Evil Thoughts

By K. T. Phillips

Spring break is only a couple of weeks away. Ms. Catherine Williams, called Cat by her friends, is a sixth-grade teacher. She is ready for this much-needed vacation. She has been busy trying to help her new student, Thomas Cordle, to adjust. But since his arrival, it has been chaos in the classroom. Some days Thomas is sweet and works hard. Other days, it is like he is a totally different boy.

When Thomas's girlfriend Jennifer is kidnapped, he decides to enlist the help of his teacher, Ms. Williams. He contacts her telepathically, and Ms. Williams starts on a journey of finding out why Thomas is so different in class.

Together with the help of her boyfriend Lars Greene and Chief of Police Horace Barham, they race to find Jennifer before it is too late.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781638810391

Book preview

Chapter 1

As she sat staring at the papers piled on the desk, Catherine realized she didn’t have a clue as to why she had chosen this job. She had always gotten along with children, but being a teacher was sometimes more than she could handle. Like today, she had test papers plus some essays to finish grading. As she picked up one of the essays to read, she heard a faint knock on the door. Catherine, called Cat by her friends, looked up at the clock and was startled to see it was three-thirty. It was time to meet with Mr. and Mrs. Cordle, the parents of one of her students.

Mr. and Mrs. Cordle’s son, Thomas, had only been in Cat’s class for four weeks, but he seemed hesitant to try. He acted like a very intelligent child, but he never exerted himself. Cat went out of her way sometimes to help the boy. She knew what it was like to be in a new school. Her father had been in the Air Force, and they had moved all the time.

Come in, Cat said as she answered the knock. The door opened slowly, and in walked the Cordles. Mr. Cordle extended his hand to Cat as he approached her desk.

Ms. Williams, my name is Arthur Cordle, and this is my wife, Francis.

Mrs. Cordle stood quietly behind her husband with her head bowed. Cat arose, took Mr. Cordle’s hand, and looked up into his face. His hand felt like ice, and the gleam in his eyes made her want to shudder. His handshake was powerful but thankfully short. Cat did not like the way this man made her feel. Her intuition was usually correct, but she told herself not to jump to conclusions. When she noticed the Cordles staring at her cluttered desk, Cat asked them to have a seat.

How may I help you? Cat asked.

Mr. Cordle, who was tall with graying temples, glanced at his wife. He gave her a look that made her seem to shrink smaller than she already was.

It has come to our attention, he started, that our son is not doing what is required of him.

I think your son is doing quite well considering he has just moved to a new school, Cat said as she looked from one parent to the other. He has done better than I expected him to.

You do not set very high standards for your students, do you, Ms. Williams?

Cat stared at Mr. Cordle in disbelief. She could not believe he had said this to her. In all her years of work, six to be exact, Cat had never been talked to in such a manner. When she had decided to become a teacher, she had made a vow to herself that she would never underestimate a child’s ability to learn. Now here was this man sitting face-to-face with her saying that she had done just that. The nerve of this man, she thought.

A feeling of uneasiness came back to Cat. She had the feeling that she should watch what she said and how she acted around these people, but it was too late to heed her own warning. Cat’s fury was building inside of her too fast to control. She stood up from behind the desk and looked Mr. Cordle in the eyes.

I’ll have you know that my students are my first priority to me, Cat spoke in her calmest teacher tone. I try to understand my students so I will know how to help them in the best way possible. Cat could feel her blood pressure rising. Before she could say anything else, Mr. Cordle spoke up.

I didn’t mean to argue with you, Ms. Williams. My wife and I just came here to talk to you about our son and ask why he isn’t doing what we feel he should be doing. We thought you might know why he is so moody lately. He doesn’t seem like the same little boy as when we left and came here.

Cat looked, embarrassed, at the people in front of her. She realized just how close she had come to being uncontrollably angry. She apologized for her harsh tone and went on to explain what she thought was wrong with Thomas. She told them of how her father had been in the Air Force and how they had to travel from town to town. She told the Cordles how she had felt each time she enrolled in a new school. Cat felt she had been through something similar to what Thomas was experiencing. After a few more minutes of discussing Thomas, the Cordles stood to leave. Cat reached out her hand to shake with them. Even though Cat was apprehensive, she could tell the previous feelings of fear had vanished. She shook Mr. Cordle’s hand and smiled her sweetest smile. When she extended her hand to Mrs. Cordle, Cat thought she saw a glimmer of either fear or something much worse. Mrs. Cordle was hesitant to take Cat’s hand at first, but finally decided there was no way out of it. When she did take Cat’s hand, Cat understood why Mrs. Cordle had been so reluctant to shake. Mrs. Cordle’s hand was sweaty and shaking uncontrollably. Cat tried to catch a glimpse of Mrs. Cordle’s eyes, but she would not meet Cat’s gaze.

After the Cordles had left, Cat sat down at her unorganized desk and tried to analyze what had just taken place. It seemed as if the Cordles were trying to check out the teacher more than find out about their son’s progress. As for the intuition, she still didn’t know what to think. The Cordles were very strange people; Cat decided that Thomas acted a lot like his parents. He was definitely different from the rest of her students. Part of the strangeness was attributed to being in a new town; the remainder was yet to show itself.

Enough of this spooky talk, Ms. Williams, you have work to do, Cat whispered to herself.

Cat buried herself in her work. She finished grading the essays, looked up at the clock on the wall, and knew she could do no more work here today. It was 5:45 p.m. She was going to have to learn to get out of the classroom sooner. Staying late was making her very tired. Cat packed up her book bag with the things needed to plan the next day’s lessons and the remainder of the papers that needed to be graded.

As she walked down the halls, Cat felt as if someone were watching her. At this time of day, no one should be at the school. Even the custodians should be through with their work.

You’re letting things get to you, old girl, Cat said out loud to herself. She hurried through the hall toward the big double doors that led to the open world outside. When she reached the doors, she stopped and turned around quickly to see if anyone had been following her. All she saw was an empty hallway. Somewhat relieved and feeling a little foolish, Cat turned, opened the door, and strolled out to her car.

She looked up at the sky as she walked and admired the beautiful spring ceiling. The color of the sky was a brilliant blue tinged with a deep pink. It was a signal of the coming sunset. Cat thought of the old saying—when the sky was red in the morning, the day would be bad; if it was red in the evening, the next day would be beautiful. She hoped that the story was true. She really wanted the next day to be good. After the week she had endured, she needed something to be nice. It was almost time for spring break, and the kids were restless. They needed a break, but not half as bad as she did. Just one more school day until a whole week of freedom. Cat smiled at that thought.

Cat had reached her car and still smiled at the thoughts of her freedom from thirty noisy, mischievous, yet hardworking and lovable children. As