Samantha Sanderson at the Movies

by Robin Caroll

  She quickly told him everything. “So it was her?”

  He nodded. “She was already on our radar because of losing the lawsuit, but you helped cinch the case for us.”

  She what? “How’d I do that?”

  “It was her red car you saw at the theater and at Frank’s house. She’d been trailing him, trying to get up the courage to hit him like his daughter had hit her husband.”

  “Oh, that’s awful.” And it was, but Sam couldn’t help being excited that she’d not only been right but had also helped the police with their case.

  “We picked her up this morning. Luckily, she didn’t see your blog post and flee before we could bring her in.”

  Heat burned Sam’s face.

  “Once she was in custody, she confessed to everything.” Dad rubbed at a water spot on the granite counter. “As a matter of fact, it seemed like she wanted to be able to tell someone. I think she needed to get it off her chest.”

  But a couple of things still bugged Sam. “Dad, how did she know how to build a bomb? And plant it?”

  “Guess where she met her husband.”

  Sam shrugged.

  Dad grinned. “They were in the military together. Both trained in explosives.”

  Wow. That was crazy. Then again, that’s one of the reasons she’d considered Bobby Milner a suspect. Right concept, wrong person. “What about why she set it to go off when she did?”

  “Well, according to her, after her husband was killed in the accident, her church family basically chastised her for filing a civil suit against Frank Hughes and his insurance company. She says they told her she should have let it go. She couldn’t and said they’d turned on her.”

  Mom reached across the counter and patted her hand. “Some people let their grief twist them up so much that they lose sight of their faith.”

  Made sense, but how . . . incredibly sad.

  “Don’t worry about her anymore, Sam. You have to trust that the justice system and God will take care of her,” Mom said.

  Despite the reassurances, Sam would worry, but she’d do the only thing she could — the best thing she could: she’d pray for Ella Needles, Frank Hughes, and even Jessica Townsend. Oh, and Grace Brannon. And Lana and her parents. And Nikki Cole and her parents.

  Maybe she’d better write down her list.

  CHAPTER 22

  AND THEN THERE IS TOMORROW

  I’m really sorry for being so rude to you, Mac.” Sam hugged her friend the next morning in the cafeteria before school.

  “Aw, you know I love you like a sister.” Makayla’s smile always brightened Sam’s day.

  Sam saw Grace Brannon walking to a table on the other side of the cafeteria. “I’ll be right back,” she told Makayla before racing over to Grace.

  “Hey, Sam,” Grace said.

  “Hey. I wanted to invite you to come with me to our youth rally next weekend at the Arkansas 4-H Center. It’s with my youth group at church. We go canoeing and swimming and play badminton. At night, we sit around the campfire and roast marshmallows and share what’s in our hearts with each other. It’s kinda like our official end-of-summer event.”

  Grace crossed her arms over her chest. “Trying to save me now that you know I don’t believe in God?”

  “No. Yes. Um, exactly.” Sam shook her head, laughing. “Of course I want to save you, but that isn’t for me to do. I just thought you might enjoy coming with me. Makayla will be there, and Lissi and Ava Kate, and probably more people that you know from school.” She shrugged. “You won’t hurt my feelings if you say no, but I wanted to invite you so you know you’re very welcome.”

  Grace smiled. “Well, thanks. Next weekend?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I wish I could because it sounds like fun, but we’re going out of town. Camping up on Petit Jean Mountain.”

  “Oh, that’ll be fun. We went there over the summer.” Sam saw Lana entering the cafeteria. “Anyway, I just wanted to invite you. I’ll see you in class.”

  “Yeah. Thanks.”

  Sam turned toward her table.

  “Hey, Sam?”

  She spun back around. “Yeah?”

  “Keep inviting me, okay?”

  Grinning big, Sam nodded. “Sure.” She ran back to Makayla, her heart racing as if she’d run a marathon rather than just sprinting across the school cafeteria.

  She’d planted some asparagus.

  Lana ran up to them. “I can’t believe she actually did it.”

  “What?” Sam asked. She braced herself for the news of who Aubrey had assigned the story to. At least there wouldn’t be more than one or two follow-up features.

  “You haven’t seen today’s blog post?” Lana’s eyes were big and round.

  Sam hadn’t wanted to pour salt in her wounds, so to speak. The sting of being demoted back to writing tips from teachers that nobody would ever read still burned. “Um, no. I didn’t get a chance.”

  And she’d also been a bit worried about needing to apologize to Makayla. Saying she was sorry was hard, even if it was the right thing to do.

  “You have got to read it,” Lana said, tugging her toward the door. Makayla followed, snatching up their backpacks.

  They ran down the breezeway, ducking past the security guard into the media center. Mrs. Forge glanced up as they entered, recognized Makayla, smiled, then went back to her computer.

  Busy with a game of solitaire, no doubt.

  Once at the computer, Lana turned to Makayla. “I can’t get to the website.”

  Makayla took over the keyboard. Within seconds of her fingers flying over the keys, the Senator Speak page loaded for them to read.

  . . . It is a rare thing indeed for a middle school’s newspaper reporter to not only report with diligence but also with honesty.

  The entire Senator Speak editorial staff is proud of our own Sam Sanderson for her breakthrough reporting of the Chenal 9 bomb incident. Sam turned over key evidence to the police to assist their investigation, and now the case is solved. Well done, Sam Sanderson. Well done. Sound Off, Senators. Leave a comment with your thoughts. ~ Luke Jensen, reporting

  “Ohmygummybears!” Sam couldn’t believe Aubrey had let Luke post the article, and she really couldn’t believe Luke had written it in the first place.

  Luke Jensen. Hello?

  Mrs. Forge looked up, frowning. “You girls need to go ahead and sign off. The bell will ring in a moment.”

  “Before you do,” Lana said, “look at how many comments you have.”

  Sam scrolled down to see. Four hundred and eighteen.

  Seriously?

  All expressing congratulations to Sam and the newspaper. Even comments from Mr. Hughes and Mr. Milner. And the superintendent of the school district. Oh, and even a couple of members of the school board. Oh, oh . . . and Mom and Dad and Captain York . . .

  And the editor from the high school newspaper! He’d posted: Good job on stellar reporting. Looking forward to welcoming some of the staff to the high school paper.

  Oh. My. Gummy. Bears.

  Editor of the Senator Speak, here I come!

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I owe a huge amount of gratitude to my editor on this series, Kim Childress. Not just for taking interest in the project and working hard to see it come to print, but for falling in love with Sam and Makayla and the rest of the characters. Your excitement about this series feeds my excitement, and you have been awesome to work alongside. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to share Sam and the gang with the rest of the world.

  My thanks to the whole team at Zonderkidz for helping the Samantha Sanderson series see the light of day. I truly appreciate each of you for extending your talent and skill on my behalf. It’s been a fun journey.

  Special thanks to Robinson Middle School, who let me share how special they are with the rest of the world. I played around with possibilities and lay of the land as I saw fit. Any mistakes in the representation of details are mine, where I twis
ted them in the best interest of my story.

  My most sincere thanks to my awesome agent, Steve Laube (HP), who not only is an amazing agent but also makes me laugh when I get too serious. THANK YOU.

  My extended family members are my biggest fans and greatest cheerleaders. Thank you for ALWAYS being in my corner: Mom, BB and Robert, Bek and Krys, Bubba and Lisa, Brandon, Rachel, and Aunt Millicent. Especially my Papa, whom I love and miss every day.

  I couldn’t do what I do without my girls — Emily Carol, Remington Case, and Isabella Co-Ceaux. I love each of you so much! Thank y’all so much for your support and encouragement when I needed to write. And my precious grandsons, Benton and Zayden. You are joys in my life.

  I’m blessed to have such an amazing husband, who not only puts up with my craziness but also is a great brainstorm partner and research assistant. You amaze me with your insight and your love and support. I love you with everything I have.

  Finally, all glory to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.

  DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. Sam has her mind set on her future career — to be a journalist like her mom. Do you have an idea of what career you’d like to have? Discuss different career options you’re interested in.

  2. Sam’s dad is a policeman who is dedicated to serving and protecting his town. Do you know any police officers? Discuss how their job impacts you and your family.

  3. Following the bomb threat at the theater, lots of kids were scared and unsure. How would you feel if you were one of them? What does the Bible tell us about being scared? (See Hebrews 13:6 for discussion)

  4. Aubrey goes out of her way to be rude to Sam. Has someone ever treated you like that? How did you react? Discuss reasons why people act like that.

  5. Makayla and Sam are both in EAST, and both very into electronic technology. Does your school have a technology program like EAST? What are some of your favorite gadgets? How do they help you learn?

  6. Sam is being taught the lesson of how powerful our words can be, both written and spoken. What does the Bible say about our words? (See Proverbs 12:18)

  7. Sam uses the school’s paper and blog to “slant” perception of events. Discuss how the local news media might do the same in your area.

  8. Because of her job, Sam’s mom is out of town a lot. Does one of your parents travel a lot for their work? Discuss how it makes, or could make, you feel.

  9. Sam’s parents have pet names for her (pumpkin and my sweet girl) which are terms of endearment. What nicknames or pet names do you have?

  10. Sam and Makayla enjoy their church’s youth group and feel safe in discussing things that are on their hearts there. Everybody needs a place where they feel safe to talk about difficult subjects. What’s your place?

  11. Sam is a cheerleader and on the school paper. Makayla is in karate. What extracurricular activities do you enjoy? Why or why not? What would be something you’d like to try? Why?

  12. If you were a student at RMS, whom would you most want to be friends with? Why?

  CHAPTER ONE

  Then I just felt the pop. Next thing I knew, I couldn’t even stand up.” Jefferson Cole’s red hair hung over his forehead, almost reaching his blue eyes. His voice hadn’t deepened like some of the other guys’ at Joe T. Robinson Middle School already had.

  Samantha “Sam” Sanderson glanced over the list of questions in the Notes app of her latest version iPhone. “Do you have any idea how your ankle got hurt?” she asked him. Last week, during the seventh graders’ game against the Pulaski Academy Bruins, Jefferson had gotten hurt.

  He shook his head. “Like I said, I was running to the end zone, was tackled, then felt my ankle snap. It took two guys to take me down. One of them landed on my leg.” He lifted a single shoulder. “Coach said one of them oafs probably came down on it wrong.”

  “Bet it hurt.”

  “Like you wouldn’t believe.” The freckles seemed to jump off his face.

  “You had to be rushed to the hospital?”

  “I wouldn’t say I had to be rushed to the hospital, exactly,” Jefferson answered.

  Sam gritted her teeth. He needed to work with her here.

  It was bad enough she’d been assigned this story in the first place. Aubrey Damas, school newspaper editor and thorn in Sam’s side, had given Sam this assignment, knowing full well that whoever reported anything negative about sports would have half the school upset with them.

  Robinson Senators stood behind their team one hundred percent. That Sam was a cheerleader made her writing an article on the dangers of football even worse. Aubrey knew that and had given Sam the assignment on purpose.

  “But you went to the hospital straight from the game, right?” Sam pushed. Having to be rushed to the hospital sounded a lot more interesting than saying that he went to the doctor and was treated for an ankle fracture. Not really blazing the journalism world with this stuff.

  “Yeah. Doctor says I have to stay in this soft cast for the rest of the week.” Jefferson leaned his head back against his couch. “He said I have some tendon damage, so Coach will probably bench me for the whole season just to be safe.”

  Talk about a flare for the dramatic. Sam turned her head so he couldn’t see her grin. She glanced around the Cole’s living room, noticing again the boxes piled in the corner. Oh, they were nearly hidden by the recliner, but she’d noticed them when Mrs. Cole had let Sam in. Probably Mr. Cole’s things.

  By now, most everyone at school knew the Coles were separated and heading toward divorce. Sam had overheard — for once, she hadn’t been purposefully eavesdropping — one of the ladies at church mention that Mr. Cole had rented an apartment nearby. It was sad for a family to break up. Sam had been praying for them, especially Jefferson’s sister, Nikki, who was on the newspaper staff with Sam. Nikki was Aubrey’s best friend, which meant Nikki wasn’t exactly friendly toward Sam.

  Jefferson cleared his throat. “Dad says he’ll talk with Coach after my cast is off. He told me he’d work with me every weekend to practice plays. Maybe I’ll stand a chance of making the eighth grade team next year,” he said. “I hope so. Man, I heard they might let some eighth graders play with the ninth graders next year, too.”

  “That’s promising.” Sam couldn’t imagine being so fired up about being hit, but whatever. A lot of people didn’t understand her passion to become a journalist.

  Jefferson nodded. “Dad says it’ll take a lot of hard work, but we can do it.”

  “I’m sure you’ll make it.” Sam didn’t miss the emphasis on we . . . was Jefferson planning on living with his dad after the big D? Nikki hadn’t said anything about living arrangements. Then again, she didn’t really talk to Sam. Because of Aubrey, Nikki and Sam didn’t talk much. Still, Sam couldn’t help feeling sorry for all of the Cole family.

  “I’m studying both the seventh grade and eighth grade playbooks all the time. I nearly have everything memorized already. Dad says — ”

  “Who brought this in?” Nikki’s voice rose above the music coming from the den where she’d been supposedly doing homework since Sam had arrived at the Cole house. She stormed into the living room, waving a piece of paper. “Jefferson, did you put this on the front door?”

  Her brother tapped the top of his cast. “Seriously?”

  Nikki turned her glare to Sam. “You. Did you do this?”

  Sam started to claim innocence, but curiosity got the better of her. “Let me see.” She stood and held out her hand.

  Nikki thrust the paper at Sam. “You did this. You wrote this and left it at the front door, didn’t you?”

  Smoothing the paper, Sam read the single sentence, written in black, bold block letters:

  NIKKI COLE IS A FATTY

  “Why would you do something like this? Are you the one making the calls, too?” Nikki’s face turned redder than Sam’s shoulders had been sunburned just two weeks ago. “Why? Why would you do this? Aubrey’s right —
you are jealous of us.”

  Jealous? Of Aubrey and Nikki? Oh, puhleeze. But that wasn’t the issue at the moment. “Nikki, I didn’t do this. I promise. I wouldn’t do such a thing.” This was just mean and nasty. Sam would never stoop so low. “You’ve gotten calls? What kind?”

  “You’re going to deny it?”

  Sam shook her head. “Nikki, I know we aren’t friends, but you have to believe me. You know I’d never lower myself to something like this.”

  Nikki paused, studying Sam for a long moment, then she snatched the paper away. “Never mind. Just forget about it.” She spun and stomped from the room.

  Sam started to follow her.

  “Don’t bother.” Jefferson’s words stopped Sam. “She’ll lock herself in her room to cry, then Mom will go talk to her for a long time before ending up calling Dad to come have dinner with us.”

  If he knew his sister’s routine

  “Has she gotten notes like that before?” Sam sunk back into her seat on the chair across from the couch. She couldn’t imagine someone being so bold as to write such a hateful thing, let alone deliver it.

  But Jefferson nodded.

  “Just like that?”

  He shrugged. “Sometimes it says she’s ugly. And she’s gotten a couple of text messages saying she’s fat and ugly too.”

  Text messages meant a phone number. “Has she recognized the phone number?”

  He shook his head. “Nope. Dad tried calling it back, but it just rang until he got the recording that the voice mailbox hadn’t been set up yet.”

  “What do the police say?” Sam’s dad was a detective with the Little Rock Police Department, so she put a lot of stock in law enforcement investigations.

  Jefferson’s eyes widened. “We haven’t called the police. Calling a girl fat and ugly isn’t a crime.”

  Now it was Sam’s turn to shake her head. “This is beyond just calling someone names. Texting and writing her notes—that can be considered bullying. All states have some form of law against bullying, so it actually is a crime.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “Yeah. It can become real serious.” She nodded toward the doorway Nikki had left through. “You see how upset that made her. Some people get stuff like that constantly. A lot of teenagers. Until they can’t take it anymore.” Sam didn’t want to talk about all the documentaries she’d seen about how many kids had hurt themselves or worse because of one form or another of bullying. “Your mom or dad should call the police and report it.”