ever been a high school student with a teacher like this, she’d have had a major thing for her.
Natalie handed her a report as she took a seat in front of the desk.
“What’s this?” Jan said.
“A recent research paper Maddy wrote. When I heard she was missing and that investigators would be here to talk to us, I read it over again.”
Jan leafed through the pages. They were heavily marked with red ink.
“It doesn’t look like she did very well on it.”
Natalie leaned back in the chair and crossed her legs. They were excellent legs, covered to the knee with a tailored skirt. Then she uncrossed her legs and moved her chair forward and Jan lost her view. She turned back to the paper.
“Actually, she did very well on it. This copy is my own and I marked it up last night as I was reading.”
“Okay. Why don’t you tell me why you brought it in?”
“Can I ask whether you have any idea what’s happened to Maddy?”
Jan saw the look of concern on Natalie’s face, more genuine than she’d seen from Maddy’s parents.
“I’m afraid we don’t know at this point.”
“This is the first year I’ve had Maddy in class and school just started a couple of months ago. I don’t know her well. But she turned this paper in last week and it alarmed me. Maybe I should have said something to her parents about it.”
Finally, Jan thought. Maybe someone knows something about this kid.
“First of all,” Natalie said, “the paper is huge. I asked for fifteen pages and she gave me thirty. Kids don’t do that. But she wrote very passionately on the subject of the new wave of right-wing insurgency groups.”
“As in the militias? That sort of thing?”
“Yes, in general. Less on the military aspect than on the desire of the these groups to live free of government interference.”
Like the Objectivists, Jan thought. Like her own father. She felt a sucking sensation, like being pulled into quicksand.
“The thing that struck me about the paper wasn’t the subject matter. That’s interesting and timely and a good topic for research. It really was more about how she wrote about it.”
Natalie reached over to the paper in Jan’s hands and flipped through to the last page.
“Her summary describes her state of mind best, I think. It’s what alarmed me when I heard she was missing.”
Jan read the last paragraph of the paper.
“The range of opinions expressed by these conservative groups is very broad. As broad as America itself. Some are hateful, bigoted, and unrepentant. Some are crazed by religion. But some just want to be left alone, to live as true Americans—in the pursuit of happiness. To live free of unnecessary and ridiculous regulation. To leave the truly talented unfettered so that they can soar. When those that crave that freedom are robbed by their government of the ability to experience it, they are morally obligated to leave that government in order to form their own more perfect society. Of course, this is viewed by the media and the average stupefied American as extremist. They can’t understand those who are not content with the lowest common denominator. But their opinion does not matter to the gifted who seek to live with like-minded individuals. They will be living in a world apart.”
Jan was silent for a moment. “She sounds much older than sixteen,” she said.
“She’s a good writer,” Natalie said. “But her black and white thinking gives away her age. You remember that, don’t you? If you could only have this or that, your life would be perfect. This is the right way; yours is the wrong way. It’s all absolutes and very few shades of gray.”
The idea that a sixteen-year-old would want to live away from the world seemed insane to Jan. It was precisely what she’d escaped from.
“I have no idea if this has anything to do with Maddy’s disappearance, but I wanted to let you know about it,” Natalie said.
“So you think Maddy may have run away to live with
Natalie handed her a report as she took a seat in front of the desk.
“What’s this?” Jan said.
“A recent research paper Maddy wrote. When I heard she was missing and that investigators would be here to talk to us, I read it over again.”
Jan leafed through the pages. They were heavily marked with red ink.
“It doesn’t look like she did very well on it.”
Natalie leaned back in the chair and crossed her legs. They were excellent legs, covered to the knee with a tailored skirt. Then she uncrossed her legs and moved her chair forward and Jan lost her view. She turned back to the paper.
“Actually, she did very well on it. This copy is my own and I marked it up last night as I was reading.”
“Okay. Why don’t you tell me why you brought it in?”
“Can I ask whether you have any idea what’s happened to Maddy?”
Jan saw the look of concern on Natalie’s face, more genuine than she’d seen from Maddy’s parents.
“I’m afraid we don’t know at this point.”
“This is the first year I’ve had Maddy in class and school just started a couple of months ago. I don’t know her well. But she turned this paper in last week and it alarmed me. Maybe I should have said something to her parents about it.”
Finally, Jan thought. Maybe someone knows something about this kid.
“First of all,” Natalie said, “the paper is huge. I asked for fifteen pages and she gave me thirty. Kids don’t do that. But she wrote very passionately on the subject of the new wave of right-wing insurgency groups.”
“As in the militias? That sort of thing?”
“Yes, in general. Less on the military aspect than on the desire of the these groups to live free of government interference.”
Like the Objectivists, Jan thought. Like her own father. She felt a sucking sensation, like being pulled into quicksand.
“The thing that struck me about the paper wasn’t the subject matter. That’s interesting and timely and a good topic for research. It really was more about how she wrote about it.”
Natalie reached over to the paper in Jan’s hands and flipped through to the last page.
“Her summary describes her state of mind best, I think. It’s what alarmed me when I heard she was missing.”
Jan read the last paragraph of the paper.
“The range of opinions expressed by these conservative groups is very broad. As broad as America itself. Some are hateful, bigoted, and unrepentant. Some are crazed by religion. But some just want to be left alone, to live as true Americans—in the pursuit of happiness. To live free of unnecessary and ridiculous regulation. To leave the truly talented unfettered so that they can soar. When those that crave that freedom are robbed by their government of the ability to experience it, they are morally obligated to leave that government in order to form their own more perfect society. Of course, this is viewed by the media and the average stupefied American as extremist. They can’t understand those who are not content with the lowest common denominator. But their opinion does not matter to the gifted who seek to live with like-minded individuals. They will be living in a world apart.”
Jan was silent for a moment. “She sounds much older than sixteen,” she said.
“She’s a good writer,” Natalie said. “But her black and white thinking gives away her age. You remember that, don’t you? If you could only have this or that, your life would be perfect. This is the right way; yours is the wrong way. It’s all absolutes and very few shades of gray.”
The idea that a sixteen-year-old would want to live away from the world seemed insane to Jan. It was precisely what she’d escaped from.
“I have no idea if this has anything to do with Maddy’s disappearance, but I wanted to let you know about it,” Natalie said.
“So you think Maddy may have run away to live with
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