The Search for TK Read online

  Elaine cut her off. “Miss Rooney, I love your work. I stayed up all night getting acquainted. I’m a huge fan!”

  Kit rolled her eyes. Elaine was every bit the champion that she believed she was — when it came to fawning over famous people in order to get herself noticed. If she ever meets the queen, she’ll probably freak so hard, she’ll turn into a puddle of goo, Kit thought.

  Daisy, however, ate it up. “Why, thank you!” she told Elaine. Then to the still-silent and rather stunned Sally, she said, “Pretend I’m not here.”

  Like that’s possible, Kit thought in amusement.

  “Really,” Daisy stressed. “I just want to sink into the background and observe!”

  Sally finally spoke up, looking a bit annoyed. She was, after all, the teacher. “Thank you. There’s a seat —”

  “I’ll conduct one-on-one interviews over the next couple of days,” Daisy went on, talking right over Sally, “and we’ll see how it all shakes out!”

  Kit watched Daisy pick her way down a row of chairs and then, “Oh!” Daisy squealed. She must have tripped, and she accidentally fell right into handsome Will’s lap. “Soz!” she said, blushing. “I am such a pain, aren’t I?”

  Elaine picked up her report. “So,” she began, “Great-Aunt Dottie’s gowns have been seen in society for decades, up to and including the royal court. Many have walked the red carpet —”

  Another knock at the door and another interruption, this time by a student who handed Sally a message.

  “Should I just hold?” Elaine asked. “Should I start from the top?”

  Sally was reading the message. “Will,” she said, “Lady Covington would like to see you in her office.”

  Will grabbed his backpack, and as he went past her, Kit saw the look of complete mystery on his face. Whatever Lady Covington wanted, it was a surprise to Will.

  When Will entered the headmistress’s office, the last person he expected to see was seated by the desk: his father. Rudy was present as well. Dreading the next ten minutes, Will took the seat next to his father and waited.

  “Mr. Palmerston,” began Lady Covington.

  “Yes, ma’am?” said Will’s father.

  Showing only the slightest trace of amusement, Lady Covington told the older man, “I was speaking to your son.”

  If it had been anybody else’s father, Will would have laughed like crazy at the mistake. He loved when adults messed up their dignified conversations. But as it was, he didn’t even smile. He felt like crawling away. . . .

  “Mr. Palmerston-the-younger,” Lady Covington began again, “you have managed to fall behind in every single subject.”

  “He’s got an A in Equestrian,” Rudy interjected.

  Will thought it was extremely kind of Rudy to say so, but he knew it wouldn’t make any difference. If this meeting was about his grades and his dad was present, Will knew he was doomed.

  “Without academic excellence —”

  “We will do whatever it takes to compensate for Will’s academic weaknesses,” Mr. Palmerston-the-elder cut in.

  “Will’s not a bad kid,” Rudy added. “And he’s our best rider.”

  Lady Covington said sharply, “Mr. Bridges, you are here as William’s adviser. I will ask you if your advice is required.”

  Will was good at holding in anger. Otherwise he would have stood up for his teacher. Rudy was the only adult in a hundred-mile radius who had ever stood up for him. But again, he did nothing — except inwardly shudder as his father spoke once more. Will hated the way his father spoke, always using that snobby tone designed to make his listeners feel inferior, always pushing his own desires like nobody else mattered.

  “There must be a solution,” Mr. Palmerston insisted. “This is the best place for him.”

  Lady Covington nodded but said, “There have also been incidents where Will’s behavior has been less than exemplary.”

  “We have to get this sorted. I can’t have him at home. I just can’t.” Mr. Palmerston glanced at Will. “Not now.”

  Will didn’t want to meet his father’s eyes, but he couldn’t stop himself. It was like leaning far over a cliff, knowing he would fall but doing it anyway. His father didn’t want him, his mother didn’t want him, and now Covington didn’t want him. When that was reality, what was the point of anything?

  His father eyes seemed dead. There was no warmth in his expression, none at all. “You don’t want to live with the baby,” the man said. “And Tanya’s expecting another. We told you that you couldn’t muck everything up again, not here. Do you know how much it cost me the last time you pulled this nonsense?”

  Lady Covington did not speak right away. Will saw her exchange a glance with Rudy, and then she straightened some papers, thinking. “A letter of probation will be issued immediately,” she finally said. “William may stay through the term exams, but we will need to see a substantial improvement, or we will have to expel him.”

  Will sat like a statue, waiting for someone to tell him he could leave. Stay, leave, jump up and down and scream — what did it all matter, anyway?

  Much to her surprise, Kit’s classmates presentations were actually turning out to be fun. Elaine’s dress-designing great-aunt Dottie had led a more interesting life than Kit had first suspected. And after Elaine, Alistair Pring talked about his great-great-grandfather who had been associated with the early Zoological Society of London. In 1826, he had helped establish the London Zoo!

  Kiki Welch then discussed her great-grandfather who had worked as a clerk for archaeologist Howard Carter during his 1923 excavation of the tomb of King Tutankhamen — King Tut! She showed them a jar of sand from Tut’s tomb that had been passed down to her. How cool was that?

  Kit thought Kiki’s story couldn’t be beat until Anya made her presentation. Anya bravely chose to talk about her royal family. Kit saw how hard it was for her, but when nobody made a big deal out of it, Anya relaxed and began to enjoy herself. She started by explaining that a maharaja was a king or prince in India. She then talked about past maharajas in her family, especially one who had “insisted on sleeping in a tree house. He didn’t set foot inside that palace! So I come from a long line of rebels. Brave little rebels.” She clicked the remote to show a closer view of the tree house in question.

  According to bullet points next to the picture, the tree house had had six servants, gold-plated toilets, an aviary, an organic herb garden, and a swimming pond filled with goat’s milk. Wow, I’d live in that! Kit thought. Except I’d avoid the goat milk pool. Eww.

  Anya went on: “Okay, so the tree house was pretty lavish — I’m not going to lie. . . .”

  Then Nav told them about his great-great-grandfather General Andrada. “It is said that my grandfather’s grandfather took down an entire army with nothing but”— he paused dramatically, his eyes flashing — “a pocketknife!” He displayed a map that showed where General Andrada’s ship had been ambushed, where he had fought the army single-handedly, and where the legendary pocketknife had been lost at sea.

  Kit wondered if he was fibbing. I mean, really, just a pocketknife?

  Josh came next. “My great-grandparents were maple syrup farmers,” he announced. “And if anybody’s going to make a joke about that, I’m just going to sic Nav’s grandfather on them.”

  Class was almost over, so Kit volunteered next. She didn’t want to wait until the following day, plus everybody else’s presentations had gotten her all revved up. “So, uh. Wow,” she said as she stood before the class clutching the SMART Board remote. “Those are hard acts to follow.”

  That was when her dad sneaked into class and slipped to the back of the room. He’d come to hear her presentation!

  Kit gave him a wave and continued. “I really wanted to dive into my mom’s side of the family, but it was really weird. The town she said she was from, Westingate? It doesn’t actually exist, and it was a total dead end. But . . .” She clicked the remote, and the SMART Board showed a photo of a young man
in the Old West, only he was wearing a top hat instead of a cowboy hat. Next to the photo were the words:

  BILLY THE KID

  MYTH, LEGEND, FAMILY?

  by Katherine Bridges

  “I found out that my dad comes by his cowboyness quite honestly, because the Bridges are related to Billy the Kid!”

  “Billy the Kit?” Anya asked, confused. “Is that who they named you after?”

  Kit looked out at her classmates. All of them wore expressions of equal confusion. “Billy the Kid,” she repeated, enunciating very clearly.

  Blank stares.

  “Guys, c’mon!”

  Crickets.

  “He was only one of the wildest outlaws of the Wild West!” Kit said, and she clicked the remote, revealing another picture of Billy under the heading Cowboyness. “William H. Bonney was his real name,” she said, “and he raced horses, and stole horses, and then he had his own horse stolen from him. And listen, do I ever feel for old Billy on that one.”

  She paused. That was the worst thing she could have said, because instantly her thoughts turned to TK. When Daisy mouthed What? from her seat at the back of the room, Kit automatically explained. “I mean TK, even though he’s a horse, belongs on my family tree. He is family. He . . . he totally got me. And now . . . he’s gone. . . .” Emotions started to bubble up. Kit blinked back moisture in her eyes. “He was a really special horse, you know? And maybe these feelings are because I come from a long line of horse people.”

  Daisy appeared to be very interested in this TK story, but Kit couldn’t seem to talk anymore when she noticed her father’s face. He wore a sad smile, and Kit knew that he cared more about her loss than he let on. The problem was, it didn’t seem like he could do anything about it.

  Kit turned helplessly to Sally and held out the remote. She hadn’t gotten very far, but her presentation was over.

  Will left Lady Covington’s office feeling like he was nothing. That’s how his father always made him feel — like he didn’t exist. No, wait. That wasn’t quite right. His father definitely made him feel like he existed, but without any value. He made Will feel like a sharp rock in the road, something that caused problems for everyone traveling through life, something that should be kicked aside, out of the way, out of sight.

  Something that his father — probably everybody — would prefer gone.

  “Will!”

  He didn’t want to talk to anyone, but he couldn’t very well ignore his teacher. He slowed down as Sally hurried over. She matched his stride, saying, “I’m so sorry you missed the presentations.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Shall we schedule you for tomorrow? There are still a few —”

  “Mine’s not done,” Will told her flatly.

  “Oh,” Sally said. “It’s not?”

  “Didn’t have time.” He walked faster and was glad when Sally let him go. After he turned the corner, he pulled his finished report out of his backpack.

  He threw it into the trash bin.

  Elaine was thrilled to see Daisy in the dining hall at lunchtime. And the reporter was conducting interviews! Right now, Jilly Jones was her subject, so Elaine decided to make sure she was next.

  She hurriedly fetched a cup of tea — she would appear much more adult with tea instead of a sandwich — then surveyed the scene. Jilly was sitting on one side of Daisy, so Elaine snagged the seat on Daisy’s other side. “Ms. Rooney,” she said, lightly touching the reporter’s arm. “What luck! You’re doing interviews?”

  Daisy threw her a duh look. “Just a mo, yeah?” She resumed talking to Jilly.

  Basking in self-confidence, Elaine straightened her collar and arranged her cup of tea just so, presuming that Daisy would take a photo. Elaine was sure that once the reporter heard about all of her incredible accomplishments, she would become the focus of the article. She was the perfect Covington student, after all, the ultimate example of what Lady Covington liked to call “the Covington ideal.” That’s what the article was supposed to do, right? Lure ideal candidates to the school?

  When Jilly stood up to leave, Elaine leaned toward Daisy. “I’m ready, Ms. Rooney.”

  Daisy turned to face Elaine. “And you are?”

  It surprised Elaine that the reporter wouldn’t know who she was. Oh, well, she would remedy that. “I’m Elaine Whiltshire, Fourth Form, and best rider at Covington.” She then proceeded to rattle off details of her academic grades and equestrian achievements, never noticing that Daisy wasn’t taking notes. Or taking photos. Or taking much of an interest, really. “And I live to help other students,” Elaine enthused once she’d finished her litany of personal stats. “I mean, this term has been challenging in terms of workload, but I manage. And I’m assigned to train Kit, who insisted on riding this crazy horse —”

  “Okay!” Daisy said, glancing up from her mobile. “Thanks a bunch! I’m going to grab something to eat.”

  “But we haven’t talked about my goals and ambitions yet,” Elaine pointed out.

  Daisy closed her notebook. “Oh, we have loads of time,” she said as she left.

  Elaine grinned. Of course there was more time. She went to the buffet table, chose a sandwich, ate it quickly, and then headed to her room. She had a plan. . . .

  Kit was just stuffing two juicy strawberries and a hunk of melon into her mouth when she heard Daisy’s distinct voice. “Mind if I join you?”

  Kit nodded, struggling to chew.

  “I have to say,” Daisy began, sitting down, “you totally remind me of myself. When I was thirteen, my parents moved to Paris and chucked me into boarding school. Imagine how I stuck out!”

  Kit chewed and swallowed down the last of the fruit. “Oh, I feel you. There’s royalty here. Diplomats’ kids, heirs to massive fortunes, and then — there’s me.”

  “Elaine seems like a good friend.”

  “She’s the best rider in the school. That’s why she’s my tutor, if by tutor you mean drill sergeant. Totally type A.”

  Daisy flashed a wicked grin. “Bit of a monster, then?”

  Kit grinned back. “A bit!”

  They shared a laugh, and Kit found herself liking Daisy more and more. She was so easy to talk to!

  “She doesn’t seem like a big fan of TK,” Daisy said next.

  Kit slumped. “TK was the best horse. He and I turned dangerous and unpredictable into quirky and particular!”

  Will walked by, and Kit gave him a smile. He did not smile back. His face seemed frozen in a frown. I wonder what happened in Lady C’s office, Kit thought. Can’t have been good. . . .

  “Dish!” Daisy whispered at her, one eyebrow raised in interest as she watched Will’s retreating back.

  “Oh, it’s nothing.”

  “You know who I looked at like that? Danny McCabe.” Daisy shook her shoulders with a “Woo! Total rugby fanatic. He had this crazy mop of blond curls that flopped into his eyes. Dreamy!”

  Kit had nothing to say to that as she tore her eyes away from Will. They landed on Nav, sitting nearby, and he gave her a cheery wave.

  “Or is it that one?” Daisy said, openly fishing for romance gossip. “Spill, Kit!”

  “Oh, come on,” Kit said. “I was just . . . looking at the pastries.”

  Daisy cocked her head. She didn’t look like she believed Kit any more than Kit did herself. They both laughed.

  “Oh,” came an all-too-familiar voice. “Is this seat empty?”

  Kit almost lost her lunch. There stood Elaine, blinking innocently at Daisy while one hand lay lightly on the back of an empty chair and the other hand — well, the whole arm was holding a bunch of big ruffled show rosettes with colorful ribbons trailing down.

  It must have taken her a while to arrange all those so they didn’t overlap, Kit thought, laughing hysterically inside. On the outside, though, she said with calm interest, “Nice ribbons, Elaine.”

  “Oh, these?” Elaine pretended to suddenly notice them. “These are just some awards I won last year
.”

  Seeing Daisy’s look of disgust, Kit pressed Elaine further. “And why are you carrying them around . . . ?”

  Elaine just giggled.

  She’s stalling for time to try to think of something clever to say, and she can’t do it! Kit thought, highly entertained. She could make a TV series, the I Want Attention Show! Elaine would be a hit!

  Elaine fiddled with one of the ribbons. She appeared to still be thinking, but she seemed to come up empty. She flashed a forced model’s smile at Daisy and made an awkward exit.

  Kit and Daisy enjoyed a good laugh.

  Later in Juniper Cottage, Nav was trying to close an important deal with Leo Ducasse.

  “I will tell you where the horse is, but only if I get Josh back as my roommate,” Leo said as he walked with Nav down the hallway. Leo took a bite out of a lumpy chocolate bar and chewed it in what seemed an anxious manner.

  Nav couldn’t stand the smell of cheap milk chocolate. Dark chocolate, very dark chocolate, was the only decent form, in his opinion. But chocolate preferences aside, he wanted to know only one thing from Leo. “Are you sure this information is correct?”

  “To the best of my knowledge,” Leo replied, chewing. “I told you, it pays to have famous friends. People talk.”

  Nav still couldn’t understand Leo’s point of view. “Do you really like rooming with Josh that much?” he asked. “I personally find him rather annoying.”

  “No, I love him!” Leo enthused in his strong French accent. “Did you know he can bake?” Leo’s smile disappeared. “But it’s mainly that I can’t stand another second of Will’s titanic mess. You have got to save me! Thanks to William, I am living on Mount Trash!” Leo held up a slip of paper.

  Josh eyed it. “Hand it over.”

  “Only if we have a deal.”

  With a nod, Nav plucked the paper from Leo’s fingers. “We have a deal.”

  That night after dinner, Kit was on her way to her room when Daisy appeared. “Finally!” the reporter said, heaving a sigh. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”