Page 99
Story: Runaways (Orphans 5)
We fell asleep, both of us drifting off to dreamland.
Raven didn't say anything about me to Crystal and Butterfly in the morning. They had fallen asleep rather quickly the night before and never knew when I had returned. As usual, Crystal woke us.
"Is the car fixed?" she asked as I ground the dreams out of my eyes.
"Yes. It's right outside."
"We get breakfast here," she said, "so you should hurry and dress."
I poked Raven, who
groaned and mumbled to be left alone. Crystal poked her too, and she finally got up and practically sleep-walked her way through breakfast. It was a good breakfast, too, and Mrs. Slater was a very nice host, chatting about everything from the weather to the latest headlines in the newspaper- reft on her doorstep. She was curious about us, but not enough to really pry, and like everyone we met, she fell in love with Butterfly, who turned her winning smile and soft eyes on her like a searchlight for affection.
After breakfast, Crystal and I waited on the porch and went over the map, planning how far we expected to get and where we thought we would stop again.
"We have just a little more than a hundred dollars now, Brooke. I don't know what we'll do even if we get to Los Angeles in two days."
"Just go right out and look for work, waiting tables. Maybe," I thought aloud, "we could sell this car."
"Sell the car? How? It doesn't belong to us." "There are people who won't care," I said.
"We wouldn't know how or where to find those sorts of people, Brooke, and I'm not going to sell something we've borrowed," she emphasized.
As long as we continued to tell ourselves we borrowed it, we wouldn't feel as guilty or think of ourselves as thieves. She was right.
"Something will come up for us, Crystal. You'll see," I said. I had promised to stop by Todd's before we left, but I was a little hesitant about it and considered just driving right by. I knew it would hurt him as much as it would hurt me, however.
"Ready," Raven sang and spun around in the doorway. "California, here we come!"
Butterfly came out with a care package Mrs. Slater had prepared for us.
"She said she couldn't let us go without lunch," Butterfly told us as we headed to the car. Once again, we'd found people who cared about us just when we had to leave.
We got into the station wagon and I started the engine. Mrs. Slater came to the door to wave goodbye as we drove off. When the garage came into view, I slowed.
"I'm just stopping to say good-bye," I said quickly.
"Oh?" Crystal said, looking up.
I pulled in and got out slowly. Todd was under a car in the rear of the garage. I heard him grunt and then he stopped what he was doing and pushed himself out to look up at me.
"We're leaving," I said quietly.
He got to his feet and looked out the door at our car. The girls were all staring. He nodded toward the far corner, which would be out of their view, and I went there. As soon as I turned, he kissed me.
"I want you to promise me that if you should get into some difficult situation along the way, you'll call me. Will you?" he asked.
"Yes."
"I had some business cards made up last year. I've got a drawer full of them." He dug into his coverall pocket and produced one which he slipped into my jeans pocket quickly. "Look at it once in a while so you don't forget me," he said.
"I won't forget you, Todd. That's silly. I'll be thinking about you all the time."
"Will you?" He smiled. "I hope so. You'll call as soon as you get where you're going, right?" "Yes."
"You're like some sort of miracle that came sweeping into my life and rushed out."
"I'm not rushing out." We stared at each other. My heart felt empty, hollow. "I'd better get going," I said barely above a whisper. My eyes lowered. He touched my chin and I looked at him again.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99 (Reading here)
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149