“Shhh,” said Emily, “We need to be quiet, Master Ponset is right there.” She pointed across the hall where Master Ponset was walking to her office. The Secret Sleuths’ main meeting point was right next to the headmaster’s main office. Sometimes it was a little annoying because they felt like they were going to get caught.
Master Ponset was the headmaster of The School for the Talented and Gifted. The School for the Talented and Gifted was an all-girls school for those with special powers. Emily was an Empath and could sense people’s emotions, Finlia was a Telepath and could read people’s minds. Finlia loved being a Telepath, but there was a strict rule at her school that said that Telepaths could not read people’s minds without asking permission. Sill was a Vanisher and could turn invisible when she needed.
“I think we should go back to our dorms, it’s way past our bedtime,” said Sill.
“No way,” said Finlia, “Guys, look, there’s Professor Nifter, I wonder if they’re going to start talking about that letter that we saw Professor Nifter handing Master Ponset.”
“I think you’re right,” replied Emily, “There’s the letter!”
“Sill, you need to turn invisible so that we can escape, and you can listen to them talk about the letter without them noticing.”
“No way, I am not going to do that. Besides, Professor Tinstin told me that my mental strength isn’t strong enough for me to do that.”
Everyone at the school took classes for their abilities, it was the only class where all the girls were separated. The girls finally decided to go to bed once the teachers had left.
***
The next morning, when they woke up and went down to breakfast, they were tired from being up so late last night. Everyone was already getting dressed when they woke up.
“Were you guys up late sneaking out like always?” asked Perry.
All three girls thought that Perry was the most annoying girl in their grade. They thought that everyone else thought that also, except for Perry’s royal sidekick, Helen. Helen was almost as annoying as Perry, besides the fact that she did whatever Perry did. The girls got dressed and headed down to the cafeteria.
When they got down to the cafeteria, Master Ponset was sitting in her chair that looked more like a throne.
“Everyone, I have an announcement, go hurry up, you three, and sit down.”
The three girls ran as quickly as they could without their skirts flying up and sat down at their dorm’s table.
“Yesterday, I got a letter about a goblin colony in the forest. Before, it was forbidden to go in the fatal forest unless you were with a Professor, but now no one, even with a professor, is allowed to go to the forest. Understood?” said Master Ponset sternly.
“Yes, Master Ponset,” rang the chorus of voices.
“Guys,” began Finlia, “we’re not going to listen to Master Ponset. We have to go out into the forest and find the goblin colony.”
“No way are we going to do that. At least I’m not going to do that. Mary’s cousin died in the forest,” said Emily.
Mary was in grade three and she was in their dorm. Mary was very kind and smart, but whenever someone brought up the topic of her cousin, she turned into a devil and started crying. Even though the three girls had never talked to Mary about her cousin, they had heard about her. Mary’s cousin was older and would have been in grade six if she were still alive.
“I agree with Emily,” said Sill.
“Come on guys, it can’t be that bad.”
“I’m still not going out there, no matter what you say,” argued Emily.
“You heard Master Ponset, we can’t go out there even with a teacher,” said Sill.
Sill was known as the perfect one that always listened to teachers, Emily was known as the cautious one, and Finlia was known as the daring one that broke the rules.
“Think about this though, if we don’t find the goblins, then who will?” said Finlia.
“One of the teachers will,” argued Sill.
“I guess when you put it that way…”
Emily was caught off by Master Ponset’s loud, ringing bell.
“Attention everyone. I know this news was a shock to all of you. But I will warn you right here and right now. Do not start scheming to go off in the forest and find the goblin colony. There will be major repercussions if you try and do that.”
She paused and took a long glance around at everyone. She paused for an extra long time while she was looking at the three girls.
“I would also like to thank the one professor who found these goblins while he was searching for some skilbers to feed our animals. Meanwhile, you all should be studying for your tests and classes. You all may now continue your breakfasts, you have 30 minutes before your first class will start.”
“All right, I’m in,” said Emily.
“Great. Now we just need Sill to agree.”
“Come on, Sill.”
“Fine, I’m in,” Sill said.
“Okay, great. I think it would be a great help if we asked Mary about how her cousin died. Also, we know that the goblins were near the skilbers, so we shouldn’t go near the skilbers until we know exactly what we’re going to do,” said Finlia.
“I’m not sure if we should ask Mary about her cousin, you know how she gets whenever someone talks about her cousin. But I do think that trying to avoid the skilbers until we know what to do is a good idea,” said Emily.
“Finlia does make a good point about Mary’s cousin though. How else are we going to figure out about the forest. We have to be in grade two to be able to go in the forest with a teacher. And now we can’t even go with a teacher. If we asked a grade two or grade three, we would sound way too suspicious. I think asking Mary about her cousin would definitely be the best way to find out about the forest. Also, we still have to eat breakfast and we only have 15 minutes until class starts,” remarked Sill.
The girls agreed that they would ask Mary about her cousin tonight after they had done all the research that they thought they could do on their own. They finished eating their breakfast, went back to their dorm to get their things that they needed for their classes, and headed off to their classes.
When they arrived at their first class, History, they sat down at their table spots, which were not next to each other. It was as annoying as a super long hangnail to not be next to each other. Their teacher, Professor 一一一一, was super strict and would not let them switch seats.
History was one of Emily and Finlia’s least favorite classes, but Sill didn’t mind it. In History, they continued reading the myth about how powers were created, and then they learned about all the different powers and what they did.
They continued through the rest of their day going through all their classes and learning all different kinds of things. Finally all their classes were done, and it was the end of the day.
***
When they got back to their dorm, they were ready to ask Mary about her cousin. They slowly approached her, and asked her their question.
“Hey Mary, we were wondering if we could ask you a question about your cousin,” said Finlia slowly.
“If you don’t want to talk about it that’s fine though,” said Emily.
“I’m not sure if I want to talk about it, but I’ll try.”
“We were wondering how your cousin died in the forest,” said Sill.
“So, my cousin was going out with Professor Nifter because she wanted to find out about some of the animals that lived in the forest. While they were walking through the forest, my cousin wanted to take a seat so she sat on what she thought was a log, but was actually a bear and then when the bear woke up, he got super mad and threw her into the lake. When he threw her into the lake, she was too far to swim to shore, and she drowned.”
“We’re so sorry for your cousin,” said Sill.
After Mary had told them all the details, they left and headed to Finlia’s bed, their normal talking spot. They discussed how they were going to find the goblin colony and decided that they were going to go tomorrow night.
***
The next night, Finlia woke Sill and Emily up at midnight. They all got ready to go outside and grabbed all their things, the list of things they needed to do, a flashlight, and some goblin food to lure the goblins across the lake.
They tiptoed across the room and left the dorm to go find the goblin colony.
To Be Continued…