Free A Changed Agent by Tracey J. Lyons Page B

“Good morning, Mr. Scott. It looks like it’s going to be a fine day!”
    “Indeed.” Stepping aside, he held the door open. She entered the post office ahead of him. The small office was located in the front portion of a two-story building. The Scott family occupied the back and upstairs of the rest of the house.
    She heard the scurrying of feet above her head and tilted her head toward the ceiling. “I hope this means the children are excited to come to school today?”
    Mr. Scott appeared embarrassed that the family’s noises could be heard in the office. “With you as their teacher, my children are always happy to go to school. Although Avery Jr. has been putting up a bit of fuss this morning.”
    “I’m sure he’ll be fine once he gets settled at his desk. So, why did you beckon me over here?” She hoped it was because the travel book she’d been waiting weeks for had finally arrived.
    He picked up a good-sized package from his desk and handed it to her. “I found this in this morning’s mailbag.”
    She took a look at the return address, pleased to see “Hardy Publishing, New York, New York” in neat block print. “Thank you, Mr. Scott! This is exactly what I’ve been waiting for.”
    “I see it’s from a New York publisher. Another schoolbook perhaps?”
    “A very important one.” Gathering the book in her arms, she all but hugged it. “I must be going. Thank you again.”
    Bounding out the door, she hurried on to the schoolhouse, anxious to take the book out of the package. After unlocking the schoolhouse and setting the precious cargo on her desk, she made her way over to the potbellied stove to start the fire. Once she was sure it would take, she hurried to get the room ready for the day, leaving a few extra minutes before the students started arriving.
    Going back to her desk, she carefully unwrapped the brown paper on her package, revealing the small leather-bound book. She ran her fingers over the embossed cover, following the indents of the title, The Smithson Travel Guide . It was touted to be the most comprehensive travel guide available, and Elsie hoped the money she’d spent was worth it.
    As though holding the Good Book itself, she gingerly opened the cover, eager to get lost in the contents. She smelled the newly printed pages. Running a finger along the first few pages and seeing the chapter titles, she began to imagine all the wonderful lessons the students would get from this book. The excited chattering of their voices interrupted her thoughts.
    Closing the book, she left it in the center of her desk and went to greet the first arrivals. Half an hour later the classroom had filled, with the exception of the last two seats in the front row.
    Harry’s and Minnie’s.
    Checking her timepiece, she saw it was a quarter past nine. They were running fifteen minutes late. No need to be too worried yet. As she made her way over to where Mr. Scott’s eldest child sat, she imagined they were not yet used to waking up in their new home.
    “Good morning, Avery.”
    Bright blue eyes blinked up at her. “Good morning, Miss Mitchell.” He squirmed a bit in his seat. His hand quickly covered a sheet of paper with what looked to be the arithmetic problems she’d given to him yesterday to work on at home.
    “Avery, is there something you’d like to tell me?”
    “No, ma’am.”
    Deciding to leave it at that, though she suspected Avery was trying to finish his assignment at the last minute, Elsie instructed the children to open their reading primers. She heard the squeak of buggy wheels and glanced toward the doorway expectantly. When the buggy continued on and Minnie and Harry still hadn’t appeared, she focused on the class, helping several of the younger students with deciphering some of the harder words.
    While the students at the higher level took turns reading aloud from their books, she checked her timepiece to find that another half hour had slipped by. What’s happened to