We Hold These Truths Read online

  For Bill and Penny Parke

  —A. C.

  CHAPTER 1

  Prank

  It was seven fifty-five on Monday morning, and Benjamin Pratt was hiding in a huge clump of rhododendron. The bushes were about ten feet away from the path that went toward the Annex, the low building hooked onto the back of the Captain Duncan Oakes School. He was hiding because he knew that Robert Gerritt was going to come walking along here on his way to school in a few minutes, and when he did, Ben was going to jump up and scare the daylights out of him.

  It was kind of a stupid idea, but Ben didn’t care. This was just for fun . . . and also because Gerritt was usually way too serious. A jolt of good old-fashioned panic might loosen the guy up a little.

  It hardly seemed like a good moment to be goofing around . . . but that was sort of the point. Yes, the Glennley Group was still planning to demolish the Captain Oakes School this week; and yes, he and Jill and Robert only had two and half days left to stop all that; and yes, once they went inside, the rest of today was going to be risky and stressful and intense. But right now? Time to mess around.

  Then something caught Ben’s eye, there at the back door of the Annex, the door to the playground.

  Is that . . . ? Yes!

  It was Wally, lurking in the hallway.

  Wally and his boss, Mr. Lyman, worked for the Glennley Group, but they had also been posing as the school janitors, so they were in the building every day.

  They didn’t know exactly what Ben and Jill and Robert were up to—and they certainly didn’t know that the three kids were part of a secret group called the Keepers of the School. And Lyman and Wally also didn’t know that the Keepers had a list of clues and that they had already located a bunch of things that the founder of the school had hidden back in the 1700s—things that Captain Oakes had hoped could be used as safeguards to protect his legacy.

  But the two fake janitors did know that the kids were looking for something inside the school and that they were dead set against the new theme park that the Glennley company was planning to build here once the school was torn down. So, the two men simply tried to watch them—all day, every day.

  Ben had to squint a little to see Wally because of the reflection on the glass of the door, but the guy was definitely there. Well . . . so what? Was that any reason to pass up a perfect chance to prank Gerritt? No way!

  Ben was sweating like crazy. This was supposed to turn into a really hot day, and it was already about eighty degrees and very humid. But he tried to ignore the discomfort . . . and also the huge bumblebees that buzzed among the pink and white blossoms.

  It was seven fifty-eight now, and he watched as two buses came rumbling into the driveway. Then glancing back to his left, he spotted Robert. He was coming toward the back of the school along the path from School Street, head down, lost in thought, walking like he was in a huge hurry—same as always.

  Ben crouched lower, ready to leap up and scream like a madman.

  But before he could move, the door at the back corner of the Annex opened and Wally rushed out. The stocky little man walked quickly across the playground and stopped right in front of Robert, who looked up at him, totally surprised.

  Ben wasn’t close enough to hear what the man said, but five seconds later he saw Robert’s reaction perfectly. Gerritt actually shoved Wally! He pushed right past him, and then yelled, “You don’t know anything!”

  Robert steamed ahead past the Annex and went toward the old building, joining the crowd of kids who had gotten off the buses. Wally watched Gerritt a moment, and then, after a shifty look around the school yard, he hurried back to the door he’d come from.

  Ben sat still for about half a minute, completely stunned. Then he backed away through the bushes, picked his way out to Washington Street, and ended up standing beside the seawall in front of the school.

  The water of Barclay Bay lay flat and calm; hardly a ripple. There was a stream of dark smoke from the funnel of a distant ship, well out to sea. But Ben barely saw it, barely heard the gulls that wheeled above him, their cries sharp in the still morning air.

  He felt like he’d just seen something important. Why had Wally wanted to have a secret conversation with Robert? And what could have made Robert react like that?

  Well, I could text Gerritt right now, tell him I saw the whole thing, and ask him what’s up . . .

  But it might be better to deal with it later, when they could talk face-to-face. Because he’d meet up with Robert during second period language arts, for sure. And if that wasn’t the right time, they could talk at lunch.

  ’Cause I don’t want Gerritt to think I was spying on him or something . . .

  Besides, maybe Robert would text him during homeroom and tell him all about it.

  Yeah, I’d better wait.

  CHAPTER 2

  On Track

  “Can I say something?”

  “No, Jill, you can’t! So just shut up!”

  It was the third time Jill had interrupted him, and Robert was getting mad.

  So was Mrs. Hinman. With only two more days until the end of the school year, she didn’t need one bit of extra commotion in her Monday afternoon social studies class. And the fact that it was almost ninety degrees in her room didn’t help.

  She glared at Jill. “You’ll get your turn in five minutes. Now, please, keep quiet!”

  Jill didn’t back down. “But this isn’t what he agreed to, Mrs. Hinman. All this stuff about the school’s history? It’s not what’s important now. They’re tearing the place down on Thursday, and it’s going to ruin the whole town! That’s what we need to be talking about!” She pointed at Robert. “And he said we could have a debate about it in class, instead of just giving our dumb little reports. But now Gerritt’s trying to get another stupid A-plus!”

  Mrs. Hinman stood up. “Jill, that’s enough!” She looked at Ben. “You’re part of this project—is Jill right? Did the three of you agree to have a debate?”

  Ben nodded. “Except, Robert didn’t want to. But we voted, and it was two to one. And now Gerritt’s not keeping his promise.”

  “Fine!” shouted Robert, his face almost red. “You want a debate? Bring it on! I say that this worn-out old dump of a school needs to go! I say it’s time for real changes around here, and I say that a theme park like Tall Ships Ahoy! will bring some real life back to Edgeport! And I also say that a debate is completely dumb, because no matter what anyone says, the new theme park is going to happen!”

  In two seconds Jill was at the front of the classroom, right in Robert’s face, her fists clenched. “Just because it’s going to happen doesn’t mean that it should happen, and that’s what we’re debating, blockhead!”

  Mrs. Hinman quickly stepped between them.

  “Stop it—or you can both go cool off in the principal’s office! Is that clear?”

  They each mumbled something, and Mrs. Hinman went on.

  “Now, if this is going to be a proper debate, there have to be rules.” Counting them off on her fingers, she said, “Number one: No shouting and no insulting each other. Number two: You have to back up your opinions with facts. And number three: I am the timekeeper, and if I say your time is up, you stop talking. Agreed?”

  Both of them nodded.

  Mrs. Hinman turned and said, “Ben, I’m not sure where you fit into this new structure—any ideas?”

  He said, “Um . . . ,” and shrugged. He looked sort of confused.

  But Ben wasn’t confused at all, not one bit.

  So far, social studies class was right on track—exactly the way he and Jill and Robert had planned it.

  CHAPTER 3

  Not a Joke

  Ben was trying to pay attention to
six things at once. And also trying to keep his head from exploding from the heat. A trickle of sweat ran down the side of his cheek, and he wiped it away.

  It really felt like the last week of school—a June heat wave, ninety degrees and humid, a light breeze from the southwest. Which meant that the cold ocean fifty feet in front of the school was no help at all—unless you actually waded out into the water . . . or went sailing. Ben wanted to sail so badly that he could taste salt water. But it was only more sweat.

  He forced himself to focus on the work at hand.

  The debate was almost over, and Jill had been great. Robert had been terrific too—a raving jerk, completely over the top, but very persuasive. The whole class had gotten totally involved in both sides of the issue.

  As far as Ben could tell, the debate had been pretty much a tie—which was the plan. Jill had argued that the Oakes School should not be torn down, and then explained why a huge theme park on the edge of Barclay Bay was a terrible idea. And Robert had laid out all the reasons why the new amusement park was going to do great things for the town of Edgeport and the whole seacoast area. And both debaters had plenty of chances to challenge each other’s facts and opinions.

  Now Mrs. Hinman was taking charge again. “All right—and that’s all the time we have for the debate. I want to thank both of you. I think we all have a better idea of the issues and ideas now—”

  “Yeah,” interrupted Robert, “except it still doesn’t matter, ’cause the place is getting torn down, like I said.”

  There was a ripple of laughter in the room before Mrs. Hinman crushed it with a stony frown. Glaring at Robert, she said, “And the debate is now officially over . . . is that clear?”

  Ben had to smile. It was pretty brave of Robert to mouth off so much—he was actually risking getting points taken off his grade—something he truly hated.

  Before Mrs. Hinman could start anything new, Ben stood up and hurried to the front of the room. He didn’t look confused now—more like a kid who had just figured out a job for himself.

  “Um, Mrs. Hinman? Would it be okay if I took a quick survey of the class, sort of a public opinion poll? As part of our project?”

  “All right . . . but keep it short.”

  He turned to face the class and then looked down at his clipboard. “So, how many of you are convinced that the new theme park will be good for Edgeport? Could I see a show of hands, please?”

  More than half the hands went up, and Ben had to hide his surprise. It was a good thing Robert was just pretending to support the amusement park. . . . The guy knew how to talk. And think.

  Ben said, “How many of you feel like the Oakes School building is too important to just tear it down?” He wrote the number—only ten kids.

  “And how many of you strongly agree with most of what Jill had to say?” Only seven kids raised their hands.

  “Okay. And one last question: How many of you strongly agree with what most of what Robert had to say?”

  He made a few more notes on his paper and then said, “Now, I’d like all of you who strongly agreed with Jill to come to the back of the room for a follow-up discussion—is that okay, Mrs. Hinman?”

  She looked at the clock and frowned.

  Ben quickly added, “It’ll just take a few minutes, I promise.”

  Mrs. Hinman sighed, but said, “Fine . . . go ahead.”

  Once Ben and his group were settled in the back corner, Jill fired up the debate again.

  “Well,” she said to Robert, “I still don’t see how anybody could think that a huge, noisy amusement park could be good for this town—that’s just . . . stupid!”

  Robert said, “Yeah? Well, maybe it’s you that’s stupid!”

  And the argument was off and running again, even louder than before, with lots of kids joining in—mostly on Robert’s side.

  Ben could see that Mrs. Hinman was doing her best to keep the discussion under control, but she’d pretty much surrendered to Jill and Robert. This class period was shot, and she knew it.

  But now Ben tuned all that out.

  Sitting on the front edge of a chair, he was still acting like the pollster. But a careful observer might have noticed how nervous he was, might have seen that he gripped the clipboard so tightly that his knuckles were white.

  He had seven kids staring at him, three boys and four girls. He’d thought there would have been more. . . . Seven kids wasn’t even a third of the class. He took a quick look at the clock—ten minutes left in fifth period.

  Ben gulped and tried to smile, looking cautiously into the faces of the kids. “So, here’s my first follow-up question: If you learned that there still might be a way that the new theme park could be stopped, would you want to help with that? Show of hands, please.”

  All seven hands went up right away, and Ben pretended to write on his clipboard.

  “Okay . . . next question: If helping to stop the Oakes School from being torn down meant that you might get into trouble, would you still want to help? And please be completely honest.”

  Again, all seven hands went up, but a little more slowly.

  Now he had to ask the dangerous question, the one that went over the line. From here on, Ben knew he couldn’t pretend he was simply conducting a survey.

  “So, one last question: If you had to swear an oath on your sacred honor in order to join a secret group that was trying to stop the theme park, would you swear that oath?”

  The question could have sounded dumb, could have made kids giggle. But there was nothing funny about the way Ben asked the question, nothing silly in the tone of his voice or the look on his face.

  No one even smiled.

  A few kids glanced nervously at the others gathered around Ben in a tight semicircle, and then all seven raised their hands.

  Instantly, Ben started handing out index cards, and in a whisper he read what was printed on each one:

  He looked each kid directly in the eye. “This is not a joke. I’m asking you to take this oath, right here, right now, and join a secret group called the Keepers of the School. Please—sign your name. Right now.”

  Time stopped. Ben felt his heart beating, and the air trapped in his lungs felt sharp, almost electric.

  Then the kids moved, quickly pulling out pens and pencils, and they wrote their names on the cards.

  Ben began to breathe. Still whispering, he said, “Robert and Jill are in on this too!”

  He reached into his book bag and started handing out cheap cell phones. “Keep these hidden. The one-digit number marked on the back of your phone? Write that number next to where you signed your name and then give me your card—that way I can know who’s got which phone. And if you can, it’s really important to stay after school today, even if it’s just for fifteen minutes. An hour would be fantastic. And also tomorrow after school, and probably Wednesday, too—even though it’s only a half day. So try to figure out a way to do that. You’ll get a text about how you can help—each phone is set to vibrate, so keep it close.

  “I can’t explain more right now, but the most important thing is that you chose to help—really, guys, that’s huge! Sometime tonight, Jill or Robert or I will call and tell you more about what’s going on, which is a lot. But you all need to know one thing right now: Watch out for Lyman, the tall janitor, and also for Wally, the short one. They both work for the company that’s trying to wreck the school. There’s stuff we’ve got to get done inside this building over the next couple of days, and they’re trying to stop us. You’ll get a text, okay?”

  Each kid nodded gravely, the cell phones disappeared, and Ben collected the last few cards. He wished he could have taken a picture of each of their faces. Gabe Dalton looked like he’d just been sworn into the FBI or something, and Jennie Arling’s face had gone pale, almost ghostly, except her eyes were incredibly bright. Everyone was taking this very seriously—which was good.

  Luke Barton leaned forward and whispered, “So . . . does this have anything to do wi
th what you were doing in the hall last week . . . with the baseball? Or is that top secret?”

  Ben had to laugh a little. Luke had seen him last Monday, thumping on the posts in the first-floor hallway with a hardball, trying to find a post that sounded like brass instead of wood.

  “Yeah,” Ben said, “that was definitely part of this. But there’s no time to explain everything right now. . . . We’ve got to rejoin the class and act like nothing has happened, okay?”

  Gina half raised her hand and whispered, “Um, one more thing, and . . . I know this is going to sound like a stupid question . . . but, like, do I have to keep this a secret from my mom and dad?”

  Ben said, “That’s not a stupid question at all. Jill and Robert and me? All our parents know what we’re doing. And it’s not like we’re doing stuff that’s against the law or anything. But your parents? You’ll all have to figure that out on your own. Because some people really want the new theme park to happen, some grown-ups, I mean . . . and kids, too. And if your parents feel that way, then you probably shouldn’t tell them. But it’s really up to you . . . so I trust you.”

  Ben looked from face to face again, and smiled. “Like I said, we’ll be in touch by phone. You guys are completely awesome—thanks!”

  As the group got up and started moving toward the front of the classroom, Ben caught Jill looking at him.

  She lifted her eyebrows, just a little—a question.

  Ben smiled at her and then nodded, just a little. An answer.

  CHAPTER 4

  That Sinking Feeling

  Ben stood with Jill and Robert in the hall outside Mrs. Hinman’s room.

  “These are the names of the seven new kids, and also the number of the phone I gave each one. I’ll put it all in a text to you as soon as I can.”

  Joey Slade 3

  Luke Barton 6

  Gabe Dalton 5

  Marin Jacoby 1

  Jennie Arling 2

  Gina Reller 7