Fallen

It was just the right kind of bland and hackneyed joke to earn some ca

After lunch, the other families around the commons packed up their picnics and retreated to various corners. Luce got the feeling that very few people were actually participating in the school-sanctioned events. No one had followed Ms. Tross up to the library, and so far only Gabbe and her grandfather had climbed into a potato sack at the other end of the field.

Luce didn't know where Molly or Arriane or Roland had sneaked off to with their families, and she still hadn't seen Daniel. She did know that her own parents would be disappointed if they saw nothing of the campus and didn't participate in any pla

As they were on the way over, Arriane swung herself off the top bleacher like a gymnast dismounting a parallel bar. She stuck her landing right in front of Luce's parents.

"Helloooo," she crooned, doing her best crazy-girl impression.

"Mom and Dad," Luce said, squeezing their shoulders, "this is my good friend Arriane."

"And this" — Arriane pointed at the tall, hot-pink-headed girl who was slowly picking her way down the bleacher stairs, "is my sister, A

A

"It's so good to meet you," she said, taking Luce's hand.

"Likewise," Luce said, giving Arriane a sideways glance.

"Are you two going on Mr. Cole's tour?" Luce asked Arriane, who was also looking at A

A

A

"They seemed nice," Luce's mother said in the probing voice she used when she wanted Luce to explain something.

"Um, why was that girl so into you?" Pe

Luce looked at Pe

"Lucinda!" Mr. Cole called, waving from the otherwise unoccupied meet-up point by the cemetery gates. "Over here!"

Mr. Cole clasped both of her parents' hands warmly and even gave Pe

"I practice for this day all year," he whispered. "A chance to take the students out in the fresh air and explain the many marvels of this place—oh, I do love it. It's the closest a reform school teacher gets to a real field trip. 'Course, no one's ever shown up for my tours in years past, which makes you my inaugural tour—"

"Well, we're honored," Luce's dad boomed, giving Mr. Cole a big smile. Immediately, Luce could tell that it wasn't just Dad's ca

Already the two men had started trooping down the steep slope at the entrance of the cemetery. Luce's mom left the picnic basket at the gates and gave Luce and Pe

Mr. Cole waved a hand to get their attention. "First, a bit of trivia. What" — he raised his eyebrows—"would you guess is the oldest element of this cemetery?"

While Luce and Pe

"Trick question!" Mr. Cole bellowed, patting the ornate wrought iron gates. "This front portion of the gates was built by the original proprietor in 1831. They say his wife, Ellamena, had a lovely garden, and she wanted something to keep the guinea hens out of her tomatoes." He laughed under his breath. "That was before the war. And before the sinkhole. Moving on!"

As they walked, Mr. Cole rattled off fact after fact about the construction of the cemetery, the historical backdrop against which it was built, and the "artist" — even he used the term loosely—who'd come up with the winged beast sculpture at the top of the monolith in the center of the grounds. Luce's father peppered Mr. Cole with questions while Luce's mom ran her hands over the tops of some of the prettiest headstones, letting out a murmured "Oh my" every time she paused to read an inscription. Pe

Here's where I served my first detention…

And here's where a falling marble angel nearly decapitated me…

And here's where a reform school boy you'd never approve of took me on the strangest picnic of my life.

"Cam," Mr. Cole called as he led the tour around the monolith.

Cam was standing with a tall, dark-haired man in a tailored black business suit. Neither of them heard Mr. Cole or saw the party he was leading on the tour. They were talking quietly and gesturing in a very involved ma

"Are you and your father late arrivals to our tour?" Mr. Cole asked Cam, this time more loudly. "You've missed most of it, but there's still an interesting fact or two I'm sure I could impart."

Cam slowly turned his head their way, then back at his companion, who seemed amused. Luce didn't think the man, with his classic tall, dark, and handsome good looks and huge gold watch, looked old enough to be Cam's father. But maybe he had just aged well. Cam's eyes skimmed Luce's bare neck, and he seemed briefly disappointed. She blushed, because she could feel her mother taking in the whole scene and wondering just what was going on.

Cam ignored Mr. Cole and approached Luce's mother, drawing her hand to his lips before anyone could even introduce them. "You must be Luce's older sister," he said rakishly.

To her left, Pe

But Luce's mom seemed somewhat dazzled, in a way that made Luce—and her father, clearly—uncomfortable.

"No, we can't stay for the tour," Cam a

"Who was that?" Luce's mother whispered when Cam and his father, or whoever he had been, disappeared back up the side of the cemetery.

"Oh, just one of Luce's admirers," Pe

"One of?" Luce's father peered down at Pe

In the late-afternoon light, Luce could see for the first time a few gray whiskers in her dad's beard. She didn't want to spend today's last moments convincing her father not to worry about the boys at her reform school.