Secrets Unveiled Read Free Page A

sang at recess and proved to be meticulous while completing her work. She was a little shimmer of light for the class with her bright smile and helpful disposition.
    In contrast, Jeremy Seager had squeaked into the class with a late-August birthday that fell only days before the required age cut-off. The youngest of the class, his dark hair was a bit too long, and he had a habit of continually swiping the unruly locks from his blue eyes. He often sneaked miniature cars from his Matchbox collection to school in his pants pockets and more often than not deciphered simple addition worksheets while engaged in engine-roaring sound-effects…much to the chagrin of his table-mates.
    Ty Patterson, was a transfer student who’d arrived recently from Nashville. The boy seemed to be obsessed with video games. His first week here, Ty had gotten into the awful habit of stomping his feet in angry protest each morning when Maggie bade him to stash his handheld gaming device in the small cubby along with his superhero lunch box. If left unsupervised for mere moments, Maggie knew she’d find him with his hands stuffed in the cubby, manipulating the game controls as he became immersed in the rapid-fire visual effects. Keeping Ty engaged during the daily lessons and periods of seatwork proved to be a tough challenge.
    Then there was Gemma Stuart…ah, sweet Gemma. She stood out among the others with her tumble of burnished hair that fell in a halo of corkscrew curls around a face smattered with freckles. Her blue eyes twinkled like smiling candles when she laughed. With her birthday smack-dab in the middle of the others, Gemma had entered the kindergarten program already reading on a second-grade level and counting way beyond one hundred. She understood the concepts of addition and subtraction and could complete most simple arithmetic in her head. Challenging the child proved to be a welcome and refreshing task for Maggie. Gemma worked hard and played hard, as well. She spent the better part of each recess rummaging through a crate of clothes and costume jewelry Maggie had purchased from the local thrift store along with an assortment of plastic crowns, feather boas, and shoes from a costume shop in West Knoxville. Playing princess dress-up was the name of the game for Gemma. Maggie knew the child’s father had been killed in action two winters ago during his deployment overseas and that her mom worked long hours as an ER trauma nurse at Mercy General.
    Maggie bowed her head, whispering a special prayer for Gemma and her mom. She knew the prayer was sorely needed. She was certain the two had a long, trying road ahead.
    “Miss Andrews?”
    Maggie lifted her head to find school secretary Angie Edwards, in the doorway. A few years younger than Maggie, Angie’s light brown hair was pulled into a sleek, sensible ponytail, revealing a thin brow furrowed with worry.
    “What’s the matter?” Maggie unfolded her hands and stood from the rolling desk chair, stretching the kinks from her spine before settling back into the vinyl seat. “You look…perplexed.”
    “Mrs. Jarvis just phoned to say she and Mr. Jarvis won’t be able to make it today to chaperone the field trip to the zoo complex. Kevin was playing fetch with the neighbor’s dog yesterday after school when he stumbled over a hole in the ground. His foot got stuck and his ankle twisted. At first they thought it was just a bad sprain, but after a miserable night they’re back at the emergency room, having the ankle X-rayed.”
    “Oh, no.” Kevin played peewee football, T-ball, and goalie for the Upwards soccer team that met each Saturday for round-robin tournaments. At six, and the second-eldest in the class, he was big for his age and already pegged by his parents as a future first round Hall-of-Famer. The only glitch in the plan was that Kevin proved to be just a tad-bit…clumsy. “That’s terrible. Either way, the foot is going to take time to heal and has to be awfully