Amy Flemming | Moves to Hemmingway Boarding School

Twenty-one

Today is Wednesday. Yesterday, we had a long walk with everybody in the house, the teachers and the volunteers. It was a very long walk but according to Mr. Rutherford there is nothing wrong with a little bit of exercising doesn't do anybody harm. That is true.

"Today you will be working with a partner. You guys will be send off to search for an item that will be hid somewhere in this forest. As soon as you have found it, you will have to find your way back here. Each pair has the same object to look for so you all have the same piece at the end." The pairs will be made by Mr. Rutherford. I eat my yogurt as the pairs are made. Elijah and Valerie. That really got him to almost choke on their food or whatever it was that they were having. "I am not that bad." Valerie fakes an offended look. "Oh yes, you are." He says and finished his drink. Heather and Ethan get put together. Paige and Brooke. Chester and I. Lastly Mason and Lucy.

When we are all dressed and ready, one by one each pair exits the house and leave for their trips. Chester and I leave last and close the door behind us.

* * *

At least, like on the first day, we did get a few hints so we wouldn't be walking and walking without finding anything on our way. "So how has it been going?" Chester asks me and smiles as we continue walking. "Pretty well. I wouldn't have thought that I would get used to the house this easily." He looks at me. "If it wasn't for the things we discovered, it could have taken longer and would be harder." He says honestly. "I think so too." I smile at him. "I am more than happy to be finding this all out with you, Valerie and Ethan." I say and he nods. "We do have to keep this to ourselves. We might get in to big trouble when other people find out that we have found out about this and the secret of ours fall into the wrong hands." He takes my hand in his and kisses me gently.

The weather is sunnier than expected. "Look below and not above." Is what the hint said. Our eyes are on the ground the whole time. We are walking on a small path that runs through the forest. "Watch out." Chester says and quickly pulls me to the side roughly. Before I know what is going on, a black car speeds up along the path followed by another grey car like he is following him. When the cars are gone I look at him. "Thank you, if you did not pull me away, they would have hit me." He nods. "I would never let anybody hurt you." I look up at him and smile before walking further.

"You know, you are not what I had imagined you to be like." I look over at him. "Good or bad?" I ask him to be sure. "You are very good in Math and Latin. Interested in all of the harder stuff that we get at school." I smile since I hear that a lot. "None of the girls are really interested in all of that. I mean Paige likes Economy and the others like Drama." I play with my bracelet around my wrist. "But that is why I like you." He says with a smile on his face.

There is a big envelope on the floor as we look further. "I think we found what we were looking for." I pick it up and read the letter that is inside.

Congratulations. You have found me. Inside you have the key to the house. You have to get home. Safe trip. One more thing. You are not allowed to be there at the same time as your housemates so if you see them, make sure you are not entering at the same time as them.

There is a key of the mansion inside the envelope. Chester frowns. "How do we know if they will be there." He asks me. "If we see them there we will just have to wait and let them in first or rush and be first."

We walk back but realize that this is not the right way back. "How did we get here?" I ask him and he chuckles. "We walked." Chester tells me very seriously making me laugh but it is not really the time to make a joke. The time on my watch reads that it is six O' clock and that was the time that we would be home these last few days.

We walk for a long time and it looks like we are still in the same spot even though we walked through the forest. Then Chester looks at me. "I think we are lost." I roll my eyes at him since we are in fact lost. "What do we do now?" I ask and he looks at me. It looks like he has no idea as well. I sigh and take out my phone. No signal.

"Let's walk back to the path and then see what we will do next." It took us half an hour to get there. We look around and start walking in what we think is the right direction. To our surprise it is indeed the right way since we see the top of the roof of the mansion.

Like expected everybody was there so at least we did not come in with the others but our feet are hurting a lot which isn't a great feeling. It is currently 19:15 and we are exhausted when as we enter the living room of the mansion. "Oh they are here. We were so worried!" Valerie says as she sees us and hugs us both like she hasn't seen us for weeks. "So happy that you two are back!" Karen, one of the volunteers says as she takes our coats. The chairs get placed in front of the fire place and we sit down. "Are you okay?" Elijah asks me as we make ourselves comfortable. "Yes. Thanks." He passes us a blanket as we have a cup of soup.

"I was very worried. I am happy that you two have found your way back here." Mr. Rutherford tells us and I smile. "I thought you got killed or kidnapped and would never get back." Brooke says as she takes her seat on the couch with Heather beside her.

After our dinner and having a warm shower Ethan, Valerie, Chester and I are sitting in our bedroom that we have for this week. "We have to get the thing back as soon as possible. I do not trust anybody at the moment." Ethan tells us. Not long after that a knock is heard on the door. I look at the others and tell them to be quiet before walking to the door. I slowly open the door of our bedroom expecting Mrs. Wilson or Mr. Rutherford to stand in front of me but I was surprised that Elijah appeared when I opened the door.

"We are supposed to be in bed already so can I come in?" Elijah asks looking around him. "Yeah, sure come in, mate."  Chester says and pats the empty seat beside him. Elijah smiles and he walks in the room sitting on the seat Chester had for him. "Mr. Rutherford was looking for you two this evening and had his bag with him. When he came back here, he didn't realize that this fell out of his bag."  He explains holding up the diary. "Ah, thank you so much."  I say and give him a hug taking him by surprise. I look at the journal and smile. "Thank you Elijah. It means a lot to her." Valerie says with a smile.

"What are you two doing here anyway?" Elijah asks Chester and Ethan. "If Mr. Rutherford sees you in here, he would freak out and get all mad." Elijah tells them as they try to come up with something. "We were looking for ways to find back the diary." I say and smile at him. 

After changing the subject so Elijah can talk with us since the problem is solved, we decide that it is time to actually go to sleep. It is eleven O' clock already and since today was pretty long I am pretty sleepy. "Thank you again for the diary." I thank Elijah and he smiles. "Do not worry about it. I am happy that it is found." He turns around and looks at us. "Good night." Elijah and Ethan say as they leave the room and wait for Chester in the corridor. "That problem is out of the way so we can move on now." Chester kisses my cheek and I smile. "Good night." I say  before he kisses me once more. "Good night."