Cal and Boges had a free period on Monday mornings, and Ryan’s class was at the local library working on group assignments—he didn’t think he’d be missed. Being homeschooled had its advantages. As long as I got my assignments done for my tutor, I could organise my time pretty freely. I grabbed a coffee and an apple, my mind going crazy trying to work out what the warning about the Drowner and the theft of the Perdita folder could mean. I got nowhere. I needed more information—much more. I paused in the hallway near the big stained-glass front door where a small half-circle table held a photo of me and my parents, taken about a week before their deaths. They look so happy—and so do I, smiling up at my dad. On the way out of the house, I touched the picture softly, whispering, ‘Hi there, Mum and Dad. Look after me?’ They smiled back at me. I grabbed my jacket and a beret, automatically checked for my locket around my neck.
