Not because he was going to die of a broken heart. I mean, couples break up all the time, and he and Liberty hadn’t been going out that long. But the way Liberty had dumped him was heartless. Cody’s pride had taken a real kicking. And considering how he’d stuck up for her through the whole molestation thing, it really ticked me off.
I couldn’t help thinking about the way Liberty had dissed Ryan on the plane. Was that how it was with Cody too? Had Liberty dumped him because a college guy suddenly caught her interest? I didn’t know the answer, but I intended to find out.
Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.
The next morning I waited in my usual spot outside the main doors of the school. But when Liberty got off the bus, she didn’t head over. Instead, she walked off with some grade eleven girls. I admit I was surprised, but it didn’t bother me. After all, I couldn’t really ask her about Cody with a bunch of other people listening in.
So I waited for her at her locker. Good plan, except Liberty never showed. We had only one class together that morning, so I made up my mind to talk with her then. That didn’t work out either. Even though we always sat together, the chairs on either side of her were taken by the time I got there.
When she walked right past me at lunchtime and sat at another table, the light finally went on. Liberty was avoiding me. It looked like Cody wasn’t the only one who’d been dumped.
All afternoon I thought about that — which is probably why I couldn’t get any formulas to balance in chemistry and why I let in four goals during a soccer game in phys ed. And though being snubbed by Liberty shocked and embarrassed me, those feelings soon changed to anger. The more I thought about things, the angrier I got.
Liberty had used me. She’d used me to get to Cody, and she’d used me to get in with the other kids at school. And now that she didn’t need me anymore, she was tossing me away like an empty candy bar wrapper. By the time the last bell rang I was so mad it was a wonder steam wasn’t pouring out of my ears. If I’d passed Liberty in the hall at that moment I would probably have punched her in the nose.
I made a quick trip to my locker and then poked my head into the office to let Mom know I’d be taking the bus home.
As I climbed aboard, I could see Liberty at the back with her new grade eleven friends. I took a seat near the front beside Sarah Shaw. When the bus stopped at the end of Liberty’s driveway, I didn’t even watch her leave. A quarter mile down the road, I got off with Sarah. Since my stop was another two miles away, Sarah was more than a little surprised. But I crossed my fingers behind my back and explained that I’d left something at Liberty’s that I needed right away. I didn’t tell her it was my self-respect.
With my eyes fixed blindly on the rolling purple hills ahead, and my mind focused on what I was going to say, I began the trek back to Liberty’s house. I played out the different ways the conversation might go. At first, all I could see was me biting Liberty’s head off. That was the least she deserved! But the closer I got to her house, the less angry I got, and the more reasonable the conversations taking place in my head became.
I’d explain how hurt Cody and I were, and Liberty would apologize. She might even cry. She’d admit she’d made a mistake dumping Cody, and she’d beg me to help her get him back. Then she’d confess how embarrassed she was, and that was why she’d avoided me all day.
I sighed and raked my hand through a tall clump of golden horsetails at the side of the road. Yeah, right !
At the bottom of Liberty’s driveway I stopped. I wasn’t chickening out or anything. I just needed a minute to get my engines totally revved — kind of like an airplane that sits at the end of the runway for a second before barreling ahead for takeoff.
Chapter Twelve
Mrs. Hayes was frowning as she answered the door. For a second it looked like she wasn’t going to let me in. But then her frown dissolved and she pointed to the staircase behind her.
“Liberty’s in her room,” she said. “Go on up.”
Liberty didn’t hear me coming. It was a good minute before she noticed me standing in the doorway. She was sprawled across her bed, talking on the phone. Her eyes were sparkling and there was laughter in her voice. She looked so much like the Liberty I was used to that I almost forgot why I’d come. But then she saw me, and her expression became hard as stone.
“I’ll have to call you back,” she told the person on the other end of the phone. She pushed herself up to a sitting position and glared at me. “How did you get in here?” Then she bellowed into the hallway behind me. “Mother!” And again. “Mother!”
“Save your breath,” I said. “I’m not staying.”
“What do you want?” Liberty snarled. “And make it fast. I have things to do.” As if to prove her point, she got to her feet and stalked across the room to her dresser.
“That’s a nice way to talk to your best friend.”
Liberty didn’t even have the decency to look embarrassed. She just shot me a pitying glance and began rummaging through a drawer.
“You wish,” she muttered.
“Actually, I don’t,” I said.
That caught her attention, and the smug look on her face slipped. But only for a second.
“What do you want?” she demanded again.
“I want to know why you broke up with Cody.”
Liberty stopped rummaging and regarded me with amusement. Then she stuck her bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout. “Why? Did Cody get his little feelings hurt? Is he crying? Did he send you over here to beg me to take him back?”
It was all I could do not to pounce on Liberty and scratch her eyes out. I still don’t know how I managed to keep my cool. But I did. “Answer my question,” I said.
Liberty let out an enormous sigh. “I would have thought it was obvious. Cody is a little boy. And I’m looking for a man.”
I felt my eyebrows jump, but the rest of me stayed perfectly still.
“Like Jason Kaufmann?” I said snidely. “Is that your idea of a man — this week ?”
A smile played at the corners of Liberty’s mouth. “Maybe.” She shrugged. “As soon as I find out, I’ll let you know.” Then she turned back to her dresser.
“Or are you looking for someone more like Mr. Henderson?”
I don’t even remember thinking those words, never mind saying them out loud! But I must have, because Liberty grabbed the edge of the drawer so tightly her knuckles went white.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she snapped, but she didn’t sound quite as confident as she had before.
“Well, you see, that’s the thing,” I said in a buttery voice. “I do know.” I watched Liberty’s back stiffen. “Because Ryan told me. And he knows because he saw you. He was in the band room that morning — in one of the practice booths. He saw you unbutton your blouse, and he saw you throw yourself at Mr. Henderson. He also saw Mr. Henderson reject you.” That last part wasn’t completely true, but Liberty didn’t know that.
She spun around. Judging from the horrified expression on her face, I’d guessed right.
I didn’t even try to hide my pleasure. In fact, I couldn’t resist rubbing a little salt into the wound. “I guess Mr. Henderson isn’t interested in little girls.”
I expected a smart comeback like, It’s his loss! But for once, Liberty was speechless. I knew I had the answers I’d come for.
So I turned around — and walked right into Mrs. Hayes. I mumbled an apology, but she didn’t hear me. She didn’t see me either. It was like I wasn’t even there. Her eyes were totally glued on Liberty. And they were flashing fire. It’s a wonder the whole room didn’t burst into flame.
For once, I was glad I wasn’t Liberty.
Cody picked me up about a mile from home.
“So, did you rearrange her face?” he asked as I slid onto the seat beside him.
“Whose face?”
“Liberty’s. You were just at her house, weren’t you?”
“How do
you know?” I said, unable to keep the amazement out of my voice.
He grinned. “Easy. I’m smart.”
“Since when?”
His grin got bigger. “Since I dumped Liberty.”
I just about choked. “Excuse me. I hate to burst your bubble, but she’s the one who broke up with you — remember?”
Cody shrugged. “She must’ve found out I was going to dump her and beat me to it so she wouldn’t look bad.”
I rolled my eyes. “Right, Romeo. And why would you dump her ?”
He shrugged again. “I didn’t like the competition.”
“You mean Jason Kaufmann?”
“I mean her dad.”
“Say what?”
“Mr. Hayes. When Liberty and I were together, that’s all she talked about. It was like she was using me to make him jealous or something. And when it didn’t work, she dumped me. It’s kind of sick, don’t you think?”
“Yeah,” I mumbled. “Sick and sad.”
That night I called Ryan. After I told him what had happened at Liberty’s house, we decided Mr. Henderson had been a victim long enough. It was time to set the record straight.
When my mom heard the story, she immediately phoned Mr. Garvey. Suddenly Ryan and I had an early morning appointment at the office. All night I tossed and turned, thinking about it. I knew Ryan and I were doing the right thing, but that didn’t stop me from worrying. After all, we were crossing Liberty, and look what had happened to Mr. Henderson when he’d tried it.
By the next morning I was a wreck. I thought my stomach was as knotted up as it could get, but when the office door swung open and Liberty’s mom walked in, it snarled up a little bit more.
Mrs. Hayes looked every bit as fierce as she had the last time I’d seen her. She walked up to the counter and started talking to my mother. She said an unexpected business development required the family to leave Sutter’s Crossing immediately. She’d arrange for Liberty’s things to be picked up later. Then she placed two envelopes on the counter and left.
From where I was sitting, I could see the top envelope. It was addressed to Mr. Henderson. And it was in Liberty’s handwriting. The second envelope was a mystery. At least it was until morning announcements.
That’s when Mr. Garvey read it over the public address system for the whole school to hear. It was from Liberty too. In it she admitted she’d lied about Mr. Henderson trying to molest her, and she apologized to everyone for what she’d done.
I figured Liberty had been forced to write those letters, but since her dad was out of town, it had to have been her mother who’d done the forcing. It was probably the first time Mrs. Hayes had made Liberty do anything in her whole life. But I had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last.
“So when will Mr. Henderson be back at school?” I asked my mom as we drove home that day.
She shook her head. “He won’t.”
“What do you mean?” I demanded. “Liberty confessed. They can’t take Mr. Henderson’s job away now!”
“No, they can’t. But it doesn’t matter. He handed in his resignation. He’s going after his wife to try and salvage what’s left of his marriage.”
“But he’s innocent!” I insisted. “Why doesn’t Mrs. Henderson just come back?”
Mom sighed. “It’s not that easy. When something like trust gets broken, it’s a hard thing to fix.”
Though I didn’t like it, I knew she was right. My friendship with Ryan was proof of that. I shuddered to think how close I’d come to losing it.
Part of me wanted to blame Liberty for everything that had happened, but I couldn’t.
I’m not saying she was innocent. She wasn’t. She’d blown in and out of Sutter’s Crossing like a tornado — causing about the same amount of damage. The thing is, she hadn’t done it alone. Cody, Ryan, me, Liberty’s parents, Mrs. Henderson, the kids at school, people in the community — we were all partly to blame for the things that had happened. If Liberty had manipulated us, it’s because we let her.
Though I hated to admit it, I knew we were partly responsible for the business with Mr. Henderson too. We should have stood up for him, but we hadn’t. Now all we could do was hope he could put his life back together.
Which just left Liberty. Amazingly, my feelings about her were still confused. I didn’t admire her anymore, and I sure didn’t envy her. But I didn’t hate her either. What was the point? She was gone, and the trouble she’d caused was gone with her. And that’s because the trouble with Liberty was Liberty.
Orca Soundings
Orca Soundings is a teen fiction series that features realistic teenage characters in stories that focus on contemporary situations and problems.
Soundings are short, thematic novels ideal for class or independent reading. Written by such stalwart authors as William Bell, Beth Goobie, Sheree Fitch and Kristin Butcher, there will be between eight and ten new titles a year.
For more information and reading copies, please call Orca Book Publishers at 1-800-210-5277.
Other titles in the Orca Soundings series:
Bull Rider (Marilyn Helmer)
No Problem (Dayle C. Gaetz)
Who Owns Kelly Paddik? (Beth Goobie)
The Hemingway Tradition (Kristin Butcher)
One More Step (Sheree Fitch)
Kicked Out (Beth Goobie)
Refuge Cove (Lesley Choyce)
Sticks and Stones (Beth Goobie)
Death Wind (William Bell)
A former teacher turned writer and reviewer, Kristin lives in Victoria, BC. The Trouble with Liberty is her second Orca Soundings title. Her first, The Hemingway Tradition, garnered rave reviews.
Other Orca books by Kristin Butcher include The Gramma War and Cairo Kelly and the Mann.
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