‘Darling, are you all right?’ Magoo MacGregor asked his wife quietly as they walked out into the hallway. His office was in the opposite direction to hers, but he was desperate to speak to her. The things that the children had revealed were concerning at best and terrifying at worst.

‘I’m fine, Magoo,’ Tippie said. ‘Just shaken by the news about Cordelia and the others. It sounds grim.’

‘Yes, it’s an awful worry, isn’t it?’ he said. But at the same time Magoo was relieved that his wife was so concerned.

He bit his lip, wondering how much he should say.

‘You know, it’s true I haven’t heard a word from Michael,’ he said.

Tippie frowned. ‘Why would I doubt that, Magoo?’

‘I just wanted you to know for sure,’ he said. ‘He hasn’t been in touch with you, has he?’

Tippie pursed her lips and clasped her hands together. Magoo closed one eye, dreading her response, given what had happened when he’d first confessed to her that he’d talked to Cordelia about the man.

‘I can’t believe that you’d ask me that, Magoo – after my promise to you,’ the woman whispered. Tears welled in her eyes and she hastily brushed them away.

Magoo let out the breath he’d been holding and touched her cheek.

‘I just can’t bear the thought of losing you,’ he said.

The woman pouted like a three-year-old. ‘You’re not going to lose me, Magoo. Honestly, you have some silly ideas at times. We’re a team – a partnership. Nothing will ever come between us. You’re the glitter to my glue, the air that I breathe, the man who makes me realise that anything is possible.’

Magoo chewed the inside of his lip. While he was reassured by her words, there was something about them that scared him a little too. Anything. What did she mean by that?

‘Now shouldn’t you be getting to school?’ Tippie said. She grabbed his arm and leaned up to kiss his lips. That wasn’t something that happened very often these days. Magoo was startled, but in a good way.

‘Yes, I must get back,’ Magoo said. He’d left Mrs Potts in charge of welcoming their special guest, but Daphne was always busy first thing and he didn’t want their visitor feeling as if she’d been abandoned.

‘I’ll see you at home tonight,’ Tippie said, and kissed her husband again. This time she let her lips linger.

‘Have a good day, my love,’ he said, and walked down the hallway towards the secret entrance to the school with a silly grin on his face.

‘Oh, my day is only going to get better and better,’ Tippie muttered to herself, smiling as she spun around and headed in the opposite direction.

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‘Wow, she’s good,’ Curtis said once Tippie and Magoo were gone. ‘Not one flinch when Magoo made his admission. And yet, according to what Magoo told your mother and grandmother, Michael Smith and Tippie have often been together. He was pursuing her and now she has no idea who he is – unless perhaps she knows him only by his real name?’

‘Do you think that’s possible?” Kensy said.

‘Anything’s possible,’ Max replied.

‘And what were those crocodile tears?’ Kensy said. ‘She should have been an actress.’

Max nodded. ‘Tippie’s an enigma. Impossible to read. One minute she’s fine and the next she’s crying for Granny as if they were best friends. I’m not buying it. Anyway, we can talk about her later. Right now we need to distribute those memos, and then we have to get to school.’

‘How are we going to send them from your grandmother if we can’t access her computer?’ Curtis asked.

‘I’ve been thinking about that,’ Kensy said. ‘Remember when Song showed us how to create a generic email from the Beacon – it still looks official, but it just won’t come directly from Granny. Hopefully no one will notice – at least not today.’

‘Good thinking,’ Curtis said as the girl quickly tapped away on the keyboard of her laptop.

It wasn’t long before Kensy was done. The children left the office via the secret accessway that led directly to the school and arrived just in time for the start of the assembly.