This is what I came up with. Four chapters, each from the point of view of the other kids. Hope you enjoy!


Chapter 1 – Tim

The summer was ending. The sun still shone, the birds still chirped and the nights were still warm, but summer was almost over. The weather didn't matter much to Tim anyway; they had fun outside in any season. But it did mean that school was starting again.

School this year would be a little different from last. Most prominently because Abby was starting and she would be in Tim's class. The school they all went to was a small one and therefore a couple of grades were put in the same class. Kate was actually meant to be in Tim and Abby's class but their teacher had suggested that she moved up a grade because she was rather clever. So Tony, Ziva and Kate were to be in miss Dalton's class and Tim and Abby were going to be in miss Hale's.

Tim liked school. He enjoyed reading and writing and especially mathematics. He had a knack for it, as his dad always said. Ziva found it dead boring and would loose concentration halfway through, but Tim could sit for hours, making the numbers fit together.

Last year they'd been four siblings but ever since dad brought home Abby that one time in spring, they'd been five. Sure, she hadn't really become their sister until late June, but they had all counted her in as one of them since the first day.

Either way, four or five siblings had always been many. And since Tim was one of the youngest, his books had all been owned by at least three people before him. It didn't really matter much, they all took good care of them, but sometimes he thought it would've been nice to own something new that was just his. Most of his clothes and shoes had been Tony's and they shared most of their toys. He didn't complain, he knew kids who barely had shoes that were in one piece. For example; Abby's old ones from before she got here looked like they would fall apart any second.

Anyway, Tim was happy to go back to school. He had carefully put all his books and other necessary things in his backpack. He couldn't help but smile a little even as he put away the dishes from breakfast. Kate, who was helping him, looked more nervous than happy. But she did have a steady hand when she passed over the stack of plates to Tim.

Tony and Abby were lazily throwing the empty saltshaker between them and Ziva were up in the bedroom, looking for something, when Jenny walked back into the kitchen.

"You should get going", she said. "You don't want to be late the first day. And put that down, Tony."

She started handing out everyone's lunches and reminded them of important things like "stay together all the way to school, don't wander off" and "wait for each other and walk home together" and simply "be good". Of course they knew all that, but they nodded along to show that they were listening.

"Ziva! Let's go!" Tony called up the stairs as they passed through the hall, out the front door.

Ziva came running down, her bag in hand, and accepted her lunch as Abby handed it over to her.

The sun shone brightly as the five of them walked out from the yard and turned left on the dirt road.

"Is it going to be far?" Abby asked Tim.

"No, not that far", Tim replied.

"It's right by Ducky's", Kate told Abby. "Remember when you were there right after you came here?"

Abby nodded.

"Race you to the crossing!" Tony called out and in an instant they all took off sprinting.

They arrived at the crossroad panting and slowed down to their normal walking pace.

"I beat you", Ziva said, pointing gleefully at Tony.

"No you didn't!"

"Yes I did."

"Call it a tie", Tim suggested.

Ziva and Tony glared at each other for a second, but accepted the truce.

The rest of the walk consisted of Abby stopping way too often to look at flowers, Ziva and Kate half-bickering about who knows what, and Tony telling them a ghost story about a crazy man wandering this very road looking for children to eat.

"Tony, you can't tell a ghost story during the day", Ziva said. "It's not scary if it isn't dark."

But Tim noticed Abby clutching to Kate's hand, looking a bit frightened.

"It's not true, anyway", Tim said out loud, mostly for Abby's benefit.

"Of course it's true", Tony said. "Willie McHenry saw him last spring, before school ended."

"You're lying", Kate said.

"No, I'm not", Tony said, but he had a glint in his eye.

Funnily enough, it was William McHenry who showed up first by their side. They had just reached the schoolyard and he had arrived at the same time from the other way.

"Okay, see you at lunch", Ziva said to Tim and Abby as the three older siblings (plus William) disappeared to the classroom upstairs.

"Bye", Tim said and Abby waved slightly.

The two of them walked into the classroom on the bottom floor. The teacher, miss Hale, stood by the blackboard with a smile on her face. The room was filled with kids, but no one had sat down yet.

Tim looked around and recognized most of the older kids. He said hi and waved to some of them and Hilary Fletch went up to him.

"Hi Tim", she said. "Good summer?"

"Hi Hilary. Yes, thank you. You?"

Hilary nodded.

"My uncle brought me and my brother out on his boat."

"Cool!"

They didn't have time to say much more, because miss Hale cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.

"Hello students", she said.

"Hello miss Hale", most of the class chanted.

"Welcome to a new year of learning. Now, I want the youngest in the front and the oldest in the back. Find a seat, everybody."

Tim gave Abby a little shove forward.

"Go sit in the front", he told her. "I'll be here in the middle."

Abby nodded and carefully made her way to the front and sat down in the right corner bench. Tim stayed where he was, since he was right in the middle, both classroomwise and agewise.

Once everyone had found a seat, class began. Miss Hale introduced what they would be doing this year, starting with the younger and going upwards. Since they were different ages in the class, they would often do different things. Abby and the other younger kids would learn the basics in reading, writing and mathematics, while Tim and the middle crew would go into more depth within those subjects, and the oldest in the class would do even harder levels as well as start reading American history.

They didn't have that much time more than to swiftly look in the books after miss Hale's introduction, before lunch. Tim knew he could eat with his friends, but since it was the first day he and Abby went to find Tony, Ziva and Kate to eat with them. They were sitting under the large oak tree behind the school building.

"Mom made jam sandwiches", Ziva told them excitedly.

Tim instantly looked in his lunch bag and realized she was right. Jam sandwiches didn't come around often. This was special.

"How did your first class go?" Kate asked.

"Good", Tim said.

"Did your teacher talk about anything other than what we would be doing all year?" Ziva asked.

"No, that was it", Tim said. "We looked a little in the books as well, but we didn't have time for anything else."

Abby looked up from rummaging her lunch bag.

"I'm going to learn to read", she declared.

"Enjoy that, Abbs", Tony said. "Just learning to read is easy. When you get up to my grade you have to write essays and know all the multiplications and stuff."

"What's multiplications?"

"You'll learn eventually."


That night, after dinner, Gibbs asked Tim to go with him to the shed.

"Why?" Tim asked. They were practically never allowed in there.

"I want to give you something", Gibbs said.

They walked outside. It was still warm, even though it was evening and school had started. The sun would go down soon; the sky was starting to get slightly pink. The wind rustled the leaves on the trees and Tim could easily make out both horses and sheep from sound alone.

The shed was in need of some new paint, but the worn look of the wood was sort of homey. Tim had always loved the smell inside. It was what he associated with his dad.

"I made this the other day", the person in question said and picked up something from the bench.

"What is it?" Tim asked.

"It's a bookmark", Gibbs said and handed it to him.

It was a slim piece of wood with carved-out details in no particular shape, but Tim thought they made it look like a fire. He turned it around in his hands and on the other side there were three letters carved at the top. Tim.

"I know you like your books", Gibbs said. "And I know none of them are new or really yours. But this bookmark is."

Tim smiled hugely.

"Thank you dad!" he said and hugged him around the waist.

Gibbs patted his head.

"You're welcome, son."