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started the motor. Then they were off.
    After all that food and excitement, it wasn’t long before the kids drifted off in the back seat.

CHAPTER THREE
    Annie hated school—that was a well-known fact—but she wasn’t afraid of school.
    Lila was.
    On this November morning the routine was the same as always. Breakfast with David and then off to school. Mom had bundled them up against the damp cold. David always took off the scarf Mom made him wear and stuffed it in his school bag the minute he was out of sight. Annie never told on him.
    As soon as Annie stepped outside, she knew it would snow. The sky had a dark and brooding look, even that early in the morning. David went ahead and Annie waited for Lila. She wasn’t coming and Annie knew they were going to be late, so she went up to Mrs. Butts’s door and knocked. She heard Mrs. Butts yelling inside for Lila to hurry up.
    Lila came to the door and Annie didn’t think she looked very good. She was pale and didn’t smile.
    â€œAre you okay?” Annie asked.
    Lila nodded and fell into step. They didn’t say much as they walked to school with other friends from the street. Annie’s cousin Dorothy asked Lila if she wanted to go to her house after school, but Lila shook her head no. Dorothy seemed hurt, so Annie went up to her. “Mrs. Butts is making Lila stay in after school today.”
    â€œOh.” Dorothy brightened up.
    The morning passed by in the usual fashion, and that afternoon Mrs. Coombs had the students come up to the front of the class and recite their compositions. The topic was their families. Annie suddenly wondered what Lila would say.
    They went by rows. Annie counted how many would go before Lila. Maybe they would run out of time before they got to her. Annie tried to catch Lila’s attention, but Lila was frozen in her seat and wouldn’t acknowledge her.
    Annie had to go first.
    â€œI am Annie Lucy Macdonald. We spell our last name with a little d, not a big d. My dad says our family was from Scotland, the Isle of North Uist, and we belong to Clanranald. My father works and my mom makes bread. I have an older brother named David and another older brother who died before I was born. I also have a friend named Lila and she is part of our family. The end.”
    Annie tried to catch Lila’s eye when she went back to her desk, but Lila had her head down. Miss Coombs called out Lila’s name. When Lila didn’t move she called her again. Lila took her exercise book and walked slowly to the front of the class.
    â€œYou may start.”
    She opened her book and stood there.
    â€œLila, read your composition.”
    Annie willed Lila to open her mouth. Just say a few things and it will be over.
    â€œI’m waiting.”
    The kids in the class started to fidget nervously. Lila was like a statue. Miss Coombs got out from behind the desk and walked over to her student, but Lila didn’t acknowledge her. Annie could tell then that the teacher was mad.
    â€œLila, look at me.”
    She didn’t.
    â€œYou are to read your assignment. Everyone else in the class has done it. Why should you be the exception?”
    Lila didn’t even blink. She stared at her page and didn’t move a muscle.
    Miss Coombs bent down close to Lila’s ear and hissed, “You spineless jellyfish.”
    It happened so fast, none of them were prepared for what followed. Lila ripped the page out of her book and threw it in Miss Coombs’s face, then another and another until she shredded the entire scribbler. The teacher was horrified; she grabbed Lila by the hair and hauled her out the door. Annie jumped up. “Don’t! You’re hurting her!”
    Miss Coombs turned around and stabbed her finger in the air. “Annie, sit down this instant and don’t you dare move, or you’ll get the strap.”
    Annie sat down.
    There was a commotion out in the hall, but in only a few moments,