It was getting on toward late afternoon. The girls had just made a stop at a local farmer's market and picked up enough food to make a picnic lunch.
The day had turned sticky and hot, so they took a break in the shade of a leafy tree.
"It's about time for lunch isn't it?" Charlotte asked.
Colette agreed that it was.
"It's a pity we didn't think to bring a tea service with us," she remarked. "Then we could have had a lovely afternoon tea. As it is, we'll have to make do with this cherry pie."
Charlotte unpacked the basket. There wasn't much. Besides the cherry pie, which was had been an impulse buy and would provide no lasting nutritional value, they only had a loaf of bread with sesame seeds on top.
She began to worry. The plan to run away from the boarding school could have been better executed, she thought. In fact, it would have been nice to have actually had a plan.
"How much money do you have left?" she asked Colette. "I didn't bring any except for what was in my pockets. And most of that we spent at the Farmer's Market."
"Oh, I don't carry money," Colette replied.
"Well, that's not good news," Charlotte said, but this didn't have any effect on Colette. Moneyless, she seemed perfectly happy to be sitting in the shade with the prospect of eating half a cherry pie still ahead.
"We can always get in touch with out parents when we're ready," she said. "Shall I cut the pie or will you?"
"On that subject, Colette, there's something I should tell you," Charlotte started.
"Don't worry; I've never been very good at cutting pies either," she smiled. "But we don't have a knife today, so we'll just have to use our fingers."
"I don't have any parents," Charlotte said.
"No parents!" Colette exclaimed. "Why not?"
"I don't know," Charlotte said. "But I do have a sister. She lives in the city. Her name is Gavin, and we need to find her."
Colette shrugged. "It's up to you," she said, and then added. "I didn't know, about your parents. I'm sorry."
Charlotte didn't have much to say. Everyone was sorry, including her. But what needed to be done now, was to finish lunch, and find Gavin.
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