Chapter Thirty
It was August 31st, and fifty new cadets, still in their civilian clothing, were lined up in two rows on the stage.
Miss Pompeii came to center stage and placed her hands on the podium. “Standing before you is the junior class of Octavia Pompeii Academy for the year nineteen twenty-seven.” She waited for the wave of applause to subside. “Parents, guardians, and friends, say goodbye to your children for the next four months, because they will be hard at work until Christmas vacation.”
Fuse and I sat with Marie and James Fusilier. The other new seniors were scattered throughout the audience. All fifty of us had been promoted to seniors.
“Last fall,” Miss Pompeii said, “we were pleased to have our first two young ladies enroll at the academy. They are Elizabeth Keesler and
