- 6.
<
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I glanced at the cop. He gave me a small smile,
and I smiled back.
I turned to Ashley, my eyes blazing with
revenge.
“Ashley, you accused me of negligence, arson,
and murder. The kids are right here. How can
you say I killed anyone?”
The parents realized something was off.
“This Ashley is something else,” one mom said.
“Saying our kids were dead? That’s bad luck!”
“Yeah, our kids are fine. Why would she want
them dead?”
“And Sarah’s husband isn’t great, either. Sarah
saved the kids, and he accused her of hating
them!”
One mom saw Mike holding Ashley. “Hey, why
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524
is Sarah’s husband holding Ashley? What’s going on?”
Mike and Ashley jumped apart, like they’d been shocked.
Ashley looked down.
“It’s not my fault,” she mumbled. “I told Sarah
to save the kids, and she said she couldn’t!”
“And thirty–one people were missing. Everyone
would think Sarah killed them!”
I seized on the flaw in her story.
“So, Ashley, knowing I couldn’t save everyone,
you ran out of the classroom, leaving the kids
behind?”
The parents stared at Ashley.
One said, “You left the kids? How could you?
<
8:27
You’re a teacher! How could you do that to
us?”
Ashley teared up.
She wiped her eyes, her voice choked with
emotion. “I…I was scared!”
Realizing what she’d said, she added, “I didn’t
run away! I was getting help, so more people
could save the kids!”
I turned to the other teachers.
“Did Ashley ask you for help?”
The parents didn’t know the rules for teachers,
but the other teachers did.
They didn’t like Ashley, either. They’d
complained to the principal, who’d ignored
them.
527
<
Not one teacher defended Ashley.
“No, she didn’t,” they all said. “She never said
anything about the kids in the classroom.”
Ashley paled.
She looked at someone, a silent plea in her
eyes.
I followed her gaze. It was the principal.
The principal stepped forward.
“I can vouch for Ashley. She asked me for help.”
