Cheshire Girl

Ch. 16

I woke up a lot more confident in the morning.  I had Charlie on my side.  As I got ready for school, though, something still kept me tied to the ground.

                Why did I want to solve this?

                Let's ignore the fact that a ghost told me to, just for a second. 

                I didn't have to read that diary.  I could've just left in the vent.  I had school to deal with and stuff, so why'd I add this to my agenda?

                I would've been more motivated about it if the murdered girl had been someone I was related to.  I still cared, of course, now that I got Charlie involved.  And if it (unfortunately) turned out to be Charlotte or someone related to Charlie, I still wanted to solve it.

                Now… I was thinking that, maybe I didn't want to solve it to find out who the victim was… but who the murderer was. 

                Yeah, yeah… Ethan's great-grandfather was accused.  Did that mean it was Ian Walker, or his dad?  And, even then, I still didn't really believe he did it.

                It's not a secret that Cheshire was very… secretive.  Why else would it remain secluded and outdated?  Cheshire didn't want anyone new poking around its history.  I was certain its denizens weren't keen on the idea either.  There wasn't a doubt in my mind that someone from Cheshire was related to the murderer and the victim, and that might've included me.

*

I picked Charlie up for school since I found her halfway there.

                "You don't have to give me rides," she said, appreciating the heater.

                "Now I will give you rides."

                She smiled.  "Thanks.  I'm halfway through the diary, though, so I won't be giving it back today."

                "Okay."

                "I've also gotta say that… it's pretty boring."

                "Tell me about it.  Did you bring it with you?"

                "Yeah, in my backpack.  I'm not sure if I want Celia finding it."

                I pulled Todd into the school parking lot, noticing Cynthia getting out of… well, some kind of old car, the kind with those fins on the back.  Not parking in the spot next to her.

                "So," said Charlie, "where do you want to start?"

                "I was thinking of looking through the old yearbooks in the library.  They have 'em there, right?"

                "I'm pretty sure.  Then what?"

                I turned Todd off.  "Well, getting official documents, like old plans and stuff, is going to require us going to the town hall.  I don't want to draw unnecessary attention."

                Charlie nodded.  "I get it, but… we're gonna have to stop caring some time."

                "You're right.  So you want to meet at the library at lunch?"

                "Sounds like a plan."

*

I paid more attention during roll calls.