Charter: The Book Club

The weather wished to be better, as soon as the sun dipped below the horizon the clouds darkened and it began to rain with thunderstorms, by this time raindrops could be heard beating against the window frames, Athena had already eaten, spent time in the shower grooming herself and put on a suitable blue pyjamas that hid her figure.

She got into bed and went to sleep, but the day didn't end there, a police car drove up to her house, the front door opened and a very handsome man with noticeable gray hair at his temples got out. It was the head of the Clark family. He worked as a policeman in the nearest town to Philadelphia, he went into the house and sat down at the kitchen table where his wife had already prepared a meal for him.

Whispering, he asked Orlanda: – How has she been doing? – Orlanda nodded positively.

– That's good, I was afraid the school wouldn't let her. – The father was happy for his daughter, but there was no smile on his face as his wife asked him: – Tom, what happened?

– The thing is, we got a report at the station that Liam Wolfe, Kahn Tierce and Herod Stan had escaped from juvenile detention.

Mother held back her surprise so as not to wake Athena.

-– It can't be the boys who had a possible motive for the disappearance of the two teenagers... –We're doing everything we can to find them, but please tell our daughter to be careful tomorrow morning. – Orlanda agreed with her husband.

The next morning, before school, at breakfast, the mother told her daughter what had happened: – Before you go to school, I'd like to talk to you about it.

– -What has happened? – Athena took her favorite snack from the kitchen shelf, which she ate every morning, and added milk and fruit.

– The thing is.... – Her mother hadn't finished, so Athena answered for her.

– Don't tell me you and Dad have decided to split up. If that's the case, I don't want to have to choose who I live with. – Athena looked at her mother and realized there had been a misunderstanding.

– Athena! That's not the point. Your father told me to be careful at school today because some kids have escaped from the juvenile detention center in connection with the case of Amanda Tin and Marky Poole.– Athena spilled milk over her breakfast, she hadn't expected to hear this. With that knowledge, she walked all the way to school, muttering to herself: "Not enough for them to do anything else"

Today she walked to school without looking where she was going and almost hit a pole near the entrance, where old flyers about two missing children were hung as a reminder that the same thing could happen to her if she wasn't careful.

Athena's mind was filled with different thoughts about what really happened to Amanda and Marky, "Maybe they're hiding somewhere for a long time... no, I'd rather not think about that". Then she realized that she had touched a piece of her school scarf, which matched her hair perfectly, it was a dark blue color and resembled a chess board. It had been a gift from her mother for her daughter's birthday, but now a seam had split in one place.

– OK, I'll hide it in my rucksack and sew it up.

Athena finally reached the entrance to her school when she was suddenly met at the door by yesterday's fantasy board game enthusiast. He had brought his application form with him today and was with a friend who was also holding his papers in his hands.

Today Athena could finally get a glimpse of the boy who had made such a big deal about joining her club yesterday, when this boy was in the sun his tanned skin gave off a lovely caramel color, especially his curly hair was like ripe wheat and gave him a nice presentable look. When this boy thought about joining the book club his bright blue eyes sparkled with joy, the corners of Athena's lips smiled slightly as she saw the text "I'll always love board games" socks, peeking out from under his shoes. The curly-haired boy walked over to Athena to introduce the unknown man, who was taller than Dolan himself:

– This is the Frank I told you about yesterday. She also wanted to join your club. – Athena was surprised because the rather handsome guy was a girl with short dark hair and a nose piercing, it reminded Athena of her mother who in her younger years had been one of those people, a kind of rebel who asserted her rights with just a look, it turned out to be an interesting coincidence.

– It's nice to meet you, but my real name is Francie, but my friends call me Frankie. – Francie laughed at Athena's surprise.

– It's nice to meet you too, Frank, from what your friend told me, I thought...–Athena didn't finish because Francie decided to say it for her.

– That I'm actually a girl, that's okay. – Francie fixed her hair and looked sweetly at Athena. Dolan interrupted her.

– Are you going to take our forms now? –Asked the boy.

– Oh, now isn't the time. – Athena held her textbooks in her hands and checked the time the bell for first period was about to ring.

– Don't worry, just tell me when it's convenient for you! – Dolan said cheerfully, and then the bell rang, signaling that the first hour was about to begin.

– Then how about this? Meet me at the book club after school. I'll approve your forms and you'll be full members, OK? – Athena was in a hurry to get to class and couldn't officially admit them to the book club right now. They agreed and scattered to their classes as soon as the bell rang.

In the second period, Athena was in Nature Studies. There was a sepulchral silence in the room, except for the teacher's clock, which was making nasty clanking noises.

Of course this teacher had a name, but after the incident in the forest they had started calling him Mr Sugarfoot, the professor didn't really like such taunts, as a teacher he kept them to himself, no matter how much the teacher tried to enforce that they shouldn't call him that, they didn't stop, and it continues to this day. He put on his glasses and while everyone was writing the test, he turned to Athena:

– Athena Clark, I heard from the teachers that you dared to start a book club, congratulations! – He was really happy for the young girl, but he was also busy with the paperwork to ban people from calling him "Sugarfoot'', he had written such statements many times, but the previous headmistress had not commented, but now with the new bosses he decided it was worth trying again.

-Thank you, Mr Sug....Flanfield. – Athena wanted to call him by the nickname the children had given him, but she said his surname sharply.

– And how are you getting on, miss? – Looking at the files and Athena.

– I've only found two volunteers for my club, but I need three more at the moment or the Deputy Director will close it down in the next three months. Some of her classmates looked at Athena and imagined the sinister, laughing face of the Deputy Head who would close down the book club that Athena was so keen to reopen.

– You know, sometimes you just have to let go of expectations and appreciate everything, appreciate the two who have unconditionally agreed to join your club... you'll still need them: –The teacher looked out of the window and sighed sadly.

The fact that her classroom was on the second floor and the windows overlooked the entrance to the school meant that the building had never seen a heavy security guard standing outside, ready for anything.

Flanfield looked at Athena and said to the whole class: – Be careful, all of you.– The girl was alert, she had been the same after the lesson was over, and she started to sign a consent form to admit Dolan and Francie to the club.

– Dolan Cline and Francie D. Stephan, you're in! – They were so happy that they started to do their wonderful dances, which made Athena laugh, but she stopped to give the boys their first club assignment:

– To keep you so happy... wipe down these bookshelves, they haven't been cleaned in a long time. – The boys giggled but agreed to Athena's suggestion.

Everyone, even Athena, reluctantly picked up a rag and began to go through the dusty shelves of the library. While cleaning, Francie accidentally knocked one of the old books to the floor, it fell and opened to reveal a page of photographs, it was a school album that hadn't been cleaned in three years. Francie picked up the album and absentmindedly looked at one of the pictures of children, including the faces of today's graduating seniors from Philadelphia High School. The girl knew the faces of the other two very well, she saw Marky and Amanda, she could recognise them very well as their pictures were all over the town, Francie got shivers down her spine from the picture, on the back of the picture was written "Philadelphia Junior High School Graduation 2014" there was a verse written next to it, Francie started to read it: – Between water and earth, across ... – Before she finished reading, Athena called out to her and Dolan. The girl didn't see it, but some of the words lit up for a second in a bright golden color.

– Which one of you left the bathroom window open? – They were a little discouraged, since they'd been doing Athena's job all along.

–Maybe it was already open? – Someone left it open to let all the old smell out. Francie used her powers of deduction, but they were suddenly interrupted by sirens coming from the street:

–What's going on out there? – A familiar voice came over the loudspeaker, it was Athena's father.

– Herod Stan! We're asking you to leave this school building immediately for good or we'll do it for bad! We have a warrant for your arrest!!!

Athena was confused: – But there's no one else in the school but the teachers and the three of us, how could a wanted man have got in here? – Francie used her powers of deduction:

–Through the bathroom window.¹

– Through the bathroom window.² –The first voice was Francie's, but the second was a man coming out of the side of the bookshelves where the light bulb had burnt out. It was a battered man, covered in scratches from the bricks he'd rubbed against as he'd climbed in, and the boys quickly gathered around him.

–But...but how did you get away? – Dolan asked.

– It was easy, my friends and I knocked out the officer on duty and now we're spread out in different parts of the city so we'll be harder to find.

– Get the police over here! – Athena didn't have time to do anything before Herod Stan said no in a low voice:

–NO! I came to you Athena, I know your father is a policeman... Just listen to me! Please...

–And why should I believe you? – Athena had one of her hands behind her, along with her phone, and she discreetly gestured to Dolan, who was standing behind her, to switch on the recorder.