Here's a short story:

CHAPTER III 

IN THE SHAFT 

Mrs. Byram had no suspicion that her son might be exposed to any danger until after he had been absent an hour, and then the remembrance of the threats made by Skip Miller and his friends caused her the deepest anxiety. Fred would not have staid at the store longer than was absolutely necessary, and the fear of foul play had hardly gained possession of her mind before she was on her way to search for him. 

The company's clerk had but just finished explaining that the new breaker boy left there with his purchases some time previous, when Donovan entered in time to hear the widow say: 

"I do not understand why he should remain away so long, for he must know I would be troubled concerning him." 

"Didn't your boy stay in the house after I left him at the gate, Mrs. Byram?" the breaker boss asked. 

Mrs. Byram explained why Fred ventured out, and the man appeared to be disturbed in mind. 

"This is just the time when he oughter kept his nose inside. Them young ruffians are likely to do any mischief." 

"Then you believe something serious has happened." 

"I didn't say quite that; but it won't do much harm to have a look for him. You go home, an' I'll call there in an hour." Then turning to some of the loungers, he asked, "Has anybody seen Skip Miller lately?" 

"You're allers tryin' to make out that he's at the bottom of everything that goes wrong," Skip's father, who entered at this moment, said in a surly tone.  (End of story)

Provide your best guess for the following question. Give ONLY the guess, no other words or explanation.

For example:

Guess: <most likely guess, as short as possible; not a complete sentence, just the guess!>

Here are a few examples of questions and answers:

Question: how long had the boy been missing ?
Guess: an hour

Question: who made threats
Guess: Skip Miller

Question: was he alone?
Guess: no

Question: who was with him?
Guess: his friends

Question: what did Mrs Byram feel
Guess: fear

Question: what is her son's name?
Guess: Fred

Question: where had he gone?
Guess: the store

Question: did she wait around longer?
Guess: yes

Now answer the following question in the same format.

Question: what did she do next?

she was on her way to search for him.