Welcome to Students Incorporated, a podcast exploring the topics of business, education,
technology and design.
I'm your host, Mr. Jason.
Join me weekly as my team and I produce content that's informative, positive, fun and uplifting.
Episodes include student conversations, interviews with thought leaders and inspirational stories
with an international flavor.
This podcast is created and produced with the help of students from the International
Community School of Bangkok.
Hello and welcome back.
I'm Mr. Jason and today I'm joined by a special guest who's been on our podcast before, back
in season one.
Mrs. Janet joining us again and we'll be talking about a topic I think is often overlooked
in many pre-college discussions between parents and graduating seniors.
It's what I like to call the in-between months.
You know those few months between high school and graduation before the start of the freshman
year.
I'm also joined by co-host Chanya for this episode who's a graduating senior and part
of our season two podcast team.
So we hope all seniors and parents of graduating seniors find this topic informative and helpful.
Then for segment two, we'll be continuing with our story, The Secrets of El Dorado.
We are on part eight, which is titled Confrontation and Escaped.
We are getting close to the end of our adventure with Professor Hawthorne, Ava, Sierra, Ethan,
and Lily.
So if you've missed any of the other parts of our story, go back and listen to them.
All right, and now let's hear our quote of the day and get some headline news.
Hey everyone, our quote of the day comes from Kerry Washington.
She said, Your life is your adventure and the adventure ahead of you is a journey to
fulfill your own purpose and potential.
This quote speaks about embarking on the greatest adventure of all, your own life.
Each day is a new chapter waiting to be written, a journey brimming with endless possibility
and discoveries.
Picture your life as an epic odyssey, a thrilling adventure waiting to unfold.
Each day holds the promise of new discoveries, challenges, and triumphs propelling you forward.
The path ahead is not just a mere succession of events, but a profound quest full of possibilities
and opportunities.
And that's our quote of the day.
Now moving on to some headline college news.
Thank you, and here's some headline college news from around the world.
Starting off with our first news, in the state of Indiana, Governor Eric Holcomb has resently
signed a new law that promotes intellectual diversity.
Under the law, professors are not allowed to bring political ideas into their classes,
and can also be reported or have promotions and tenures withheld if their school boards
find them guilty of not performing their duties properly.
This has prompted many faculty members from public schools in Indiana to testify against
a new law, which they view as a government overreach and an attack on academic free speech.
The new law goes into effect in July, and ironically, it may have a political agenda,
which is something that it is intended to reduce.
Our next news piece has to do with U.S. student debt.
The Biden administration has yet again proposed to cancel more student debt of individuals
who are now working in the public sector.
This proposal would be a cancellation of up to $143.6 billion and would free up about
78,000 borrowers from their student debt, bringing the total amount since the Biden
administration started canceling loans up to 4 million borrowers.
The borrowers in the PSLF debt relief program will receive an email from the president informing
them about their loan status, provided that they continue working in their current job
position until they receive their loan paybacks.
And now onto our final college news coming from California.
At the University of California, Berkeley, safety concerns have been causing parents
to take actions themselves.
A parent association group representing about 1,300 parents called Safe Bear has spent $40,000
on hiring security officers that patrol areas near the campus in order to deter crime on
campus.
While students and parents have agreed and expressed gratitude to the decision, the school,
however, holds a different opinion.
According to them, campus security should be left up to the campus police since they
are questionable about the qualifications and necessities of the hired help.
While they have said that the university funds aren't better spent hiring more campus security
officers, the shortage of security guards does not appropriately reflect the commitment
to campus safety.
And that ends our headlight news for today.
We are back for our first segment and we have Mrs. Jen Lembert back in the studio to discuss
how parents and students can better prepare during their transition from high school to
college and specifically focusing on the in-between months between high school graduation and
the start of their freshman year at college.
Jono will kick us off with our first discussion question.
Hello, and thank you so much for coming to our show again.
For the sake of our show's new listeners who may not know you, maybe we could start
with this question first.
Could you introduce yourself and tell us what role you have here at ICS?
Of course.
Thank you so much, Chania.
My name is Jennifer Lembert and I am the college counselor here at ICS.
I have been in that role for seven years now, which seems crazy.
And our family's been here in Thailand for 10 years.
So that's kind of a little bit.
Before that, we lived in India and Malaysia and also the US.
And we have three kids here at ICS, a 12th grader, 10th grader, and fifth grader.
I've got a follow up question now.
Because we are focusing on the topic of the in-between months between high school and college,
could you share how this topic is relevant to you personally and if there are some things
you have started preparing for?
It's such a good question.
I think the uniqueness about this year is that I'm wearing two hats within the year,
both as a college counselor and as a parent.
So it's been a little surreal walking through this process as a parent, too, not just as
a college counselor.
So yeah, these in-between months, it's really interesting.
I think within the stages of transition, we kind of call it the have started to leave,
but have not yet quite arrived yet.
So it's this reshuffling and kind of doing our best to prepare, but still a lot of uncertainty
and unknowns.
So walking through that this year, not just as a counselor, but as a parent is kind of
the role I'm playing, but still figuring it out and definitely not an expert.
All right.
So our next question is an open discussion question, and it also has to do with the idea
of preparation.
So the question goes like this.
What are some ways students could prepare academically during the in-between months
before starting college?
From your perspective as kind of like a college counselor as well, are there some things academically
that they could do during those in-between months?
In-between months, yeah.
It's such a great question.
And you know, the irony with that one is I actually feel like our ICS students are very
well prepared for college academically.
So maybe I'm turning this question around a little bit, but we don't often have alumni
come back and say, oh man, I'm struggling with my academics.
I'm struggling with calculus class or my business classes.
I think they feel very prepared coming from ICS, coming from an AP curriculum.
So I guess maybe I would shift the question a little bit to how can we prepare more socially
and emotionally and more philosophically, thinking about kind of all this independence
and freedom that they'll be experiencing in college and how best to prepare for that and
structure it.
So maybe less on the academic preparation because I think ICS does so well at that, but more
in, hey, what are some healthy boundaries, some healthy structure that I want to make
sure I have next year when I'm on my own?
Even how to manage stress, like what helps me manage stress now that I can continue in
college, things like exercise, healthy eating habits, going on a walk, getting more sleep,
all those healthy things.
So we do try to kind of weave in some of those conversations on the social emotional side
as we work on the academics and the college application, you know, hoops and all of that
as well.
Moving on, this is also an open discussion question.
How can students use the in-between months to develop life skills that will be essential
in college?
Mr. Jason, maybe you could share first from your experience and then we can go on from
there.
Okay, so from my personal experience, because we have had two children who are grown, who
have gone off to college, and at that time we had those in-between months between, you
know, when they graduated as a senior, and both of our older children went off to college
in the U.S.
And so I know a lot of kids here at ICS are, many of them do go to college in the U.S.,
some of them are not U.S. citizens as well.
And so there are different nuances between being a U.S. citizen versus being a foreigner
who's applying for a student visa.
But in our situation, we didn't have to do that because both of our kids were U.S. citizens.
So there were some practical things that we focused on with both of our kids, and that
was things like setting up a bank account for them, helping them go to the bank, getting
them a bank account, helping them understand what it's like having some money of their
own and working through, hey, you should have a personal budget.
You can't just spend money off your debit card or off a credit card without having money
in the bank.
So working through some of that stuff, financial side, also the idea of transportation, allowing
them to, like for both of our children, we went back to the states a couple summers before
they actually graduated and allowed them to go through driver's ed, like driving school.
So they went to a school where they actually learned how to drive.
And then they were able to get their driver's license, which also acted as an ID for them,
like a personal ID.
And that helped them get a bank account, helped them wherever they would go where they needed
an ID to show that legitimately they could use their driver's license as an ID.
So that was like a very practical way that they felt, okay, I feel like I'm part of the
system again.
I feel like I can kind of operate and get around.
This is not an unknown to me.
So those were some things my wife and I did, but also we were able to go to the school
and like see them off to see them get settled.
But then it is hard when you separate and they are there and by themselves.
And that first year can be quite crucial for them.
Are they going to make it or not?
So it's very important that we really try to like focus on interacting with them as
much as possible, virtually making sure that we check in with them, making sure that they're
in the right friend group.
So those are some things from my perspective.
But I'd love to hear and those that was years ago, like four or five years ago.
So I'd like to hear Jen's perspective on what she's going to be doing this summer with their
first one.
I mean, still kind of figuring it out.
But we're also building in some time to make sure that Addie gets time with family and
friends, which is one of the main priorities this summer.
Another way that we've really encouraged her to find structure within her college years
is to have a job.
And so she will be working a bit this summer too in preparation for that, both for the
financial piece, but also for the time management piece, just to be able to.
Yeah, even if it's as little as five to 10 hours, I tell seniors, it's really great to
have a job because it requires you to be somewhere and it adds some structure into this very
kind of new found freedom.
And so I think that's one thing we've encouraged as well.
We've also just tried to think collectively as a family of about four or five people that
she can spend time with kind of in different areas of importance for her.
So both in faith and kind of in what she's interested in studying and just someone who
was really good at connecting with friends and clubs in college and just spend time with
them and hear from them about what was important to them in college, what they do differently,
what they're glad they did.
So kind of some intentionality on who she connects with this summer has been something
we are trying to do as well.
But yeah, I think that's it.
I'm still learning.
I'm very much a rookie.
So you can ask me in another year or two and maybe I'll be more of an expert.
Yeah, I think that time management is super important because they're coming from an environment
where they're being told to do almost every minute of every day.
So all of a sudden they have all this freedom.
But a job is super important, right?
It teaches them personal responsibility, accountability, time management.
So yeah, that's definitely a good one.
If you can get a job, if you have the ability to work on campus or get some sort of part
time summer job in those months, connecting that way even with the community, I think
is helpful.
Totally.
I tell seniors a lot that as they're going into college, it's a big place.
And so they're going to want to find ways to make it small in the right ways.
And I think a job is one way to do that.
Clubs, of course, are one way to do that.
Your program of study will be another way to do that.
I think it was Chania's dad at chapel that said it's called a university because it's
both a universe and a city.
There's so many people to meet and connect with.
And I think because of that, things like jobs, clubs, the cohort that you're studying with
become really important in ways to make that big place feel a little smaller.
So yeah, that's good.
OK, our next question moving on.
Our next question has to do with time management.
Go figure.
Yeah.
What are some ways students could be encouraged to manage their time during those in between
this those months and days that are waiting that they are waiting before their college
classes begin besides maybe just a job?
Yeah, I think, you know, for us again, priority is kind of spending time with family and friends
and really enjoying these last few months that we have before our family reshuffles
a bit and has some new dynamics in place.
Of course, with the distance, you know, one thing this is I don't know if this really
fits with time management, but I think today it is so easy to find ourselves behind a screen
a lot.
I heard one social scientist called technology, the fifth dorm room wall.
So the fifth wall of a dorm room, because it's keeping college kids inside, watching
games, movies, whatever it might be.
So I think one good practice for our seniors who are preparing is just limit the time that
they're on tech.
Right.
So college is such an opportunity to be bold and to meet people and to get to know those
around you in this big university that we're on.
So I think maybe even putting into place some structure around technology would be a good
habit to prioritize in the summer months before college.
Yeah, I think that's a really good thing to bring up.
So thank you for doing that.
The idea of just getting away from tech to a certain point, you know, when we're in college
many years ago, we went to the gym, we went we actually went to a physical library.
Right.
We would go visit our friends at their dorms.
We would hang out at student union.
So there's common spaces on universities that are built to promote community, you know,
and it's also getting yourself out there and being brave and trying to do that.
Those are some ways not only within time management, but able to get out there and kind of just
be a part of that smaller universe within the big city.
Right.
So this next question has to do with the heart and the mind of the student.
What potential challenges might a student face mentally or emotionally during the in-between
months that they should be aware of?
Yeah, I would imagine one of the biggest is just feeling a little bit nervous and anxious
about what's to come.
You know, anytime we're faced with uncertainty and unfamiliarity, there's of course some
anxiety and stress with that.
Right.
I also think it's helpful to see the excitement in that too and the opportunity.
And so trying to shift from a mindset of I'm frozen, I don't know what to do to hey, I'm
going to think about all the opportunities that are going to present themselves in these
college years.
So shifting mindset would be a big one.
I think again, you know, like I mentioned before, asking those who have gone through
this college experience and done it really well, maybe in a major that you're pursuing
or with a particular clubs or hobbies that you're interested in.
I think that can be helpful to provide some encouragement and even some ideas and guidelines
about boundaries and expectations.
So yeah, I'm not sure if that's really helpful, but I think being able to be excited, not
just anxious and then talking with people who can encourage you.
All right.
So moving on to another question we can kind of discuss.
It's more on the practical or logistical side.
What are some practical benefits of attending pre-college orientation programs and how can
they enhance a student's college readiness?
Oh, it's so good.
And I am actually particularly thankful for these orientation programs that schools offer,
especially for international students and third culture kids like our kids are.
A lot of these will offer an early onboarding for international students where they can
come even a week ahead of the typical freshmen students.
And they cover topics like opening a bank account, getting a job, finding the library,
you know, finding the health center if you need it.
So it's just really practical, but also gives you a chance to kind of settle in before some
of the other more local students can arrive.
And to that point, too, a lot of our students, even in ninth, tenth and eleventh grade, will
do college campus.
They call them pre-college programs sometimes in the summer.
And it's such a good opportunity for our students not only to travel to the U.S. or Australia
or wherever they might do these, but they get to experience a college campus and a dorm
room and the cafeteria and how to manage all that.
So I think that's a great way to kind of onboard into the college experience through these programs.
There's even third culture kid camps that some of our students will attend.
And not only does it help walk through some of these practical tips of transitioning to
college, but you get to meet other third culture kids and international kids like you who have
lived outside of the U.S. and now will be attending college in the U.S.
So yeah, I totally recommend those if they're available.
Quick funny story about my college, pre-college orientation.
And it was almost a week, actually.
This was back in early 90s.
But one of the classes or one of the sessions we had to go to was speed reading.
And it was so fascinating to me.
I don't remember much about the other orientation sessions, but this one was so fascinating because
one of the professors at the university basically showed us how to speed read.
And it was more of an introduction into you're going to read a lot of content now that you're
in college.
And so here's a quick way to do it.
And it's fascinating.
And that guy could read really fast.
Can you still speed read?
No I can't.
But he showed us the technique.
And he's like, you just have to keep practicing and practicing it.
And it was super fascinating.
So pre-college orientation will have sessions that will probably be quite intriguing and
maybe very different.
But also I highly recommend it as well because you meet new people.
And you get introduced to the university and the setting in a safe, maybe safer environment
before all the upperclassmen get there.
So all right.
On to our, I think our final question here with Chania.
So we like to end our guest segments by asking for advice.
This is Jen and Mr. Jason.
What advice would you offer to students or parents of students about this topic?
Any parting words or thoughts?
I guess I'll go first, but I hardly feel like an expert enough to give advice.
Mr. Jason's walked this road.
So I am anxious to hear his.
I think maybe I'll give some advice that was given to me recently.
And so as a parent, as a new parent through this college season, they said you need to
be three things for your kids when they're away.
And that's cheers, ears, and prayers.
And I'm kind of taking that to heart and realizing that this is a new parenting season, right?
It's a shift from being more of a coach to more of the cheering section.
And so I think that's really, and I'm excited about that too, to kind of be able to sit
in the stands and not be calling all the plays, but just be there for support, be there to
encourage and then of course to pray for them across the miles.
And then for the students, I just, I mean, I'm so excited for them.
I really do think this is such a fun and exciting and a growing season that they're about to
embark on and just to be bold and be brave and to meet new people and not be afraid to
try something new.
Yeah, just take it all in.
Yeah, I think it's going to be a really exciting season for your class, Chania.
I like that.
So that's cheers, ears, and prayers, right?
That's really good.
That'll be easy to remember.
Advice from me, I guess for the parents would be walk the road with your kids and they definitely
will have the emotional ups and downs and you may even see different behaviors through
those in-between months of fear possibly, maybe excitement, but then there could be
some hesitation even like, did I make the right decision?
Am I really going to do this type of...
But really being kind of like their cheerleader, being in their corner, helping them navigate
a lot of those practical things that as parents we've been through and we kind of are used
to some of the logistical and practical things, but then I think like Mrs. Jen just said,
really being an ear for them to talk to and not, and I have a problem with this, not always
giving the solution, right?
And just basically being that ear for them to rely on.
And it's different for every family, I think.
You figure out, I think the seniors who are graduating this year at ICS will figure out
what's best for their family and their parents will figure that out too.
And seniors, if I could have one piece of advice for you, call your parents.
Talk to them.
Great advice.
Call them, talk to them, let them know how you're doing and they don't want to always
bug you so they don't want to be helicopter parents and want to be hovering over you,
but man, when we can get a FaceTime call or a Zoom call from one of our kids and they're
smiling and happy, you're doing well, even if they're not, that's a great way just to
reconnect and we can figure out, we'll listen and hear you and see.
So okay, I think that's it.
Is there anything else?
Any?
Any final words?
No, I just appreciate the opportunity.
Guys, thanks so much.
As a senior parent, these are all good things to be thinking through and I'm thankful you
all initiated the discussion, so thanks so much.
And that ends segment one of this episode.
Stick around as we continue with part eight of our story, The Secrets of El Dorado.
Don't go anywhere as we'll be right back after this short PSA.
Hey everyone, Premi here and in the spirit of this episode of In-Between-Us, I thought
we could definitely talk about fun activities that everyone could be doing in this upcoming
period of In-Between-Us, the summer.
Students, for those of you who aren't graduating just yet, maybe as a rising sophomore or a
rising senior, the options are endless.
You could recharge as you get ready for another year of school, maybe take up a new hobby,
try learning a new language.
For those of us that are becoming upperclassmen, maybe think about an internship or a job you
could take on this summer.
Or maybe there's a subject area you've always been curious about and would love to have
the space of a summer camp to explore.
Most importantly though, remember to take a break in this period of In-Between-Us.
And adventure awaits in your next chapter.
We are back for our second segment and we will continue with part 8 titled Confrontation
and Escape.
But first, Chania will give us a quick recap from our last episode.
In the last episode, Ava, Sierra, and Professor Hawthorne delve into the secrets and identities
of a few members that were part of the meeting by the reservoir the night before.
Meanwhile, Lily awakens to find herself imprisoned.
While Lily struggles to deal with her situation, Ava, Sierra, and Professor Hawthorne stumble
upon an unexpected discovery at a historic landmark.
As tension rises, Lily uncovers a glimmer of hope at this her confinement, hinting at
a thrilling escape.
Thank you Chania.
And without further ado, let's get back into our story where we join Ava, Lily, Sierra,
Ethan, and the Professor.
Time seems to be crawling along for Lily.
It's been about 30 or so minutes since Professor Sharpton had interrogated her about the note.
The formula interferes and then left abruptly.
She's pretty confident it's mid to late morning and that she had spent the night in
this small dirty space which seemed to be underground.
Still sitting on the small flimsy cushion, Lily squints as she tries to look more closely
at the lodge and gate that seems not to be secured properly.
With chain sweatshirt in hand, she turns her head and looks back at the large man who's
standing halfway down the other corridor.
She assumes this large man is guarding her as he's been standing there the entire time
she's been awake.
All of a sudden, she notices the man stepping out of the shuttle slightly, turns and looks
in the opposite direction from her.
He's looking down the corridor toward the corner that Professor Sharpton had disappeared
around earlier.
He's standing more at tension with his arms at his waist as if he hears something coming
from the other direction.
Meanwhile, Ava, Cira and the Professor find themselves inside the entrance of the main
tunnel entrance which is located on Altman Sutter's property.
Ava's phone flashlight reveals what looks to be fresh footprints in the dirt right in
front of her.
In a hushed tone, she points at the footprints and says,
Look here, someone's been here, and recently too.
Hmm, you're right Ava, the Professor says, nodding his head and thinking.
Alright, let's move forward slowly and together in a single line, hoping we don't run into
anyone.
The Professor moves around Ava and Cira and starts walking forward deeper into the dark
corridor.
He stops for a moment, turns around and points to the walls and whispers,
This tunnel was made a long time ago.
Thankfully, it's large enough we can walk upright.
We are standing in history.
You see these old chisel marks in the rock?
These are some of the same types of marks Ethan and I observed in the mines on Rob's
Peak yesterday.
This tunnel system was built old school style, with pickaxes and hard labor.
He turns back around and continues walking forward slowly.
Cira and Ava quietly follow the Professor down the narrow tunnel, walking in a single
line.
The three kept walking forward, another 10-15 meters before the tunnel starts to gradually
widen and then ending in a small rectangular room.
Cira stops and looks around while standing very close to Ava's side.
The Professor turns around and whispers again to the girls, this must be used as some sort
of ventilation shaft or room for the other parts of the tunnels.
They all noticed that the air inside the small chamber was fresher than the air in the passageways,
and it smelt better, not as damp and musty.
Glinting her eyes as she shines her phone's flashlight around the chamber, she realizes
the problem and then says softly,
Oh, there's two ways out of this chamber now.
There's one forward and then there's one on our right.
Which way should we go now, straight or right?
Cira looks at the Professor and then looks at Ava.
Ava is her head down and is sketching the layout of the tunnel in her small notebook
she just pulled out of her bag.
She is shining her phone light on the notebook page so she can see what she's drawing.
She stops for a moment and says,
Thought I'd draw a map of this place, might help us out in the future.
Responding to Cira's question first, she answers with another question as she looks at the
Professor and points her phone light at him.
Hmm, should we split up or stay together?
She continues, the footprints we've been observing lead down to the path going straight,
and there doesn't seem to be any footprints that go right down the other way.
Yep, I see that too, Ava, the Professor says.
The Professor hesitates for a moment and then asks Ava if he could see her drawing.
The Professor peers down at the sketch that Ava was drawing and continues,
That's pretty accurate, Ava.
It would be great if you could continue doing that as we make our way through the tunnel.
The Professor then stops for a moment, reaches into his bag and pulls out the old manuscript
he's been carrying around with him.
He flips through the pages and finally stops on a page that's filled with sketches and
symbols and says,
Seeing your sketch, Ava, it reminded me of this part of the manuscript we were studying
at the reservoir yesterday night.
Hmm, here it is.
The Professor points to the faded ink on the page that appears to show some sort of schematic
drawing and says,
Ava, shine your light right here.
You see this drawing right here on this page?
This drawing in the manuscript looks like a schematic of something.
It could be the layout map of this tunnel system we are in right now.
Ava shifts her light from the manuscript page up towards the Professor's face and says,
Sure looks that way.
This manuscript is proving to be super accurate.
It keeps corroborating with all our discoveries.
It's no wonder this thing was never published.
It holds all kinds of information.
Ava then turns her light around to face Cira, who is still standing really close to Ava's
side and asks,
You still doing okay?
Cira cocks her head slightly and says,
Yep, I'm hanging in there just trying not to panic a little and trying not to think
about all the bad things that could happen to us.
Yeah, Ava says,
Then giving Cira her notebook and pencil, saying,
Here, this will help keep your mind off of things.
You sketch the path out as we make our way through the tunnel.
You're a better artist than me anyway.
The Professor was standing there in the darkness as Ava had shifted her phone light towards
Cira.
As the girls were talking, the Professor peered down the path that led straight and noticed
a faint, faint flicker of a light some distance ahead.
Professor Hawthorne scratches his head and contemplates what to do next and then says,
Alright, I got an idea.
Let's divide and conquer.
He says this as he clicks on his small keychain flashlight.
His flashlight is about half the strength of Ava and Cira's phone lights and has less
battery time.
He does not want to let Ava and Cira know that he saw a very faint light in the path
that led straight, so he continues.
I'll continue straight on this path and you girls take the path that goes right.
Are you okay with that?
He asks both girls as he looks straight at them.
I'm good with that if you are, Ava.
Cira turns to look at Ava.
I'll continue sketching this part of the tunnel since this part of the map in the manuscript
is very faint and hard to see.
Yup, let's do it, Ava says.
She offers up an idea well before they part ways.
Let's say we meet back here in 15 minutes and if we find ourselves getting confused
or lost, we can just always backtrack our steps back to the spot.
They all nod in agreement and with that, Ava says to Professor Hawthorne, good luck and
be safe.
The professor walks slowly forward down the straight path that leads toward the faint
light he noticed earlier.
He looks back as Ava and Cira disappear down the other path.
Meanwhile Lily gets up from where she was sitting and walks slowly to the gate that
was locked, peers through it and notices that the guard who was standing there had walked
around the corner and was nowhere to be seen.
She waits for a moment, wanting to make sure he wasn't coming right back.
She then makes a quick decision, turns around and quickly walks to the other gate, the one
that is not lodged properly, and pries it open with both hands.
It took all her strength to reach the lodge, move it upward and then push the gate open.
She couldn't believe it, she was staring into the darkness, down another tunnel that
let out the other side of the small room she was in, but it was the way to freedom she
was hoping for.
She bravely starts walking forward while holding Chen's sweatshirt, not realizing how important
that sweatshirt will be in the days to come, slowly but surely, taking one step after another
as she says to herself, you got this, you got this.
Cira and Ava with two rays of light from their phones continue walking down a side passageway
they took after leaving the small ventilation room where they parted ways with Professor
Hawthorne.
This passageway started getting narrow again, then curving slightly toward a sharp corner
that turned left.
To keep her mind off the fear she was facing, and by now it was mostly claustrophobia, this
was something that her and Ava shared, a fear of opposite things.
Ava's fear of heights was revealed at the reservoir and now Cira's fear of small spaces
is being revealed.
Cira whispers ahead to Ava who's leading the way down the tunnel slowly and cautiously,
man, I can't wait to get out of here.
They both come to the corner and then walk slowly, making the turn left and peer down
another's passageway.
All the while, and to help her keep her mind off the small passageway, Cira continues to
sketch out the pathways they are taking, making sure her drawing and number of steps they
are taking are recorded with accuracy.
From this new passageway, they walk another 10 to 12 meters before noticing that the tunnel
starts to get wider, revealing some light ahead.
They move slowly forward and then all of a sudden they enter a large rectangular room
which is dimly lit by one small light bulb hanging from one of the old wooden support
beams above their heads.
This room is larger in size and the air seems better as well.
Maybe another ventilation room or maybe something different, Cira thinks to herself as she is
sketching in the notebook.
Cira and Ava turn off their phone lights to save battery.
Cira briefly checks to see if she has cell reception, no luck, and then turns and shows
Ava as they both shrug their shoulders while looking around the room.
Look at that, Ava exclaims pointing around the room.
There's shelves, documents, and what's that large paper on the wall?
I bet a lot of this stuff will make great evidence.
Okay Cira, how about you take the left side of the room, I'll take the right, and then
we'll gather anything that looks important.
Oh, I'll also take a photo of the chart on the wall.
Ava continues as she watches Cira pull Lily's backpack off and set it onto the ground.
Let's fill that backpack as much as possible and if we run out of room, grab photos of
the other stuff we can't carry.
On it, Cira says, hurrying to the other side of the room.
This side of the room contained an old wooden table that was covered with old papers and
yellow documents.
Cira noticed that the scatter of documents on the table looked to be various maps, letters,
and an old accounting ledger book.
Bingo Cira says as she holds up the ledger book and turns to show Ava.
She blurt out in a regular voice.
This gotta be important, this ledger book is full of names, dates, weights, and money
amounts.
As she turns around and looks at the ledger book, Cira is holding up and says, wow, that
might be the ticket.
Make sure you secure that in the backpack along with as many of those old papers as
possible.
Ava gets back to work snapping photos of them.
Old tools and such that are being held in small wooden crates that seem to be quite
old.
Nothing you would find in a hardware store these days.
The tools and other materials, much of the wooden parts of the tools were either rotten
or coming apart, look to be items that were used in a mine.
They were all old and worn out, Ava thinks to herself.
Maybe these are some of the old tools from the early cold rush days.
She then spots some engravings on some of the handles of the tools.
The engravings look to be Chinese characters.
She stops for a moment, carefully focusing her camera phone as to not take blurry photos
and systematically taking photos of more than a dozen tools which had engraved characters
on them.
She turns around and looks at Sira who's folding and packing papers and maps into the
backpack and says, this is a gold mine, Sira.
Pun intended.
Get as much as you can.
Sira after packing the backpack turns her phone light full on and says, the passageway
opposite the way we came in seems to lead to another room like this.
Let's go check it out as well.
I don't think there's anyone down there.
Ava looks up at Sira as she snaps one last photo, cracking half a smile as she says,
you're getting the hang of this girl.
Yeah, let's go check it out.
The girls exit the room and walk through a short passageway and then enter the second
room.
This room was slightly smaller.
However, it did have a single light bulb in the center of the room hanging from one of
the horizontal ceiling support beams, similar to the other rooms it just came from.
There were two ways out of the second room.
You could either go back to the way you came from or take another passageway that exited
from the right side of the room.
Ava notices that Sira is looking down and sketching again in the notebook and says,
thanks for mapping out the design of the tunnel system.
It'll be so helpful when we turn all this stuff into the FBI.
Ava looks over towards the left side of the room, opposite of the exit passageway they
haven't explored yet, and notices several old wooden shelves with what looks to be a
series of old glass jars filled with different things and all covered in dust.
They all had lids on and old worn out labels on the lids.
She glanced at Sira and says, I hope you have a little more room in that backpack.
Professor Hawthorne finally makes his way to the source of the light he saw earlier.
The room is much larger than a ventilation chamber he and the girls had parted ways from
a short time ago.
He steps just inside the room with the dark passageway he just came from directly behind
him.
As the professor clicks off his keychain light with squinted eyes he looks up and scans the
room quickly in an effort to get a feel of the size of the space which is poorly lit
and mostly empty.
He sweeps his eyes from left to right, the right side of the room being more lit than
the left.
As he peers through the dimly lit and dusty air toward the dark left corner of the room
he immediately freezes and stops breathing.
There stood a large figure of a man standing concealed by a shadow in the left corner of
the room.
The professor recognizes the man's pants and shoes immediately.
Then in a split second the professor who is visibly startled notices the large man move
out from the shadow with a gun drawn and pointed directly toward him.
Without thinking the professor takes one quick step to the right while at the same time a
piercing loud bang goes off.
The sound of the gun going off in the small room immediately produces a loud and painful
ringing noise in the professor's ears.
The professor was hit by shattering rock and dirt on his left side from where the bullet
hit the wall right next to his body.
The professor turns around immediately and runs back down the dark passageway the same
direction he came from knowing that this way led directly back to the main entry door he
and the girls had entered the tunnels from.
While running back down the passageway toward the entry door the professor clicks on his
keychain light.
He enters a small ventilation chamber first.
This was the same place the girls parted ways with him.
He hesitates a moment and then he hears the large man coming down the same passageway
toward him.
Meanwhile Ciara and Ava were grabbing small glass jars from off the old wooden shelves
and carefully placing them into the backpack Ciara had.
The jars were heavy for their size and contained what looked to be small gold nuggets and fragments
of gold pieces.
Ava noticed an old cloth covering some items on the bottom shelves.
She bent down, grabbed a corner of the cloth and pulled it to the side.
Woah! she blurted out.
While looking at Ciara who was trying to pack the backpack so they could leave, Ava could
not believe her eyes.
Ciara under the old cloth stood several identical gold bars.
Without thinking Ava picked one up and immediately felt the weight of it.
These are real Ciara.
She says to Ciara as they both stand there in silence staring at the shiny gold bar Ava
is holding.
While looking down at the gold bar Ava notices that it is stamped with the words US Treasury
Department.
All of a sudden the silence is broken with a loud crack followed by echoes of boom boom
boom boom boom boom boom boom.
Immediately Ava and Ciara's joy and laughs just moments ago turned into fear.
By instinct they both bent down and put their hands over their ears.
Ava dropped the heavy gold bar she was holding and Ciara dropped one of the glass jars she
was holding.
The glass breaking spilling it's content into the dirt floor.
Neither one of them could tell where the sound had come from but they knew it came from within
the tunnel system.
Ava looks directly at Cira as they were kneeling down and stays quietly.
That sounds like a gunshot we need to leave right now.
The sound came from the same direction we came from.
What about the Professor?
Cira responds with a concerned and shocked look on her face.
Ava responds back.
We can't go back the way we just came.
We can only hope that the Professor is able to retrace his steps and leave the way we all came in.
We need to get this backpack, the stuff we collected out of here.
It's the only way we can prove what was going on in here.
They both stand up and grab what they can.
Cira grabs the heavy backpack and zips it shut while she is looking down at the broken jar she dropped.
The contents are on the dirt by her feet.
Cira notices that it looks similar to the rocky powder substance that Professor Hawthorne had collected from one of the mines on Robb's Peak.
Knowing this, she quickly looks back over at the wooden shelf and grabs one more small jar with what looks like to have the same substance inside
and then looks back over at Ava and says,
I want to leave now.
They may be coming for us now.
Ava stands back up with the heavy gold bar in hand and says,
Let's get out of here.
Her voice is trembling.
Like, right now.
The two take the only other exit out of the room that doesn't lead back the way they came into the room.
This passageway exits out the right side of the room.
The girls with their phone lights in hand, the heavy backpack and gold bar run down the passageway a few meters and into another room that's about the same size as the last one they just came from.
This room has a large wooden pallet filled with what looks like blocks stacked up, one on top of each other covered with a canvas tarp.
The girls run past it and look at each other.
There's no time to investigate what's under the tarp.
Sarah hesitates for a moment as she notices that there are two ways out of this new room.
She looks at Ava and stops dead in her tracks and says,
Which way should we go?
She looks right and then left.
Ava, should we go right or left from here?
Neither one of the girls knew at that moment that the left passageway would take them back to the place that Lily was being held.
Without thinking, Ava shouts out,
Let's go.
Hurry, let's go right.
Ava runs past Sarah, grabbing her arm as they both take the right passageway out of the new room they just discovered.
Less than a minute later, Ava sees what looks like the outside light shining down onto the dirt floor a few meters ahead.
She looks back at Sarah, who's right behind her and still holding her hand and yells out,
It's an exit outside, we can get out of the tunnel this way.
As they reach the beaming light that is shining through what looks like an old wooden plank door above them,
They need to crouch down slightly as the tunnel height gradually gets smaller the closer they get to the exit.
They climb the wooden stairs, only four rungs high,
And then both push up on the wooden door and watch as it swings open to the outside wooden area.
As Sarah and Ava emerge from the tunnel out a different area from where they had first entered,
They are met with the daylight which feels incredibly safe, but also overpowering.
They both squint their eyes, needing a few seconds to get used to the bright daylight that meets them.
As Sierra is rubbing her eyes and looking around to see where they are at on the property,
She sees Lily just standing there a few meters away, next to a tree and staring right back at her and Ava.
Professor Hawthorne briefly stops and looks down the dark passageway the girls had gone and only sees darkness.
He then continues toward the entrance metal door.
He reaches the wooden steps and climbs quickly knowing that the man who just shot at him has got to be getting close.
The professor fumbles around with the metal door latch.
After a few seconds, which felt like minutes to Hawthorne,
He is finally able to slide the latch and unlock the door.
He then pries the door open slowly and pushes it outward.
Professor Hawthorne is immediately met with the bright daylight and is blinded for a few seconds as he tries to get his bearings.
Hawthorne realizing that the man chasing him would probably be close to reaching the door in a few seconds,
Decides to let it slam shut hoping the inside latch gets stuck like it did for him.
The professor quickly looks around and sees a large heavy rock just off the right side corner of the door.
He moves over the large rock and starts pushing it towards and onto the top of the door.
Hawthorne thinks to himself, I hope this slows that guy down.
After pushing the large rock on top of the door, he quickly starts running in the direction where he knows the property line is located.
Out of breath and still quite startled, the professor finally reaches the property line fence.
The fence is not as high on this part of the property, possibly 8 feet.
The professor without hesitation climbs the fence to the top and then swings his body up and over the top of the fence hoping that
ground on the other side is not too hard.
As he drags his body over the top of the fence, he snags the right side of his shirt and rips a large hole in his shirt.
At the same time, he sustains a large gash right under his ribs which started bleeding.
Ouch! the professor shouts as he continues over the fence and falls to the ground on the other side.
The professor was lucky as he landed on the ground and there was a series of rocks and thorny underbrush just to his left that he missed when he hit the ground.
Professor Hawthorne picks himself up and starts jogging down the mountain following the fence line toward the river.
He is outside Old Man Sutter's property which is just on the other side of the fence.
He thinks to himself as he continues to make his way down the mountain toward the river,
I hope Ava and Sierra are not still in those tunnels.
If so, at least I've flushed out the bad guy. I'd rather him be chasing me than them.
Lydia's out.
Sierra, Ava, oh my, where did you just come from?
Were you in the tunnels? What just happened? What's going on?
Sierra responds as she races over toward Lily and gives her a big hug.
Lily, are you hurt? Are you okay? I'm so glad we found each other.
Ava joins them and says, we need to get out of here so let's move.
As the three begin to walk quickly down in the direction they think the river is,
Ava tells Sierra to call Ethan to tell him they found Lily and ask him to check his tracking software to see where Professor Hawthorne is.
On it, Sierra responds as she dials Ethan, trying not to trip on the uneven ground.
She is holding her phone to her ear with one hand while securing the heavy backpack with her other hand.
Yet she feels a great sense of relief to have found Lily and to be out of the tunnels.
Ethan's phone rings twice before he could reach it to answer.
He sees that it's Sierra and says, hello? Where are you guys? What's going on?
Sierra blurted back without saying hello. Ethan, we found Lily. She's safe and with Ava and I right now.
We don't know where Professor Hawthorne is. Can you check your tracking software to see if he's close to us?
Ethan responds, sure. One moment.
Ethan hurries to his office and grabs his tablet from his desk and opens his application.
While the application is loading, he asks Sierra, where are you guys? It sounds like you're outside.
Are you out of breath or something?
Sierra answers back, we'll tell you when we see you, but first we need to know where the professor is.
Ethan looks down at the application as it finishes loading and then says,
Okay, I've got three dots on the map and they're all actively moving in the same direction.
I assume that the two that are close together are you and Ava and maybe the third one is the professor.
The third dot on my map is about 50 to 60 meters away from you up the mountain.
It looks like he's to the right of where you are right now.
Ethan then instructs Sierra, if you turn right slightly and then keep going, you'll run right into each other.
As it appears, he's moving faster than you are right now.
You'll need to hurry so you don't miss each other.
Sierra responds back, we'll do. Thanks a ton.
I'll call you back once we are on the road heading back to town.
Sierra then hangs up abruptly.
Sierra tells the girls to verge right toward the property fence they can now see and to pick up the pace.
The fence is still only eight feet tall at this point,
but gradually gets taller to around 12 feet as they get closer to the public access half acre section of the property.
Ava reaches the fence first and accidentally drops the heavy gold bar to the ground as she grabs her knees to catch her breath.
Sierra and Lily are right behind her and do the same.
Ava says, Let's stop here and wait a moment.
Maybe we can intercept the professor as he's coming down this way.
Lily looks down at the gold bar and says, Is that gold?
Yeah, we found it in the tunnel along with a bunch of other stuff we put in your backpack that Sierra's wearing.
Ava answers, This thing is heavy and it also contains a lot of important looking stuff from the tunnels.
We need to get it to the authorities as evidence.
Sierra responds as she pulls the backpack off her back and sets it to the ground.
Lily says with a surprised look on her face, Wait, you have my backpack?
Where did you find that? Was that in the tunnels?
It's a long story and we can fill it in, in a bit.
But basically we found it at the reservoir last night, Sierra says with pride.
Ava moves up against a fence and tries to peer through the small gaps between the wood and the chain link and says,
I hear someone coming towards us.
Sounds like they're running.
I bet this could be the professor.
Ava looks back at Sierra and Lily and puts her finger to her lips and says, Shhh.
A few seconds later, she gets a glimpse of the professor as he pushes through with some light under brush.
He's walking down towards her right along the fence.
She waits for a moment and just as she gets close to where she's standing, she yells through the fence at him.
Professor, Professor Hawthorne, it's Ava.
We're standing on the other side of the fence.
As soon as she yells this out, she sees the professor stop for a moment and peer directly towards her.
She can tell he sees her face peering through the narrow gap between the wood and the chain link.
Oh, thank goodness.
The professor yells out, Where's Sierra?
Is she with you?
Ava responds back and says, Yeah, we're all here, all three of us.
And Lily's here with us as well.
She's OK.
We can explain as soon as we get back to your car.
The professor says, That's wonderful.
OK, listen carefully.
We need to leave right now.
I'm not sure if the guy who shot at me is still pursuing me or not.
Here, write this down really quick.
Here's the padlock code to the fence door we used to get into the property.
I'll meet you at the Bronco.
Keep moving no matter what.
And don't stop until you are back at my Bronco waiting.
Ignore the tourists who may be at the mill.
Just keep going and don't talk to anyone.
With that, he started jogging down the mountain along the fence line toward the river.
Ava, Sierra, and Lily do the same.
After about five minutes, they finally reach the fence that separates to public access,
half acre from the top 30 acres.
They race over to the left corner of the fence boundary, enter the padlock code,
open the old metal fence gate, and immediately find themselves in the public section of the property.
There are still several families with their little kids walking around and taking photos
of the old historic mill, the river, and its surroundings.
The three girls hurry past the tourists who are busy snapping photos and videos of the place,
making their way down over the river and using the bridge to run over to the professor's Bronco.
There are several other vehicles parked there as well, probably the tourists.
Sierra and the other girls are leaning up against the Bronco,
trying to catch their breath and hoping the professor gets there soon.
Looking up and back toward the bridge they had just crossed,
she sees the professor emerging from the river and now walking towards them.
She shouts to Ava and Lily,
There he is, the professor!
It looks like he's hurt and he's soaking wet.
He had to wade or swim across the river because he didn't have access to the bridge.
Ava, Sierra, and Lily watch as Professor Hawthorne approaches them at the Bronco.
She says, Whoa, you're hurt, Professor.
Ava and the girls notice a large rip in the side of his shirt and says,
Oh no, it looks like you're bleeding.
And where did you get those scratches on the side of your face and your arm?
The professor responds as he stands there dripping wet and out of breath.
I was able to stop the bleeding, but I will need stitches once we get back to town.
He says this while pointing to the gash over his ribs.
He then touches the left side of his cheek and explains,
These scratches must be from the bullet ricocheting off the rock and dirt wall in the tunnel.
The professor hesitates for a moment and then says,
We need to leave. We can talk in the car on the way back.
After saying this, the professor unlocks the car, jumps in the driver's side, and turns on the ignition.
He looks at the girls as they are getting into the car and says,
We need to make a plan on our way back to town.
It's time to get the FBI involved.
It looks like we have enough evidence to back up our eyewitness testimony for them to issue arrest warrants now.
Just as he finishes saying this, he pulls out of the parking space,
does a three-point turn on the main road, and then heads directly back towards the direction of town.
It's about a 30-minute drive back.
Once on the road, the professor looks in the rearview mirror back at Sierra and Lily,
who are sitting in the back seat and says,
Lily, it's good to have you back.
We were so worried about you. Are you hurt?
Lily smiles and says,
It's good to be back. They didn't hurt me.
She continues,
Professor Sharpton came and saw me this morning several hours before I escaped.
He basically said that something bad was going to happen to me if I didn't tell him everything I knew.
He was asking about Ava and Sierra, and the formula Chen had written on that note to you.
Ava, who is sitting in the front seat next to the professor, then interjects.
Sierra and I have found a trove of evidence in the other part of the tunnels.
She then uncovers the gold bar she's holding and shows it to the professor.
As Ava was just done speaking, Sierra adds,
We took a bunch of other stuff, maps, letters, a ledger book,
and some small jars filled with what looks like gold and some other substances
that look familiar to what you found at the mine.
The professor, not wanting to take his eyes off the road as he drives through the winding roads in the valley,
nods his head and gives the girls a big thumbs up.
He then says,
Okay, Ava, call your buddy at the B and let's get the ball rolling with both the media and the FBI.
He continues,
We need to bypass the county sheriff's office, as the guy in the tunnel who shot at me is one of the deputies.
Thankfully, he missed. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here right now.
Ava immediately calls Ted, her colleague at the B, and puts it on speakerphone so everyone in the vehicle could hear.
She waits a bit, four rings, and finally Ted answers.
Before Ted could get one word out, Ava blurt out,
Ted, are you ready to help me break what might be our biggest story of our careers?
For a moment, there was no response from Ted, just silence.
Then everyone in the car heard this faint and unsure yes, I suppose.
Ava jumps right in, into everything that just happened at Old Man Sutter's property,
and told Ted they had physical evidence at hand.
The professor had been shot at, and Lily had escaped.
However, Ava did not tell Ted exactly what kind of physical evidence her and Sierra had found.
She knows well enough to keep the leverage of the events in the favor of the four people in the Bronco as long as possible.
As a journalist, she knows to keep the knowledge circle as small as possible for as long as possible.
Even if they speak to the FBI, she thinks to herself as she looks down at the gold bar weighing heavy on her lap,
with an inscription stamped on the top that reads, US Treasury Department,
and she thinks, keep the leverage in her favor as long as possible, especially if the feds get involved.
We don't want to show our hand too early.
We've all been through too much to have this just flipped under the carpet by the feds.
Ava then asks Ted, how reliable is your source and a friend at the FBI,
the one that ran the tags for you last night in the middle of the night?
Ted's response back was exactly what she hoped.
Ted vouched for him and then suggested that he be put on the call as well.
Sierra hears this and says from the backseat, thank goodness, we can finally get the FBI involved.
The professor looks over at Ava and gives a quick nod of approval as if to say, yeah, it's time to involve the feds.
For the next 20 minutes, the four in the Bronco share a three-way call between Ted from the Sacramento Bee
and agent Seth Carson from the San Francisco FBI office.
The professor and Ava do most of the talking and share the sequence of events that have occurred over the past few days.
They also inform agent Carson they possess a trove of physical evidence to back their eyewitness stories.
The professor is confident the FBI will now get involved and quickly.
As the call ends and as they enter Coloma, the professor says, did you hear that everyone?
Agent Carson suggested we all go home and stay there until he and his partner arrive.
He couldn't guarantee that they would be able to come tonight.
They have a two and a half hour drive, so they may wait until tomorrow morning.
He's got Ava's number in mind, so when he calls back to confirm when they are coming, we'll let you know.
Sierra interjects, I don't feel comfortable going home right now.
I think Lily and I will go to the cafe and wait in Ethan's office.
Lily follows with, yes, I do not want to go back to my apartment right now.
I'm sure they will find out soon enough that I escaped and want to come looking for me.
The professor responds, OK, it's settled.
Let's go back to the cafe and debrief there with Ethan.
It's a public enough space and we can meet and wait in his office.
I'll call Doc Rivers from Ethan's and see if I can pop over right after his office closes.
I need him to clean and stitch this cut on my side.
His office sits almost directly across the street from Ethan's.
Ava then says, I don't want to change the plan, but I really need to stop and check in on my grandma first.
If you could drop me off there first, I can then meet you all back at Ethan's cafe a bit later.
Several minutes later, the professor pulls into Ava's grandmother's driveway and puts the bunko in park.
Ava looks at the professor first, then back at Sierra and Lily and says, OK, I'll see you real soon.
Here, keep this gold bar with all the other evidence.
I don't need my grandma seeing me walk in the door with that in hand.
She puts the gold bar down on the passenger side floorboards,
exits the bunko and walks through the front door of the old colonial style house.
She looks over her shoulder and then waves at her friends as she watches the professor's
bunko back out of the long driveway and then drive down the road out of sight.
Ava then enters the front door of her grandmother's house and then calls out, Grandma, I'm back.
Are you here? Are you doing OK?
Grandma Turner responds, Hey, sweetie, I'm in the kitchen.
Ava enters the kitchen and finds her grandma sitting at the small kitchen looking up at her with a smile.
Ava immediately notices that her grandma is not alone.
She has company. There's a man sitting across from her grandma and he has his back to Ava.
He sits there still and poised.
The man slowly turns around and looks at Ava as grandma starts to introduce him.
Ava, this is Professor Sharpton from the college.
He said he needed to stop over and talk to you about a project that one of your friends was working on.
And since you weren't here, I told him he could just wait since I knew you'd be back soon.
Remember, you said you'd help me with the garden today.
We need to prepare the flower bundle so I can take them to the farmer's market this weekend.
Grandma Turner says.
Professor Sharpton looks directly into Ava's eyes with a straight face and says,
Hello, Ava. Remember me?
We met the other day at the college and I have some concerns about your friend's project that she's working on.
I'd hate for her to get mixed up in something she doesn't understand.
Maybe we can go talk to her together?
Ava trying to keep her composure and not wanting to involve her grandma in this mess responds,
Sure, I think that's a good idea.
I didn't see your car out front.
Professor Sharpton responds.
It was a nice evening, so I decided to walk.
I don't live far from here.
Plus, your grandmother has been an excellent host.
He holds up a cookie he's been eating and says, these cookies are to die for.
By now, Grandma Turner was having an unsettled feeling in her stomach about the situation.
She observed Ava's body language and facial expressions and knew something was off.
Something wasn't right.
Ava had never attended the local college and hadn't lived in Coloma for some five plus years now.
So how would she know who this man is?
The man who's sitting at her kitchen table right now?
Ava tries to keep a straight face as she feels herself getting angry and scared all at the same time.
Professor Sharpton is sitting at her grandma's kitchen table with a smug expression on his face.
She's also wondering how the professor found her.
At this point, Ava isn't aware the guard, the off-duty sheriff's deputy who had shot at and chased Professor Hawthorne,
the same guy who was guarding Lily, called Sharpton as soon as he discovered Lily had escaped.
In the time it took Hawthorne to drive them all back to town from Altman's sitter's property,
the guard had notified Sharpton and informed him about the situation.
Ava shoots a snappy comment back at Sharpton.
Yeah, these cookies are to die for.
She continues, if you like these, you really should try her homemade brownies.
They'll never be the same again.
She then excuses herself and says, if you could excuse me for a moment,
I need to clean up in the bathroom before I can join my little tea party.
I had a long morning hike which proved to be quite rewarding.
She then adds, Grandma, I noticed a package outside your front door when I came in.
It looks like it might be for your neighbor Frank.
It appears the post office delivered it to the wrong address again.
You really should go get it and take it over to him while I freshen up.
As Ava is saying this, she points to Sharpton with her eyes and then looks up at Grandma Turner.
Ava then retreats down the hall which is directly behind her, opens and closes the bathroom door to make it sound as if she went into the bathroom.
Ava then quickly and quietly exits the back of the house through the back screen door,
making sure not to let the door slam as she closes it gently.
As she runs across the backyard through the neighbor's yard and then onto the next street over,
she's hoping and praying Grandma got her hint and was able to leave out the front door and go to the neighbors.
That ends part 8, Confrontation and Escape.
Thank you for listening.
Tune in next episode as we continue with part 9 titled,
Piecing It Together as we get closer and closer to finding out all the secrets of El Dorado.
As we end this episode, we want to again give a big thanks to Mrs. Jenn for joining us in the studio again to talk about those in-between months for graduating high school seniors.
Lots of great advice and takeaways.
And as always, this podcast would not be possible without the hard work and support of the International Student Production Team.
All music and sound effects are courtesy of Pixabay.com, a vibrant community of creatives sharing copyright free images, videos, and music.
Until then, we are signing off.
We are Students Incorporated, because your voice matters.