Read Online Last Chance by Norah McClintock - Free Book Online

struggling with them. A few moments later, all three filed through the back door and carried their loads into the office directly across from mine.
    â€œYou can just set them down here,” Kathy said before poking her head into my office. “Why don’t you take a break from that for a few minutes, Robyn? I could use your help over here.”
    I followed her into the office across the hall.
    Thud, thud, thud
went the boxes as the three boys dropped them onto the desk.
    â€œMan, what’s in these, anyway?” one of them asked. “Lead?”
    â€œMoney,” Kathy said.
    â€œMust be
a lot
of money,” the other boy said.
    â€œIt’s mostly coins,” Kathy said. “Dimes, nickels, quarters. But there are bills too. Fives, tens, twenties.”
    The first boy stared at the boxes as if he were trying to see through the cardboard. The second boy whistled softly.
    â€œHow much do you think is in there?” the first boy said.
    â€œI’ll let you know after it’s been counted, Antoine,” Kathy said.
    â€œWant some help with that?” Antoine said. He looked hungrily at the boxes.
    â€œYeah, we’ll count it for you,” the other boy said. He sounded as eager as Antoine.
    Of the three of them, only Nick didn’t seem interested. The boxes might as well have been cement blocks as far as he was concerned.
    Kathy laughed. “Thanks, but I think I can handle it,” she said. “Besides, you guys are going to be late for class if you don’t get a move on, and you know how Ed feels about tardiness.”
    Antoine and the other boy grumbled. Nick nudged Antoine, and the three of them trooped out of the office. Kathy grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the tape that sealed the boxes. All three were crammed with money. Just as Kathy had said, most of it was coins. But not all of it. There were plenty of bills—fives, ten, and twenties—peeking out from among the coins.
    â€œIt looks like someone just dumped everything in there,” I said.
    â€œThat’s exactly what happened,” Kathy said. “We did campaigns at a couple of malls over the weekend—displays on animal cruelty, pictures of the animals we have for adoption, that kind of thing. We do mall displays at least once a month, when we can get enough volunteers together to set up and to stay to answer questions. We always have a container near the display to collect donations. They’re big plastic balls, like the kind you see people using to collect donations around Christmas. People drop in their spare change. Some people are more generous and put in five or ten or even twenty dollars. At the end of the day, the containers get emptied into those reinforced boxes. I usually pick them up from the volunteer in charge on my way in on Monday.” She looked down at the three boxes. “Now comes the fun part.”
    â€œFun part?”
    â€œI have some volunteers coming in later to roll the coins. We’ll count it all then. But it would be nice to have things organized for them. Would you mind sorting out the coins, Robyn?”
    â€œNo problem,” I said.
    Kathy left me to the task. A moment later, I heard her voice in the hallway just outside the office door.
    â€œNick, what are you still doing here?” she said.
    â€œI wanted to ask you something,” Nick said.
    â€œWell, it’ll have to wait. You’re already late. Now scoot!”
    I pushed two of the boxes to the far end of the desk—it was like trying to shift a pile of bricks. Then I scooped handfuls of coins out of the third box until the box was light enough to tip out. I started by picking out all the paper money—there was even one fifty-dollar bill—and stacking it in piles, which I set at the back of the desk. Next, I sorted the coins. By the time I’d finished, I had a mound of each type of coin.
    I emptied the second box onto the desk and went through the same