Twenty Minutes Late

by Caroline Crane

  “Oh, that’s just Ben. He has this thing about being touched. Not only that, he might be extra nervous about girls because of that bitch getting him in trouble. Ben is really law-abiding, and the school treats him like a felon.”

  She turned again sharply to the right. Cree hadn’t seen the driveway. It was screened by rhododendrons.

  She had expected a mansion. The house was scarcely larger than her own, but stately. It was faced with stone and had long windows on the ground floor. Rhododendrons grew everywhere, and tall trees.

  Two Labrador retrievers met them at the door, one chocolate and one yellow. Cree held out her hand, palm up. They sniffed it with interest.

  The entryway was two stories high and had a curving staircase. She followed Maddie up it.

  Ben occupied the first room at the top. He was too intent on his computer even to look at them. Cree slipped past the doorway and out of sight while Maddie stopped to talk.

  “Hey, bro. How do you find a number that’s unlisted?”

  “You don’t,” he said. “Why do you think it’s unlisted?”

  “I know you know how to do it.”

  “You stay out of that. You’ll get yourself in trouble and me in worse trouble.”

  She blustered. “You’re just guessing. You don’t know what this is about.”

  “I said leave it alone.”

  Maddie rolled her eyes, nodded Cree down the hall to her own room, and turned on her computer.

  Cree looked around for a place to sit. Maddie had the desk chair and the only other one was piled with stuffed animals. She lowered herself gingerly onto a pink ruffled bedspread.

  The whole room was girlish, with rose-patterned wallpaper and pink ruffled pillows to go with the spread. There were books in a bookcase and on the floor, and a tennis racquet in one corner. Grandma would have called Maddie a well-rounded girl. She never said that about Cree.

  Maddie apologized for the ruffles. “My mom decorated this room when I was eight years old. Even then, I thought it was gooey, even though I love pink. Someday I’m going to have my own place, all black and Deco, with loads of mirrors and a pot of pink calla lilies.”

  She tapped a few keys. “Ben is so much better at this. He can find anything. I wish I could. Are you any good at it?”

  “I can find some things with Google. That’s all I know.”

  A list came up. Maddie groaned. “There’s nothing! I mean nothing that could be her. It wouldn’t surprise me if she has a stepfather with a different name.”

  “What are you looking for?”

  “Ssh.” Maddie had left the door open to watch for spies. She rolled her chair over to Cree. “I’ll bet he hacked into the school computer. No wonder he got in trouble.”

  Cree hoped Ben couldn’t hear her. There was only a bathroom between the two rooms. “You said he was law-abiding.”

  “Most of the time. He must have been desperate.” Maddie typed some more. “Of course they’d have a password.”

  In spite of their lowered voices, Ben was suddenly in the doorway.

  Maddie pretended innocence. “Hey, bro. How do you find somebody’s password?”

  “What do you think passwords are for?” he said.

  “To keep people out?”

  Ben walked away.

  “Oh, screw it.” Maddie powered off and went to sit on the bed with Cree. “All I want is her address. There must be some way to get it.”

  “If Lakeside is a day school,” which Cree knew it was, “she’d have to be somewhere not too far away.”

  “Yes, but where? I know she rides horses, but not to school.”

  “Does she own a horse? Then she’d have to be out in the country, like here. You couldn’t keep a horse where I live. Unless you stable it somewhere. Are there any stables that you know of?”

  Maddie brightened just a little. “I know she has one. And there used to be a stable but it’s closed now. I took lessons there once.”

  She turned to look out the window. “It stopped raining. We could cruise around and watch for horses. Or a mailbox. That was my original plan but it might have a different name. Or just a number.”

  “What will you do when you find her?”

  Cree spoke in barely a whisper but Maddie hushed her and answered softly, “I’m going to talk to her. I’m going to get inside her head and find out what’s wrong with her. Then I’m going to bust her chops.”

  “Do I want to be part of this?”

  “She deserves it. She’s ruining Ben’s whole life. He wanted a good college and a good career and he’s got the brains for it, but she’s wrecking all his chances and I want to know why. She’d better have a damn good reason.”

  Maddie put on her purple raincoat. “Shall we give it a try? I know you have that other thing with your neighbor. I can help you with that. We’ll be a team going around and setting things straight. Like the Avengers, but that’s already taken. How about the Revengers?”

  Revenge. Against Stacie and Troy. What could she do to them that they hadn’t already done to themselves by crashing that car?

  “It sounds kind of violent,” she said.

  “He who lives by the sword dies by the sword. I don’t know where that comes from or if I got it right, but it fits, kind of.”

  They were settled in the car when Maddie had another idea. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

  She dashed into the house, leaving her engine running. Cree listened to it rumble. It sounded rough. She knew about rough idle from driver’s ed.

  She studied the dashboard lights and Maddie’s collection of CDs. It was all she could do to keep her hands off the controls. She hadn’t driven a car since last spring, at school. How was she going to keep up if she didn’t get any practice?

  Maddie came back with a yearbook under her arm. “If I remember correctly there’s a picture in here of some sort of cookout at Kelsey’s house. I didn’t go, I had an ear infection, but Ben was there. It was before all the trouble. Anyway, it’s a start.”

  “You mean like drive around and look for a place we don’t even know where it is?”

  “That,” said Maddie, “is why we need the book. I can’t think of anything else, can you?” She flipped through the pages and stopped. It was a photo of people assembling cans for a food pantry. “That’s her.”

  Kelsey was slender, with pale curly hair cut short. She stood apart from the others, pulling a cardigan closely around her.

  “Blond?” said Cree. “It looks white.”

  “Silver blond. I don’t know what Ben sees in her. I hope he’s come to his senses by now.” Maddie turned more pages. “Here, but it’s not how I remember this picture. You can’t see much of the house.”

  Cree took the book and studied it. “There’s part of a roof. It looks like tile. Doesn’t red tile usually go with stucco? That wall might be stucco.”

  “How did you get so smart? I never noticed those things.”

  “My mom’s in real estate. She’s always bringing home brochures and catalogs. Sometimes I even look at them.”

  A shadow filled the window. Maddie slammed the book closed and covered it with her arm.

  Ben said, “What are you doing, wasting gas and polluting the air? You’ve been here almost half an hour.”

  How did he know? His room was on the other side of the house.

  With her arm still covering it, Maddie slid the book over to Cree. “We were in the process of leaving, if you’ll kindly get out of our way.”

  He stepped back and watched as they drove out to Lake Road.

  “Can he read your mind?” asked Cree.

  “No, he’s very bad at reading minds. That’s what got him in trouble. But he’s good at figuring things out and he’s very eco-conscious. I forgot the engine was on.”

  Cree hadn’t forgotten. She assumed it was for a quick getaway. How could Maddie not notice the rough idle?

  Cree said, “A red tile roof shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

 
“If enough of it shows.” Maddie glanced at the book. “It looks sort of ranch style. Ben called it a hacienda. That’s so pretentious.”

  “There’re a lot of trees in the way.”

  “I hope not too many. Or a big, high wall. If Kelsey has anything to say, there will definitely be a wall. She’s not very sociable.”

  “Maybe that’s what happened,” said Cree. “She might have thought Ben was crowding her and she panicked.”

  “She didn’t have to get him in trouble. She could have been a big brave girl and told him to get lost instead of whining to the headmaster.”

  “Maybe she didn’t want a confrontation.”

  “No excuses, please. She’s a bitch.”

  Cree took another look at Kelsey’s picture and thought she seemed more timid than bitchy. It showed in her apartness and trying to hide in her sweater. Ben was tall and very masculine. She might have felt overwhelmed by so much masculinity. Some girls took a while to appreciate that sort of thing.

  Or there could be another explanation. “Do you think she might be gay and doesn’t want to deal with it?”

  “Hmm.” Maddie drove slowly past a low, sprawling house. It didn’t have a red tile roof. “I’m not sure that works for me, but anything’s possible.”

  The houses now were farther apart with patches of woodland between them.

  “How does she get to school?” asked Cree. “Does she live anywhere near it?”

  “If she does, we’re going the wrong way. I’m pretty sure she takes the bus.”

  Cree pointed. “Horses!”

  Just ahead, a man and a woman rode on horseback. They crowded to one side and waved as the car passed them. Cree waved back.

  “They aren’t Kelsey,” Maddie said.

  “No, but it shows we’re in horse country. Wait, could you back up a little?”

  Maddie let a car pass and then made a U-turn. The horse people rode by and waved again.

  “They’ll think we don’t know what we’re doing,” said Cree.

  “They’ll be absolutely right.” Maddie stopped next to a long driveway. “Is this what you meant? It does look like a red tile roof.”

  Much of the house was hidden by oak trees whose leaves had not yet fallen. Maddie said, “Can you see what’s on the mailbox?”

  “One ten Fremont. It doesn’t give a name.”

  “That’s no help. I don’t know why I’m doing this except it’s so unfair. Ben has a disability. He can’t help it. It makes his life so hard he has to smooth things over as best he can. They should understand that.”

  Cree herself didn’t understand. What disability? She felt as if she should know but didn’t want to ask. The people at Lakeside were supposed to be in on it in spite of their seeming cluelessness.

  “Maybe they’re just stupid,” she said. “People can’t help that either.”

  Maddie took the yearbook from her and compared it with the house. “Would you call that a hacienda?”

  “If you mean does it look Southwestern, yes it does.”

  “Oh, shoot.” They were blocking the driveway. A pea green Volkswagen came toward them with its signal flashing.

  “Sorry.” Maddie fumbled with her shift and ended up in neutral.

  A woman with short blond hair opened the VW’s window. “Can I help you? Are you looking for someone?”

  Maddie was busy trying to get out of the way. Cree thought of the English paper she hadn’t done yet. Shakespeare. Stratford-on-Avon.

  She leaned across Maddie. “We heard there was someone around here who sells Avon products. I don’t know the name but I’d recognize it. Can you tell me who lives here?”

  The woman smiled. “I do. I’m Velda Sheehan, but I’m not the Avon lady.” They hadn’t seen any other red tiles roofs. Cree got out of the car.

  “Just one question. Do you know anything about the Lakeside School? I have a cousin who’s coming to live with us. She lost both her parents and she’s kind of, I guess you’d say fragile. She’s very shy. My parents are thinking she’d do better at a smaller place like Lakeside but we don’t know much about it.”

  Velda Sheehan’s face went slack with pity. “I can tell you quite a bit. I went to Lakeside myself and I have a sister there now. Why don’t you folks come in for a little and we can talk?”

  Go into a stranger’s house? “Oh, we couldn’t bother your family.”

  “No bother. It’s only my husband and me and he’s away.”

  So it wasn’t Kelsey’s home. But the woman did mention a sister. At Lakeside.

  Maddie caught it, too. “Get in,” she said through clenched teeth.

  Cree got back into the car, reassured that there were two of them. Two against—she hoped it was only Velda. Maddie followed the green Volkswagen up the driveway.

  Chapter Eleven

  “How do you know it’s safe?” asked Cree.

  “She’s in that picture. The party at this house. I think I sort of remember her from school.” Maddie punched Cree’s arm. “Revenger buddy, we’re on our way!”

  When they reached the house, Cree watched carefully to be sure Velda didn’t lock the door behind them. That she stayed in sight at all times and no one else appeared.

  The interior of the house carried on its Southwestern theme. The main part was open and airy, with bright colors and gray-toned Navajo rugs. All through it was an earthy smell that she could almost identify.

  She and Maddie sat together on a blue futon. Cree sniffed the air. “Is that clay?”

  Velda beamed. “Yes, it is. You have a good nose. That’s one of mine.” She pointed to a kneeling figure on a stand. “Can I offer you girls some refreshment? Soda? Coffee? Tea?”

  Cree, still apprehensive, thought of poison. Would she be able to taste it before she drank too much? Would Maddie even try to be careful? Over a low room divider, she watched Velda get out glasses and ice cubes.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing,” she whispered.

  Maddie said, “She’s a Lakeside girl.” As if that took care of everything.

  “Did you know her?”

  “Pretty much. It’s been years. I hope she doesn’t recognize me. Upper classmen don’t pay much attention to the younger kids and I never was a standout.”

  Velda came back with a tray of what looked like Coke or Pepsi. Cree took the glass farthest from her and tasted it. How would she know?

  Velda settled herself on a nearby ottoman. “Tell me about this cousin of yours. You say she lost both her parents? That’s so tragic.”

  “Yes, it is.” Cree thought fast, trying to come up with a story.

  “She’s about my age. A year younger, fifteen. She already had problems, like—she’s a little on the autistic side, as if that’s not enough.” She had no idea where that came from, it just did. And only a hazy idea of what autism was. She hoped there wouldn’t be a quiz.

  Maddie gave a start, almost spilling her drink. It took Cree a moment to realize it was because of what she said and not that Maddie was being drugged.

  Velda seemed fascinated. The details came more easily as Cree went along.

  “They live, I mean they lived, in California. Her dad had his own plane. My cousin—her name’s Deirdre—was in school one day when her parents set out to fly someplace, I never knew where. A storm came up. It was sudden, no warning, no visibility. They crashed in the Sierra Nevada. It was a couple of days before the search team found their frozen bodies.”

  She wasn’t sure exactly where the Sierra Nevada was, but had a vague idea that some of it was snow-covered at least part of the year. Maybe Velda didn’t know a lot about it either.

  Velda had that look again, the tilted head and pity all over her face. She must have bought the whole story. Cree surprised herself with her own creativity.

  Maddie caught her eye. They were there for a reason.

  “So that,” said Cree, “is why my parents are thinking of Lakeside. They’re worried that the public school might be too much for
her.”

  Velda understood. “I quite agree. Lakeside can be a very nurturing place for a fragile person. I have a sister—”

  Maddie caught her breath. Velda stopped what she was saying and looked concerned.

  Cree said, “She has a touch of asthma. She’ll be okay. You were telling us about your sister?”

  “Yes, she’s fragile, too. I don’t think she’d do well at all in a public school.”

  “She’s autistic?”

  “No, it’s not that. It’s more that she’s very sensitive. But you aren’t here to talk about my sister.”

  Cree headed off the change in topic. “I’m always interested in kids like that. It’s actually my field. I’m taking a college-level course in child psychology. Can you tell me a little about her?”

  Velda seemed uneasy, probably sorry she had brought it up. “There’s nothing really to tell. She’s just sensitive. Things hit her hard.”

  “What sort of things? People? Events? I’m sorry, I have no business prying, but it’s such a fascinating field. There’s so much to it.”

  Velda gave her a smile that wasn’t really a smile. “I suppose it’s mostly people. She’s always been shy. But I shouldn’t talk about her behind her back.”

  Cree tried a sympathy look of her own. “Do you think she’d talk to me? Sometimes it helps, with a neutral person.”

  “I doubt she would. She mostly keeps to herself. Would you like another soda, either of you? I’m sorry I don’t have chips or cookies. If I keep them around, I’m too tempted.”

  “I know how it is. Thanks, but we’re okay.” Cree set her empty glass on the floor. “It’s wonderful of you to give us your time, Mrs. Sheehan. I’m glad to hear about Lakeside and I wish I knew more about your sister. There must be some way to help her if she wants help. A lot of times people grow out of their shyness.”

  Maddie crossed her fingers behind her back. “I’ve heard good things, too, about Lakeside. Is your sister happy there? She gets along with everybody?”

  Velda seemed puzzled by that. “I don’t know of any problems. Yes, she seems happy.”

  “Does she go out a lot? With guys?”

  That confused Velda even more. “I’m not sure she goes out at all. She might not feel ready for it, even though she’s seventeen. Some people take longer. Does it matter?”