The Matron by Kirsten Osbourne

Author:Kirsten Osbourne [Osbourne, Kirsten]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Unlimited Dreams Pubishing
Published: 2015-03-31T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

That first night set a pattern for the evenings to come. After the girls were in bed, Cassie would meet Tino at the fire. They would talk for an hour or so, and he would walk her to her tent. He didn't try to kiss her again, but every night she wondered if he would. She wasn't sure if she wanted him to or not.

They had been on the road for a week when Cassie got a scare. She and Tino were sitting by the fire after the children had gone to bed as usual, when Opal came rushing out of the tent the eight older girls were sharing.

"Mrs. Morgan! Ruby's missing! She went into the woods to relieve herself, and she never came back. I've looked everywhere. I can't find her!" Opal sounded panicked.

"She couldn't have gone far!" Cassie said. She looked at Tino. There hadn't been another adult around for her to rely on for a long time. Yes there had been volunteers who helped at the orphanage, but none would help make any real decisions. "Tino, we need to find her!"

Tino was already on his feet. "I'll get some lanterns. You two wake the other girls."

Cassie ran toward the tent of the younger girls. "Girls, wake up!"

Teresa sat up rubbing her eyes. "Mrs. Morgan? What's wrong?"

"Ruby's missing!" Cassie told her. "Get up quickly! We need to find her!"

The girls got to their feet as quickly as they could. "How do we find her in the dark?" Dorothy asked.

"Tino—I mean, Mr. Hayes, went to get some lanterns. We'll divide into groups."

The girls all gathered around the campfire. Opal had woken the older girls. Cassie looked at Evelyn. "We'll divide into four groups. Evelyn, you take Opal, Penelope, Betsy, and Hope. You girls search to the north." She turned to Gertrude. "Gerty, you take Sarah Jane, Minnie, and Alice. Search to the west. I'll take Martha and Dorothy. Teresa, Hattie, and Katie, you girls go with Mr. Hayes."

Tino had walked up behind her. "We'll take the south." He handed each group leader a whistle. "Blow that when you find her. We'll all meet back here as soon as we hear the whistle."

Everyone rushed off in the direction they'd been given with their group. Cassie hurried to the east with Martha and Dorothy. Martha seemed particularly nervous. "What if we can't find her?"

Cassie refused to even think about it. "We'll find her! I'm sure she just wandered off and got lost." Deep down she wasn't so sure. She worried that Ruby had tried to head back to New York to be with David. How she thought she'd find her way to him Cassie didn't know. They were already in Kentucky, in the mountains, and she worried for the girl. Hopefully they'd find her before an animal did.

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