Sacred Trust by Hannah Alexander Read Free Book Online Page B

required to make a report. It’s plainly listed in the little booklet I received the other day.”
    â€œYou’re going to find that we don’t always follow the rules to the letter around here.”
    â€œThanks, Beverly, but safety comes first. There’s a good reason for those rules.” He’d gotten into trouble before when he’d been lenient with a nurse and overlooked a break in protocol when she had violated a direct order from him. It gave her a chance to falsify the record.
    â€œHe’ll find out. He knows everything that goes on around here,” Beverly warned.
    He waved and left for breakfast.
    Â 
    Theadra Zimmerman—Tedi to anyone who valued life—couldn’t concentrate. She could barely keep her eyes open even to look outside, where the rain fell as if God had decided to wash off the new leaves and speed the growth of the grass.
    Good thing she sat behind Jeff McCullough in class. His broad shoulders would cover her from Mrs. Watson’s probing eyes and catch-you-off-balance questions. The fifth-grade teacher always seemed to ask Tedi more questions than anyone, and she even expected better answers from Tedi than she did from Abby Cuendet, who always got straight As.
    Tedi leaned her chin down onto her fists on the desk as Mrs. Watson droned on about new discoveries regarding the rings of Saturn.
    Dad and Julie had fought last night, the first time Tedi had heard them fight since they’d begun dating two months ago. Julie didn’t like Dad drinking so much. Big surprise. Tedi didn’t like it, either, but that didn’t stop him. Last night she’d sat up in the hallway, eavesdropping, wondering if maybe he would listen to Julie, even though he wouldn’t listen to anyone else.
    When Julie finally left, she’d slammed the front door behind her. Apparently Dad had not listened to her, either.
    Tedi felt a weird combination of disappointment and satisfaction. Why should a near stranger be able to do something she herself had tried to do for such a long time?
    And what made Julie think that just because she was blond and pretty and wore a lot of makeup…
    â€œTedi Zimmerman, I asked you a question,” came Mrs. Watson’s sharp voice.
    Tedi jerked. Her chin slipped off her fist.
    Jeff’s shoulders shifted as he turned to look at Tedi along with the rest of the fifth-grade class. This gave Mrs. Watson a clear view of Tedi trying to straighten up and look alert.
    Mrs. Watson gave her that “I’ve had it with you, kid” look and shook her head.
    â€œClass, I want you to read the next few pages on Neptune. No talking while I’m gone. Tedi, come with me.”
    For a moment Tedi sat and stared at Mrs. Watson. “Where?”
    â€œNow, Tedi.”
    This was new.
    â€œTheadra Zimmerman—”
    â€œOkay.” Tedi didn’t look at anyone else as she got up and followed Mrs. Watson out the door. She could imagine Abby’s smirk behind her back, but who cared? Nobody liked Abby.
    Mrs. Watson closed the door on the classroom and turned to face Tedi, arms folded in front of her. “Ordinarily I would send a sleeping child to the nurse’s office to take a nap, but you are not an ordinary child. I’ve had high hopes for you, but you’ve done more daydreaming, talking and disrupting than you’ve done homework in the past few weeks. I want to know why.”
    Tedi stared at her teacher’s frowning face. She didn’t look mad, but she wasn’t happy.
    â€œAre you taking me to the principal’s office?” Tedi asked in a meek voice.
    Mrs. Watson sighed and leaned against the hallway wall. She studied Tedi’s face. “Does your father help you with homework?”
    Uh-oh, she is going to drag Dad into this. “He’s been really busy lately.”
    â€œHow about your mother?”
    â€œI don’t see her every night.” And she wasn’t about to