Read Margaret's Ark for Free Online Page B

Carboneau is telling everyone that they’re going to die.”
    “I'm sorry, Bob. I really am.” Again, she felt on the edge of some abyss, waiting to see if she'd have the guts to step off, to see how much she trusted herself.
    “And?” Margaret wondered if the principal had waited to call until now to let some of this anger dissipate. She glanced over at the answering machine - something she'd avoided doing all evening. The red light was flashing, and above that the number '12'. Since the chip had a storage limit, she guessed the number of unrecorded calls was even higher.
    He continued, “Is what they said true? Not that I didn't try to find this out as soon as the girls came in. No, ma’am. I called you into the office, and you know what?”
    Margaret didn't think he was done, so she remained quiet.
    “I'll tell you what. I found out from Irene that Mrs. Carboneau had left the school . That you left your students alone, in an emotional mess. A lot of them were crying when I showed up, Margaret. Some weren't scared about what you'd told them, just that you said it at all. 'Is Mrs. Carboneau having a nervous breakdown?' they asked me. Margaret are you there?”
    “I'm here. Are you done?” Her voice was stronger than she'd expected, a tone that meant she'd already taken that last fateful step into whatever chasm these dreams had laid in front of her.
    “Yes, for now. I apologize for shouting. It's been a rough day and I haven't been able to reach you.” He didn't sound sorry. Kaufman was simply trying a new tact.
    “I took the girls out of school early,” she said. “I needed to let some of the heat blow over.”
    “You mean you wanted to let me take all the....” He sighed. “Listen, how much of what they said is true? What happened?”
    She felt lightheaded. “The other day,” she began, “I had a dream. But it wasn't a dream after all. An angel informed me that the world will be flooded in two months, and everyone will die, unless I and others receiving these visions build a boat – he actually used the word ark --  and bring on board thirty people. No animals, just people. Everyone aboard the boats, wherever they might me, will be spared, and the rest will not.” She said all this calmly, like giving directions to a wandering motorist.
    Silence on the other end of the phone.
    She leaned one hand against the door jamb between the kitchen and the living room. “I've had more than one dream, and now I know that it wasn't just me. A lot of others have been given this warning as well. We don't have a lot of time - “
    “Are you completely insane? I heard something like that on the radio, and assumed it was just a few psychopaths. Are you telling me one of them was you?”
    “No, I haven't called anyone.”
    “You decided to spread this mania to your students instead!” Now he was shouting.
    “I had to make a decision, Bob. What if it's not a dream? What if I do nothing? I've only been given the right to save thirty people, and yes, maybe I am having a nervous breakdown, but it doesn't feel like that. It feels right!” Now she was yelling. She stopped, closed her eyes. Why was she wasting her breath with this man? She should be -
    Oh, no . Margaret turned around. Robin and Katie were staring in horror from the couch in the living room. Someone shouted “R” from the television, and there were “two of them”. Ding. Ding.
    Margaret couldn't pull her eyes from her daughters' faces.
    “I assume you aren't returning to your classroom, Mrs. Carboneau. Not until you and I have met, and you've given me certified proof from a licensed psychologist that you're able to -”
    Margaret wasn't listening. She hung up the phone, and walked slowly to her reserved spot on the couch.
    “S!”.
    “No S's. Amy, it's your spin.”
    She reached for the remote and shut off the television. The phone rang. She ignored it. “Come on, girls, let's talk in your room.”
    Eleven Fifty-Six. Coming on midnight and the