by Kristi Holl
“All made up,” the Head said sadly. “But you couldn’t have known. Her family flies her home to Florida for vacations instead of coming here. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you, Tim,” Head Long said again.
“That’s all right. I’m not mad.” He smiled then. “Jeri believed me.”
Nikki reached over and took Tim’s arm. “Thank you for getting me and Show Stopper out. Where did you come from?”
“I was cleaning in the tack room while Sam was gone.” He looked at the Head guiltily. “I’m sorry. I know you said to stay away, but I missed my job. I rode my bike out here.” He shrugged. “I heard the horses, and then I heard someone scream. It was hard to find you in the smoke.”
“And to think what might have happened …” The Head shuddered. “I’ll talk to Mr. Rankin about you immediately, Tim. Report for work tomorrow, all right?”
Tim saluted, knocking off his cap in the process. “I’ll be here.”
Headmistress Long stood slowly. She brushed off her skirt and then ordered the crowd of onlookers to disperse to the dorms or library for an hour. The firefighters would stick around a while to make sure the fire was totally out.
“I promised the EMTs that you all would head to the infirmary,” Head Long told the trio under the tree. “If you don’t go now, they’ll take you to the hospital for observation. I’ll be over after I talk to the police about Lyndsey.” She glanced quickly at the squad car, where Lyndsey sat in the backseat. “They need to know her history. She’ll need a lot of counseling for the traumatic loss in her family. She has a long, long road of recovery ahead of her.”
Jeri nodded. Glancing at Tim, she realized he and Lyndsey actually had some things in common. They both had events from their pasts—ordeals that weren’t their fault—that had produced within them special needs. But how should I feel about what Lyndsey did? Jeri wondered. Maybe the answer was the same as with Tim: “Do unto others …” Tim needed love and acceptance; Lyndsey’s special needs would involve a lot of forgiveness and understanding.
Dragging themselves to their feet, Jeri, Nikki, and Tim headed toward Clarke Hall, skirting around the crowd still gathered at the barn. “Well, I’m glad that’s over,” Jeri finally said, realizing her throat really felt raw this time.
She wanted to call Mom, but it would hurt to talk long enough to tell the whole story. Then she remembered the surprise.
“Mom’s coming next weekend for Easter,” she said. “I’d like to plan a picnic in the park for her with all my friends.” She grabbed Tim’s ball cap and jammed it down on her own tangled, smoky hair. “And that includes you.”
Other books in the growing Faithgirlz!™ Library
Boarding School Mysteries
Vanished (Book One)
Betrayed (Book Two)
Poisoned (Book Four)
The Sophie Series
Sophie’s World (Book One)
Sophie’s Secret (Book Two)
Sophie Under Pressure (Book Three)
Sophie Steps Up (Book Four)
Sophie’s First Dance (Book Five)
Sophie’s Stormy Summer (Book Six)
Sophie’s Friendship Fiasco (Book Seven)
Sophie and the New Girl (Book Eight)
Sophie Flakes Out (Book Nine)
Sophie Loves Jimmy (Book Ten)
Sophie’s Drama (Book Eleven)
Sophie Gets Real (Book Twelve)
The Lucy Series
Lucy Doesn’t Wear Pink (Book One)
Lucy Out of Bounds (Book Two)
Lucy’s “Perfect” Summer (Book Three)
Lucy Finds Her Way (Book Four)
Other books by Kristi Holl
What’s A Girl to Do?
Shine on, Girl!: Devotions to Keep You Sparkling
Girlz Rock: Devotions for You
Chick Chat: More Devotions for Girls
No Boys Allowed: Devotions for Girls
Check out www.faithgirlz.com
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
— 2 Corinthians 4:18
Copyright
ZONDERKIDZ
Burned
Copyright © 2008, 2011 by Kristi Holl
Formerly titled Smoke Screen
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.
EPub Edition © NOVEMBER 2010 ISBN: 978-0-310-39965-0
This title is also available as a Zondervan ebook.
Visit www.zondervan.com/ebooks.
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zonderkidz, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Holl, Kristi.
[Smoke screen]
Burned / by Kristi Holl.
p. cm. — (Faithgirlz) (Boarding school mysteries ; bk. 3)
ISBN 978-0-310-72094-2 (softcover)
Originally published in 2008 under the title, Smoke screen.
[1. Boarding schools—Fiction. 2. Schools—Fiction. 3. Arson — Fiction. 4. Christian life—Fiction. 5. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Title. PZ7.H7079Bur 2011
[Fic] — dc22 2010037925
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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
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10 11 12 13 14 15 /DCI/ 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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