“Now, I’ll take the three of you to your proper classrooms. You can go now too, dear,” she said to Fiona, who thanked her and ran across the street to the secondary school, where she was likewise welcomed and shown to her classroom. She was so relieved at how much easier it had all been than anticipated that she didn’t even mind that she had forgotten to pack lunches. They’d be ravenous by the time school was out but that was certainly not the worst thing that could happen to them and she’d remember to pack lunches tomorrow. There was a learning curve to being in charge.

Many of the schools Fiona had gone to had had her going from classroom to classroom for different subjects. In other schools, often in out-of-the-way places, children of all ages shared a single classroom. In this school, it seemed there were enough students for one grade nine class with one teacher.

Going into the classroom the first time was always the worst moment in a new school but she found this one friendly enough. School wasn’t going to be a problem, she decided. Keeping friends at arm’s length so they couldn’t discover the girls’ situation without the McCreadys appearing unfriendly was going to be the hard part. But they could figure that out as they went along. She was hopeful again that this desperate plan might just work.

After school Fiona looked in the parking lot for her sisters and found instead the secretary from the elementary school waiting for her. She approached smiling and said, “I think you’d better come with me if you don’t mind, Fiona. We’re in a bit of a quandary over in the office.”

“What kind of quandary?” asked Fiona nervously.

“You’ll see,” said the secretary but not in a mean manner.

When they got to the office she found Charlie, Natasha, and Marlin sitting on chairs looking miserable. The principal was with them. She was younger than most of the principals Fiona had known. She was pretty with short dark hair and a friendly open face. She smiled when Fiona came in.

“Oh, hello, dear,” she said. “I’m Miss Webster. The thing is that we just want to clear up what is happening with your parents. We’ve gotten a different story from each of the girls’ teachers.”

“Oh,” said Fiona.

“Now, Charlie says your parents are dead…”

“They are,” said Charlie.

The principal held up her hand while Marlin raised her eyebrows warningly at Fiona.

“Marlin says that they are busy. And Natasha says they are still in Borneo and will be joining you shortly. I know your great-aunt has passed away, dear, so I did want to clear this up. All we want to know is who is taking care of you at present so we know who to call if there is a problem.”

Fiona looked at the principal. Then she looked at the secretary. Then she looked at the wall. She willed herself to come up with a good intricate lie that would tie her sisters’ three stories together so that they made sense but her mind was like a deer in the headlights and refused to cooperate. The secretary had gone to grab her things to leave for the day and called to them cheerily as she closed the door behind her. Now it was just the five of them.