Road to Clover (The Breanna Raven Series) Read Free Page B

a serious attitude most of the time, and hardly ever smiles. But I have seen a kindness behind his brown eyes. It’s like right below his ex-military hard surface. Agni has always looked up to him. I believe more so than he does his own father.
    I run over to that side of the yard and try to lift myself up enough to see over the fence. I can’t even get my feet off the ground.
    “Agni!” I call to him.
    King is a massive brown dog, and there is no doubt in his size as he approaches the fence. He’s actually a very sweet dog. I think the neighbors misunderstand him because of his size. My mom’s little dog, who is ten times smaller, is much meaner than King, and she’s been known to bite. Poor King has a bad rep and doesn’t deserve it. I can hear him breathing heavy and whining on the other side of the fence. If I have time later, I’ll go see him, but for now, I have to find out what’s going on with the phones.
    “ Breanna, is that you?” He calls back. “I’ll put King back in the house, and I’ll meet you in the front yard.”
    “Okay,” I say as I step back from the fence.
    I run towards the front yard and wait for him. Soon, Agni comes out of Mr. Dory’s house and locks the front door. He makes a beeline straight for me.
    I ask him, “Does your cell phone work?”
    He shrugs his shoulders and pulls his cell out from his back pocket. I stand beside him to see if it has any bars. It doesn’t.
    “What about your house phone? Does that work?”
    “It should. I just called you with it.” Agni goes towards his house, and I am right on his tail. Maybe, I’m worrying for nothing, but I’ve never known for my house phone and cell phone not to work at the same time. Plus, the strange behavior from the teachers at school earlier that day is not sitting well with me.
    We enter his house, and for some reason, there are shoes right beside the front door. Agni apologizes for the mess, but I tell him his apology isn’t necessary. I can care less as my only concern is why the phones aren’t working. He goes into the first room on the right, and he picks up the receiver. He listens and then puts it to my ear. No dial tone.
    “Agni, did you think it was weird how the teachers were acting in school today? I mean, were your teachers preoccupied with something else other than teaching?”
    “Yeah, I did think it was strange. My chemistry teacher always has labs for us, but today, she made us do a worksheet instead. All of my teachers made me do a worksheet actually.”
    “ Did you hear any of them talking about anything strange?”
    “No, I mostly ignored them. I just did the work I was given. Breanna, I have to go check on something. I’ll be right back.”
    Agni leaves me in the living room. I don’t have a chance to ask him where he’ s going. I suddenly realize it’s getting close to the time that Chloe will be home. The elementary school kids usually ride home with the middle school kids, and the same bus driver I have picks them up after he drops us off. I can’t wait on Agni. I have to go. I’ll catch up with him when I come back with Chloe.
    I step outside the door, and everything seems normal enough. For the most part, the neighborhood is quiet. The street is still empty. I rush down to Daisy Circle where I got off the bus earlier.
    I see one person is waiting, and it’s Brett. He’s bouncing a basketball and pretending like he’s shooting into an invisible hoop. I stand away from him. He’s ignoring me, and I’m fine with it.
    The women I usually see every day begin to make their way to the curb. They crowd in together and start asking questions about the phones. One lady is a daycare provider, and her name is Mrs. Lois Chase. My mom gets along well with her. I think that woman is underhanded and mean, but she’s always very sweet to the kids she watches after school. She lives all the way at the end of Heather Lane in one of the biggest houses in the cove. Of course, she’s leading the