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"He's right," I said.

"I told him it hadn't happened to his family so he could say that."

"What did he say?" I asked, shocked at his courage.

"He stuttered a bit and then said that wasn't the point. But don't worry. I'll walk you to school anyway and be here for you afterward and if Adam Jackson or anyone bothers you--"

"I won't tell you," I said. "You'd . . . you'd turn them into fish bait," I declared, using Theresa's language. He nodded, pleased wit

h the description.

"Exactly, and they know it."

We started away.

"I appreciate your protecting me, Cary, but I hate to see you get into trouble."

I saw a smile take form on his lips.

"How can you be happy?" I asked him.

"This is the way it used to be between me and Laura," he said softly. Then he lost his smile. "Until Robert stepped into her life."

I said nothing. We walked on, each chased by troubled thoughts.

Cary didn't have to tell Aunt Sara and Uncle Jacob what had happened at school. The principal had called and told Aunt Sara before we returned home. Uncle Jacob was still down at the dock and didn't know yet, however, and Aunt Sara was visibly shaken just with the thought of what would happen once he found out. She wrung her hands and shook her head in despair.

"Don't worry, Ma. tell him myself. I'll go down to the dock now," Cary said.

"How did this happen, Cary? You haven't been in any trouble for a long time, and it's so close to graduation."

I was about to take the blame, but Cary spoke first. "This boy was saying ugly, disgusting things about us and our family around the school, Ma. I did what I had to do."

"Why was he doing that?"

"Because he's a shark who needs to be harpooned, and that's all there is to say." Cary glared at me with eyes of warning.

"Oh Melody, was it dreadful for you, too?"

"Yes, Aunt Sara. I'm sorry Cary's in trouble, but the other boy was at fault."

She sighed.

"What are we going to do? All this happens on the day we're going to your grandparents for dinner. Don't mention anything about this to them," she told us fearfully.

"I won't if you won't," Cary promised. He winked at me and went up to change his clothes.

May, who had learned only bits and pieces about everything, was desperate to know what had caused all the commotion. Neither Cary nor I had told her much on the way home since neither of us was in the mood to talk. I explained it to her as best I could, leaving out the nasty details of the rumors.

She signed back that she was sorry Cary was in trouble again. It had always made Laura sad and it made her sadder still, she said. In her large, shadowed brown eyes lingered more dark secrets and sufferings than a child her age should know, I thought. And with her handicap, most of them remained trapped in her heart.

"Go up and try on your dress for tonight," Aunt Sara told me in a tired, defeated voice. "We have to do our best under the circumstances."

"Yes, Aunt Sara."

She followed me upstairs. The dress hung with a slip on the closet door. On the floor beneath them was a brand new pair of shoes she had bought to match the dress, since Laura's shoes wouldn't fit me.

"Aunt Sara, you shouldn't have done that. I could have worn something that would match my own shoes."