Maid of Honor

by Charlotte MacLeod

  “You’d better comb your hair and fix your face,” Persis told her at last. “What if somebody’s up when we get home?”

  Loni started to cry again. “Don’t say that!” she sobbed. “I’ll die if Mama finds out.”

  “What’s to find out? What happened to Todd? He tried to get funny and you wouldn’t come across, so he ditched you. Right?”

  Loni shook her head.

  “You might as well tell me so we can get our stories straight, just in case. Where were you drinking?”

  “A place Todd knows of,” Loni admitted grudgingly.

  “Where is it?”

  “I don’t know. Down toward South Springs.”

  “South Springs is at least sixty miles from here.” Which wouldn’t mean much to Todd Ormsey. He’d been picked up for speeding in far slower cars than a Sting Ray. “What sort of place was it?”

  “Not the sort Chet’s folks would go to, if that’s what’s worrying you.”

  “A dump, huh?”

  Persis wasn’t surprised. Todd had the reputation of never spending much on his women. Apparently he’d never felt he had to.

  “Didn’t you eat anything? What did you drink?”

  “We had pizza and beer. Ugh!”

  Loni clapped the handful of crumpled tissues to her mouth again, but she had nothing left to be sick with.

  “Don’t try to kid me,” said Persis. “You didn’t get like that on a couple of beers.”

  “Todd had a bottle of vodka in the car,” Loni confessed. “Quit nagging at me, will you? You’re worse than Mama. Can’t I do what I like for once in my life?”

  “When haven’t you?”

  “Never!” Loni exploded furiously. “Never once since I was born, if you want to know. Ever since I can remember, it’s been, ‘Loni, fix your hair.’ ‘Loni, don’t muss your pretty dress.’ ‘Loni, smile for Uncle Peter.’ Loni do this, Loni do that. If she ever said to me, ‘Loni, forget how you look and have a good time,’ I’d drop dead from the shock. Honest, sometimes I get so jealous of you, I could tear your eyes out.”

  “Jealous of me?” Persis couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  “Why shouldn’t I be?” Loni raged. “You go where you want, do what you like, and Mama never says a word. I break a fingernail, and it’s a national catastrophe. So now she’s got me wrapped up in Cowles Coatings, and I hope to God she’s satisfied.”

  “Aren’t you, Lon?”

  “What have I got to say about it? Learn the facts of life, kid. Chet Cowles is a good catch, so Mama caught him. I’m just the worm on the hook. Worms don’t talk, they squirm. Can’t you go any faster?”

  “No. I’m not taking any chances on getting stopped. Me without a license and you in that shape, they’d arrest us both.”

  Persis concentrated a while longer on not getting arrested. Then she asked, “Don’t you love Chet?”

  Loni shrugged. “Chet’s okay.”

  “Is that all?”

  Loni shrugged again.

  “But you’re going to marry him!”

  “What am I supposed to do, wait for a knight in shining armor to carry me off on his nice white horsie?”

  “A nice white horsie might be a darn sight safer than a white Sting Ray,” Persis reminded her. “You still haven’t told me what happened with you and Todd. Where is he now?”

  “How am I supposed to know?”

  “Where did you leave him?”

  “Back there.”

  “In the cemetery? How come? What were you doing up there in the first place?”

  “Talking. Having a drink. You know.”

  “I can imagine. So then what?”

  “So then it got late, and I asked him to take me home. So he didn’t want to. So I insisted. So Todd got sore and gunned his motor. So the car flipped.”

  “What? Loni, you don’t mean you were in a wreck?”

  “Not me. I wasn’t in the car.”

  “What are you talking about? Can’t you tell it straight?”

  “Give me a chance. All right, if you want to know, I wasn’t feeling very well. I knew I was going to be sick, so I opened the car door. Maybe he thought I was taking off, I don’t know. Anyway, he switched on the ignition and I jumped out. I don’t think Todd really knew what he was doing. He was pretty drunk.”

  “So he was alone when he flipped. Was he badly hurt?”

  “How should I know?”

  “But you were there. You knew he wrecked the car. Didn’t you go to see?”

  “Are you kidding? I beat it away from there as fast as my legs would carry me.”

  “But what if he was killed? Don’t you even care?”

  “Sure I care, but what could I do about it?”

  “You could have gone to look. What if the car caught fire? You might at least have gotten him out.”

  “Persis, will you stop it? There was nothing I could do, I tell you. I was so sick myself I could hardly stand up. The car made a lot of noise when it turned over. Somebody was bound to hear. I had to get out of there before anyone came, didn’t I? If the Cowleses ever found out I was with Todd, they’d call off the wedding.”

  “Why should you care? You just said you’re not in love with Chet.”

  “What’s love got to do with getting married? Use your head, for God’s sake. Everything’s planned: the caterers hired, the gowns all bought, the invitations out. What about those presents Mama’s been exchanging? We’d never get them straightened out. And they’d be after us to give back the brooch, and then where’d we be? Mama would skin me alive if I fouled up on her now. You don’t know what she’s like.”

  “That’s what you think.”

  “Then quit talking like an idiot. Where are we? I can’t see a thing.”

  “That’s because you’ve got my cap down over your eyes. You sure picked a great time to borrow my best clothes. We’re just coming to the playground, so we’re almost home. Only I think we ought to go back.”

  “What do you mean, go back? We can’t do that! I’ve got to get home. What if Mama wakes up and comes looking for me?”

  “What if nobody heard that crash? What if Todd’s still trapped in the car, bleeding to death from a slashed artery?”

  “Persis Green, you take me home,” Loni screamed. “I didn’t make him wreck the damn car. Why should I let him wreck my life?”

  “Then I’m going to phone the police right now and report the accident. There’s a phone booth out behind the playground.”

  She’d called from that booth often enough herself in years past, asking her mother to pick her up after tennis or a volleyball game. She turned into the narrow drive that ran along the high chain link fence. Loni tried to grab the steering wheel and force her back on the road, but she was no match for Persis.

  “Cut it out, Lon, or you’ll wreck us, too. And quit screaming at me or I’ll bend a few of your teeth out of shape. If Todd Ormsey dies, you’ll be to blame for not reporting the crash. And so will I for letting you get away with it.”

  “But he’ll say I was there.”

  “What if he does? You can lie out of it. You always do.”

  Persis found some change in her purse, slammed the car door shut on her half-hysterical sister, walked over to the booth, and dialed O.

  “Could you please get me the Donville police station?” she asked the operator in the most la-di-dah voice she could manage. “This is an emergency.”

  She was half relieved, half terrified when she heard the ringing cut off and a deep voice saying, “Donville police. Sergeant Manley speaking.”

  “Hello.” Her voice was shaking, but that didn’t matter. She’d sound more convincing. “This is Mrs.—” she made a noise that could have been anything. “My husband and I were over at the cemetery—”

  “Doing what?” the sergeant asked in obvious surprise.

  “Bird watching,” Persis improvised. “The—the baby owls are hatching.”

  “Boy, that’s a new one,” she heard
him remark to somebody at the station. “Got an owl-watcher on the line. Yes, Mrs.—ah, what did you say your name was?”

  “Oh please listen to me,” Persis whimpered. “We heard this awful crash. I was terrified! So we thought we’d better report it.”

  “You didn’t try to find out what made the noise?”

  “No. My husband wanted to, but I wouldn’t let him. I was afraid it might be vandals wrecking the place. We came straight on home and called you. It was down on the far side of the hill, I think, away from the main gate. It could have been a car crashing into a tombstone,” she added to salve her conscience. “People do drive up there sometimes.”

  “Okay, we’ll check it out, Mrs.—”

  “Thank you so much.”

  Persis hung up before he could ask again what her name was. She’d told him enough lies already. At least she’d done what she could. She got into the car and put the ignition key back in the lock. She hadn’t dared trust Loni not to drive off without her.

  Loni was still crying, but quietly now. Persis fished out some more tissues for her.

  “Here, blow your nose. They said they’d send somebody.”

  “You didn’t tell them who you were?” Loni snuffled.

  “No, I made believe I was some woman who’d been owl-watching with her husband.”

  Loni actually managed to giggle. “How did you ever think of that?”

  “I don’t know, I just did. Don’t you ever put gas in this heap?”

  “There’s enough.”

  There was, exactly. The motor died as Persis turned into their own street. That was all right; she’d entered at the high end of the hill after making that detour around the playground. All she had to do was switch off the lights and let the car coast to where it had been sitting before she’d driven it away, put it in “park” and pull up the emergency brake.

  “Feels as if I’d been gone a million years,” she said with a sigh. “Okay, Lon, you’re home.”

  “You go in first,” Loni whispered, “in case Mama’s awake. While she’s yelling at you for being out so late, I can sneak up the back stairs.”

  “You’re a real sweetheart, you know that? Mama’s not going to hear us. She took one of those pills the doctor gave her for her nerves.”

  “How do you know?”

  Persis didn’t, of course, but she figured she’d already stuck her neck out far enough for Loni.

  “She always does. You know she can’t get to sleep without them, she’s so keyed up over this wedding garbage. And if she can’t sleep, she keeps Daddy awake, so you’d better believe he didn’t let her forget.”

  “But Daddy might be up.”

  “Forget it. Daddy had a few drinks himself while you were lapping it up with Todd. He’s out like a light. Take off those dumb cowboy boots and watch your step.”

  Somehow, Persis managed to strongarm her sister upstairs without waking either of their parents. Loni was in a state of total collapse by the time she hit the frilly white pillows, so it was Persis who got her undressed, cleaned up, and put to bed properly.

  And it was Persis who sneaked back downstairs for a Coke from the refrigerator to quiet Loni’s churning stomach, Persis who got rid of the panty hose Loni had ruined in her headlong flight through the ruined cemetery, Persis who sponged off the designer jeans and the beloved suede jacket Loni had been sick all over.

  Persis felt pretty sick about that jacket herself. She’d never be able to wear it again, unless Gran Green had another trick up her sleeve. Why couldn’t she have been an only child?

  Chapter 11

  It was a good thing Persis had taken that long nap Sunday evening. As it was, she informed her reflection in the bathroom mirror on Monday morning, “You look like an accident going somewhere to happen.”

  A long shower helped a little. She raked a comb through her wet hair, not bothering to hate the new haircut because she didn’t have time, flung on a red and blue cotton plaid blouse and a denim wraparound skirt that reversed to the same plaid. It was a practical outfit to put on in a hurry because it didn’t matter if you got the skirt wrong side out. Red canvas espadrilles and bare legs were accessories enough for a June morning.

  Knowing the folly of skipping breakfast and then complaining all morning about being starved, Persis stopped in at the kitchen. She fixed a bowl of sliced bananas and cereal, poured milk, found a Danish pastry-Mary had no doubt been planning to eat with her midmorning coffee, and bolted it all at a rate that would have made her pediatrician faint dead away in horror. Satisfied, she leaped on her bike, pedaled like mad, and made it to her first class just as the bell stopped jangling.

  If she hadn’t been so rushed, she might have noticed some curious glances she was getting from her classmates. As it was, Persis concentrated ferociously on following the lesson and trying to keep her notes straight. Finals would be coming up next week. Between the piano recital she’d practiced so hard for and the hullaballoo surrounding Loni’s wedding, she hadn’t been hitting the books as hard as she might.

  Now that she had her scholarship virtually in the bag—she suddenly remembered that fact and gave her teacher such a rapturous smile that he turned beet-red and dropped his chalk—she positively had to get decent enough grades so that she’d be graduated without a hitch next year. Besides, it was almost restful to fill her mind with English and math instead of the crises that had been dumped on her over this past disastrous weekend.

  It wasn’t till lunchtime that Persis realized she was being stalked by a posse of determined classmates. They closed in on her at the cafeteria.

  “Hey, Persis,” demanded Tiggy Tyes, who liked to think of herself as Persis Green’s closest friend, “how come you never told me about Todd Ormsey?”

  Persis had heard about people’s hearts leaping into their mouths. She’d always thought of it as a figure of speech, until now. “What’s to tell?” she managed to choke out.

  “Don’t give us that garbage. I saw you in his car yesterday.”

  That was Madeline Parks. It would be. Madeline never missed a fresh piece of gossip, or a moment in spreading it around.

  “How long have you been going with him?” Tiggy was insisting.

  Persis shrugged. “Ask Madeline. She knows more about it than I do.”

  How clever Loni had been to borrow that suede jacket and the distinctive matching cap yesterday. Anybody who mattered would know the outfit belonged to Persis Green because she’d worn it so much. With her light hair tucked up out of sight and those big dark glasses covering most of her face, Loni had banked on being mistaken for her sister at a distance. And she had been right. Terrific!

  Persis was all set to straighten Madeline out when she remembered the Parkses were related to Chet’s family. Tiggy Tyes was already furious because Madeline had been invited to the wedding with her parents, and she herself hadn’t.

  Loni had wailed, “If the Cowleses ever found out I was with Todd, they’d call off the wedding.” They’d find out fast enough if Madeline got wind of the true story. Persis couldn’t do that, not to her own sister. Not with that miserable diamond and ruby heart missing because she herself had given in to a moment of spiteful folly. What could she do, except what Loni would have done? Persis straightened her shoulders, looked Madeline square in the face, and lied.

  “You don’t miss a trick, do you, Madeline? I hate to disappoint you, but it’s really not much of a story. All that happened was that my folks took Chet and his folks to brunch at the country club yesterday. You probably heard about that. Anyway, Todd was there and came over to talk. He was making a big deal about this classic white Sting Ray he’d just got, trying to make Loni jealous because she’d thrown him over for Chet. So just for the heck of it, Loni and I thought we’d kind of string him along. He said something about going for a ride, meaning Loni, of course. She made believe she thought he was asking me and said sure, Persis would love to go. So he got stuck with taking me instead of her, that’s all.”

&
nbsp; “Oh.” Madeline was deflated. “Where did you go?”

  “Just around. I didn’t dare stay long. My mother doesn’t know I went, and she’d kill me if she ever found out. She doesn’t think Todd Ormsey is a suitable companion for a sweet young thing like me.”

  Tiggy laughed, like the loyal pal she was, but Madeline wasn’t giving up yet.

  “Then you weren’t with him when he had the accident?”

  “What accident?”

  “Last night, out on Cemetery Road. His car flipped over.”

  “You’re kidding! That’s awful.” Persis didn’t have to pretend her concern. “Was he hurt?”

  “Broken collarbone and a concussion. He was out like a light when the police found him. They took him to the hospital in an ambulance.”

  “How bad was the concussion?”

  “They most likely don’t know yet. You know how it is with head injuries.”

  Madeline made it sound pretty dire, but Persis could feel her knees buckling with relief. Then she’d done the right thing by reporting the accident, even if she didn’t know whether it was her call the police had responded to or somebody else’s. Todd might have been far worse off if he’d had to lie out there unconscious and untreated all night.

  At least he hadn’t burned up or bled to death, A broken collarbone wasn’t so bad. She’d had one herself, after falling off her bike when she was a kid. And the jocks who played football and hockey were always getting concussed. Madeline always tried to make things sound worse than they were. But still—

  “Madeline, I feel terrible,” she said with total sincerity. “I suppose I ought to go and see how he’s doing. He was feeling pretty depressed about Loni, and now smashing up the Sting Ray—that’s really tough.”

  “Maybe this will bring him and Loni back together,” said Tiggy with a sigh. She read a lot of paperback romances.”

  “Not a chance,” Persis scoffed. “She’s so hung up on Chet Cowles, you could faint.”

  This was for Madeline’s benefit, needless to say. Madeline was quick to pick it up.