Hotch and Jack found 603 sorting through a stack of new lumber that had been delivered to an area in front of the schoolhouse.
"Hey there!" he greeted them. "You're just in time to help me carry some of this inside. My tools are already in there."
"You have safety glasses now," Hotch observed as he noticed a pair perched on 603's head.
"Yeah," 603 grinned at him. "The owners sent some people around to see how to make us safer. These are supposed to protect my eyes from accidents."
"They also said something about putting in smoke detectors," he added.
"Not a bad idea for either item," Hotch told him as he selected a board and picked it up. "I imagine it would be pretty hard to work if you can't see what you are working on. And, as for the smoke detectors, with all these wooden buildings they are definitely called for. Installing them is no problem, I can help with that."
He looked over at Jack. "Want to give us a hand with this?" he asked.
"Yeah – I may as well," Jack mumbled as he picked up a piece of lumber and followed his father and 603 into the schoolhouse.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"This is a school?" Jack exclaimed in amazement as he looked around the room 603 had led them into. "With all these beat-up old books and tables for desks? And, where are the computers?"
"This is education stripped down to the basics," Hotch told him. "You don't need all kinds of fancy stuff to get an education. You just need to learn how to think."
"And there's only two rooms," Jack continued. "How many grades are there?"
"Grades one through four are in this room, and fifth through eighth are in the other," Hotch explained. "Preschool and kindergarten classes are taught in the nursery."
"That is going to be changing," 603 told him. "The school is going to be getting some new books in the fall and an additional teacher. That's why I am building new shelves for these two rooms. And, when I am done here, I will be converting one of the rooms in the house into a classroom. That's where the older students and the new teacher will be going."
"That sounds like quite a project," Hotch commented. "Did Mistress suggest it?"
"Yes, it was her idea," 603 replied. "We originally talked about adding on another room here, but before we dug a foundation and imported all the lumber and everything it just made more sense to use what we already had."
"And," he added with a smile. "She is hoping that the extra commotion in the house will help convince the mice to move elsewhere."
"She has a mouse problem?" Hotch asked. "Of course, it is an old building," he added thoughtfully. "It stands to reason that rodents might be a problem."
"I always suspected Cat stopped by there on his daily patrols," 603 said. "And I guess I was right. She has asked if I could bring Moby by once he has acclimated to his new home."
"I may have a solution to that," Hotch smiled. "Let me get in touch with Garcia. She knows people."