Chapter

1

Where We Left Off


Friday was in a good mood as she entered the dining hall at Highcrest Academy with the Headmaster, her best friend, Melanie Pelly, and Ian Wainscott, the most handsome boy in school. The Headmaster had promised Friday an extra serving of dessert for helping Highcrest avert their latest near disaster. An impostor had impersonated a member of the Norwegian royal family and gone on a school-wide theft spree.

But Friday and her friends would never get to eat that ice cream.

As they walked in, Friday’s Uncle Bernie was there waiting for her, and with him were a man and a woman wearing dark gray suits and sunglasses.

“Who are they?” asked the Headmaster.

“The big scruffy man in the creased suit is my Uncle Bernie,” said Friday.

“Perhaps soon to be Ian’s stepdad,” added Melanie. (Love had blossomed between Uncle Bernie and Mrs. Wainscott when he helped her find some diamonds and she helped him stitch up a dog bite on his rear.)

“He is not!” said Ian.

“And the other two,” said Friday, “given their suits with a high polyester count and ostentatious wearing of sunglasses, I deduce are some sort of government officials.”

“Friday!” exclaimed Uncle Bernie as soon as he saw her. “I’m so sorry. There’s nothing I can do.”

“About what?” she asked.

The woman pulled an identification card from her pocket. “I’m Agent Torres from the Department of Immigration. Are you Friday Barnes?”

“Yes, that’s me,” said Friday.

“Then you’ll have to come with us,” said Agent Torres.

“Why?” asked Friday.

“You’re being deported,” said Uncle Bernie.

“Hang on, I’m headmaster here, I’m responsible for this child,” said the Headmaster, stepping forward.

“All the paperwork is in order,” said Agent Torres. The other agent handed a sheaf of paperwork to the Headmaster. He started flicking through it.

“On what grounds can you deport her?” asked the Headmaster. “She hasn’t committed a crime. Well … not one that’s been proven, anyway.”

“We’re deporting her because she’s not a citizen,” said Agent Torres.

“Yes, I am,” said Friday.

“Is it true you were born in Switzerland?” asked Agent Torres.

“Well, yes,” conceded Friday.

“And you have never applied for citizenship or even a green card,” said the agent.

“I was a baby,” said Friday. “I assumed that was all sorted out when my parents brought me home … Oh no, my parents! They never filled in the paperwork, did they?”

“No, they didn’t,” said Uncle Bernie. “If I’d known about it sooner, I could have done something.”

“The Department of Immigration has been writing to them, phoning them, and even visiting them repeatedly over the years,” said Agent Torres. “They have ignored all our correspondence. Dr. Evangeline Barnes and Dr. Rupert Barnes are no longer residents of the country. You are a Swiss citizen who has been illegally residing in this country for twelve years. You will be deported today.”

“But…” protested Friday.

“If you want to appeal the decision,” said Agent Torres, “you’ll have to take it up with our embassy in Geneva.”

“But wait until Wednesday,” advised Melanie. “We’ve got PE on Tuesday and we’re playing dodgeball. You’ll want to miss that.”

The agents grabbed Friday by an elbow each and started leading her away. Friday got one last glance at her friends before she was ushered out the door.

Melanie turned to the Headmaster. “She will be back, won’t she?”

“I hope so,” said the Headmaster, rubbing his head in anticipation of the headache he knew he was about to get. “It’s hard enough running this school. Who’s going to figure out all the weird hijinks that go on if Friday isn’t here?”

“I’m sure it will all be sorted out in just a couple of days,” said Uncle Bernie.


Text copyright © 2016 by R. A. Spratt

Illustrations copyright © 2017 by Phil Gosier