Free Don't Look Behind You by Lois Duncan

schools from a small private school in Vermont that we use for that purpose. There are people there who work with us on school transcripts. They have more ‘former students’ than any other school in the country.”
    â€œYou mean our grades won’t count anymore?” Bram asked hopefully. “Can all my ‘Needs Improvements’ be changed into ‘Excellents’?”
    â€œThat’s the sort of thing we try not to do,” Rita said. “The transcripts should be a true reflection of your abilities. If your sister is poor in math, for example, and the math teacher at her new school decides to look up the grades she was making at her old school, we don’t want her transcripts to make her out to be a math whiz. The less attention you draw to yourselves, the better. You don’t want anything that’s going to make people suspicious.”
    â€œWhere are you going to be sending us?” Dad asked her.
    â€œThat hasn’t been decided yet,” Rita told him. “In fact, that’s the principal reason I’m here today. We want to put you someplace where there’s as little chance as possible of your running into people who knew you before. Because of that, I need to know something about your backgrounds.”
    â€œI was born and grew up in Pittsburgh,” Dad said obligingly. “That’s where my relatives live, what there are left of them. By that I mean there’s an aunt and some cousins. My parents and brother were killed in a car wreck the summer after I graduated from high school. For the next few years I drifted, not caring much what I did, trying one job after another, the way kids do. When Liz and I met, I was working at a resort in the Catskills. I’ve never been west of the Mississippi River, and I’ve never been farther south than we are right now.”
    â€œWhat about you, Mrs. Corrigan?” asked Rita.
    â€œI’m an only child and grew up in Norwood,” Mom said. “My mother still lives there and is very active in social and civic affairs. Apart from her, I don’t have any close relatives, and except for the years I spent at Duke University, I’ve never lived anyplace other than Virginia.”
    â€œIt sounds as though the West Coast might be a good location for you,” Rita said. “It’s easy for people to lose themselves in California. It’s such a big state, and people keep coming and going there, so nobody bothers to question where anybody comes from.”
    â€œI don’t really think that’s a good idea,” Mom said. “I might be recognized by librarians and English teachers.”
    Rita seemed disconcerted. “Do you have some connection with the California school system?”
    â€œLiz is an author,” Dad explained. “She writes books for children. Last year she won the California Young Readers Medal and made an acceptance speech at a state librarians’ convention.”
    â€œDo you make many such appearances?” Rita asked Mom.
    â€œOnly at conferences of educators,” Mom told her.
    â€œThat’s a dangerous kind of exposure,” Rita said, frowning. “No matter where we place you, your kids will be in school. All it takes is one teacher who’s heard you speak, and word will be out that you’re not the person you’re supposed to be.”
    â€œI’m supposed to be giving a talk next month,” Mom said. “How can I let the conference people know I won’t be there?”
    â€œWe’ll take care of that. Just give us a name and phone number.” Rita turned to Dad. “Do you have any other questions?”
    â€œWhere will we get the money to live on?” Dad asked her. “How can I get a job if I don’t have references?”
    â€œWe’ll try to fix you up with something,” said Rita. “We keep on the lookout for businesses that can be bought up inexpensively for our