Page 66

"Did you call your folks and let them know where you'll be for a while?"

"Yes," Crystal said, jumping into the role of spokesman. "We didn't exactly tell them we had been robbed though," she added. Hearing Crystal confess to a little deception appeared to go a long way at easing Patsy's doubts about us. She smiled the smile of understanding.

"Well, I expect you girls will make back that money pretty quickly here. How'd you all do?" "I made forty-one dollars," I said.

"I made thirty-three," Raven said. I saw she was wondering why I had made more.

"Just do less talking and more working," I joked. Raven smiled sheepishly.

"Well now, that's good, and with the wages I'm paying you two," she said to Crystal and Butterfly, "you won't have to wait too long to be on your way again. I can see I'll miss you, so maybe I should hope for slow days."

We laughed along with her, but deep inside ourselves, it wasn't funny; it wasn't cute. If she only knew how much we needed to be wanted like this, she'd understand why it wasn't something we took lightly.

Suddenly, we heard a horn beeping outside. Raven jumped to her feet.

"That must be Taylor!" she cried, throwing off her apron as she went to the door. "It is him! You guys won't really worry if I go, will you? I'll be fine. Honest." She was so happy none of us wanted to burst her bubble.

When I saw the look of grave concern on Patsy's face, though, I knew I had to warn Raven, even if it meant she'd be angry with me. I ran outside and called out to her before she reached Taylor's truck.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"You better be extra careful, Raven. Patsy says that Taylor is a ladies' man."

Disappointment darkened her face. "No, I don't believe it. He's been so nice, nicer than other boys I've dated."

"But he's not a boy, he's a man, Raven, and Patsy wouldn't lie."

She thought about that for a minute. "You're right, she wouldn't. But I have to give myself the chance to find out. Why is it so hard for everyone to believe that someone could actually be interested in me, not just in my looks?" Her voice caught in her throat and she turned to run the rest of the way to the truck.

Late that night Raven returned to our little cottage, where all of us were up and waiting anxiously. We all let out a collective breath when we saw the tiny smile

on Raven's face as she came through the door.

"Hey, what are all you worrywarts doing up? I thought we left curfew behind at Lakewood House," she joked.

"We just wanted to make sure you were okay, that Taylor hadn't been a jerk or anything," Crystal spoke up for us all.

"Well you can all go to sleep now, because Taylor was a perfect gentleman, just like I knew he would be. He likes me. For real. And I really like him too." Humming softly, Raven walked into the bathroom and began to wash up for bed.

Crystal, Butterfly and I all looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders. As it turned out, Taylor Cummings wasn't a problem. Yet.

Early the next morning, even before the sun lit

up the makeshift curtains I had improvised, I heard

Butterfly's moaning. Crystal was in a deep sleep and

apparently hadn't heard. I knew Raven could have a

fire truck roar past her bed and she wouldn't even

flutter her eyelashes, especially after coming in so

late. I listened again and heard the moan repeated,

only deeper and longer. I rose and walked over to the

bed.