Last Summer in Louisbourg by Clare Mowat

were today.
    She liked to fantasize about living in a place where there were no schools. Imagine—never having to pay attention to a teacher or do your homework. But what would she have been doing instead? On a summer day like this, keeping an eye on children playing wasn’t a bad way to pass the time. Yet it wouldn’t all have been like this. She would have had to spend many hours scrubbing, knitting, and sewing—work that was now done by machines. There were some real disadvantages too, like head lice and scratchy clothes, and sleeping on a mattress stuffed with straw, not to mention the absence of certain things, like antibiotics and anesthetics if you became ill.
    There was one other thing that Andrea couldn’t quite picture for herself. Young women were sometimes married at her age. They might even be mothers by the time they were fifteen. A wife. A mother. Could she possibly…? Well, someday. Not yet.
    Her fantasy came to an abrupt end with the pitiful sound of Kenzie bawling his eyes out. He was lying on the ground, clutching his knee and making a terrible fuss. Andrea rushed over, stood him up, and inspected his bleeding knee.
    â€œI f-f-fell down!” he wailed.
    â€œCome on,” she said, putting her arm around him. “It’ll be okay. We’ll go and wash this off and get you a nice Band-Aid.”
    â€œâ€™Kay,” he sobbed and limped after her, tears streaming down his face.
    There was a first-aid kit in the staff room for minor emergencies like this. Andrea dabbed his knee with a wet cloth, then covered the scrape with three Band-Aids. Kenzie finally stopped crying. He liked Band-Aids.
    â€œWant my mommy,” he demanded solemnly.
    â€œShe’s over in her office. Let’s go and show her your new Band-Aids.”
    Jackie gave her little boy a hug and told him how brave he was. She even found a toffee in her desk drawer, which cheered him up. As Andrea and Kenzie were about to leave, Jackie said, “I guess you heard what happened up the road last night?”
    â€œNo, what?”
    â€œThat little shop…in town here…”
    â€œVivian’s?”
    â€œYes, that’s the one. They were robbed.”
    â€œRobbed!” cried Andrea. “When?”
    â€œI haven’t got the whole story. It happened at closing time. There was a fellow on duty…”
    â€œCory!” exclaimed Andrea.
    â€œThat’s the name. He was alone there. He was held up at knife point.”
    â€œOhmigosh! Is he okay?”
    â€œYes, he’s okay. A bit shaken up, but he wasn’t hurt.”
    â€œPoor Cory,” Andrea stammered.
    â€œI didn’t realize you knew him,” said Jackie.
    â€œI don’t. Not really. Justine does.”
    Andrea could hardly wait to tell Justine. She would have run all the way back to the hoop-and-stick game, but Kenzie was still hurting and limping and making the most of his injury.
    Justine was busy supervising a game of ninepins by the time Andrea found her.
    â€œJustine, wait till I tell you!” Andrea called.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œCory was held up at knife point last night at the store!”
    â€œYou’re kidding!” gasped Justine.
    â€œIt’s true. I just heard it from Jackie.”
    â€œOh my God! Is he okay?”
    â€œYes, he is.” Andrea relished being the bearer of dramatic news. “It seems that it happened when he was closing the store,” she added.
    â€œDid anything get stolen?”
    â€œI don’t know. I only heard about it a few minutes ago from Jackie, and she’d just heard it from somebody else,” Andrea explained.
    â€œWe’ve got to go there as soon as we can,” said Justine urgently.
    â€œRight after work.”

Chapter Ten
    The two girls jumped off the bus and ran all the way to Vivian’s store. They were out of breath by the time they charged through the doorway. Vivian was behind the counter, facing a