“She’s worked in a pretty tough school. Skyler came to us from a private religious school that was . . .” Henry frowned.
“That was kind of protected compared to a public school in a big city?” Elijah finished for him.
“Yep, that’s it,” Henry said. “What did you think of her? We couldn’t see a lot from the headshot we got. I figured she’d be a little woman like her sister.”
Elijah told him what Jayden had said about one of her girls exercising the horses. “Sounds to me like she’s going to be a good addition to the summer session.”
Henry laughed and nodded. “If she continues to think like that, she’s going to work out just fine. Let’s go get some breakfast to get ready for this time around.”
“Yes, sir.” Elijah grinned.
Jayden and the other two counselors waited on the dining hall porch benches that morning for the girls to arrive. Parents, drivers, pilots, or whatever means the parents sent the girls to Alpine by would bring the girls to the airport. Henry and Elijah had driven the two vans to bring them to the camp.
“Have you got your agenda lined out?” Novalene asked.
“Yep, and extra copies printed so that each member of my team gets one in their hands, plus I taped one to the top of each of their footlockers, since I assigned them different individual jobs like y’all suggested at supper last night,” Jayden answered.
“May I look at it?” Novalene asked.
Jayden passed three papers over to her. “Teamwork in the morning, individual work in the afternoons, an hour of counseling before supper, and one hour of free time before bedtime. They can use the hour to catch up on their journals or read a book or visit with the girls from the other two cabins. Think that will keep them busy?”
“Oh, they’ll find time to get into trouble,” Novalene told her. “They always do, but after a couple of times doing something they hate for whatever rule they break, they won’t want to do it again. When I started teaching, my old mentor used to say that I should make the punishment hard enough that they remembered it every time they wanted to do something wrong. I followed her advice, and it worked.”
In some measure, Jayden had figured that out from her years in the classroom and then as a guidance counselor. As they waited on the porch of the dining room that morning for the girls to arrive, she gave some thought to what she’d read in the handbook. Smoking in any form was against the rules. What would she do to promote leadership and bring down trouble on the heads of her girls if she caught one with a cigarette, a vape pen, or even a joint?
She was thinking about that when the two company vans pulled up, not far from the dining hall. A group of girls got out of each vehicle, and it was plain from their expressions and their body language that they would rather be shoveling coal in hell than be in this desolate place.
“Drop all of your baggage and line up,” Elijah yelled.
Some of them set their fancy suitcases down. Others stared at him like he was something between a lizard and a bumblebee. Jayden could see disgust written on their faces at the very idea of putting their monogrammed leather luggage on the ground in the dirt.
“I said drop your baggage and line up. Anyone who still has a hand on a suitcase, purse, or backpack in the next five seconds can get back in the van they arrived in. You will be taken straight to the Brewster County Jail, in Alpine, to wait for a ride back to talk to the judge that gave you permission to come here rather than go to juvie.” Elijah raised his voice. “Your choice, ladies. You’ve got until I count to three to make it. One, two . . .”
Purses, backpacks, and suitcases all hit the ground so hard and fast that it sounded a little like distant thunder. The girls lined up in something that roughly resembled a line, but most of them had their arms crossed and shot extrasharp daggers at Elijah.
“I want six inches between each of your shoulders, and your toes touching the edge of the sidewalk in front of you,” Elijah said. “This is the way you will line up each day before mealtimes for inspection.”
“God!” one girl muttered. “We’re not in the military.”
Elijah took a step forward until his nose was inches from hers, looked her in the eyes, and yelled so they could all hear him loud and clear. “No, you are not. This is going to be tougher than any military boot camp out there, and when you leave here, you won’t ever even think of shoplifting, cyberbullying, driving under the influence, grand theft auto, assault, drug dealing, or any other way to break the law.” His voice had gotten louder with each word—now it dropped to barely a whisper. “Young lady, since you have not read the handbook, you get a pass on that smart-ass remark, but next time you speak while in formation without being asked a question, you will get a demerit. Three of those will get you kicked out of this program that your parents have paid big bucks for. Now, toes touching the line, arms to your sides, eyes forward, and six inches between shoulders, and then we’ll march inside.”
Jayden could tell by their attitudes that they didn’t like to submit to that kind of authority, but not one of them even batted an eye, so evidently Elijah had gotten through to them on some level. Either that or they had a touch of fear for what the judge would do.
“This line is not perfect, but it will be by the end of eight weeks,” Elijah said. “Now follow me single file into the dining room, where you will each meet your counselor and learn which cabin you will call home for the next eight weeks.”
As they passed by Jayden, every one of them looked like they could chew up scrub oak trees and spit out toothpicks. They were all wearing jeans—some that probably cost more than a hundred bucks a pair and others with a Wrangler or Levi’s brand on the pocket. Most of them had pierced ears and wore other jewelry, and a few had a tattoo or two peeking out from around their bra straps and their expensive tank tops. Poor little darlings, their worlds were about to be turned upside down and inside out.
Jayden could sympathize with them. Her own world had crumbled the day that she found out Skyler was in charge of everything after their mother’s death, including the house where they’d both grown up.
“Good morning, ladies,” Mary said. “Welcome to Piney Wood Academy.”
Elijah and Henry both stepped out of the dining hall and closed the door behind them. The girls relaxed and began to look around the room, and then their eyes came to rest on the tables.
“I see that you’ve noticed you each have a name card on one of the tables for three.” Mary made a sweeping motion with her hand. “This is where you will sit for every meal while you are here.” Her tone held as much authority as Elijah’s had. “Right now, beside that card, you will find a set of clothing and a brown paper bag with your name on it. You will put everything you are wearing into the bag. That includes jewelry and underwear, and if you are still holding your cell phones, then they go in the bag also. We will see to it all your things are put into your luggage. That will go in storage and be returned to you when you leave.”
Several of the girls gasped, and Jayden could tell that they were weighing the idea of pleading with the judge or even their parents about having to stay in this horrible place with no phones for eight whole weeks. They’d just gotten the first shock of their stay at Piney Wood. Every one of them looked like they were about to bolt.