An Unlikely Family

“Why would Bernard say that?”

“Because he’s mean and stupid.”

Missy fisted her hands on her hips. “There, you see? That’s what you’re dealing with, Miss Gaynor. A vandal and a name-caller.”

Evie sighed. “Please, Mrs. Hutchinson. There’s no need to resort to more name-calling.” She leaned over to be closer to Bernard’s height. “Did you tell Gemma that she wasn’t going on any field trips?”

“Sure. She’s not. She didn’t go on any last year—after the first one.”

Missy nodded dramatically. “Gemma’s not allowed near a public school bus,” she declared.

Evie didn’t intend to discuss that matter. Not when she still had the plastic bug caper to deal with. “This is a new year,” she said. “I think we’ll let Gemma’s teacher and I make field trip decisions.”

Missy smirked. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Evie perched on the edge of her desk and stared at Gemma, whose expression remained stoic. “You do realize, Gemma, that you can’t react to something someone said with a physical attack. That behavior is unacceptable. In this school we will respect each other’s personal property.”

Gemma huffed. “School hasn’t started yet. We were just playing. And besides, I didn’t say I did it.”

“No, but I believe you did. And you’re going to have to tell your father that if those bugs don’t come off, you owe Bernard a new shirt.”

“You’re not going to tell him?”

“I haven’t decided yet. I’m going to ask Bernard to give me his shirt, and you and I are going to stay in this office for as long as it takes for you to remove those bugs. And if Mrs. Hutchinson isn’t satisfied with the result, then we’ll see about involving your father.”

Gemma crossed her arms over her chest and slouched. “That’s not fair. He started it.”

“And it will end here, today. Do you need to call someone at home to say you’ll be delayed at school?”

“No.”

“Fine.” Evie wiggled her fingers at Bernard. “The shirt please.”

He took it off, handed it to her, and stood there in an Abercrombie T-shirt.

“I’m curious about one thing,” Evie said. “Did you try to stop Gemma from gluing bugs to your clothes?”

The considerably larger Bernard refused to look in Gemma’s direction. “Not after she said she’d punch my stomach.”

A smile lurked at the corners of Evie’s mouth. “I see. So you pretty much let her glue the bugs on?”

Bernard shrugged.

“Well, I hope you’ll remember from now on that you are not in charge of school policy, and that includes making decisions about who will and will not go on field trips.”

The boy hung his head. “Yes, ma’am.”

Evie turned to Gemma. “Is there something you’d like to say to Bernard?”

Gemma glared at him. “Yes, but then you’d call my dad.”

“Gemma!”

“Okay.” She squinted her eyes so tightly her face looked like a piece of overripe fruit. “I’m sorry, Bernard.”

Missy Hutchinson wasn’t satisfied. “That’s it? You’re not going to punish this child? You’re not even going to call her father?”

Evie was losing patience with Missy about as quickly as she was losing it with Gemma. “I’ll take care of matters from this point, Mrs. Hutchinson. You and Bernard may go. I’ll see that the shirt is returned for your inspection.”

Missy spun toward the door, pushing Bernard ahead of her. Evie tossed the shirt to Gemma. “You’d better get started.”

Gemma plucked a couple of bugs free before looking up at Evie with soulful dark eyes. “Thanks for not calling my dad.”

“Don’t thank me yet. It’s still a possibility.”

“Excuse me.” A gray-haired man appeared in the doorway.

“Yes?”

“Are you the new principal?”

Evie nodded. “And you are?”

“I’m Malcolm VanFleet, the maintenance man.”

Evie walked over and shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Malcolm. Did you need me?”

He stepped into her office. “Yes, ma’am.” Holding up a clear plastic bag, he said, “It’s about these things.”

Evie recognized the contents immediately. Dozens of bugs just like the ones on Bernard’s shirt. And a tube of quick-drying cement. She looked at Gemma who remained remarkably intent upon her task. “Where did you find these?” Evie asked Malcolm.

“Oh, they’re all over the playground. Bugs are stuck to the swings, the slide, the monkey bars, everywhere. I don’t know how long it’ll take me to get them all off, but I expect you should plan on paying me overtime since school starts in two days.”

Evie took the bag. She almost didn’t recognize her own voice when she said through clenched teeth, “Thank you, Malcolm.” Then she stuck her head out the door. “MaryAlice!”

The secretary jumped up from her chair. “Yes, Miss Gaynor?”

“Do you have Officer Muldoone’s phone number?”

Mary Alice smiled. “Oh, yes. I believe his cell number was left on the Rolodex on top of your desk. Would you like me to call him for you?”

Evie whirled around and went back into her office. “Never mind. I’ll do it myself.”

BILLY ALWAYS CARRIED a couple of small animal cages in the trunk of the cruiser. Living this close to water, you never knew when something would find its way onto a resident’s property. This afternoon’s creature was the belly-crawling kind.

He picked up the wire mesh box to show Mrs. Blake. “It’s just a harmless rat snake, ma’am,” he said. “I guarantee it was more afraid of you than you were of it.”

The elderly woman fluttered a handkerchief in front of her face. “You’re wrong about that, Billy. When a lady sees something like that coiled around the commode, well, I tell you, she’s plenty scared. It could have been a moccasin or some other poisonous snake.”