Runaways (37 page)

“He made it back to New York,” he said, his eyes shifting to Anita.

“What's the rest?” she demanded.

“He got someone awfully mad at him. You don't have to worry about him coming after you anymore, girls,” he added.

Despite our fear and dislike of Gordon, the news was shocking. We all looked at each other and felt our hearts skip beats.

“Louise will probably lose the foster home,” Crystal remarked.

“Most likely,” Tommy said. “They'll revoke her license. There is a big need for foster homes all over this country and it's growing,” he added.

“Where will they send us now?” Raven wondered.

The light, happy mood we had created dissipated like smoke and was soon replaced with a heavy air, erasing smiles, weighing down our moves, turning us into something mechanical. Raven decided to take off the Indian dress. Afterward, she joined Crystal and me outside on the porch. Butterfly was still helping Anita put things away.

“Wherever we go,” Crystal said, “it won't be
long for us. As soon as we turn eighteen, we'll be on our own. I'll go full-time to college,” she added. “Maybe you'll go back to live with Todd, Brooke.”

“I don't know. I haven't spoken to him. He probably forgot me already,” I said.

“Not if he really felt something for you,” Raven told me. “I'm still going to try to be someone in show business. I don't care what I have to do. I'll work as a waitress, clean houses, anything, until I get my big break. And if that never happens, I'll come live with you and Todd.”

“Stop rushing my life, you two. I have some things to do first, also,” I said. “I still intend to go to California.”

“How will you find her?” Crystal asked. I spun around.

“How do you know what I want to do?”

“You've let enough hints slip, Brooke. Actually, it's easier today to find someone than it used to be. Maybe you will,” she said.

She reached out and I took her hand. I reached for Raven and the three of us sat there in the darkness with the stars twinkling in a clear desert sky above us. Somewhere in the distance there was a strange howl. Crystal said that was a coyote.

“She's right,” Tommy said, coming out of the shadows. We didn't know how long he had been there. “How do you know the sound, Crystal?”

“There's this computer software program I used when I was doing a project for science class,” she explained.

“School sure is different from when I went,” he said.

“What time are we leaving tomorrow?” I asked him.

“Right after breakfast, I'm to take you girls to the
sheriff's office in Gallup and the child welfare people from Albuquerque will take it from there,” he said. “You're all great girls. I know you'll be fine,” he said.

We were all silent.

“Well,” he said, “I'm feeling tired. Around here, we're up with the sun. See you in the morning.”

“Good night, Tommy,” I said.

We sat quietly for a while and then decided we were pretty tired too. We partnered up the way we usually did. The beds were very comfortable, the rooms all paneled yellow oak with southwestern style furnishings. The night air was cool and it made for pleasant sleeping, except none of us was able to put off our anxiety easily. Before Raven and I even tried to sleep, Crystal came in to tell us Butterfly was acting strange.

“She won't talk. She's curled up in her bed,” Crystal said.

“We're all just tired,” Raven told her. “You were right. It's exhausting to run away and too much for a fragile girl like Butterfly, especially if it's too much for us.”

“Anita gave her a real Indian necklace. She's wearing it to sleep,” Crystal said.

“That's nice,” I said. “Anita's a lot nicer than I first thought she would be.”

“Everyone we meet seems wounded in some way or another,” Crystal commented. It was one of those deeply philosophical statements she was capable of planting in my mind and then leaving to let it grow on its own.

She returned to her room. Raven and I were silent, not even saying good night to each other. She turned over and fell asleep before I did. I listened to the wind for a while, saw a small cloud
touch the quarter moon and then I closed my eyes and finally drifted off, not waking until I felt my body being shaken vigorously. My eyes popped open. Crystal was standing there in a panic.

“She's catatonic, worse than I have ever seen her, Brooke! Hurry.”

I jumped out of bed and we woke Raven. That was like waking the dead, but when she heard what was wrong, she moved faster and we gathered around Butterfly, who was, as Crystal had described, twisted tightly, her legs pulled up against her stomach, her arms turned in, the hands locked like claws, her eyes slammed shut and her lips glued together with just a line of drool trickling out of the right corner. She didn't even look like she was breathing. An electric surge of panic shot through my heart.

“Oh Crystal, I've never seen her this bad. Her face is so pale and her lips are turning blue.”

Crystal nodded.

“It's very bad,” she agreed.

We joined hands and brought our heads down to Butterfly's. Crystal started the chant.

“We're sisters. We'll always be sisters. Nothing can hurt us as long as we're together.”

Raven and I joined. Our voices grew more and more desperate as we finished a chorus and saw no change.

“Crystal!”

“Keep trying,” she cried.

We chanted louder, the desperation building in our voices.

“What's going on in here?” Anita asked from the doorway.

We stopped. Butterfly was still catatonic. Anita came charging in and looked down at her.

“What's happening?” she demanded.

“She gets this way sometimes,” Crystal said. “It's an emotional thing. We've always been able to help her by joining and reciting our chant. It usually brings her out of it, but it's not working.”

“Oh, my God!” Anita cried. “She's stopping her own heart, her own breathing. Tommy! TOMMY!”

He came rushing into the room. The moment he saw Butterfly and heard the explanation, he scooped his hands under her and lifted her into his arms.

“We'll take her to the hospital,” he said.

“Hurry, Tommy,” Anita ordered.

We all piled into his Jeep. Anita held Butterfly in her lap and the three of us squeezed in behind them. Tommy pulled away, bouncing over the dirt road. Still, Butterfly's eyes did not open. Anita rocked her and kissed her forehead. She stroked her hair and held her tightly. All of us looked at each other, each thinking the same thing. If Butterfly dies, it will be because we had decided to run away. It was our fault. Heads bowed, we prayed and held hands. The Jeep rocked as Tommy shifted down and made turns.

And then, miraculously to us, Butterfly moaned. Anita increased her consoling and kissing. She rocked her more and called to her and finally, Butterfly's eyelids fluttered. Color returned to her face.

“She's better, Tommy,” Anita declared, laughing through her tears. “She's better.”

“Good, great, but we still better take her to the hospital,” he said.

By the time he pulled in, however, Butterfly was fully alert. She actually walked into the emergency room, holding Anita's hand. The three of us waited
with Tommy in the lobby while Anita went into the examination room with Butterfly.

“That was the first time we failed to bring her out of it ourselves,” Crystal reminded us. “It was Anita who did it.”

Tommy's eyes widened and he nodded. Nearly an hour later, Anita came out to tell us Butterfly was doing fine.

“All her vital signs are good. The doctor feels it was caused by a psychological shock, which is not to say it isn't serious. She needs a great deal of care and nurturing,” she said, telling Tommy more than us. He nodded. “She won't get it where she's going, Tommy.”

He simply nodded.

Afterward, Tommy decided to take us to a small café nearby for breakfast. No one was really very hungry, however. We left more on our plates than we put in our stomachs. The ride back to the ranch was slower, quieter. When we got there, we organized ourselves, gathered what little we had, and waited for Tommy to take us to the sheriff's office.

“Anita gave me this dress,” Raven said, showing us the beautiful deerskin garment. “She said it belongs to me because I wear it well. Tommy and Anita have been so nice to us. I'm glad you ran out of gas when you did, Brooke.”

“Me too.”

It was finally time to go. Anita decided to go along and sat with Butterfly in front again. The social worker from the child welfare agency was waiting for us at the sheriff's office. She was a pleasant lady of about forty with curly, dark brown hair. While we waited, she went into an office with Tommy and Anita and caught up on details. They were in there a long time, and I could see through
the windows that the woman, Mrs. Wilson, was on the phone. She talked with Tommy and Anita some more and then Tommy came out by himself.

“It will be a little while longer,” he said.

“Where are they taking us?” I asked quickly.

“That's not exactly been determined yet, but it looks like you'll return to New York. Don't worry—you won't be going back to the Lakewood House.” He paused. “Mrs. Wilson would like to speak with Janet.”

Butterfly, who had her head bowed most of the time, looked up with surprise.

“Is that okay?” Tommy asked. Butterfly looked at Crystal and Crystal nodded. Then she nodded. Tommy reached for her hand and took her into the office. He returned and asked us if we would all like an ice cream soda. “We have an old-fashioned soda fountain here,” he said. “Come on.”

We went out with him and down to a drugstore that had a fountain with booths in the rear.

“What's going on?” I whispered to Crystal. She shrugged.

“What's new about being caught up in bureaucratic delays, Brooke?” she said.

Tommy got us sodas and we sat in a red booth with chrome buttons.

“Every time I come here, I think I traveled back in a time machine,” he said.

“It's nice,” Raven admitted, gazing around and sipping her soda.

“You girls have been through a lot together. Years, huh?”

“Yes. There were times we thought, we hoped, we would be separated to go to nice homes, but as time went by, we realized it was getting less and less likely,” Crystal said. She then told Tommy
about the most recent chance Butterfly had had to be adopted and how Louise had sabotaged it.

He shook his head.

“It's very sad when people are cruel to children. I have something to ask you girls,” he continued. “I know from the short time I've been with you that Butterfly would never do anything without your approval. We asked Mrs. Wilson if we could take her in with us, be her foster parents and eventually adopt her.”

“You did?” Raven asked.

“What did she say?” Crystal followed.

“She's finding out what has to be done, but there is a good chance it could happen. How do you all feel about it?”

No one spoke for a moment.

“We would feel very happy for her,” Crystal finally said. “We're not going to be together much longer anyway, Tommy. We're all reaching eighteen soon and then we'll be cut loose from the system. Butterfly deserves to find a loving home before that happens.”

“That's very generous of you, girls. I wish we could take you all, but that would be much more difficult to make happen and I have a feeling you would all rather be where there is more action: a better chance for education for you Crystal, some place where there is more opportunity for you, Raven, and I've heard Brooke talk a lot about California and some guy she wants to call soon. Maybe you should check in with him now,” he added, reaching into his pocket to produce a handful of change. “Let him know you're all right, huh?”

I looked at the money as if it were gold and then I looked toward the pay phone.

“Go for it,” Raven said.

It didn't take a second offer. I was up in a split second. Todd answered the phone on the first ring.

“I just happened to be sitting in my office,” he said. “Where are you?”

I told him as much as I could squeeze into two minutes and then promised him I would call him as soon as I knew where I was going.

“Wherever it is, Brooke, I'll be there,” he swore. “I really miss you.”

“Me too,” I said.

Everyone had a big, silly grin on their face when I returned to the table.

“Well?” Raven asked.

“Betty Lou is just waiting for directions,” I replied and Raven laughed. Crystal smiled and hugged me. “Thank you. Tommy.” I said.

“Thank you, girls. You helped give me back my 'Nita. Make no mistake about it, we need Butterfly more than she needs us,” he said with tears in his eyes.

We all had tears in our eyes.

Butterfly was waning for us when we returned. Tommy went into the office with Anita and Mrs. Wilson and continued their discussions. Papers were being sent through fax machines. The process was under way.

“Anita wants me to stay with her,” Butterfly told us.

“We know, Butterfly,” Crystal said. “That's wonderful if you want it, too. Do you?”

“Yes,” she said, “but I don't want to have to leave all of you.”

“It's not like you won't see us again,” Raven said comfortingly.

“As soon as we can, we'll come visit. Tommy's already invited us,” Crystal added.

“Really?”

“Yes, really,” I said.

She smiled.

“I'm going to take care of the pony myself,” she said.

All of us laughed and hugged her.

Finally, Tommy, Anita and Mrs. Wilson emerged from the office. Arrangements had been made. Butterfly could stay while things were being formalized.

“What about us?” Crystal asked.