Kari gripped the shovel in her hand tightly. The white shadowy form was hard to make out in the dense forest. To her relief, it veered away to the south, disappearing in the thick underbrush.

'A ghost?!' she thought, then rolled her eyes for even entertaining the notion. It's probably just someone's dog lost in the woods!

She laughed to herself, shaking her head.

The afternoon went by quickly. Kari stood up to admire her work: rows of lavender crocuses and purple hyacinths alternating with yellow tulips. Later she planned to add a border of blue hostas.

She looked up to see Sato heading towards her.

"Great job today, Kari-san." Sato looked very pleased at her progress and Kari beamed.

"Let's tidy things up,  then I'll walk you out," he added.

As they neared the mansion's entrance, Kari said, "Sato-san—I saw a large, white dog in the forest behind the house. I thought I'd let you know in case the owner might be looking for it."

Sato gave her a questioning look. "That's the first I've heard of an animal wandering in these woods. I'll be sure to mention it to Mr. Collins."

Kari nodded and stepped out the gate, waving cheerfully at the groundskeeper. "Thanks for all your help today, Sato-san!"

School the following day was not so appealing to Kari, twirling her pen lazily and oblivious to the raucous noise around her. She mostly kept to herself, and except for a couple of close friends, she considered herself a bona fide loner. Unfortunately, her friends Rima and Mark signed up for a different first period, avoiding Classical Literature like the plague. Those two are like peas in a pod, she thought.

"Settle down, now." Professor Tanaka strode briskly into the room. Fortunately for him, he was gifted with a loud voice that drew everyone's attention--well, most everyone.

"As I mentioned last week, we have a new transfer student joining our class. So please don't scare him away on his first day!" He eyed the misbehaving kids with a stern look as laughter filled the room.

Walking to the door, Tanaka-sensei waved the transfer student in.

Kari's pen chose the moment to fly from her hand, rolling to the floor. As she reached down to pick it up, she stopped.

The entire class had fallen into a dead silence.