Chapter 1
It was a foggy and rainy day as Samantha the detective hurried to the classroom. She was late because of a dentist appointment. As she opened the classroom door, to her surprise, all her classmates were missing! Samantha was frightened of what she saw.
The walls were scraped, chairs and tables were broken, and books were scattered all over the place.
Then, she saw a big hole behind the bookshelf that wasn’t there before. Samantha pushed the bookshelf with all her might and entered the secret chamber.
The walls were crumbling. It was so big, you could easily get lost, Samantha thought. She found a staircase that led to the huge and crumbling clock that was actually very pretty.
Suddenly, the clock struck 12:00. At the very top of the clock, two doors opened and figurines that looked like students from a long time ago spun round and round the clock.
On one of the figurines, Samantha spotted a book in the arms of a small girl with silver wavy hair. Two other girls were placed beside her. One of the girls had long blond hair expertly woven into a braid, followed by the other girl with slick black hair tied into a ponytail. They all had one thing in common: a bracelet.
Samantha took the book from the silver haired figurine and saw on the bottom there was a stone that said the girls’ names: the blond hair girl was Chloe, the shortest one was Avery, Linzy was the one with the darkest hair.
Samantha tiptoed down the stairs. Next, Samantha slowly closed the secret passageway. Then, she slipped the book inside her backpack and hurried home as the last bell had just rung.
The next day Samantha arrived at school early to tell her two best friends, Brooklyn and Riri, what happened because they were in completely different classes. Riri, an eight year old girl with wavy and pretty black hair, became best friends with Brooklyn and Samantha in 1st grade. Brooklyn, a nine year old girl who was a head taller than Riri, had pretty brunette hair. Samantha, who was eight years old, was a head taller than Riri, and had pretty rose gold hair.
“Samantha, today we have a substitute teacher. She’s new and you can join our class until your class is found,” Riri said.
“You can sit next to us so we can write notes to each other of what we think could have happened,” Brooklyn said. So, they all went to class.
“Samantha, did you tell anybody yet about the secret chamber?” Brooklyn asked in a hushed voice.
“Well, not exactly,” said Samantha, “I did not want to tell anybody yet because I just wanted a mystery to solve by myself. ”
“Fine,” said Brooklyn. Riri was about to say something but the door slammed open. Then, out came the substitute teacher. She sat down on the chair and then took attendance. Samantha then noticed there was something awfully familiar about her slick black hair that was tied into a ponytail.
“Single file line. Hurry, we are going on a field trip to the museum,” the teacher said in a loud and sturdy voice before Samantha could say anything.
Then, everybody went on to the bus. Samantha found Riri and Brooklyn and sat next to them before anyone could steal her spot. On the way to the museum, they talked about the secret chamber and talked about what could be familiar about the substitute teacher and who could be the girls in the clock.
“I found this book in one of their arms,” Samantha told them, and she showed them the soft yet mysterious book. Riri’s eyes opened wide.
“Why are you so excited?” Brooklyn asked Riri.
“That clock is really old so it will probably have a history of who the girls are,” Riri said.
“I don’t think that those girls are that old. Those girls should be grown-ups by now,” Samantha said.
“We are here, come on,” said the substitute teacher. She then led the students inside the museum and gave them all a clipboard and a packet. “In your packet, you can take notes about any old artifact that is in the museum and what you learned and what you are interested in now.”
“Come on, we need to go to the clock section,” said Samantha .
“Okay,” said Riri.
“Can you guys slow down?” asked Brooklyn, doing her best to catch up with them.
“Nope,” said Riri, giggling.
“Hurry, the sign said the clock exhibit is going to close in five minutes,” said Samantha. Then, they finally reached the exhibit and, to their surprise, the substitute teacher beat them there.
“Do you guys have an interest in clocks? I can show you some clocks from school if you like,” said the substitute teacher.
“Yes, please,” said Riri in a polite manner.
“Which clock would you like to learn about? I have a whole book of clocks,” said the substitute teacher.
“Do you have a book about a clock at school next to the principal’s office building?”asked Samantha.
“No, there is not a clock there,” said the teacher in a suspicious tone of voice. They then heard someone shout.
“Out of the clock exhibit, it is closing in one minute,” said a teenage boy who looked like a janitor.
“There is something awfully weird about her. She is very familiar and just by the tone of her voice she is keeping something from us,” Samantha then said to Brooklyn and Riri.
“Whatever you say,” answered Riri in a voice that she never used before. Samantha, Brooklyn, and Riri then walked to the bus.
“What if there is no North side? What if the clock is hidden behind the bushes where Samantha accidently threw the ball over the fence?” Riri said.
“Impossible. When we saw the ball go over the fence, it hit something hard that sounded like a few bricks,” said Brooklyn. “Oooh, I get it now!”
“Told ya,” said Riri. Samantha looked at them, looking very bored and tapping her foot.
“Okay, okay, come on. Let’s just jump over the bush full of thorns that Melissa got poked by in 1st grade. Great plan, just great,” said Samantha sarcastically.
“But didn’t Melissa say there was a big clock in the back of the bush?” said Riri.
“Congrats, we have a new smarty pants now. Congrats, Riri,” said Brooklyn.
“Oh, stop itm Brooklyn,” said Samantha.
“Let’s just go now to the bush but Brooklyn gets Melissa before we go to the bush now, okay?” said Riri proudly.
“Okay, I will get her,” said Brooklyn, swirling her brunette curls.
“Time to get off the bus.” said the substitute teacher who told everyone to call her Ms. Linzy and surprisingly she was only 11…
To be continued…