UMMM

I would like to thank my dear friends,
Angel O’Hare, Karen Page, Joni W. and Holly Logan
for their kindness, help, support, and input.

Education in the Hills
Chapter 14

By Penny Reed Cardon

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For some unknown reason, Monday morning found me wide-awake much earlier than usual. I carefully slipped out of bed, I quietly showered and dressed and was hard at work by the time Mary Beth woke up. “Morning Munchkin,” she called out sleepily, still hiding under the covers. “You’re up bright and early, what kind of trouble are you getting into this time?”

Being that I couldn’t tell her about Joshua, which is where I was looking for information, I fudged a little, “Just looking through one of the system servers.”

“Matilda, I was kidding before. Now I'm not so sure you aren't trying to get into trouble.”

“You know me; I never try to get into trouble. But I may have come up with an idea to stop Bart.”

'Oops, that was a mistake; she's going to ask questions.'

“Really, that's great. Who do you think will be able to do something to stop him?"

'I knew that was coming. I'm going to have to tell her something, sometime soon. I just need to figure out what and when.'

"I don't know if this idea is going to work or not, it's just a crazy idea I had. So, I'm trying to find enough information to see if it has a chance of working."

'Not exactly a lie, but not entirely truthful, either. This is getting harder all the time, keeping straight who I can talk to about what.'

"All right, just remember to talk with me before you DO anything. I'm going to take a shower. You didn't use all the hot water, did you?" she asked, with a teasing giggle.

"What?" I mumbled, distracted by her question. Turning I saw her green, satin covered, bottom wiggling as she got off the bed. "Umm, no, of course not. Go take your shower, you silly goose," I chuckled. I shook my head to clear my mind, so I could return to my work.

Before Mary Beth returned, to have her abdomen wrapped, I had the basics of a plan. I needed to talk with RJ about my information and idea, as he was the only one on the team that I knew. I wondered which of the teams he’d been referring to, last Saturday, that I'd be an asset to. I guess it didn't matter. Either way, I had to wait until my computer class before I could talk with him. If I had tried to skip breakfast, or French class, Mary Beth would become suspicious and demand answers.

After we were all seated for breakfast, Mr. Peterson stood up for his usual morning announcements. Only while this announcement wasn't so usual, at least it seemed odd to me.

"Good morning everyone. It's nice to see almost everyone was on time this morning. I admit, fresh snow presents a temptation to stop and play, with most of our students. Now then, on to the business at hand. Once again, we've come to that point in time, where final arrangements for our upcoming field trip have to be completed. I know that many of you have been experimenting with different looks, learning to become passable as either gender, while trying to determine how you feel the most comfortable. I commend you for your efforts. However, being that we will be going to another country, and with the tightening of border security, it is time to restrict your experimentation. Everyone is to remain in the gender, you chose to portray this morning, until after we return from Toronto. Thank you for your attention. Enjoy your meal and have a nice day."

'That was an odd announcement. Why would they care about how we are dressed between now and when we leave? This must be part of this school’s mystery that I haven't figured out yet. I don't think asking questions would be the right thing to do, just yet. I might be able to learn more about this from Joshua. But then, I wouldn't be able to talk with Mary Beth about it. I wonder if the Moms#07 server is still on line, I could copy the information there, read it in detail, before erasing it. That way I could honestly say it was there.'

The rest of the morning seemed to drag on forever. Eventually, our French class was over; I really had to restrain myself to keep from running while pushing Mary Beth to her voice lesson with Mrs. T. Once I dropped her off, I almost sprinted to see RJ.

"Good morning, Matilda," RJ greeted me, as I entered the room a little out of breath.

"Morning," I paused, catching my breath, “RJ.” Looking around, I verified that we were alone before I closed and locked the door.

"You seem to have been running, is something wrong? And, why did you lock the door?"

"No, nothing wrong, but I do need to talk with you privately," I replied, as I rounded the end of the tables, approaching his desk.

"What's on your mind?"

"I've solved the puzzle; at least, I think I've solved most of it."

"And just which puzzle would that be?"

"Black Bart ... the Roberts family, and why all their relatives are listed as deceased. Actually, I guess they'd have to be listed as deceased, because they never really existed in the first place; that is, they were ghosts, phantoms, figments of someone's imagination."

"Matilda, I'm not exactly following you. What do you mean, ‘never existed’. Everyone has a past, relatives -"

"Not,” I interrupted, “if you were given a new identity."

"Do you mean that -"

"Yes,” I interrupted again. “At least that's what I think is going on. It would explain why the District Attorney's Office can't do anything. Why they can get away with hurting everyone around them. They feel like they're above the law, at least outside the reach of local law enforcement. I'm not positive, but I think they're being protected by the federal witness protection program."

"Are you certain of your information?"

"Not one-hundred percent, but I'm pretty sure. I’ll show you what I have, if I may?” I replied, pointing towards his computer

RJ logged out and moved aside, allowing me to access his computer. Logging in, I accessed the directory I'd setup on Joshua. I heard RJ gasp, when he realized which server I was using. Ignoring his reaction, which I’d expected, I brought up some of the data I collected from five of the eight banks.

"Matilda, I thought you were asked to stay away from Joshua?"

"No!” I replied, bluntly. “No one ever made such a request. Mr. Peterson told that I couldn't tell anyone about Joshua. He also said only three people here that knew about Joshua and that I made it four. He never told me I couldn't review the data residing there. When I asked if I could set up a directory on one of the servers, to store my information, you said nothing about not putting it on Joshua. Now, if you don’t mind, would please tell me what you think of these files?" I displayed one file after another

"So they have a lot of money. Remember, I asked you not to use your skills for personal reasons."

"I have no interest in their money, just the account information. Knowing how the Roberts treat people, that’s blood money. I'm sure that someone was in some sort of pain for every penny the Roberts squeezed. Anyway, that's not important right now; according to this information, how long would you say these accounts have been active?" I displayed the accounts again.

"Three of them are fourteen years, one is sixteen years and the fifth has been open for twenty years. I don't see the relevance -"

"Check the creation dates on the files!" I interrupted, stepping aside so RJ would have access to the keyboard and mouse.

"They were all created on June twelfth, of two-thousand, four years and five months ago," he confirmed, after checking all of the files.

"To your knowledge, did anything important happen on that date? Any reason that five different banks would have had to re-create records on that day?" I asked.

"Nothing that I'm aware of," he replied, backing away from the desk.

"Ahh, but it was a memorable day for someone, and a very busy day for some computer programmer. I’m sure it took a lot of work to create all these records" I said, as I opened another sub-directory.

"After you cleared me to look at government systems, I took another look at the bureau of records. According to his birth certificate, Bart was born on August fourth, nineteen-ninety-four, making him ten years old. His dad was born in September of sixty-nine, and his mom in May of seventy-two. According to their marriage license, they were married in September of ninety-two." As I was talking I displayed copies of each of their birth certificates and marriage license. I stepped aside, again, giving RJ access.

RJ checked the creation dates, "All of those records were created on June twelfth, of two-thousand. I suppose all of the deceased relatives records were created on the same day?"

I nodded, adding "Along with school records, driver’s licenses, Social Security numbers, and IRS records. Everything the Roberts needed to start a new life was created on that day."

"You hacked into the Social Security Administration and the IRS?" It's a good thing RJ was sitting down, otherwise I think he'd have fallen down.

"Naturally, how else would I get that information? I only went into the local offices though, I didn't see any reason to dig into the systems at their national headquarters."

RJ looked a little stunned, as if he'd been expecting a different answer. After several moments to collect his thoughts and another moment shaking his head, he asked, "I’m almost afraid to ask the next question. Why are you showing all of this to me?"

'That's strange, I thought RJ would have understood why. I know he’s part of the team and they were indirectly involved with raid on the estate that Ellen told me about. On second thought, perhaps I'm jumping the gun, maybe this isn't time to reveal everything I know, and maybe RJ isn't the right person to talk with after all. I don't think now is a good time to tell him about my plans to visit the systems at the US Marshals office. Still ... I have to answer his question ...'

"Well ... I was just wondering if I was looking at the right information, wondering if you would agree that all these files were created on the same day. Indicating that a new identity is at least a possibility."

'Oh good heavens, that was lame. RJ's going to see through that in about half a second. Maybe, MayBee's right, I need to remember to talk with her before I run off like this. Course, I wouldn't call this Doing anything, I’m just talking. At least if I was talking to her, I wouldn't be stepping all over my own tongue.'

RJ looked at me for several long moments, before answering, "Yes, I would say that you've correctly evaluated the information. The file creation dates wouldn't be apparent to anyone accessing the file. In order to notice the discrepancy someone would have to look at the file structure, as you have done. Is there ... anything else you wanted to discuss?"

"Umm ... No, not right now."

RJ looked at me oddly for several seconds, as if he knew what I was hiding. I was becoming more nervous with each tick of the clock. Finally he broke the silence, "Very well, I suggest we revisit you're question from last Saturday about the PA system."

The good news was that the PA system is programmable, at least to a point. The only question along that line was, how to determine which buildings to schedule music into and when. Somehow, I also managed to get through the rest of class, without RJ asking any questions that I didn’t want to answer, and wasn’t sure the best way to answer. That is until I was getting ready to walk out the door.

"Matilda, I'd like to point out that all the information you've collected only adds up to speculation, unless ..."

"Unless?"

"Unless, you have something you haven't shown me."

"Like what?" I nervously inquired.

"Matilda, as I see it, you need three things; first, you need proof, some sort of documentation that will back up and corroborate your suspicion. Second, you need a plan of action. That is, what do you propose to do once you have all the information collected, with the documentation to prove that your speculation is indeed factual. Have you thought that far ahead? And third, you need to determine who you're willing to trust. From the way you were sputtering you haven't decided if you can trust me or not. I hope that someday I will earn your trust. ... Good day, Matilda," RJ concluded with a smile. Then he returned to whatever he was doing before I arrived, completely ignoring the fact that I was still in the room.

I was in shock, speechless, and for a moment, I considered showing RJ the rest of the information. Considering my options, I decided to wait. His smile told me that he wasn’t upset or angry, it was almost as if he was telling me what I needed to do. He was correct in that I didn't have a plan. For that, I would need to talk with Mary Beth.

After lunch, Mary Beth and I joined the rest of the year in the lounge.

"What are you two doing here?" Wally asked sarcastically.

"What do you mean?" Mary Beth returned the question.

"Outside of meals and choir practice, we ain't seen you in pret-near three days," George added.

"It's almost like you joined the mystery group, or something," Howard proclaimed.

'Howard, you don't know how close to the truth you are.'

"Are you all right Matilda," Jenny asked. "You are looking a little pale."

"What? ... Oh, umm, yeah, I'm okay. I've just got a lot on my mind right now," I weakly replied.

"We’ve just been spending more time in our rooms," Mary Beth informed everyone.

"Are you saying you don't like our company?" Morgan asked, teasingly.

"Nothing like that," I countered. "I've been doing a lot of research, the last few days, and MayBee has been keeping me company."

'Oh no, me and my big mouth. That's going to get some questions coming my way. Questions I don't want to answer.'

"Research? What kind of research?" queried Barb.

"Yeah, the only time we've had to do any research, is for a class assignment," Tina mentioned.

"And the only classes we have right now are French and choir," SueAnn remarked.

"Not quite. The Munchkin has a special computer class," Aaron reminded them.

"RJ has assigned you so much work, that it's taken all your free time, for three days?" Misa asked.

"No, it's nothing anything RJ assigned me. It's just something I ... Umm ... was interested in."

'I wonder how long I can talk without saying anything. Some people can talk for hours without saying anything meaningful; politicians have turned that ability into a profession.'

"Something you're interested in? It must be really interesting to keep you at it for three days. Care to share with the rest of us?" Hope inquired.

"Yes, maybe we'd find it interesting too," Abbey continued.

I looked at Mary Beth to see if she would offer any help. She smiled and gave an encouraging little nod.

'No help there, but by her nod I'll assume she thinks its okay for me to tell them what I've found. I’ll have to be careful; I don't want to mention something I haven't told Mary Beth. So much for playing politician.'

Sighing I began, "You all remember the horrible things that Black Bart did to Rachael, MayBee, and me." Everyone nodded, as they paired up as study partners. I supposed they thought this was going to be another tear-jerker story.

"Well, I've been digging into Bart's past and his family secrets. I’m trying to figure out why he and his family are able to get away with hurting so many people. What I've found is pretty surprising. If everything I've discovered is correct, five years ago, the Roberts family didn't exist."

"What do you mean they didn't exist?" Misa asked.

"Yeah, a whole family don't appear overnight," George added.

"Overnight? No, not overnight, but in the course of twenty-four hours you can create a family. Along with all the background documentation for them and some fictional relatives," Mary Beth announced, based on what I'd told her. I sighed and looked down.

'Oops, that’s just a little too much information, my friend.'

"You're telling us that someone created a background for someone that doesn't exist and the Roberts took their place? That would take a lot of programming in a lot of computer systems, wouldn't it?" Aaron asked.

"Actually, I think it was done FOR the Roberts, so they could hide from someone. You're right Aaron, it was a lot of programming," I confirmed. "I've uncovered public records, birth certificates, marriage, hospital, and school records, not only for Bart, but for both of his parents."

Mary Beth jumped in, almost as if she were showing some sort of pride, "There were also some banks, plus the Salt Lake County District Attorney's office. Not to mention the Salt Lake police department, the Sheriff's department, and the US Marshal's. ..." I gave her hand a squeeze so she wouldn't tell them everything.

'So much for trying to keep things low key. We'll have to talk more about what to tell the others and what not.'

"You ... you've hacked into all those systems?" Aaron's astonishment was very evident.

I nodded shyly, "But, please don't tell anyone. I could get into a lot of trouble if the wrong people found out, what I've been doing.”

"You ... You're kidding; Matilda's hacked into the US Marshal's system?" George seemed almost in a panic.

"No George; I haven't hacked into the US Marshal's computers. But in order to confirm my theory, I guess I'll have to try to get into their systems."

"But ... Nooo ... I mean, you can't! Not the US Marshal's." George was starting to panic.

Sue took a hold of both of George's hands, squeezing to get his attention. Speaking directly to him, she quietly tried to reassure him, "George, George, it's all right George, relax. Nobody here is going to care about what happened. They forced you, remember. Come on now ... relax."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause any problems," I apologized. "Is there something I should know, or know to stay away from?"

"Do you want to tell them?" Sue asked George. He responded by fervently shaking his head. His eyes were open as wide as silver dollars.

"I suppose you don't want me to tell them, do you?" Sue asked. Her second question received the same reply as her first.

"Relax, George. Relax, its okay. We don't have to tell anyone anything. Do you want to go talk with Patricia? You know how helpful she's been." George started shaking his head, then paused, then slowly started to nod.

Sue helped George slowly get to his feet, as they started for the door.

"Do you need any help?" Barb asked.

"No, we'll be fine, but thanks for the offer."

"I will send a note to Patricia, so she will know you are on your way," Jenny offered.

"Thanks, Jenny," Sue said softly, as she grabbed their coats and headed out the door.

Jenny started typing a note on her PDA to send to Patricia, George's psychiatrist. I checked to see which phones I could access with my PDA. Finding that all the psychiatrists were linked, I dialed the number and handed my PDA to Jenny. "This model has a phone built in," I explained, as Patricia's phone was ringing.

Jenny's conversation with Patricia was short, even though Patricia had asked several questions. "Thank you Matilda, that was so much nicer than sending a text message. When will all of our PDA's be upgraded?"

"RJ hasn't told me anything about upgrading all of the PDA's. I only know that we're testing these for the next two months." Jenny's hand touched mine as she returned my PDA. Suddenly her eyes went wide as if she were startled or hit by static electricity.

"Maybe I should do a little extra looking around when I get into the US Marshal's network," I thought aloud.

"Oh no you don't," Mary Beth cautioned abruptly. "I know you have an unending need to solve mysteries, but that mystery is for George, SueAnn, and Patricia; NOT YOU! Okay?"

"Yeah, okay," I mumbled.

Mary Beth gently turned my head so we were looking into each other’s eyes. "Promise?"

How could I not give her anything she wants, "Yes, I promise; only information about Bart and the Roberts family."

"Thank you. Now can you behave yourself for ten minutes, while I go to the bathroom?" she asked, with a giggle.

"Yeeesss, I can behave for ten minutes," I replied, very sarcastically. "I don't know about fifteen, though, so you'd better hurry," I added, with a teasing giggle.

Since the big show appeared to be over, everyone drifted back to where they were before, and their own activities.

We were both giggling, as Mary Beth got up and walked towards the bathroom. Absent mindedly, I turned my head and watched her until she was about to disappear. In fact, I was so engrossed in watching Mary Beth that I didn’t realize Jenny had sat down next to me, that is until she took my hand.

Startled by the touch; I tried to pull my hand away, as I turned to see who had touched me. When I saw it was Jenny, I tried even harder. There were things running around in my head that I didn't want her to know and I hadn't learned to control my feelings yet. Jenny wasn't about to let go, soon the calming effect I'd felt before overwhelmed me and I stopped resisting.

'This is ridiculous, I have to pay attention and stop letting Mary Beth distract me. You can practically read my mind, Jenny, go ahead and say it, Resistance is futile.'

"Matilda, are you suggesting that I am one of the Borg?"

"No Jenny, not Borg. Actually, I'm starting to think you're part Betazoid and part Vulcan. Now, may I have my hand back before you uncover all my secrets?"

Jenny smiled as she let go. "There is only one secret that I wish to ask you about ..."

'Please don't ask about the mystery group, the field trips, the school … oh my there are so many secrets in my head ... at least you don't know to ask about seeing our families.'

"... Have you told Mary Beth that you love her?" she whispered

I think I swallowed my tongue as I was sputtering, "What ... What makes you think I'm, I'm in ..." I whispered

"Matilda, I don’t need to touch you to feel that one, I can sense love from across the room. Love is, after all, one of the strongest emotions. Our hands briefly touched, when I returned your PDA and I felt that something. Something is troubling you, causing you much stress and anxiety, you are hiding secrets. Holding your hand just now confirmed what I felt; you are hiding your love from Mary Beth."

'It's a good thing you're not holding my hand now, I don't want to try to explain how many secrets I'm hiding from her.'

"Umm, well, I, ah, I'm probably wrong. You know, mixed up and confused about my feelings, probably not really love at all. After all, I'm only ten, what do I know about love, anyway?"

"Matilda, I cannot tell you what you are thinking or of what you are trying to convince yourself. I can only tell you what your emotions tell me. From what I feel, you are in love with Mary Beth. You are also keeping that, a secret from her, and that is part of your confusion. You need to talk with her, tell her how you feel. Remember, there are to be no secrets between study partners."

"Yeah, no secrets - easy to say, hard to live," I mumbled, as I hung my head.

"What's going on here?" Mary Beth asked, as she came up behind us.

"Just a friendly chat," I replied, lifting my head and forcing a smile.

"And an offer of advice," Jenny added, rising to give Mary Beth the seat next to me.

"Oookaaay," Mary Beth said, looking from me to Jenny and back. "I guess this means we'll talk later?" she suggested.

"Sure," I replied.

"I do hope so," Jenny added, as she returned to the couch where Aaron and Abbey were discussing computers.

"What was that all about?" Mary Beth quietly asked, as she sat down.

"Jenny said she felt something that she couldn't explain. I couldn't tell her about what we know, about families. So I let her think I’m keeping secrets from you to cover the fact that we are keeping secrets from everyone else," I whispered my reply.

‘Well, that wasn’t exactly the truth, but it wasn’t exactly a lie either. It wasn’t what Jenny and I were talking about, on the other hand, what I told Mary Beth wasn’t a lie. Is that what they call stretching the truth?’

"And are you?" she whispered back.

"Am I what?"

"Are you keeping secrets from me?" She asked pointedly.

'That's it, the one question you're not supposed to ask. Now what do I do? I can't say no. That would be flat out lying. I can't say yes, even though that would be the right thing to say. I can't tell her everything I know. She may not care about me keeping Joshua a secret. It’s how she’ll react when I tell her that I love her, that scares me the most.'

I'd decided to admit to keeping things to myself when my PDA vibrated. "Hold that thought," I jokingly replied.

Checking the display, on the screen were seven little words, which caused my spirits to sink a little lower. Not because of what was on the screen, but because it was another reminder of the secrets I've been forced to keep.

Displayed was;

Would you like to play a game?

I cleared the display and timidly looked up. Mary Beth was still waiting for an answer.

"Perhaps one or two," I whispered.

'Actually it's more like one or two dozen.'

"Humm ... I thought we were friends?"

"We are friends."

'I think of us as more than friends, but I'm too scared to tell you how I feel.'

"But friends don't keep secrets from each other, do they?"

“Sometimes they have to,” I replied, so softly I don’t think she heard me. I couldn't keep it together any longer and started crying.

Mary Beth's attitude softened and she put her arms around me. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry. It must be something really important for you to keep it from me. We'll talk about it later, okay?"

I nodded, and sniffled. Being held by Mary Beth was more comforting than having Jenny holding my hand. My tears quickly ceased and I took my turn going to the bathroom.

'Now what am I going to do? Mary Beth is expecting to talk later. I can't tell her about Joshua and if I tell her that I love her she's going to think I'm ... I'm stupid. What am I going to do? ... How do I get into these messes? How am I going to tell Mr. Peterson that I've told Mary Beth? I’m going to have to tell her everything; I can't keep going on like this it's driving me crazy. It's bad enough that I have to keep all of this from the rest of the year, but not having anyone I can talk to or confide in is tearing me up. If I keep this up I'm going to slip up and leak something to someone. ... I can't carry this around much longer. ... I can't tell anyone what I know. ... I can't keep all these secrets to myself. ... Mr. Peterson says I can't tell anyone. ... Ellen says I can't keep secrets from Mary Beth. ... I can't lie to Mary Beth. ... But I can't be honest with Mary Beth ... I can't tell anyone ... I can't keep secrets ... I can't lie ... I can't be honest ... I can't tell ... I can't keep ... I can't lie ... I can't be honest ... I can't ... I can't ... I can't ... I can't ... I can't ... I can't ... I can't ... I can't ...' . . . I can't ... I can't ... I can't ... I can't . . .

Comments will be gratefully accepted, either left below or sent to me at [email protected]

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* * * To Be Continued * * *