marissa continued, her thoughts far away.

"Eddie said that more than anything he just wanted to get engaged to me some day and settle down as a hero in this very same town. But now he's gone."

"Maybe he'll send a message to you, Mae," Reggie said, nonchalantly.

"Who's Mae?" she asked, with irritation.

We were running out of clues, but decided to visit Eddie's mother. Her house was a few blocks from Marissa's, and we hoped she wasn't upset when we rang her doorbell.

Mrs. Cavanaugh was glad to see friends of Eddie's and quickly invited us in. "I always worried Eddie would hurt himself," Mrs. Cavanaugh said. "All the phone calls I've gotten show what Eddie meant to this town. But I just want my darling boy back."

Her wall was filled with pictures of Eddie, some in his football uniform, others showing him as a young boy. I asked her when she'd first noticed Eddie was missing.

"I always make him a healthy lunch," Mrs. Cavanaugh sighed. "I leave it on the kitchen counter, since I have to leave for work ten minutes before Eddie leaves for school."

"But this afternoon when I came home from work - his sack lunch was still there!" Mrs. Cavanaugh said with exasperation. "That's when I realized that Eddie was missing."

"We're looking for him," Reggie assured her.

"I'm glad to know his friends care about him," she smiled. She talked about Marissa and her hopes for her son. "Come back and visit any time."

On the sidewalk, Reggie was upset. "I don't know who could've done this," he complained. "Everyone loved Eddie. In fact, maybe Eddie faked the whole thing himself," Reggie said, more serious than I'd ever seen him. "Being the star quarterback wasn't enough for him. He wanted everyone to worry about him too."

"I'm not worried," I said, "because I know where Eddie is. And if you study the clues, you'll know too.