Flight of the Monarch

Mr. Hawthorn looked past Hayley and bowed his head. "It was nice talking with you yesterday." He walked away.

"Is he the one you wanted to say good-bye to?" Mr.

Lawrence stood holding her bag.

"He spoke to me first."

"What did he say?"

"He knows Maddie."

"Did he say that?"

"He didn't have to say it." Hayley wrapped her shawl around her arms. She glanced back at Austin.

" I'm ready to go now."

Mr. Lawrence offered his arm to Hayley, as they left the ship.

_ _

"Good-Morning, Curtis." Hayley smiled.

Mr. Singleton was unlocking the door to his shop, when he heard a familiar voice. He smiled back when he saw her big grin. "Well, hello, stranger. Come on in." He held the door open as she walked in.

"It's a beautiful day, wouldn't you say?"

"Yes, it is,what brings you into Kingston?"

"I was on one of my father's ships this week and tomorrow, I'm on my way home, so I stopped by to see..."

Hayley looked around to see if they were alone. "…if you have any information for me."

"Yes, I do... but I..."

"Please don't keep me in suspense."

"Of course. I was just going to say that I have sent the information by letter. You should have received it by now."

"When did you send the letter?"

"Last week, on Monday, I believe."

"It should have been delivered yesterday or today."

"Did you make sure that it was clearly addressed to me?"

"Yes, of course. I'm sorry I had no idea I would be seeing you again this soon. I can certainly pull the copy of the letter for you to read now, if you would like."

"Yes, I am so anxious to know what you found."

He continued to search for the letter. "I suppose, I could resort to my memory."

Hayley bit her lip in anticipation as she watched him become more frustrated with the result of the search.

Curtis shut the drawer and ran his fingers through his already tousled red hair. "It has to be here somewhere."

He snapped his fingers, and his eyes widened.

"Yes, I remember now. I asked Mr. Hodges to copy the letter because I needed to get to class."

"Can you please remember what it said?"

"I was investigating a man named Thor."