Free Beyond Midnight by Antoinette Stockenberg

a heavy glass globe that Helen used as a paperweight. " What ' s this? " the child asked, reaching up with both hands for it.
    " Careful, honey! " Helen said, whisking the clear glass ball out of her reach. " You wouldn ' t want this to fall on your toes! "
    " What is it? "
    " I use it to keep the wind from blowing my papers everywhere, " she explained. She relocated the ball onto a high shelf and said, " Shall we continue our tour? "
    As they approached the classrooms Helen began ticking off the school ' s solid credentials. " We ' re accredited by the national associations, of course, and by the FIDCR, in addition to OFC. It ' s in the brochure. You ' ll notice also that we have an even better ratio of adults to three-year-olds than is recommended by the conservative AAP and NAEYC— "
    " Sorry, you ' re losing me, " Byrne interrupted.
    " It ' s in the brochure, " she said, realizing that his world was AMEX and NASDAQ. She added, " I ' m proud to say the turnover rate of our teachers is very, very low. The staff have been thoroughly screened, and all of the teachers have degrees in early childhood education. I should warn you that that isn ' t always the case. "
    " I ' m not really interested in other cases, " he said flatly. " I ' m here to learn about The Open Door. "
    Stung, Helen colored and said, " I understand. " He was right. Why was she resorting to scare tactics? Again this desperation! It was utterly beneath her. Embarrassed and off balance, she tried to rally her wits—which would ' ve been a heck of a lot easier if he weren ' t being so arrogant. And, of course, if he were less damn good-looking.
    " An—Miss Maylen, " she said as they all stopped and peered into the first classroom, where the young teacher was tidying an open row of colored storage cubbies that lined one wall. " May we have a look around? "
    Helen made the introductions while Katie headed straight for the neatly organized bins of toys, each one labeled with big block letters, and settled on the one filled with plastic FOODS: milk and bread and fruit and cheese, and uncanny versions of pizza slices. From the bin marked DISHES came plates and cups and saucers as Katie began laying out a picnic on the floor.
    In her tartan-plaid jumper and white frilly blouse, the child looked absolutely adorable.
    But her father had to try hard not to frown. " Food. Dolls. Stuffed animals. I suppose it ' d be too much to hope she ' d head for the Legos and actually start constructing something. "
    " The girls often do, " Kristy said reassuringly. " It just depends. "
    Byrne sighed and shook his head. " Not my little girl. Can you do something about that? " he suddenly asked, fixing a hopeful look on poor Kristy. " Steer her away from the domestic stuff and more toward skills that pay? "
    The teacher glanced at Helen, who rolled her eyes from behind Byrne ' s back. They got this question all the time:
    Can you turn my sweet little three-year-old into a rocket scientist, no matter what?
    Kristy said carefully, " Well, we work hard at stimulating the children in a number of ways—not only intellectually but physically; not only socially but individually. But— "
    " But we don ' t push the children where they don ' t want to go, " said Helen, interrupting. " And we don ' t subject them to fo rm al learning, " she added, more willing than Kristy to be blunt about it. " It ' s too soon. Some of them would suffer burnout. "
    " But some of them wouldn ' t, " argued Byrne, switching his attention from Kristy to her boss. It was unsettling, the way his demeanor instantly changed. His voice took on a taunting edge; his look became confrontational.
    " So there are no reading lessons? " he asked unnecessarily. " No math? Isn ' t that approach a little quaint for the computer age? What do the kids do all day, besides play with plastic pears and cheese wedges? "
    He was trying to pick a fight. Maybe he was testing her mettle; maybe he was looking for an excuse not to sign