Children of the Moon. Evadeen Brickwood

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СКАЧАТЬ couldn’t do anything when we were in Marseilles. It was sooo boring.” Katherine sighed at the mere memory. “Fred’s such a nuisance. He always catches something when we travel.”

      Sure, his Mom’s attention, Chryséis thought to herself.

      Katherine still spoke in a pronounced British accent. According to some of the American kids, it sounded as if she had just arrived with the pilgrim ships in the New World.

      “Read any interesting books during the holidays?” Chryséis turned to Trevor.

      “What?” He was distracted.

      Holly Benson, the class bully, stood nearby. Trevor hoped that she wouldn’t notice him. He didn’t like her much and it was unlikely that she had changed for the better during the holidays.

      She had a pretty face under a mop of curly brown locks. It could have fooled somebody who didn’t know her well.

      For some mysterious reason, Holly Benson didn’t like kids on a scholarship. She kept throwing back her dark curls and tried to appear disinterested as she inspected the newcomers in the parking lot.

      Holly would have liked to be friends with Chryséis. Mr. Cromwell came from an old family in the area and chaired the Etheridgeville’s Chamber of Commerce. Good family, Holly’s Dad said.

      The class bully stood just behind Mrs. Cromwell, who was now talking to her parents. She had discovered the three friends laughing and sharing their holiday stories.

      Why did Chryséis have to be friends with this Trevor Huxley character from Chicago? He was so common. How he had made the cut at Pemberton, she couldn’t fathom!

      Mr. Benson’s company donated a proud sum of money to the school funds every year and he certainly expected his daughter to be right up there with the best. And as for Katherine - well what was so special about her that Chryséis chose this English girl as her best friend?

      “I asked, if you’ve read any interesting book.”

      “Oh okay, actually I surfed more on the Internet,” Trevor confessed.

      “As always.”

      “This new website on astronomy is amazing. They have a screensaver with pictures of planets and galaxies and some info about black matter.”

      He was right at home, exploring the virtual world of the internet. Not to mention computer games.

      “And what else?” Katherine asked.

      Before he could answer, Chryséis said excitedly, “You’ve just got to read ‘Distant Resonance’. It’s a new book by Prof. Herbert Shelton. It’s all about something that happens on one side of the planet and then somebody has the exact same idea on the other side and…”

      Holly Benson had moved quietly next to her father, Harold J. Benson III. She now faced the three friends directly.

      “Herbert Shelton? Read it ages ago. Good book!” she cut in with an air of self-importance. “Probably too expensive for you, Trevor.” Trevor rolled his eyes and Katherine jumped.

      “Whoa, where did you come from?”

      Chryséis was annoyed. “Oh whatever, Holly. Nobody asked you anyway!” Holly never seemed to get it when she wasn’t welcome. Prof. Cromwell noticed the icy atmosphere and came to the rescue.

      “Hi Holly, nice to see you, darling. We’d better go now. Good day, Mr. Benson. Mrs. Benson.”

      She knew her daughter’s quick temper and ushered the kids towards the stairs and the entrance hall, before Mr. Benson had a chance to lecture her about more pros and cons of holidaying in the Caribbean.

      “Look, they prepared everything inside,” she said.

      Chryséis lugged a small, blue suitcase up the stairs with Trevor’s help.

      “Read Herbert Shelton ages ago… blahblah. Who did she try to impress?” she mumbled to herself. Chryséis had already had enough of Holly, and school had only just started.

      Dr. Broadbent held his usual speech. “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon parents and other adults present...” Dr. Broadbent always addressed the students as ‘ladies and gentlemen’.

      He was a quick-tongued man in his fifties. With a receding hairline and a kind pink face, he was the picture of a school principal. Dr. Broadbent loved to spike his assembly speeches with little wordplays to keep his young audience on their toes.

      Today his speech was comparatively lame. Eighth-grader Bradley Benson, a distant cousin of Holly’s, pushed one of the smaller boys out of the way and Dr. Broadbent paused until order had been restored. At the beginning of the school year, he was still in a good mood. The entrance hall filled with more and more people.

      “... and we find ourselves back in the hallowed halls of learning. An extended welcome to our teachers, who are no doubt in hiding somewhere in the building and - of course to our parents and the new students. May your stay at Pemberton be as fruitful—” Dr. Broadbent spoke for another ten endless minutes.

      Afterward, there were finger foods, mostly handfuls of sausage rolls before the parents left.

      Then Pemberton was back to business as usual. The relatively small private school had only two classes per grade. Katherine, Trevor and Chryséis were in the same class this year. So were Holly and her best friend, Natasha Manning.

      “Oh joy,” Chryséis moaned.

      “Yeah well, nothing we can do,” Trevor whispered.

      “We’ll see about that.”

      At least, Dr. Wilkins was their homeroom teacher. A dedicated if slightly boring teacher, he had a kind heart. Unfortunately, he was easily thrown off balance. The grade-eights still giggled about a prank they had played on Dr. Wilkins last October. Apparently it had something to do with a whoopee cushion.

      After a rushed dinner, rooms were assigned in the dormitories. Garments, books and personal items were sorted noisily from bulging suitcases into yawning closets.

      The boys were in the east wing, the girls in the west wing. Soon the common rooms were buzzing with excited chatter.

      “Did you see Vanessa? That new haircut!”

      “I heard that Bobby’s parents are getting a divorce…”

      “No!”

      “I’m taking Japanese this year...”

      Chryséis shared a corner room on the second floor with Katherine and Sally Holfield, a new girl from Missouri. Being no early bird, Chryséis didn’t like bright morning light and was pleased that their windows faced west. Thank goodness, Holly’s room was on the floor below.

      Trevor had put his things away earlier and sat reading on a bench outside. Leaning over the windowsill, Chryséis called out to him. “Hi there, Trevor!”

      It wasn’t very cool to call out to girls in their dorms. He waved back quickly СКАЧАТЬ