Part 19 (1/2)
”Not to worry, little lady. I'll just go a.s.sist ya.” Brian said this in an almost perfect John Wayne imitation as he set the books back on the ground, then offered his left elbow to his teacher.
Julie laughed outright. ”Brian, this little adventure has done wonders for your sense of humor.”
”Yeah, yeah.” He grinned, then turned to Charlotte. ”We got us some water bottles to wrangle. Don't wait up.”
”Good grief.” Whitney adjusted her books into her right hand and started walking toward the schoolhouse. ”What's Aunt Susan so angry about?” She looked at Julie and grinned. ”That better?”
”It is more respectful, yes. And I don't think it's my place to go into a private matter between Susan and Angie.”
”But you do know?”
”I know enough. I'm guessing you probably have a good idea what it might be, too.”
”Aunt Susan's this berserk because Angie has actually acknowledged a member of the opposite s.e.x? I mean, I know Angie's shy and all, but she is seventeen years old. Surely she can't find it that offensive.”
”I think it's more the way it happened. There are rules that we are supposed to be abiding by, and that includes not talking to people on the crew. Besides, there's a bit more to it than that.”
”Oh, man, tell me they didn't bust her for sn-uh, I mean, for uh . . .”
”Yes, Whitney, they did. Why didn't you tell me she was doing that?”
”I knew it would put you in the position of either having to lie to Aunt Susan or ratting me out for ratting Angie out.”
”What if something had happened to her?”
”Chris?” She snorted. ”He wouldn't do anything to her. Trust me.”
”I wish I could be as confident of that as you are.”
”You would be if you'd been around him for five minutes when he was actually allowed to speak. Or sing. Trust me, he's a good guy.”
They walked into the school building, where Whitney put her books in her desk. Julie did the same with Angie's; then they walked back outside. ”Angie's scooter is still here. You want to ride it home, or shall we just walk ours together?”
”Shouldn't we wait for Brian?”
Whitney looked toward the creek. ”He's probably hoping we leave. That kid's got a huge crush.”
”So I've noticed.” Julie picked up Angie's scooter. ”I'm thinking I want one of these when we get back home.”
”Mom, I'm thinking it's a necessity.” They laughed.
Whitney dawdled along, in no apparent hurry. ”I suppose we want to give Aunt Susan and Angie enough time to get home ahead of us, huh?”
”Probably a good idea.”
”So are they super mad at her about the whole Chris thing?”
Julie shrugged. ”I don't know. To be honest, I think Kendra is looking for a fight because of me, but I just felt what we were doing was wrong.”
”I'm glad you did that.” Whitney pulled at her long skirt. ”Maybe next time you should push a little harder, though. All right?”
”I'll do my best.” Julie put one foot on the scooter. ”Oh, by the way, we're not supposed to talk about this anywhere inside or near the house. They don't want the hidden cameras picking up anything.”
”Ew. I keep forgetting about the hidden cameras and stuff.” Whitney reached down and lifted the scooter back into position. ”I can't even begin to imagine what they may have captured at this point.”
Julie laughed. ”Isn't it the truth?”
Chapter 30.
Susan ironed her s.h.i.+rt for the third time. The wrinkles just didn't want to come out. This butane-fired iron just didn't seem to be cutting it today. ”I'm going to get a cup of water and try dampening this a little.”
Julie looked up from her quilt squares. ”You know what I think would help you more than anything?”
Susan poured some water into a cup, not bothering to respond. Julie would tell her anyway.
”I think what would be most beneficial would be for you to stand up and walk outside. Sit down somewhere all by yourself and read that paper that's burning a hole in your skirt pocket.”
Susan sprinkled water on the placket and pressed the iron hard into the fabric. ”I don't know what you're talking about.”
”Don't give me that. Angie spent all yesterday evening upstairs in her room, she handed you some folded-up papers on her way out the door today, never bothering to look at you. You, on the other hand, never looked at the papers. It's obviously something that's eating you up inside, so why don't you take five minutes.”
”I don't have five minutes.”
Julie didn't say anything, just stayed put for what seemed like forever. Finally, she walked across the room, grabbed Susan's right hand, effectively stopping her from ironing anymore. ”How about I finish this up, and you go do what you need to do?”
”What I need to do is to get my ch.o.r.es done.” Julie just looked at her, waiting. ”Fine, I'll go outside and work in the garden.”
”Suit yourself.”
Susan let the screen door slam behind her. She started down the back steps, but as she did so, she put her hand into her pocket and felt the paper. Three sheets of paper, just like she'd asked, were folded neatly inside her pocket. When she reached the bottom of the steps, instead of turning left toward the garden, she turned right and walked around the side of the house. There she leaned against the wall, took a deep breath, and pulled the papers from her pocket.
Dear Kendra and Mom, I am very sorry that I broke the rule about talking to crew members. I know that was something we weren't supposed to do, but I did it anyway.
As for the visits to the car when Chris was on watch, as I've previously stated, that was my fault. I was having trouble sleeping, and I was worried about something that Chris understands very well. It just made sense to go talk to him about it.
”Say what?” Susan banged the back of her head against the farmhouse. Angie must have just put that part in to goad her. She started to fold the paper back up, but in spite of her intentions, unfolded it again.
I am sorry that I was selfish enough to risk his job because I wanted to talk to someone. At home, I could have talked to my friends, called someone, at least sent an email. Maybe a real Amish girl might drive her buggy down the road to visit her friend, but we don't have that here. We are not living in a true Amish community. We are isolated. I don't think this is a fair expectation.