Difficult Lessons (19 page)

“This is one of five springs along the river. It is the biggest and prettiest. It is also the only one that has access to it from the road. All of the others that we will come to are only accessible by boat. This one will get crowded later in the day.” Sara was a wealth of information about the sights along the river. She loved the place and had memorized everything about it during previous trips. 

After swimming for about an hour, they continued on their trip. They passed large groups of cypress trees along the way. Each time they passed a group they tried to see shapes and images in the cypress knees that protruded from the water. Cynthia was sure one of the knees was in the shape of Abraham Lincoln’s head and another was a skinny hound dog. Sara could not help but laugh at her observations.   

They stopped at another spring about an hour and a half later. This one was one of the ones that Sara had said had no access by land. It was on the left side of the river.  There was a small beach area where they decided to eat lunch. Sara spread out a blanket and got the cooler out of the canoe. They watched the fish swim in the spring while they enjoyed their picnic lunch.  There were several little schools of bream zigzagging from one side of the spring to the other. They fascinated Cynthia. She threw some breadcrumbs in the water and watched them swarm. It was a feeding frenzy right before their eyes. 

After their lunch settled, Sara and Cynthia went for a short swim before heading out again. This spring was a little warmer than the first they had stopped at. It was because it was much smaller. A couple of canoes passed as they were swimming. 

“There aren’t as many people on the river today as I expected,” Sara noted as they were loading the cooler back into the canoe.

“It makes it nice though, not having to dodge other boaters.”

“Yeah it does. We will go about another mile or so up the river. I want you to see some of the limestone formations on the banks up there. They are really interesting.  When we get to them, we will turn around and head back. We have a good current so we can mostly float back. All we will have to do is steer. The river will do the work for us.”

“That should put us back around four?” Cynthia asked.

“Something like that. Is that all right?”

“That is great. We can fix something to eat, sit by the river and listen to the water flow, and watch the sun set over the other bank. Quite romantic, don’t you think?”

“Very romantic.” Sara said with a huge grin.

***

“That is awesome!” Cynthia exclaimed as they came around the bend where the limestone started.

“I thought you might like it.”

“The water is so clear that it makes it look as if they go on forever. They are perfectly symmetrical.”

“Sounds like a math teacher,” Sara chided Cynthia.

Chapter 31

“Leaving us so soon, ladies?” Mandi asked with a smile.

“Unfortunately life begins again tomorrow and we have to get back,” Sara replied.

“Did you enjoy your stay?”

“I always do, Mandi. Where is Celia this morning?” Sara seemed a little concerned.

“I’m right here. I had to get some coffee. We stayed up a little too late last night and the beer is catching up with me this morning. I ain’t as young as I used to be.” Celia looked like she had not slept much.

“I know what you mean. Those late nights will get to you after a while. I am sure you being sick hasn’t helped either.” Sara pointed out the obvious to Celia.

“I tried to tell her,” Mandi joined in. “She needs to take a little more time off and rest. She doesn’t think I can run things here though.”

“All right you two. You can’t fight until we’re gone. I don’t want to have to referee anything this morning.” Sara chuckled. 

“Ah! Mandi is used to my stubborn ass. She just pretends to put up a fuss in front of others. I let her go because it makes her feel good to try to mother me.”

After a few more pleasant exchanges, Sara paid the camping fees and they headed out. Cynthia assured Celia and Mandi that they would return soon for another weekend.

***

Meg was lying on the top step when Sara stopped the car in the drive. 

“How in the hell did she get out? We didn’t leave a door open or something did we?”  Sara asked Cynthia.

“I don’t think so. I thought I checked everything before we left. The windows were all closed and so were the doors.”

Sara gave instructions to Cynthia, “You stay right here. Let me walk around and check the house before we go in. I don’t want to walk in on someone if they have broken into the house.”

Sara walked around the house checking widows and looking for signs that someone might have been there. On the back of the house she found it. There was a broken window. Something had been thrown through it apparently. The screen was torn and the glass was shattered. There was some glass on the ground, but the majority of it appeared to be inside the house. She returned to the front.

“Call the police,” she called to Cynthia. “Someone has broken a window. I don’t know if they got in the house or if they just threw something and busted the window. We are not going in until the police get here.”

Cynthia dialed 911 on her cell phone.

“This is Cynthia Wesley. We just got home and found a broken window. We are not sure if someone is in the house or not. Can you send an officer out?”

“Yes ma’am. What is your address?” the operator almost sounded robotic.

“1486 Sheridan Street.”

“Okay. An officer is on the way. Do not try to enter the house until someone arrives.”

“We are making this a regular thing aren’t we?” Sara asked Officer Pierce when she stepped out of her patrol car.

“It seems like it. What happened?”

“We just got home from our camping trip. My cat was lying on the steps. We had left her inside. I walked around the house and found a broken window. It looks like someone threw something through it, but I haven’t gone in the house to see. I didn’t want to risk walking in on someone if they are in there.”

“That was smart thinking. There is another officer on the way. When he gets here, we will go in and check everything out for you. While we are waiting, show me the window.”

Sara took Officer Pierce around to the back of the house where the busted window was. Officer Pierce spotted shoe prints in the dirt just under the window. “Did you step here?”

“No,” Sara assured her. “Right here was as close as I got.”

They heard the other patrol car stop out front and walked back around. The two officers took Sara’s keys and entered the house. They went through it room by room, making sure that it was safe. Officer Pierce called to Sara when they had cleared the entire house.

Sara and Cynthia looked around the house. Nothing was taken. It either was not a burglary or they got scared off before they could get in and get anything. Sara walked into the laundry room where the window was broken. The brick was on the washer, right where it had obviously landed. 

“Don’t touch it.” Officer Pierce was right behind her. “We will collect it and take it in as evidence. I am going to get someone out here to check out that footprint under the window and dust the inside and outside of the window for fingerprints. That is a large foot print, probably a man’s.”

It was a couple of hours before the police were finished at the house. They had collected the brick, took pictures of the footprint, and questioned Sara about possible enemies. She had to explain everything that had happened in the past few months to an investigator, as if everyone in town did not know about it. 

While the police were taking care of business, Sara and Cynthia had unloaded the camping supplies from the car. After they were gone, Sara nailed a board up to cover the window. She would have to call someone the next day to fix it. She was sure her homeowner’s insurance would pay for it, but it was just a hassle. 

“You want a beer?” Cynthia asked when they were finished.

“That sounds good.”

“Well, it was almost a perfect weekend,” Cynthia commented as she handed Sara the beer and sat down beside her on the sofa.

“I could think of a better ending to it than this.”

“Yeah. A lot of better endings.”

They both laughed and Sara put her arm around Cynthia. “One thing is for sure though.” Sara turned slightly too look at Cynthia.

“What’s that?”

“I love you very, very much, Ms. Wesley.”

“I love you too, Ms. Carson. I want to try to show you how much tonight.”

“I think that might can be arranged.” Sara kissed Cynthia’s beautiful full lips.

C
hapter 32

“Good morning,” Ms. Tatum greeted Sara and Cynthia as they entered the cafeteria for the first faculty meeting of the year. She shook their hands and directed them to the breakfast that had been prepared for the staff. “Help yourself, ladies. We will get started in a few minutes.”

They both made their way over to the tables that were filled with food. Several teachers introduced themselves to each of them as they fixed their plates. As they sat down at a table, Ms. Tatum walked to the front of the room. She made a few announcements and then proceeded to introduce the new staff. Other than Sara and Cynthia, there were seven new teachers. Two were in the science department. One was an English teacher. One was a Social Studies teacher. Two were in the business department. The last was a physical education teacher. 

After the breakfast, a series of meetings took place. Departments met to discuss teaching assignments. Different grade levels met with counselors for information purposes. Before they knew it, the morning had gone by. Several of the math teachers were going out to lunch together. They invited Sara and Cynthia to join them. The invitation was happily accepted. 

On the way home, Sara’s cell phone rang. 

“Hello?” Sara answered after looking at the number.

“Is this Ms. Carson?”

“Yes it is. May I ask who this is?”

“This is Investigator Walters. How are you today?”

“I am fine. I will be even better if you are calling to tell me you know who broke my window.”

“Well, I am calling regarding your incident. Do you wish to press charges against the individual, Ms. Carson?”
   
             
“Have you found the person?”

“We have. Do you want to press charges?”

“Of course I do. Who is it?”

“I would rather not go into details on the phone. I will need for you to come down here to the police station. I need to get a little more information from you. Probably the best we can do is damage to personal property.” The investigator was very pleasant.

“I am meeting someone at my house when I get home to fix the window. That will probably take about an hour. Will you still be there after that?” Sara was hopeful with her question.

“I will be here until around seven. Just come by when you finish with the repairman.” 

“We’ll be there as soon as we can,” Sara assured him and hung up the phone.

***

“I need to speak with Investigator Walters. Is he still in?” Sara asked the receptionist at the police department.

“Yes ma’am. May I tell him your name?” She was very soft spoken.

“Sara Carson. We just spoke on the phone a little while ago.” Sara looked at her watch. It was 6:30. 

“He’ll be right with you. You can have a seat over there if you like.”

Sara and Cynthia took a seat by the wall. There were several uniformed officers in the lobby, along with about a dozen people in civilian clothes. Some wore identification badges, but she assumed most were not department employees.

A tall dark-haired man of about 40 walked to the receptionist’s desk. He said something to her and she pointed in the direction of Sara and Cynthia. He walked quickly over to them. “Ms. Carson?”

“Yes. I’m Sara Carson.”

He extended his hand. “I am Investigator Walters. Let’s go into this room over here and talk.” He pointed to a door on the right side of the lobby. “Is this Ms. Wesley?”

“Yes it is.” Sara replied.

“Come with us Ms. Wesley. I need some information from you too.”

They walked into a barren room. It contained a dark oak conference table and six chairs positioned around the table. There was no other furniture in the room. There were no pictures on the beige walls.