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Chapter 20
Saundra Hyland likedtaking her gifted third-grade class outdoors to discover the “hidden nature” in the DC area. She’d already taken the kids to two parks near the private school where she’d taught for almost six years.
Now they were in the southernmost area of Rock Creek Park. The green space was named after the Rock Creek tributary that joined with the nearby Potomac, but at this end of the meandering greenway, extending from the larger park farther north, it wasn’t particularly natural given the nearby connection between Interstate 66 and K Street.
While Saundra could hardly keep up with some of the children’s grasp of advanced mathematics, this was an activity in which she flourished. Her youth in Florida had trained her to appreciate nature. Her days at the University of Florida had taught her how to teach. That, and how to haggle for the cheapest bag of pot.
Now she stopped next to the smartest boy in the class—maybe the whole school. “What have you got, Jake?”
The boy held up a small plastic bottle with a spider inside.
Saundra fought the urge to jump when she saw the spider.
Jake said, “It’s a banded garden spider. Argiope trifasciata. They build their nests close to the ground to catch tiny pests. They’re vital in controlling insect populations.” Then he looked at his teacher with disdain. “Only the ignorant are afraid of spiders.”
Saundra made a note not to engage Jake again today. Or possibly tomorrow, if she could get away with it.
Her phone sounded with Ariana Grande’s “The Way,” the ringtone giving her an excuse to step away from Jake. She looked at the screen and saw it was her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Dave. She let the call go to voicemail. He was literally the only person she wanted to speak to less than Jake.
Saundra’s usual response was to deal with each tiny drama as it appeared, but she wasn’t getting any help from Donna Andrus, the other teacher on the field trip. True to her slacker reputation, she’d told Saundra to cover for her for a few minutes. That was almost an hour ago.
Having sole responsibility for sixteen kids running around a park near open water was overwhelming. The kids were having a good time learning. But now all Saundra could think about was having a couple of beers tonight.
She occasionally called out, “Don’t get too close to the water!” Usually that was directed at Lainey Steele. At this moment, a group of kids clustered right at the shoreline. And of course Lainey was in the middle of them. The small, beautiful girl had the charisma of a cult leader the other students followed blindly.
This time Saundra yelled with some force, “Everyone step away from the water!”
A few of the kids listened. But four or five stayed right where they were. What was so interesting that the kids would risk a letter of discipline to see? Saundra took a few steps closer. Then she saw that little Lainey was poking something with a stick. Four boys watched her intently. Typical.
Then Saundra realized what she was seeing. This time she screamed, “Get back!” She had 911 dialed into her phone before the first kid moved.
