Orphans 05 Runaways Page 8

  two opened the door on Raven's side and leaned in. "Hello again," he said. He was short and stocky

  with light brown hair and blue eyes, a thin mouth and

  a round jaw with pock-marked cheeks and a bulbous

  nose. "Nice hair," he said, reaching in and touching

  Raven's ebony strands. She pulled away from him. "Don't touch me," she cried and we could see

  the fear in her eyes.

  "I'm just giving you a compliment. Don't get so

  uppity, Maria."

  "My name's not Maria," Raven mumbled under

  her breath, not wanting to talk to him any more than

  she had to.

  Paulio reached into his pocket and pulled out a

  switchblade.

  "We could cut some of that off and tie it to our

  bikes, Duke, huh?"

  "Good idea," the one practically on Raven's lap

  said. The stench of whiskey was so strong on his

  breath, it filled the car and turned my stomach. In the rearview mirror, I could see the look of

  terror on Butterfly's face and the anger on Crystal's.

  We were out in the middle of nowhere, no houses, no

  other people and certainly no other traffic. They had

  tricked us, just hoping we would take their advice. "How much money you got?" the one called

  Duke asked me.

  "We've got tons of money. That's why we're

  driving such a nice car," I said with defiance.

  Instinctively, I knew that if I showed any fear, we

  would be even worse off.

  "Oh, you're a wise guy, huh?" he said. "Maybe

  we'll cut off your hair, too. Not that you have much." "What about her ear? You could wear that on

  your belt, Tony."

  The third man put his foot on the front bumper

  and laughed.

  "The toll is fifty dollars," Duke said, "but in

  five minutes, it goes up to seventy-five."

  "That's two minutes, Duke," Paulio said. Duke

  laughed.

  "He's right. Two minutes. Well?"

  "I think we'll take another route," I said. "Too late. You're on this one," Duke insisted.

  He reached for Raven's hair again and she pushed his

  hand away.

  "We'll tell the police about this if you don't

  leave us alone," Crystal threatened.

  "You know," Duke said, twisting his mouth

  until it curled in the right corner, "somehow, I don't

  think you will. Am I right, four-eyes?"

  "No, you're all dead wrong about everything," I

  said and dropped my foot on the accelerator. The wagon shot forward, the opened door

  swinging back on Duke and jarring him so that he fell

  to the side. The one in front just got his foot off the bumper in time, but that threw him off balance and he fell. The wagon slammed into the bikes parked in front of us, one flying to the left, the other to the right.

  I felt the tires go over it.

  The cyclists shouted curses at us. Raven shut

  the door and I backed up. Paulio turned his bike

  toward us, but I put the wagon in drive and headed for

  him and he had to speed up to get out of my way. He

  practically flew off the road and into the ditch,

  somersaulting head over heels in midair I didn't wait

  to see what happened. We bounced over the bumps

  and potholes so hard, our heads nearly hit the car roof.

  As soon as I saw the highway, I sped up. In minutes

  the side road was behind us.

  "Don't go too fast, Brooke," Crystal warned. I

  slowed down quickly.

  Butterfly was crying. Raven looked stunned. I

  kept my eyes on the road, numbed by our escape.

  Crystal was watching out the rear window.

  "No sign of them. I think you totaled their

  bikes," she said with a smile.

  "Just keep-going," Raven gasped. "Don't slow

  down too much," she begged.

  I didn't. We drove on, no one speaking, only the

  sounds of Butterfly's sobs and our heavy breathing

  filling the air.

  "Butterfly, it's okay, we're fine," Crystal said as

  she put her arm around Butterfly and started to

  comfort her.

  "You better watch the map and the road,

  Crystal. We can't afford mistakes now," I said. "This exit," she said. "It's about twenty-five

  miles to 1-287. Watch for that."

  When it came up, I made the right turns and we

  were heading southwest. Crystal directed us to

  another highway and then we were going west toward

  Pennsylvania. There was no sign of the bikers. I was

  confident enough to sit back and relax, but Crystal

  was worried about Butterfly. I could see it in her face

  when I looked in the rearview mirror. Instinctively, I

  pulled off the road at the next rest stop and we all took

  a deep breath. Butterfly looked like she could go

  catatonic on us at any moment.

  "We need it," Crystal said. I looked at Raven

  and she nodded. The two of us got into the back seat

  alongside them and we put our heads together. "We're sisters. We'll always be sisters . ." We

  chanted and held each other and after a few moments,

  it was as if the tension rose out of our bodies and

  floated away.

  Then we sat back.

  "Did you see the look on that Duke's face when

  Brooke put her foot down on the gas pedal?" Raven

  said and laughed.

  "The door whacked him hard," Crystal said. "I

  wonder if he lost any of his own hair."

  "I felt the wheels crunch on one of the bikes," I

  said.

  "They can't exactly go complaining to the

  police either, can they?" Raven asked.

  "Your ponytail guy sprouted wings," I added.

  We laughed again and then grew quiet for a moment. "I think we make a pretty good team," I said.

  "We're the super Orphanteers, aren't we, Butterfly?" She nodded, smiling.

  "Let's get back on the road," I said and got

  behind the wheel. "How about a song, Raven?" She thought a moment and began. Soon we

  were all joining her in the chorus. We're all right, I

  thought. We're going to be all right.

  We traveled for nearly three hours before stopping for lunch and the bathroom again, this time in a

  noisy restaurant. It was a little more expensive than I

  had thought and I could see that Crystal was right

  about how fast we'd spend our money. Despite using Gordon's credit card for gas, traveling was still going to be very expensive, especially on our budget. Thinking about ways to economize, I suggested fast food chicken for dinner and that was just what we

  had.

  By this time, because we had traveled all night

  and most of the day, we were all feeling and looking

  drained. Night was some ways off, but I didn't think I

  could drive much longer.

  "I think we're just going to have to turn in early

  tonight," I said.

  "Good idea," Crystal said. "Find what looks

  like a dead end road," she suggested.

  We had to go almost another twenty miles

  before something looked promising to all of us. We

  nearly missed it because the entrance was hidden by

  lush maple trees-, their branches forming a natural

  arch of rich green leaves and branches. The road had

  once been blacktopped, but now it was mostly gravel. "Perfect," Crystal remarked.

  "Aren't ther
e bears in there?" Butterfly asked

  worriedly.

  "Bears are not normally aggressive unless

  they're threatened or a mother bear's cubs are in

  danger," Crystal replied.

  "Normally?" Raven said raising her eyebrows.

  "We'll probably frighten most of the wildlife away

  anyhow," Crystal concluded.

  I turned in and drove very slowly until we

  found a place that looked safe beside the road. "Now what?" Raven asked.

  "Now, we can clean up the car and make it as

  comfortable as possible," Crystal said. "I think we're

  all tired enough to sleep on the roof."

  She was right about that. It took a while to get

  the back seat down. The latches were rusted and

  jammed Under the seats we not only found candy

  wrappers, hamburger trays and empty bottles of beer

  and wine, but a tray that once had some Chinese food,

  now hardened and moldy.

  "Let's sleep with the windows wide open," Raven said.

  "The bugs might get in," I said. Crystal nodded. We worked it out where she, Raven and

  Butterfly could spread out fairly comfortably in the

  back and I stretched out on the front seat. I didn't

  expect more than ten minutes to pass before we were

  all asleep.

  The sun had just gone down behind the birch,

  maple and hickory trees that surrounded us. Darkness felt like a warm blanket. It was very quiet. The birds

  had gone to sleep, too.

  "I wonder what Gordon's doing now," Raven

  said.

  "Thinking of us, that's for sure," I replied.

  Raven laughed.

  "I don't want to think of him," Butterfly said.

  We all grunted.

  "Good night," I told them and they all said good

  night.

  I didn't wake again until the car was filled with

  light. It lit up my eyelids and washed out my dreams.

  My lids flickered and I realized it wasn't bright

  because of the morning sun.

  "Oh no," I thought and sat up. A car was right

  behind us, right on top of us.

  Before I could warn the girls, there was a tap at

  my window and the face of an elderly man. He was

  peering in with his hand over his eyes. My heart did

  flip-flops. The window on my side had been rolled

  completely closed. Slowly, I lowered it. As I did so,

  the others began to stir.

  "Well, I'll be darned," the old man said, "a

  bunch of lambs who have lost their way. What'cha

  doin' sleepin' in a car, for goodness sakes, when there's plenty of room in the house? Go on," he said, pointing ahead. "Follow the road. Go on. Nana will be

  happy to see you all. Go on."

  I looked back at Crystal.

  "You better do as he says," she whispered.

  "After all, we can't very well run a little old man off

  the road."

  I started the engine and drove slowly ahead. He

  got into his car and followed right on my bumper.

  There was nothing else we could do.

  5 A Glimpse of Heaven

  The two-story house that appeared before us looked lost in time. There was a small patch of lawn, the grass in desperate need of cutting and weeding. Trees near the house, and especially three very large weeping willows, had been permitted to grow wild. Their untrimmed branches actually touched the roof in places. I imagined that in the daytime, the leaves blocked a great deal of the sunlight, and when the wind blew, the inhabitants probably imagined giant fingers scratching overhead.

  The house had a fieldstone foundation and a rough, grainy stucco exterior. There was an arch on the right that opened to a small patio and garden. When the car headlights illuminated it, I saw what looked like a broken fountain shaped like a large saucer with a cherub rising out of the middle.

  The windows had black shutters, and some of the windows on the bottom floor had lights in them. To the right of the house was a field filled with tall weeds. It ran on for some distance until it reached a dark wooded area. The separate garage was on the left. The old man pulled around us, jabbing his finger at a spot where he wanted me to park and then pulled his car into the driveway, which was pitted and cracked. He got out of his car as I turned off the engine.

  "Maybe we should just back up and get away while we've got the chance," Raven suggested.

  "He could call the police and have them after us in minutes," Crystal said. "He's seen us and the car and the police surely have Gordon's description by now."

  "Let's see what he wants," I said.

  "Don't just sit in there. Get out, get out," he cried as he drew closer, rubbing his hands together. "Nana's in there listening to music, knitting something for Gerry's kids."

  "Who's Gerry?" I asked. No one moved.

  "My boy. He's the only one left living around here. Helen got married and moved to Akron. Burt's down in Atlanta. I don't expect Burt will ever get married. Come on," he urged. "We'll all have some hot chocolate."

  I glanced back at Crystal. She nodded and the four of us stepped out of the wagon.

  "Well, lookie here," he said fixing his eyes on Butterfly. "Aren't you a pretty little thing? Gerry's got a daughter with Goldilocks hair just like yours. What's your name?"

  "Janet," Butterfly said shyly.

  "Janet, Janet," he repeated, scratching his scalp as if he was trying to find her in his memory. He had small clumps of thin white hair around his bald crown and very bushy, Santa Claus eyebrows. His face was round and jolly, too. It was too dark to make out much more about him except that he was just an inch or so taller than Raven, who was the tallest of the four of us. He had long arms with thick forearms and big hands. He was stooped over, his shoulders rising close to the back of his wide neck. Despite his apparent age, there was still something powerful about him, something that reminded me of an old tree stump, aged, pale, but stubborn and strong.

  "Come on," he urged and headed down a slate walkway, some of the stones cracked and some rising up from years of freezing and thawing.

  The front door had a small multicolored window at the center. He just turned the knob. It wasn't locked.

  "Nana, we got guests," he called and stepped back to let us enter as he held the door open for us.

  As soon as we stepped into the house, I smelled the aromas left from the evening's dinner. It smelled like pot roast and home-baked bread. The house had the warmth of an old blanket, comfortable, broken in, cozy. Family photographs filled the walls on both sides of the small entryway. There was a wooden hatand-coat stand on our right and an old cast iron radiator on the left. A knitted light pink cover had been placed over it and some unopened mail lay on top of that.

  We could hear music coming from one of the rooms off the entryway.

  "Debussy," Crystal whispered. She said it so fast I thought about that game, Name that Tune. Crystal can name that tune in two notes.

  Raven closed the door quietly behind us as a thin, elderly lady, her white hair loosely pinned over her ears and around the back of her head, appeared. She wore a light blue cotton dress with a large cameo pin at the neck. The hem of the dress went down to her ankles. It had three-quarter length sleeves and we could see the glitter of her gold, jeweled bracelet on her right wrist and her expensive looking watch on the left.

  She had large, hazel eyes and nearly perfect lips that formed a gentle, friendly smile. Her skin looked remarkably soft with just deep crow's feet at her temples and some age spots on her forehead and cheeks. She wore no lipstick or makeup. I didn't think she needed it. She must have been a very pretty woman when she was younger, I thought.

  "Who's this, Norman?" she asked in a soft, friendly voice.

  "Four lost chicks, Nana. I found
them sleeping in their car in our driveway."

  "Oh dear," she said.

  "We didn't mean to trespass," I said quickly. "We thought it was an unused driveway."

  "Yes, it does look like we never use it. I told you, Norman. You should have Gerry get Billy Powers up here to fix that."

  "Gerry says it'll cost an arm and a leg and you know how he feels about this place," the old man said. He turned to us. "My son don't want us living here anymore. He says it's too much upkeep-- especially for prime candidates for the rest home like us."

  "Oh stop that, Norman Stevens," Nana chastised. "He never said nothing of the kind." Norman smiled at us.

  "He don't have to say it. I know what he's thinking. He's my boy. I should know, eh? Well," he continued, "tell Nana your names. Go on."

  She smiled at us with her hands folded against her stomach and waited. I wished I had asked Crystal if she thought we should use our real names, but there hadn't been time.

  "I'm Brooke," I said and each of us introduced ourselves. When Butterfly spoke, Nana's eyes softened even more and a wider, deeper smile settled on her face.

  "Oh look at her. She's so precious," she said. "Imagine, sleeping in your car. I want to know all about you girls and why you're sleeping in a car when I have all these bedrooms available," she added as if we had known her all our lives.

  "I was thinking I'd make us all some hot chocolate," Norman said.

  "You do that without dirtying up my kitchen, Norman Stevens," she told him with a kindly twinkle in her eyes.

  "She's always after me," he said with a chuckle. "For nearly sixty years, too."

  "You all come right in here," Nana indicated and led us into their living room.

  Cluttered was the word that came immediately to mind, but not dirty or messy. Every table top, every shelf, every available space was covered with antiques, vases, picture frames or figurines. There were lots of brass and rich woods, soft cushioned chairs and two sofas, all worn but not ragged. Some vain attempts had been made to polish and redo the arms of chairs and the tables. On the right wall was a bookcase filled with what looked like first editions, leather and cloth bindings. I saw Crystal's eyes get magnetized immediately. She was sweeping the book spines, absorbing the titles and authors like some literary explorer who had just stumbled on a real discovery.

  "Just find a place to sit anywhere," Nana urged. "It will take Norman a while to locate a pot and measure out six cups of hot chocolate. His eyes aren't what they used to be. Gerry doesn't want him driving anymore, but Norman's not one to admit to age or weakness of any kind. Never was."