After spending yesterday morning at the police station and the rest of the day sleeping, I was back at school today. It felt like I’d been gone for a week. And what a reception I received! People constantly stopped me in the halls to ask questions about finding Nathan. I’ve never been so popular in my life!
During lunch period, I’d just sat down with Mindi, Stacey, and Cori in the cafeteria when Leanne joined us. “So you were involved in the investigation after all,” she said, with a wide smile.
I gave her an apologetic shrug. “Yeah, though not quite as officially as I led you to believe.”
“Official enough,” she said. “I saw Nathan when he got back from the hospital. He told me everything. Thanks.” She leaned over and gave me a tight hug before joining her friends at a different table.
I watched her go and then noticed Cori scowling at me. Nothing unusual, but to my surprise, so were Mindi and Stacey.
“What?” I asked.
“How could all of this have gone on without any of us knowing about it?” asked Mindi. “I thought we were friends!”
“We are,” I said.
“Friends tell each other everything,” she said. “I didn’t know you were working with the OPP and searching for Nathan. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Like I told you, Mindi, she thinks she’s too good for you,” mumbled Cori under her breath.
“Sarah?” asked Mindi, her voice up an octave.
“Maybe it’s true,” I said, crossing my arms.
“What?” Mindi’s voice was now a shriek.
“Who told me to just do my project but otherwise stay away from Byron?” I asked. “You were so worried that Byron and I had something romantic going on.” I rolled my eyes.
“I wasn’t … I mean … you still could have told me what you were doing. I would’ve listened — I did when you told me about Nathan —” protested Mindi. I gave her a warning look. I didn’t want anyone to know about him vandalizing the Hoppers’ house. That had become ancient history between the Hoppers and the Tremballs. “I would have helped you, Sarah,” she insisted, getting the hint.
“Maybe Sarah’s right,” said Stacey. “We were all too worried about Byron’s reputation.”
“Seemed like it,” I agreed, with a nod. “Oh, and by the way, Cori, thanks for ratting me out.”
She looked startled. “What do you mean?”
“I know you phoned my house on Wednesday and told my mom I was ditching school.”
Everyone looked at her, and she winced. “How did you … ?” Then she countered, “It was a good thing I did, though, right? That’s the reason you got rescued off that island.”
“Oh, sure. Friends always call friends’ parents to tell them when they’re doing something wrong, right?” I snapped.
“Geez, Cori. Would you call my mom if I skipped school, too?” asked Stacey.
“Why did you do that, Cori? Friends aren’t supposed to tell on each other,” added Mindi. I wasn’t about to remind her that Cori and I weren’t exactly friends, so it probably wasn’t a good argument.
“I … uh …” Cori stammered. I have to admit, I enjoyed watching her get so flustered. “I — I’m s-sorry, Sarah,” she finally got out. I’m sure it was literally painful for her to say this.
“Yeah, okay,” I said, graciously accepting her apology like the better person I am.
“Sarah … it wasn’t just Cori who talked to your parents,” said Mindi sheepishly. “Your mom showed up at school and hunted Roy down. He ended up telling her how Amber was after all that food you had packed in your knapsack, how you were wearing layers of sweaters like you were planning to be outside all day, and how he overheard you saying something to Amber about hunting for an island?”
I grimaced. That snoop! Did I have any privacy?
“He was worried about you!” she claimed, when she saw the anger on my face. “That’s the only reason he told.”
“Yeah, me too!” said Cori. I snorted.
“Then your mom called your dad,” explained Mindi. “He rounded us all up and asked us all sorts of questions. Cori told him about how much time you’d been spending with Byron —”
“Of course,” I said, nodding. To my satisfaction, Cori’s face reddened slightly.
Mindi continued. “When your dad found out that Garnet and Byron weren’t at school either, he called their parents. From there, it didn’t take him much longer to figure out that you were all out on the lake in the Hoppers’ boat.”
“He is a detective,” I said.
“We were getting really worried when it was taking so long for them to find you,” said Mindi, frowning.
“The OPP ended up spending a lot of time searching for us further out on the lake,” I explained. “I guess we’d gotten a bit turned around while we were out there, and the island we found Nathan on was closer to home than we realized.”
“We’re all just really glad they found you,” said Mindi. Stacey, and even Cori, nodded in agreement.
Later, in geography class, we were given time to work on our projects. I walked back to Byron’s desk. He beamed at me as I approached. It was a facial expression I’d never seen on him before, so I almost didn’t recognize him.
“Hi, Sarah,” he said. Hey! Social skills! At last!
I smiled back and plunked myself in the seat in front of him. “You look happy. Things going well?”
He grinned. “Things are amazing. You know what Garnet’s going to do this weekend?” He paused, giving me time to guess. Of course I had no idea. “She’s breaking up with J.D.!” he exclaimed, with a grin.
“Hey! That’s great. How will he take it?” I asked.
“How does J.D. take anything?” he answered, shrugging. “I want to be there. Maybe I’ll get to kick him out of the house!”
I laughed. “So, where’s the hoodie?”
“Oh. I decided not to wear one today,” he said. Then he grinned and took out his notes. “Looks like we can finally get working on this project!”
“Oh, joy.”
We weren’t working for long when we were interrupted by a couple of students asking us about finding Nathan. We ended up talking about our adventure on Lake Muskoka with everybody in the class, including Ms. Lytton.
Byron really seemed to enjoy the attention. He answered questions, smiled, and even laughed. I guess after so many years of people not liking you because of your beliefs, it would be such a relief to have people like you for the right reasons. He’s a good guy, whether you agree with his beliefs or not. I hope people will start to see that.
I think they will.
I think there might be some truth to the Law of Three. Take Garnet and Byron: they did a good thing by finding Nathan and now good things are happening back to them. For instance, a truce has finally been reached between them and the Tremballs. And those nasty rumours about the Hoppers are already starting to become a thing of the past.
Then there’s Nathan. He vandalized the Hoppers’ house and harassed Garnet on a regular basis, and look what happened to him! Stranded on an island. He could have died! Was that the Law of Three? Is that what he got in return for treating the Hoppers so badly?
I’d like to believe that doing good things for others does result in good things coming back to you. Although … it hasn’t seemed to work for me. After all, here I am, stuck at home, serving night one of a two-week incarceration. That’s right, I’m getting punished for finding Nathan! Garnet and Byron didn’t get grounded, did they? They didn’t have to endure never-ending lectures from their father about the dangers of detective work, no sirree!
Maybe the police would have found Nathan eventually, but the bottom line was that we found him sooner — thanks to my crazy hunch! I don’t care what Dad says, he’s never going to change my mind about being a detective. His lectures will just go in one ear and out the other and before I know it, my two weeks will be up. I’ll be on the loose again, looking for somewhere else to stick my nose!
One of these days, Dad will appreciate my awesome detective skills.