Monday morning at the Harris household (recently expanded by the addition of one very hungry young male) started with breakfast. Immediately after she had finished eating, Julie walked into the great room and opened a door on the right-hand wall, which Michael had noticed was being kept closed over the weekend. When he followed her into the room, he saw a library table with chairs around it sitting in the middle of it. Computer terminals, set up on other smaller tables, lined the outside walls while bookshelves, filled with what appeared to be textbooks and reference books, were against the inside wall.

"What is this?" he asked, looking around.

"Classroom," Julie explained. "This is where I and several other kids from the area go to school."

"The local high school leaves a lot to be desired," Caryn spoke up from where she was standing in the doorway. "The girls all get pregnant around the time they turn 16 and drop out, and the boys appear to have no incentive or desire to make a better life for themselves, and are just there taking up space and causing trouble. So, when we moved out here, we made arrangements for Julie to take classes on-line and also to work with a tutor."

"The Stedman's moved into the area shortly after we did," Julie continued. "And, when they found out what I was doing, they asked if their two sons, Josh and Trey could join me."

"Of course I said 'Yes'," Caryn said. "And, then, several single mothers who didn't want their daughters following in their footsteps asked if their girls could join the group as well."

"So, there are five of us who study here, Monday through Friday," Julie finished up. "And, my first responsibility every morning is to bring the computers up and get them on-line."

"What grade are you in?" Michael asked curiously.

"Actually, I finished high school a little over a year ago," Julie told him as she began working on the first computer. "And, I had started attending college. However," she looked over at her mother. "When Dad got really bad I couldn't leave Mom to deal with him alone, so I put college on hold and came back here to help her. I have been taking some freshman and sophomore level college courses on line and next fall I will – "

"Not that long!" Her mother interrupted her. "Summer term! You have put your schooling off long enough!"

"We'll see," was the reply as Julie moved on to the next machine.

"Where exactly is this house located?" Michael asked. "Are you within a city limits or is it a consolidated school district or what?"

"We are in an unincorporated township," Caryn told him. "Technically it's called Silver Lake Township. We don't have our own zip code or anything like that, and our law enforcement comes from either the county sheriff or the state police. As for the school system, it is a consolidated district comprised of several rural areas."

"Now, Michael," she continued. "Monday is laundry day. So, if you will finish loading the dishwasher and then turn it on, I will go upstairs and gather up all the sheets, pillowcases, and towels and bring them down to get that started. Then we can see about getting you set up in one of the guest bedrooms."

"There's no need for that," Michael protested. "I am fine sleeping down here on the couch."

"You may be fine with that, but I'm not," was the firm reply. "You need a place to call your own and we have plenty of room."

"Be sure you are finished by eleven o'clock," Julie reminded her. "Mrs. Lewis will be here then."

"Knowing her, she will be here before then," Caryn smiled. "She really enjoys sharing knowledge and ideas with you kids."

"Mrs. Lewis?" Michael questioned.

"Yes," Caryn replied. "When she originally started college, she was a literature major. However, after she met and fell in love with Dr. Lewis, she switched to nursing so she would be able to get a job and support him as he went through medical school after they got married. Then, he opened his practice and they had the kids and everything, and she never got back to her real love."

"Now she joins us once a week to help us as we study some of her favorite authors," Julie continued. "Mom joins us, too, and then when we are done we have lunch."

"What are you discussing now?" Michael asked curiously.

"Well, we are finishing up Chaucer's Canterbury Tales," Julie told him. "And starting Longfellow's Tales of a Wayside Inn. We are going to see what, if any, parallels we can draw between the two sets of stories."

"You can join us if you want," Caryn offered. "Even if you haven't read the material you might enjoy listening in on the discussion."

"Oh, I have read the material," Michael assured her with a smile. "And I would definitely enjoy participating in your discussion."