Fabulous Five 008 - The Runaway Crisis (3 page)

Katie could hardly wait to get home and tell her mother
about the march for hunger, and she sprinted all the way to her front door
after she said good-bye to Tony. She had been trying for a long time to think
of a way to bring up the subject of Tony to her mother. Not that Willie would
mind that she was interested in a boy. It was just that she hadn't been sure if
she really was interested—until now.

She and Tony had talked a little bit more about how to get
the march organized before they left Bumpers, and she had suggested that they
go together to talk to Mr. Bell tomorrow morning before school. They would have
to get the principal's permission in order to get the school involved.

"Katie? Is that you?" her mother called as the
front door slammed behind her.

"Yeah, Mom."

Willie appeared in the living room doorway. "Your
friend Shawnie Pendergast called a few minutes ago. She wants you to call her
back as soon as possible."

"Is something wrong?" asked Katie.

"I honestly don't know, honey," her mother
replied. "But she sounded extremely anxious to talk to you."

"Thanks," said Katie. "I'll call her right
now."

The phone had barely finished its first ring when Shawnie
answered. "I'm so glad you called," she whispered when she found out
it was Katie. "I've just got to get out of this house. Could your mom call
my mom about coming over to study tonight? Believe me, it's an emergency."

"An emergency?" Katie whispered back. "What
kind of emergency?"

"I can't talk now."

"Okay, Shawnie," Katie said. "You know I want
to help. Hang on while I ask her."

"I have to go. I think I hear one of my parents coming.
Have your mother call here if it's okay."

Katie slammed down the receiver and raced to find her
mother. "Mom," Katie began in a shaky voice. "Shawnie wants to
come over tonight. She says it's an emergency. Will you call her parents?"

Willie looked up from her desk and frowned. "Did she
say what sort of emergency?"

"No. She was even whispering so that no one would know
she was on the phone. Then she said she had to hang up because she thought
someone was coming."

Her mother sighed. "Gosh, Katie, I don't know. It
sounds as if we might be interfering in something that isn't any of our
business."

"Mom, please. She's desperate," said Katie. "Besides,
we can talk to her and find out what the problem is once she's here . . . if
they'll even let her come."

Willie considered the situation for another moment while
Katie stood by her desk and pleaded with her eyes. "Well," she said
at last, "all we can do is try."

Katie bounced nervously from foot to foot while her mother
made the call. "Hello, Mrs. Pendergast? . . . I'm Willie Shannon, Katie's
mother, and Katie would like for Shawnie to come over here for a little while
this evening so that the girls can work on some homework together. Would that
be all right with you? . . . It would?" Willie turned and gave Katie a
wide-eyed shrug. "Wonderful . . . Why not drop her off around six-thirty?
. . . Great. Good-bye."

Katie grabbed her mother around the waist. "I can't
believe it!" she shouted. "She said yes? Just like that?"

"Just like that," said Willie. "Actually, she
was formal and businesslike, but she sounded reasonably nice over the phone.
Maybe things aren't so bad after all."

"I hope not," said Katie.

At exactly six-thirty a dark car pulled up beside the curb,
and Shawnie Pendergast got out carrying a load of books and hurried to the
door. Katie had been watching for her for ten minutes and wondering what kind
of situation it was that Shawnie had called an emergency. Willie had suggested
that Katie talk to Shawnie about it and then call her in if it was necessary. "There's
no use making this thing any bigger than it is," Willie had commented, and
Katie had agreed.

"Come on in," said Katie as she opened the door
for Shawnie.

"Thanks," said Shawnie. Taking a deep breath and
then letting it out slowly, she leaned back against the closed door as if she
had just made it to safety. "I really appreciate this."

"Put your books down and take off your jacket, and I'll
introduce you to my mom," said Katie. A moment later in Willie's office
Katie made the introductions.

"It's nice to meet you, Shawnie. I'm glad you could
come over," said Willie, standing up from her desk and extending her hand
to Shawnie.

"Thanks, Mrs. Shannon. It's nice to meet you, too. I
really appreciate your calling my mom."

"Anytime, Shawnie. I know it can be a big help to study
together."

Katie was thinking what a good actress her mother was, not
letting on that she knew Shawnie had problems at home, when she noticed a
flicker of concern in Willie's eyes. She followed her mother's gaze and saw a
large, dark bruise on Shawnie's right arm just above her elbow.

Shawnie must have noticed Willie's gaze, too, because she
shrugged and pulled the sleeve of her sweater over the bruise. "You wouldn't
believe how clumsy I am," she said with an embarrassed little laugh. "I
walked right into my closet door."

Katie felt a knot forming in the pit of her stomach. There
was no way she could believe that Shawnie had walked into her closet door. Had
one of her parents hit her? Was that what her emergency had been? Katie blinked
and looked at Shawnie again as if she were seeing her for the very first time.
Tall, pretty Shawnie with the long blond hair and the gorgeous wardrobe who had
seemed at first to have everything going for her. Was it possible that things
were as bad for her at home as they looked?

Libber chose that moment to unwind herself from around the
back of Willie's computer. She walked across the manuscript pages straight
toward Shawnie, stopping only to yawn and stretch before reaching out a paw and
looking pleadingly at Katie's friend.

"Look! She likes me," cried Shawnie. "Is it
okay if I pick her up?"

Katie nodded and chuckled. "You'd better or she'll
pester you all evening. Her name is Libber because she's a totally liberated
woman."

Shawnie picked up Libber and held her close, nuzzling her
soft, yellow hair. "She sounds like a jet plane on takeoff," remarked
Shawnie as she gently placed Libber on the floor. "I wish I could have a
cat. One just like Libber. But we have a rule at our house.
No pets
."

"We'd better get started on our homework," said
Katie, feeling uneasy again. "But first, let's see what we can dig up to
snack on."

"See you later, girls," said Willie as the two
left her office with Libber padding along behind them.

"We have another rule at our house," said Shawnie,
watching Katie fill a large bowl with chips and pop two cans of soda. "
No
snacks in between meals.
It's grim."

"Why are your parents so strict?" asked Katie. "I
mean, do they tell you any reasons?"

"Sure. They tell me their reasons all the time. They're
doing what's best for me." She said the last words slowly and deliberately
as if echoing the way her parents spoke.

Katie took a deep breath. There was one more question she
had to ask. It took all her effort to keep her eyes away from the bruise on
Shawnie's arm as she said, "You haven't told me yet what your emergency
was."

Shawnie's eyes clouded, and she chewed her bottom lip as she
considered her response. "I'd rather not talk about it right now. Okay?"

"Are you sure?" Katie insisted. "You know I
want to help, and sometimes just talking about something can make you feel
better."

"Thanks," said Shawnie. "You're a super
friend, but believe me, talking about this is definitely not something I want
to do. Besides," she added brightly, "we have a theme to write for
Miss Dickinson. We'd better get started."

Katie nodded and opened her notebook to the hastily copied
quotation.

If there were dreams to sell, what would you buy?

Wow, thought Katie. Any other time the theme would have been
a breeze. Her dreams had always been the causes she believed in, such as
justice, equality, even her new one, helping the hungry. They still were, of
course, and she knew that she would probably write her theme on one of them.
But now she had a new dream, a new cause. Brushing tears out of her eyes, she
glanced at Shawnie, who sat with her head bent over her own notebook and with
Libber curled contentedly in her lap.

I'm going to do something to help Shawnie Pendergast, Katie
vowed silently. She didn't know what that something would turn out to be, but
no matter how hard it was, she would do it because Shawnie needed her help and
she had no one else to turn to.

Walking to school the next morning, Katie thought back over
the evening. Shawnie had kept her lips sealed about the emergency at home even
though Katie had mentioned her willingness to help several times. She had even
hinted that her mother would help, too. After Shawnie's parents picked her up
at nine-thirty, Katie had a long conversation with Willie.

"I feel so sorry for her," Katie began. "She
must be too scared to tell me what happened. What are we going to do?"

"We can't do much to help her as long as she won't talk
about the problem," Willie had said. "But not only that, we have to
be awfully careful about butting into another family's business. For all we
know, things may not be nearly the way they seem."

Katie knew her mother was right about not being able to help
Shawnie if she didn't want them to, and also about being careful. But Katie had
no doubt in her own mind about how bad things were for Shawnie, and Willie's words
did nothing to alter her determination to help her new friend.

Finally she had told Willie about Tony and the march for
hunger. "Now you'll have something to write about," she said proudly.
"Tony and I are going to make this the best march ever. We'll get all the
students in Wakeman Junior High involved and ask them to get pledges of a
certain amount of money for every mile they walk from all their friends and
relatives."

Willie had reacted just the way Katie had hoped she would. "Katie,
that's terrific!" she said, giving her daughter a hug. "I am so proud
of you. You know," she added thoughtfully, "sometimes when I'm out working
on stories for the paper, I see whole families who have nowhere to live just
sitting on park benches waiting for the shelters to open up and take them in.
It reminds me of how lucky you and I are."

Katie nodded. She had seen the street people, too. It wasn't
fair, she thought. Everyone should have somewhere to live and enough to eat.

"Have you decided who will get the money you collect?"

Katie shook her head. "I was going to ask you for
suggestions since you already know so much about the subject."

"Well, there's the county food bank that gives bags of
groceries to families who need them," said Willie, "and there are two
organizations who serve meals to the street people every day. They're always in
need of donations."

"Great," said Katie. "We'll get every single
kid in Wacko to sign up, and then we'll collect as much as we possibly can."

Her mother smiled. "I'll tell you what. You give me all
the information about your march, and I'll call all three organizations to tell
them your plans and then write the first article about it tonight for the
newspaper. The publicity should help you get more and bigger pledges from
people around town."

Now, on the way to school, Katie was feeling more proud than
ever about the march for hunger. Still, she knew that there was one thing that
she hadn't talked to her mother about, and that was her mixed feelings for
Tony. It was still true that part of her disliked a lot of things about him,
but it was also true that the other part of her was starting to like him more
than ever, and little tingly feelings danced up her spine when she came in
sight of the school and saw him waiting for her beside the gate.

"Hi, there, Your Honor," he called as she got
near. "Are you ready to talk to the prince?"

"The 'prince'?" asked Katie.

Tony laughed. "That's short for 'principal.'" Then
when he saw her wrinkle her nose, he added, "Cornball, huh?"

"You've got it," Katie said, but she couldn't help
laughing anyway.

They walked toward the building in comfortable silence until
Tony said, "You know, it's funny, but the more I think about this march
for hunger, the better I like the whole idea."

Katie's spirits zoomed. "You do? That's great!"

"I guess I just hadn't thought much about anything like
that before. You know, that I could do something. But I think it's going to be
a lot of fun. I just hope the prince . . . uh, Mr. Bell lets us go through with
it."

"Me, too," admitted Katie. "My mom's going to
try to get an article about it into this afternoon's paper. If he turns us
down, I'll have to call her and tell her not to print it."

Miss Simone was pounding away on her typewriter when Katie
and Tony entered the office, and Katie shook her head in wonder at how the
secretary managed to hit the keys in spite of her long, red fingernails.

"What can I do for you two?" Miss Simone asked
sharply.

Katie started to respond, but Tony stepped forward and took
charge. "We'd like to speak to Mr. Bell, please."

Miss Simone stopped typing and looked over the top of her
glasses at them as if she was trying to figure out what the two of them could
possibly have to say to Mr. Bell. Finally she stood and said, "Just a
moment. I'll see if he's available," and disappeared into his private
office. A moment later she reappeared.

"Go on in. He'll see you now."

Tony and Katie exchanged thumbs-up signs and hurried into
the principal's office. Katie could see that Tony was starting to get a little
nervous, and she smiled to herself, speculating that the only times he had been
in the principal's office before this had been because he was in trouble.

"What can I do for the two of you this morning?"
Mr. Bell asked cheerfully. He was a tall, thin man with a bald spot shining
through a fringe of gray hair, and he leaned back at his desk and smiled at
them.

Katie decided she should take charge this time. "We
would like to organize a march for hunger at Wakeman Junior High, and we thought
we should get your permission before we get started."

Mr. Bell raised his eyebrows approvingly. "Well, that
sounds like a fine thing to do. Tell me more about it."

For the next five minutes Katie and Tony outlined their
plan. They had set a date for two weeks from Saturday, and they wanted to put
an article in the school paper and posters in the halls asking students to sign
up to march. The marchers would ask friends and relatives to pledge money, so
much for every mile marched, which would go to the three organizations in town
who fed the hungry that Willie had suggested.

"It will just be for Wacko students," Tony said
cheerfully. Then blushing, he said, "I mean Wakeman Junior High students,
sir."

Mr. Bell chuckled. "I've heard it called Wacko a few
times, Tony," he admitted. "And I think it's a wonderful project for
the school to become involved in. You have my approval. In fact, you can count
on me to help any way I can. How about if I start out by pledging two dollars
per mile to each of you?"

Katie and Tony exchanged wide smiles and thanked Mr. Bell at
least three times as they left his office, but they waited until they were in
the hall again to let out a whoop of self-congratulation.

"We did it!" cried Katie, jumping up and down.

"Hey, give me high five!" Tony shouted. Then he
held his hand palm up, and Katie smacked it with her own. "This is too
much," he said, shaking his head. "Tony Calcaterra, champion of the
downtrodden . . . or whatever they're called. Nobody's going to believe it."

"I believe it," Katie said stubbornly.

Tony blinked in surprise. "In that case, maybe we ought
to celebrate," he offered. "Would you like to go to a movie with me
Friday night?"

Katie could hear her pulse pounding in her ears. This was
it. The moment had come when she had to tell Tony yes or no for once and for
all. She couldn't put off making a decision any longer.

"Well?" he urged.

She took a deep breath. "Yes," she answered in a
tiny voice.