Even before he reached the greenhouses that afternoon, Sam could hear banging and cursing. “Is that Mrs. Jackson?” he asked Li.

Li shrugged, but she sped up when he did, so that they arrived at the greenhouses well ahead of the others.

Mrs. Jackson wasn’t in the open space by the recycling bins where she usually handed out assignments, but rather off to one side, crouched over a bent piece of pipe that Sam suspected had come from the drainage system, though it wasn’t connected to anything at the moment.

Mrs. Jackson whacked at it several times, which didn’t appear to have any effect at all. She cursed.

“Um, Mrs. Jackson?” Li said.

The old woman straightened up and turned. “What are you lot doing here? Don’t tell me school&rsqu...

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