The title was: “Someone Who Taught Me Something Important.”
She chose Ms. Harrow.
Ben, speaking through the phone propped against the sugar jar, raised his eyebrows.
“Really?”
Clara nodded.
“She taught me that adults can be wrong.”
Lauren smiled.
“And what did you teach her?”
Clara thought about it.
“That children can know things adults don’t expect.”
Ben’s expression softened.
“That’s a good lesson.”
Clara wrote for several minutes. Then she stopped.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Where was Ms. Harrow before she came to my school?”
Lauren looked up.
“I don’t know. Why?”
“She said the report sounded like something from a movie. Maybe she saw military dogs in a movie before.”
“That’s possible.”
Clara frowned at the page.
“She also said she had seen another report copied from the internet.”
Ben’s voice came through the phone.
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking she was afraid of being fooled again.”
Lauren sat beside her.
“Sometimes people carry an old mistake into a new situation. It doesn’t make what they did right, but it can help explain it.”
Clara considered this.
“Do you think someone fooled her before?”
“Maybe,” Lauren said. “You could ask, if she’s comfortable telling you.”
The following morning, Clara waited until the other students had left the classroom.
“Ms. Harrow?”
The teacher looked up from her desk.
“Yes?”
“Did someone lie to you before?”
