A Changed Agent Read Online Free Page A

morning air. “We’re hungry . . . and cold.” His teeth chattered.
    In her arms Minnie held tightly to Hazel the doll.
    Will pushed aside the blankets he’d made a bed out of on the floor last night. He walked over to the small stove and added some wood to the fire he’d banked.
    The children sat on the edge of the single bed, watching him.
    “I’ve got to go use the necessary,” he grumbled, not used to having an audience.
    Minnie giggled and Harry said, “We already went.”
    That meant they’d been outside without him knowing they’d left the room. He must have been more tired than he’d thought. Pausing with one hand on the doorknob, he glanced over his shoulder and warned, “I don’t like you wandering around without telling me where you’re going.”
    “We didn’t want to wake you up.” Harry shrugged, adding, “I remembered where it was from last night when you took us.”
    Angry with himself for sleeping through their movements, Will said, “From now on you tell me when you’re leaving.”
    “Sure, Uncle Will. When you get back can we eat?”
    Nodding, Will left them to attend to his business.
    He returned a few minutes later to open the basket containing blueberry muffins that Oliver’s housekeeper had sent them off with last night. Handing one to each child, he took the last one for himself, longing for a cup of strong black coffee to accompany it. Biting into the muffin, he worried how they were going to react when he told them they would be going off to school today.
    There was no sense putting off the inevitable. “Harry and Minnie, I’m going to be taking you to school today.”
    “Why can’t we stay with you?” Harry asked.
    Minnie stopped chewing to look up at him. Her round eyes widened, and he could see the tears starting to well. There was no other choice. They couldn’t stay with him.
    “I can take care of Minnie while you work, Uncle Will.”
    He knelt in front of them. Will suspected that over the past months Harry had stepped up to take care of his sister many times. But he didn’t need to do so now.
    “You can’t be here alone. Besides,” Will tried to reassure them, “Miss Mitchell is looking forward to seeing both of you today.” He didn’t know whether this was true, considering he hadn’t decided to do this until this morning. It seemed the children had taken a liking to the schoolteacher. So a little bit of coaxing couldn’t hurt.
    Throwing his half-eaten muffin on the floor, Harry choked back a sob. Then he tried to push past Will, who grabbed the lad before his feet could hit the floorboards, setting him back on the bed. Harry sat with his arms folded tightly across his chest, scrunching his eyes together.
    Will saw a small tear form at the corner of one of Harry’s eyes. He didn’t know what to do to make the situation better for them. He wasn’t a parent. He was a spy. He could track and catch the worst criminal, but he had no idea how to handle heartbroken children.
    Softly, he said, “Listen, I know this has been hard for you. But right now I’m all the two of you have. And today I have to take you to school because I need to get our new house together.”
    He stood up. “So do you think you and your sister can wash up so we can head on out?”
    Scrubbing his hands over his face, Harry nodded.

    Will walked down the main street with a child flanking each side and Hazel safely nestled in Minnie’s little arms. The town meandered along a crooked roadway, with stores, a saloon, and a hotel lining one side. Across the street Will spotted the white clapboard church. Next to that was a fenced-in cemetery. Beyond that sat a single-story structure made out of log beams. A bell hung next to a set of white double doors.
    He entered the single-room schoolhouse, savoring the warmth of the room. The first thing that caught his eye was the nicely rounded backside of Miss Mitchell as she bent over to pick up a book from the floor.
    “Ooh!” She huffed out