Trinity on Track

Fiona Snyckers

Description

Who was Jim Grey and how did he die? Trinity Luhabe returns to school for the second term of Grade Ten determined to solve this mystery. A sixty-year-old diary might hold the answers she is looking for, but real life has a way of distracting her from her the past. Soon Trinity finds herself caught between the past and the present – between two girls who need her help and understanding.
The trouble with the past is that it won’t stay buried, as Trinity and her friends are about to discover with shocking consequences.
Following her adventures in Team Trinity, Trinity Luhabe is back in her most engaging story yet as author Fiona Snyckers tackles a sensitive subject.

Informations

• Publié par: Modjaji Books
• Date de parution: 19 février 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 4
• EAN13: 9781928215691
• Langue: English

Extrait

Publication © Modjaji Books 2018
Text © Fiona Snyckers 2018
First published in 2018 by Modjaji Books Pty Ltd www.modjajibooks.co.za
ISBN 978-1-928215-68-4 (Print)
ISBN 978-1-928215-69-1 (ePub)
Edited by Helen Moffett
Book and cover design by Monique Cleghorn
Cover artwork by Toni Olivier and Tammy Griffin
Printed and bound by Digital Action
Set in Palatino
To: Trinity Luhabe
From: President of the Paranormal Association of South Africa [e-mail]
Re: Ghost of Sisulu House

Dear Ms Luhabe,
We were fascinated to hear about your close encounter of the eerie kind with a paranormal manifestation in your boarding house. How privileged you are to have had such an experience!
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1 x Oscillating Vibration-sensitive EMF-meter – R 7,655.99
This is the absolute bare minimum in equipment you will need while ghost hunting. You will find our prices extremely competitive. And if your order comes to more than R15,000 we will deliver it FREE OF CHARGE to anywhere in South Africa.
So don’t delay. Visit our website for 1-click ordering today!
Kind regards
Eufemia Batton
Paranormal Association of South Africa
To: Trinity Luhabe
From: News Editor – Sandton Chronicle [e-mail]
Re: Ghost of Sisulu House

Dear Ms Luhabe,
Thanks for your email about the ghost living in the boarding house of your school. We were very interested to read about it. You have a lively and entertaining writing style, and your letter was a great hit in the newsroom!
Unfortunately, it won’t be possible to "send a team of reporters" to your school in order to "investigate fully". I agree that this is a very touching story and quite mysterious too, but our reporters are fully committed to covering a story about pollution in the Braamfontein Spruit this week. I agree that this is a local issue and therefore of interest to Sandton residents, but I fear our managing editor would not see it in that light.
I will therefore be publishing your email in the letters column of our newspaper next Wednesday. Who knows? It might be read by someone who knows the history of your ghost and could shed light on it. I will forward you any replies we get. Good luck with the ghost-hunting!
Kind regards,
Sameera Aboobakar
Sandton Chronicle
Caxton House, Craighall Park
To: Trinity Luhabe
From: Dean of Students – Sisulu House [e-mail]
Re: Accommodation for Term 2

Hi Trinity,
We are, of course, delighted to hear how much you enjoyed your stay at Sisulu House during the first term while your parents were overseas. We can honestly say that it was a pleasure to have you, especially as Headmaster Dr Hussein decided to let bygones be bygones in the little matter of the Gumede Shield.
We are thrilled to hear that you wish you "could be a boarder forever and never go home again". Unfortunately, it would be against our policy to tell your parents that they have to let you board again this term. If your parents have made up their minds to keep you at home this term, not even the information that you are "a hundred times less spoiled" at Sisulu House than you are at home is likely to sway them.
I suggest you keep working on your parents if you really want to board again, but we definitely won’t get involved.
Kind regards,
Grace Gcobani
Dean of Students
Sisulu House
Brentwood College
CHAPTER 1
My parents have the worst timing ever.
At the beginning of this year they shoved me into boarding school for a whole term totally against my will. I was like, "You can’t make me go. I’ll live in a cardboard box by the side of the road." And they were like, "Don’t be silly, you’ll get cold."
And now that they’re back from opening a mine in Chile, they’re, like, "We’re back! You can move back home now. We’ll all be together again."
Except, the thing is, I really want to stay in the boarding house this term. I don’t want to move back home at all, but apparently that’s "not an option".
"I’ll live in a cardboard box by the side of the road!" I yell.
"I’ll come and visit you and laugh," says my brother Caleb. My death stare warns him to stay out of this.
My father gives me an exhausted look. (Total ploy for sympathy and it is not going to work.) "Trinity, you were horrified when we told you that you were boarding last term. Now you want to stay there? What possible reason can you have for this change of heart?"
"I told you before – I can’t tell you."
"Well, if you think we’re going to pay to have you spend a term in Sisulu House for some secret reason that you won’t even share with us…" My mother breaks off, shaking her head and standing up.
Now my dad is standing up too. My brothers are slither ing towards the exits – their game consoles are calling to them. This family conference is over and I have lost.
"Okay, okay! It’s because of the ghost," I say loudly.
That gets everyone’s attention. My parents stop and turn around. They don’t exactly sit down again, but at least they’re listening. "What ghost?"
"The ghost of Jim Grey. He was this boy who died at Sisulu House in the 1960s, and his ghost still walks. I’ve met him. I’ve talked to him. Lael and I are going to find out who he is and how he died. And we seriously need to be at Sisulu House this term to do our research."
Gripping stuff, hey? I feel like if it was a movie, I could sell it to Hollywood.
But instead of sitting down and immediately sending off an EFT to Sisulu House so I can stay there for another term, my parents just sigh and shake their heads and LEAVE THE ROOM.
I know. I couldn’t believe it either.
I fling myself on my bed and fire off a WhatsApp to my best friend Lael to let her know that my parents are being stubborn. She’s online, so her reply comes back in seconds.
Lael : Bad luck, babe. But the good news is, my mom is totally cool with letting me carry on boarding this term.
Trinity : How is that good news??? Are you trying to make me jealous???
I look at the screen and see her furiously typing away.
Lael : Ha! Not at all. Think about it – if we were both living at home this term, we’d have no excuse to go into Sisulu House. Day girls aren’t allowed
in unless they’re visiting a boarder. This way, you can visit me all the time and we can go ghost-hunting.
Trinity : My parents won’t let me visit you that much, especially if they know we’re ghost-hunting.
Lael : Just pretend you want to join evening prep. Day girls are allowed. You can say you concentrate better during supervised prep. I bet your mom will practically force you to attend.
Hmm. My mom’s not dumb. I think she’ll be suspicious of this sudden desire of mine to join evening prep. But on the other hand, she tends to clutch at straws where my schoolwork is concerned, so maybe she’ll go along with it.

The day before school starts, I ask our driver, Lungile, to drop me at Sisulu House in the afternoon so I can say hi to all my friends in the Grade Ten dormitory. I’m really excited to see them. Lael is the only one I’ve laid eyes on this holiday. She spent a week with us in Cape Town at the beginning of April.
Nosipho spent the last three weeks in New York with her mom, who is a single parent who travels a lot. They live in Joburg, but Nosipho has to board because her mom doesn’t have time to drive her around all afternoon during term time. She boards during the week and goes home or to her aunt on weekends.
Yasmin was in Durban, which is where her family lives. And Priya went to the Seychelles with her family.
As soon as I walk into the dormitory and give hello hugs to everyone, I can see that Nosipho has a secret. Her eyes are huge and sparkling, and she looks twitchy.
Nosipho is the only one of us who has an actual boyfriend, so I’m guessing this has something to do with him. His name is Themba. I doubt they broke up because she doesn’t look miserable enough for that. Maybe he told her he loved her. Whatever it is, she can’t wait for one of us to ask her about it.
Lael is the first to crack.
"Babe. Stop bouncing up and down like that. You’re making me nervous. Spit it out. What’s happened?"
"Okay, listen. I’ve been dying for you all to arrive so I can tell you about this. Shut the door. I don’t want Matron to overhear. You know how she sneaks up and down the corridors eavesdropping."
The matron of Sisulu House wears shoes with soft rubber soles, which turn her into a stealth missile of quietness. Also, she seems to know everything that goes on in here, so maybe she does eavesdrop. I’m not taking any chances, so I close the door, making sure it clicks shut.
"Spill," orders Lael.
"Well, you remember last term how we all went to the fireworks at St Mark’s?"
Everyone nods except me. I missed the fireworks for the first time in three years. It’s kind of a long story, but I was busy giving a statement to the police and evidence in a disciplinary hearing.
"Sorry, Trinity. I