Chapter 3 Part 2

So Claire said a silent prayer and crawled into the hole as Judith, Jacqueline and the third girl, whose name was Marie, removed their cucumbers and watched with interest.
“It isn’t so bad now is it?” Trudy asked.
And it wasn’t, for the entrance was quite small but the actual tunnel was more spacious.
“No, no it isn’t.” Claire called back.
And a chorus of hurrahs echoed through the passageway. Claire smiled as she crawled on her hands and knees to the kitchen. She hadn’t expected this to be her first academic activity, but was pleased. She felt that she had won the respect of the seemingly popular Judith and her friends, and, as Trudy followed her inside and Claire was certain that she wasn’t being tricked into a trap, she felt as if she had certainly met a kindred spirit there at Beekman Boarding School.


Dear Marvin,
Guess where I am! Beekman Boarding School in Beekman New York! And Mother and Father are in Connecticut all alone with you at the university in New Haven like a real man! The school is nice. I haven’t had a very good look at the outside yet but the inside is decently decorated in medieval trinkets and tapestries. And after a personal tour with a fine girl named Trudy Richards, I have discovered that there is much more to Beekman than meets the eye. There are secret passageways Marvin! Just like we used to play, only at home it was the wood box from the mudroom to the parlor, and here they are real! And Trudy (in whom I have already put my trust) promises that I haven’t seen half the great nooks and crannies there are to see. A kind woman named Mrs. Inches showed us all of the classrooms and the cafeteria etc. (not to mention a real dungeon, now converted into a sewing room which Mother would adore) and promised to introduce us to the headmistress; Mrs. Victory; but it was nearly time for dinner and she couldn’t be reached. I think she will be a very busy and possibly sour woman. Don’t tell Father that I am jumping to conclusions. And what a dinner it was though! You would’ve loved it Marvin. I honestly felt like royalty when the set the ducks out on the tables and lit the torches (this place is practically a castle you know) and we all held hands like sisters and sang a beautiful grace before indulging in one of the finest Sunday meals ever prepared! I think I shall really like it here. There are only two things: classes and Malvina Dakota-a nasty girl whom I’ve already picked a fight with. Aside from that, I think that this place is perfect. But, being the “snoop” as you say, I have already noted a few mysteries which I plan to solve.
1. A mysterious teacher named Clifford Rueben who keeps trees and voodoo masks in his classroom.
2. Mrs. Victory…will she be merciful?
3. Boys. Nobody has spoken of the other half of Beekman-the boy half. I don’t even know if they will be in my classes or eat lunch with us during the week.
Anyway, these are the mysteries. I am half asleep already so I really should go. Write to me! Love, your sister, Claire the snoop Winters