for me there,” Frankie said, not wanting to think of Ali walking that dark road by herself at night. “Okay?”
“Sure. Don’t worry about me. I can always snooze on his couch if I get tired.”
Frankie nodded. Thank God she’d met Tony last night. She’d been feeling a little nervous about Ali’s friendship with him at first, but she’d gotten a good feeling from him last night. Now that she felt she could trust him, there was that much less to worry about. She pulled Ali close for a hug.
“Be good,” she said.
“I will. Don’t get into an accident trying to get there too quickly.”
A brief smile touched Frankie’s lips. “I won’t, Mother.”
“You’d better go,” Ali said, “or you’ll be late.”
Frankie nodded and hurried to the car.
* * *
An hour of studying biology was about all that Ali could take. It was one of her favorite subjects, but some days simply weren’t meant for studying. She was tired of trying to decipher the handwriting in her notebook, the textbook was written in a style that was about as interesting as having the flu, the house was too quiet, and she just felt too cooped up.
It was time to go outside and see photosynthesis at work, firsthand. Time to look at some insects instead of photographs of microscopic spores. Time to collect leaf samples, bark samples—in short, it was time for some fieldwork.
The first thing she did was turn the earth in the vegetable plot that she and her mother had marked out earlier in the day. Tony had given her all kinds of seeds and she was excited about having her very first garden. She saved the sod she’d dug up to put in around the front of the house where it was needed, but by the time she was finished digging in the garden, she was too hot and sweaty to do anything with them. Tomorrow would be soon enough, she hoped. What she wanted now was a shower.
Once inside, she hurried upstairs to get undressed. She pulled off her T-shirt, standing in front of the window, and looked out, thinking how nice it was to be able to change in front of an open window and not have to worry about anyone staring in at you.
She tossed her T-shirt into a corner of her room and started to take off her shorts when she paused, thinking she saw something move in the trees beyond their backyard. She backed away quickly and put her T-shirt on again. Maybe it’s the stag, she thought and brought her binoculars to the window. But when she had them focused and had brought the object of her interest up close, she saw that it wasn’t the stag. It looked like a person. Ali frowned as she studied what she could see of the figure in the glasses, remembering the other morning when she’d thought she’d seen someone spying on the house.
It didn’t look like an adult, she decided, but it was hard to tell if it was even a boy or girl with that floppy hat on. The long hair didn’t tell her anything. Then she saw what the figure was fooling around with. It was her Walkman.
The nerve of that kid! First stealing her Walkman, and then sitting out there, practically in her backyard, mucking around with it. Tossing the binoculars onto her bed, Ali raced downstairs and out the front door.
She circled around to the back by way of the road that went up to Tony’s, keeping to the ditch and using what cover she could. Here’s where all those late night Westerns came in handy, she thought. She was Ali Wayne, sneaking up on the outlaws. Clint Treasure, closing in on her bounty.
Moving as quietly as she could, she crept nearer. When she finally spotted her target, she realized that she could probably have driven a trail bike in and barely been noticed. The girl—thank God she wasn’t some muscle-bound farm boy—had the earphones on and was listening to the tape that Ali had last played in the machine. From the expression on the girl’s face, Ali couldn’t tell if she liked Flashdance or not. She looked like she’d never heard that kind of music before in her
“Sure. Don’t worry about me. I can always snooze on his couch if I get tired.”
Frankie nodded. Thank God she’d met Tony last night. She’d been feeling a little nervous about Ali’s friendship with him at first, but she’d gotten a good feeling from him last night. Now that she felt she could trust him, there was that much less to worry about. She pulled Ali close for a hug.
“Be good,” she said.
“I will. Don’t get into an accident trying to get there too quickly.”
A brief smile touched Frankie’s lips. “I won’t, Mother.”
“You’d better go,” Ali said, “or you’ll be late.”
Frankie nodded and hurried to the car.
* * *
An hour of studying biology was about all that Ali could take. It was one of her favorite subjects, but some days simply weren’t meant for studying. She was tired of trying to decipher the handwriting in her notebook, the textbook was written in a style that was about as interesting as having the flu, the house was too quiet, and she just felt too cooped up.
It was time to go outside and see photosynthesis at work, firsthand. Time to look at some insects instead of photographs of microscopic spores. Time to collect leaf samples, bark samples—in short, it was time for some fieldwork.
The first thing she did was turn the earth in the vegetable plot that she and her mother had marked out earlier in the day. Tony had given her all kinds of seeds and she was excited about having her very first garden. She saved the sod she’d dug up to put in around the front of the house where it was needed, but by the time she was finished digging in the garden, she was too hot and sweaty to do anything with them. Tomorrow would be soon enough, she hoped. What she wanted now was a shower.
Once inside, she hurried upstairs to get undressed. She pulled off her T-shirt, standing in front of the window, and looked out, thinking how nice it was to be able to change in front of an open window and not have to worry about anyone staring in at you.
She tossed her T-shirt into a corner of her room and started to take off her shorts when she paused, thinking she saw something move in the trees beyond their backyard. She backed away quickly and put her T-shirt on again. Maybe it’s the stag, she thought and brought her binoculars to the window. But when she had them focused and had brought the object of her interest up close, she saw that it wasn’t the stag. It looked like a person. Ali frowned as she studied what she could see of the figure in the glasses, remembering the other morning when she’d thought she’d seen someone spying on the house.
It didn’t look like an adult, she decided, but it was hard to tell if it was even a boy or girl with that floppy hat on. The long hair didn’t tell her anything. Then she saw what the figure was fooling around with. It was her Walkman.
The nerve of that kid! First stealing her Walkman, and then sitting out there, practically in her backyard, mucking around with it. Tossing the binoculars onto her bed, Ali raced downstairs and out the front door.
She circled around to the back by way of the road that went up to Tony’s, keeping to the ditch and using what cover she could. Here’s where all those late night Westerns came in handy, she thought. She was Ali Wayne, sneaking up on the outlaws. Clint Treasure, closing in on her bounty.
Moving as quietly as she could, she crept nearer. When she finally spotted her target, she realized that she could probably have driven a trail bike in and barely been noticed. The girl—thank God she wasn’t some muscle-bound farm boy—had the earphones on and was listening to the tape that Ali had last played in the machine. From the expression on the girl’s face, Ali couldn’t tell if she liked Flashdance or not. She looked like she’d never heard that kind of music before in her
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