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and I want you to stay away from it and away from the forest.”
    “But I promised to help, Dad.”
    “I don’t care what you promised,” he said. “You’ve been acting strangely lately and I’m not happy with your behaviour. Consider yourself grounded until further notice.”
    Emma didn’t argue because she didn’t know what to say and because she knew that her father was right, anyway.
    “Dad, who went missing?” she said instead.
    “It was in today’s paper,” he said and took it from the kitchen counter and handed it to Emma. He left and went into his office.
    The Saint Martin Guardian had a front page article about a construction worker named Steven Marks. He was a heavy machinery operator. The photograph on the article showed him wearing a hardhat and safety goggles. The article went on to explain that Paigely Builders had hired security guards to patrol the construction site day and night and that they were doing all they could to help the families of the men who were missing.
    Emma’s grounding lasted only for the weekend but the ban from the forest was in place indefinitely. This was going to complicate things, but she had made a promise to her new friend and she wasn’t about to let him down.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    4
    Dinner and a Conspiracy
     
    “Matter has mass and occupies space,” Emma said.
    “Good, Emma,” Miss Robins said.
    It was Monday morning and the lesson was about the difference between matter and energy. Emma had been answering a lot of questions because she had worked far ahead during the weekend. She hoped to change the opinion of her teacher and maybe even erase her strikes, if that was possible.
    She glanced over to Jake and saw that the boy was looking at her. He smiled and then turned back to face the front of the room. Emma couldn’t wait for lunch time.
    That morning, just as Jake had predicted, Miss Robins had called out his name during attendance and he had raised his hand and given a quiet, “here.”
    During recess, Jake and Emma sat on the swings and he told her about his previous school in Toronto. His family had lived in a small apartment on a busy street next to a shopping plaza. Jake’s old school was within walking distance of the apartment and he’d had plenty of friends. One day, his dad had come home talking about the City of Saint Martin and how it was expanding and there were lots of new jobs there. It wasn’t long after that that Jake had ended up at Briardale.
    At lunch time, Emma and Jake snuck away to Wizard Falls. There was enough room on the big rock for the both of them and they sat on top of it under the sunlight with the sound of trickling water providing a backdrop for their conversation.
    “How did you find this place?” Emma asked him.
    “I just walked down the road trying to get away from the school,” he said. “I found it by accident.”
    “But why did you leave the school?”
    Jake took a bite of his sandwich before answering. “Some kids made fun of me on the first day. I didn’t feel like being there and didn’t know where to go.”
    Emma pulled out an apple and a banana from her backpack.
    “You want one, Jake?”
    He considered the options and nodded at the banana.
    “Thank you,” he said.
    “Why would kids make fun of you?” Emma said. “You’re just a plain, average boy.”
    “Thanks,” he said and pushed her lightly but she almost tumbled off the rock. “They made fun of my bag. It was old and lousy though.”
    “Yeah it was,” she said.
    As the days went on, they continued to sneak out of school to have lunch together at Wizard Falls. Slowly, the boy became less and less apprehensive. He told her more about his previous school and about his old friends. He told her about the move to Saint Martin and how he had spent the entire summer doing nothing at all because he didn’t know anyone.
    “That’s what I do,” Emma said one day. “I read and I play in the forest with Will and that’s about it. But I