Part 13 (1/2)

”You take it correctly.” Sam sighed and gave her Mend a mournful look. ”In more ways than one. But Boss-woman Cresswell here kept herding me along every time things started to look promising.”

”You are so full of it, Sam!” Emma laughed. ”I should have fed you to Tiger!”

”Tiger?” Carrie asked.

”I'd rather you'd have fed me to Ranger Ted!”

Sam shot back with wide-eyed innocence.

”Ranger Ted?” Carrie echoed.

Sam and Emma started to argue playfully about their exploits on the road. ”Gosh,” said Carrie, ”and I thought I was having fun with midterms!”

Finally the conversation turned to the future and Sunset Island, and Carrie filled her friends in on the fire at the Play Cafe and the benefit scheduled for their first night on the island.

”I might mention, Sam, that a certain Tennessee boy will be looking for you there,” Carrie teased.

”Yeah, yeah,” said Sam breezily. In fact, she was looking forward to seeing Pres again, though she was surprised at how often she'd thought of Danny this week. Not in fantasies, like the Ranger Ted thing. It was like she'd been sending Danny mental postcards-she felt like he'd al- most been along for the trip.

Carrie and Emma were both relieved when lunch ended without further mention of boy- friends. Carrie hadn't sorted out her feelings from that last terrible scene with Josh, and didn't want to talk about him or Billy either just yet.

Emma knew that her friends would be watching to see what happened with Kurt, and found herself almost dreading it. He had hurt her so badly last summer, and right now she didn't feel very strong. What if she got to Sunset Island and Kurt didn't really want her back after all?

As they finished lunch and headed for the car, each of the girls was thinking ahead to the upcoming evening in Boston.

Thank G.o.d'my mother won't be around, thought Emma. I'll finally be able to have some real friends over. And I can get this stuff about Kurt off my chest. After all, these are my friends!

Once we're at Emma's, it'll be just like old times, Sam thought. We'll talk about real things.

I'll come clean about getting fired. Emma and Carrie will understand, because they really, truly are my friends. And I'll talk to Emma about all that wine she's been drinking.

Carrie, who'd run back in for a last stop in the bathroom to purge herself of her lunch, now hurried to the car where her friends waited.

She wasn't thinking about intimate conversa- tions with her two best friends. She was thinking about how to keep her horrible secret from them, no matter what.

”Hey, look, Emma,” said Carrie. ”You've got lots of messages!”

The trio had just arrived at Emma's house, and amid the oohs and ahs of the tour, Carrie had discovered the calls indicator blinking rapidly on the answering machine. Her mother still main- tained Emma's separate line and machine al- though Emma had pointed out to her several times that she was hardly ever there.

Kuril thought Emma. She had called him from Aunt Liz's, but had gotten his answering ma- chine. She'd left him a message that they'd be arriving on the four o'clock ferry on Sat.u.r.day, and she'd hoped he might call to say he'd meet her. After hearing that Billy had called Carrie, and Pres had sent word (in a roundabout way) that he was looking for Sam, Emma needed to feel that someone was waiting eagerly for her, too.

She pressed the play b.u.t.ton.

”Emma, where are you?” It was her mother's voice. ”The police have called here! Have you gotten yourself into some kind of trouble?”

The next message was also from her mother: ”Emma, I had Lawrence call your apartment building today, and the building superintendent told him you've been gone for almost a week. I hope you're checking with at least one of your machines. Please call me immediately when you hear this!” She left a number where she was staying at Glen Echo.

”You didn't tell her about this trip?” Sam said to Emma incredulously.

”Of course I did! She didn't listen,” Emma shot back.

”All right, Emma,” went the next message, yet again from her mother, ”I do seem to remember something about your leaving town. I'd still like to know how you ever got involved with the police. Call me.” Was every one of these calls going to be from her mother?

Her mother again: ”Emma, I finally reached your Aunt Liz, who said she just missed you in New York. Then the police called again to say you'd been found. Now that I know you're not lying dead somewhere, I'd like to know what this is all about.”

Not for the first time in her life, Emma wished there were such a thing as a mind torpedo, something you could launch from your eyes to annihilate detestable objects. Right now her an- swering machine would be blown to smithereens.

Finally a male voice came over the speaker. It only took a second for a feeling of disappointment to hit Emma's stomach. It wasnt Kurt.

”Hi Emma, hi Sam, hi Carrie, it's Danny. I'm in Boston, at Kevin's. You have the number, Sam.

Give a call, okay?”

Carrie noticed that Emma looked glum as she reset the machine, but Sam's face had lit up in a happy grin.

”You haven't said much about Goofy,” Carrie said to Sam. ”What's the deal?”

”Danny's okay,” Sam replied, a little surprised at how good his message had made her feel.

”He's also really considerate,” Emma said with a sigh. Sam and Carrie knew what that sigh was about-Kurt hadn't called.

”Hey, Emma, is it okay if I use the phone?”

Sam asked. ”I want to call Danny.”

”Maybe you ought to call your mom first, Emma,” Carrie suggested.

”Might as well get it over with,” Emma grum- bled.

Carrie and Sam were kind enough to make themselves scarce, with the excuse of unpacking the car. In truth, they had already heard enough from Emma's mother for one day, and didn't want to hang around to watch Emma suffer through this call.

”Emma! Finally!” were Kat's first words.

”Mother, look, I'm sorry if I worried you-”

”Worried? Worried?” she screeched into the phone. ”I've been frantic! Are you all right?”

”Really, I'm fine, Mother,” Emma said in an even voice. ”I've been fine all along. I guess the police business was just a little misunderstanding I had with Dad.”

”Well, I'm sure it was his fault, darling,” Kat decided, without bothering to ask what the mis- understanding was. ”You've heard the news, I suppose. About your father?”

”Urn, I'm not sure . . .” Emma said carefully.

”He's trying to establish that I'm incompetent!”

Kat spat her words into the telephone. ”He's alleging that your inheritance is at stake, and claiming that he's acting on your behalf! I am absolutely livid!”

”Mother,” Emma said, ”I a.s.sure you he is not acting on my behalf.”

”Thank you, sweetheart,” Kat said, her voice softening. ”I knew it couldn't be true. After all, you and I are best friends!”