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"Your father?" I started to laugh. "You think he would talk to me about this?"

"Yes," Cary said, his eyes small. "He will or I'll tell my grandmother and she'll wring his neck."

I laughed, just thinking about Grandma Olivia chewing into Uncle Jacob.

Cary smiled. "I'm glad I found you so quickly, Melody."

I nodded and then sighed deeply, the sadness in my heart sprouting its dark flowers again.

"Papa George died," I told him. "There was no one there when I arrived yesterday. Mama Arlene had already moved away to live with her sister. The trailer home was closed, and my old home had nothing in it."

"I know. Alice told me. I'm sorry."

"Alice helped me a lot, but I spent last night in the trailer, sleeping on the floor. I have no idea where my things are. I didn't even think about them. I went to the cemetery, too. It felt so strange. I was angry and sad and. . . confused. Mommy didn't call while I was away, did she?"

"Not when I was home," he said. "How did you ever hope to find her just by going to Los Angeles? It's huge. I hear that even people who live there get lost."

"I "I didn't know what else to do. I was alone," I said mournfully.

"You're not alone. You'll never be alone. Remember that," he declared, his eyes firm and determined and full of sincerity.

"Thank you, Cary."

He smiled warmly, his eyes soft, loving. Then, he changed expression and took a breath. "Now I'll tell you the truth," he said. "I was shaking in my boots when I snapped at Grandma. I was afraid she would throw me out and call my father and that would be that."

"I thought you said her bark was worse than her bite."

"I did, but that doesn't mean her bite doesn't hurt, too."

The bus rolled on to Boston. I was like a ball in a pinball machine, rolling back and forth, but it wasn't for nothing, I thought. After all, I was unraveling those lies that had been spun so tightly around me, and soon, soon, I would reach the truth. It should have made me happy to realize that, but all it did was make my heart thump and make me tremble inside.

Since I hadn't slept much in the trailer, I dozed for most of the trip, my head on Cary's shoulder. When we arrived in Boston, we had something to eat and then we got into his truck and started for Provincetown. It was nearly morning by the time we saw the town with Pilgrim's Monument ahead of us. The rim of the sun was just peeking over the eastern horizon, turning the sky violet and orange, its bright gold edged with all those heavenly colors. The darkness retreated from the ocean, rising away like a blanket being peeled from a silver sheet. A tanker was silhouetted against the orange sky. It was

breathtaking.

The beauty of the Cape, the promise of revelation and truth, the return after my desperate flight--it all made me dizzy with emotion. I was nervous, afraid, elated, and excited, happy and sad. I didn't know whether to cry or sigh with pleasure, to feel relief or more tension.

"Lucky I was suspended, huh?" Cary said, smiling, as we entered the city limits.

"Lucky?"

"Sure. I wouldn't have been free to go find you. Actually, I would have left anyway and then I might have been suspended because of that."

"Let this be t

he end of all that, Cary. You've got to graduate."

"Aye, aye, Captain," he said, saluting. We cruised through town and made the turn toward his house. How would we be greeted? Would anyone be awake?

"Maybe I should just sleep on the beach," I said.

He looked at me with a wry smile. "It's time you got a good rest," he said. "You've got a lot to do during the next few weeks. For one thing, you've got to get me through ray finals and take finals of your own."

How right he was, I thought. Maybe he was the smartest and wisest of all of us after all.

It was deadly quiet when we entered the house. A small hall light had been left on. We looked at each other and then, as silently as we could, started up the stairs, but the steps creaked like tattletales. By the time we reached the landing, Uncle Jacob, standing in his long nightshirt, was at his bedroom door. We paused. He stared at us a moment and then nodded.

"Get some sleep. We'll talk tomorrow." He retreated to his bedroom, softly closing the door.