Chapter 16

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I pull the my hood over my head to protect myself from the biting cold. My socks are damp from the morning dew covered grass and I wiggle my toes for better blood flow. The path to the garden is a small space that is surrounded by the long growing hedge that should have been trimmed a few weeks ago. Mrs. Braun has a variety of vegetables growing on the large space and I move my eyes admiring her work as I walk towards the wall.

"In a small plastic" she said. I look for the plastic and my heart beats with fear that it might have gotten lost in the pile of dirt and it will take longer to find it. Before I convince myself to dig in a pile of compost, I see a small black plastic by the edge of the wall covered by the growing grass, and I a smile appears on my face before I can open it and confirm that it is the one I am looking for. I grab it and put in my pocket with no time to waste in case James comes looking for me. I grab some beetroot from one of the ripe rows, it will be my reason for coming out so early in the morning and I might have to do a smoothie if any actually asks me.

I place the plastic under the bed mattress in the guest bedroom and start my work for the day waiting for James to leave so I can a moment to check it out.

"Did you find it?" Lunette whispers as soon as Max leaves the kitchen.

"Yeah." I say with a smile which earns a happy dance from her. "For a moment I thought it was lost."

"Oh my! I cannot believe that we will be actually doing this."

"Me too. But the problem is how will we place the pen in a way that someone will not take it and put it in their pocket and probably find out that it is not a normal pen. That would be one huge scandal." I say with a giggle.

"We will figure that out. We just need them to leave and then we will have to go to the confession room and find a good hiding spot."

"Yeah. Keep an eye out in case they leave without telling us."

Our conversation is halted by the descending footsteps by the stairs. James enters the kitchen and I think to myself if he might have an idea of what we are doing, but his relaxed posture and smile says he doesn't have a clue. I hate the idea of lying to him, but it is the only way, and I am left with no choice but to carry this through as a secret.

He eats his breakfast and shortly leaves after saying he will be back in just a few hours and after an hour, Father and Mother head out to the spa claiming they will be back after lunch, which is never the case. Mother always puts up an allocated time frame that is false, the same way you would give someone you are trying confuse that you will be at the mall at twelve midday and actually go at eight in the morning so by the time twelve strikes, you are back home and most certainly not at the mentioned place.

Lunette stays behind in the kitchen to warn me when some arrives unexpectedly and so that Mrs. Braun does not suspect anything.

I go to the confession room and stand for a few minutes trying to decide on the best and most unexpected place where I might actually place the bed. The dresser is probably the best place but it will not provide a clear view. I think of placing it by the hanging chandelier but if someone spots it up there, then it will definitely be suspicious. I open the glass closet doors and hook the pen on one of Father's blazers but patterns on the glass door might cause the pictures to be blurry.

I sit on the edge of the bed and call Shantelle thinking she might have better advise since she knows the room as much as I do.

"What's happening?"

"Hello to you too."

"Oh sorry," she says with a chuckle. "How are you?"

"Not good. I am confused on where to place the pen without it being suspect and still be able to get a good recording with no blurry pictures.

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