What Emma Left Behind
Page 45
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During lunch, Ana met Caera and Claudia at their table. A few minutes later, Todd, Alex, and Andrew appeared and sat down with their lunch trays, intending by the looks of this gesture to stay throughout the lunch period. Caera raised an eyebrow in question, and Ana whispered to her that she'd invited the boys earlier that day to eat at the girls' table so that they could all convene an important meeting.
"You may be wondering why I've brought you all together like this," Ana said while Alex looked around to see if anyone had noticed this historic event. Sure, they'd all talked together in the halls, and several times last week they'd dropped by each other's tables to discuss their plans, but this was the first time that they'd ever dared the public's eye in openly eating lunch together.
"Well," Ana continued, "I managed to worm a few things out of Jessica Ford this morning, and to put it quite simply, we're all in serious trouble." The emphatic way she said this silenced them and gave Ana their complete attention. Alex had turned around and Caera had even stopped chewing on her hamburger, it remaining frozen in her hands in mid-air before her mouth.
In the next few minutes, Ana explained what had happened that morning and told them what she had learned about Marie's activities over the weekend. Andrew groaned as Ana finished her story.
"Great. This is just great. We're getting no further, and Marie has just as many clues as we do. What if she finds the treasure before us?"
"She better not if she knows what's good for her," Caera grumbled under her breath.
"She can't," Claudia broke in. "Emma said only a 'true Campbell' can find it. That means that only we," she gestured around the table, "can solve this mystery."
"And put Emma's soul to rest." Alex hadn't spoken in a while, and all eyes turned to him now. Claudia saw the serious look in his eyes.
"And put Emma's soul to rest," she repeated softly.