“This is Melanie,” Diana said. “She lives on this same road at Number Four. Melanie, this is Cassie Blake –she just moved into Number Twelve. Mrs. Howard's her grandmother.”
The thoughtful gray eyes were turned on Cassie, then Melanie nodded. “Hi.”
“Hi,” Cassie said, glad she'd had a bath and hoping Diana's clothes didn't look too silly on her.
“Melanie's our brain,” Diana said fondly. “She's devastatingly smart. And she knows everything there is to know about computers.”
“Not everything,” Melanie said without smiling. “Sometimes I think not anything.” She looked at Diana. “You know, I overheard some whispers about a Cassie, and something to do with Faye, but nobody would tell me more.”
“I know. I only found out about it today. Maybe I'm out of touch with what's really going on in school– but you should have told me you'd heard something, at least.”
“You can't fight everybody's battles, Diana.”
Diana just looked at her, then shook her head slightly. “Cassie, why don't you go in and help Laurel with the salad? You'll like Laurel; she's a junior like you.”
In the kitchen Laurel was standing in front of a counter full of vegetables, chopping away.
“Diana said I should help you.”
Laurel turned. “Good! You can wash that shepherd's purse over there-it's fresh, so it's probably got
some native wildlife crawling on it.”
Shepherd's purse? Cassie looked at several piles of greenery doubtfully. Was this something she ought to know?
“Uh… this?” she said, picking up a dark green triangular leaf with a mealy white underside.
“No, that's wild spinach.” Laurel gestured with her elbow to a pile of long, slender leaves with ragged edges. “That's the shepherd's purse. But you can wash them both.”
“Do you ever use-uh, feverfew-in salads?” Cassie asked hesitantly as she washed. She was glad to have something to contribute. These girls were so smart, so competent, so together; she desperately wanted to make a good impression.
Laurel smiled and nodded. “Yes, but you have to be careful not to eat too much; you can get a rash. Feverfew's good for other things, too; it makes a good wash for insect bites and a great love-“ Laurel broke off suddenly and went into a flurry of chopping. “There, this burnet is ready. It's good to get these greens fresh, you know,” she added quickly, “because they taste better and they're still full of life from Mother Earth.”
Cassie glanced at her warily. Maybe this girl wasn't so together after all. Full of life from Mother Earth? But then, suddenly, she recalled that day when she had leaned against the red granite and felt a buzzing deep inside it. When she'd imagined she'd felt that, rather. Yes, she could see how you might think that fresh plants were full of that life.
“Okay, this is done. You can tell Di and Melanie it's ready; I'll get some plates,” Laurel said.
Cassie went back into the spacious front room. Melanie and Diana were absorbed in conversation, and neither of them saw her come up behind them.
”… picking her up like a puppy off the street. You're always doing that,” Melanie was saying earnestly, and Diana was listening with her arms folded. “But what's going to happen later-?”
She broke off as Diana saw Cassie and touched her forearm.
“It's ready,” Cassie said, feeling awkward. Had they been talking about her? Calling her a puppy off the street? But it hadn't been Diana saying that; only Melanie. She told herself that she didn't care what Melanie thought.
The cool gray eyes weren't unfriendly, though, as Melanie looked at her while they ate the salad. Only– thoughtful. And when the pizza came, Cassie had to admire the ease with which the other three girls laughed and talked with the college-age delivery guy. He got so interested in Melanie that he practically invited himself inside, but Diana, laughing, shut the door on him.
Afterward, Melanie told several amusing stories about her trip to Canada over the summer, and Cassie almost forgot about the remark. It was so good just to be surrounded by easy, friendly talk; not to feel shut out. And to be here by Diana's invitation, to see Diana smiling at her… she still could scarcely believe it.
When she was getting ready to leave, though, she got a shock. Diana handed her a neat pile of clothes– the gray sweater showed no trace of soot now-and said, “I'll take you home. Don't worry about your grandma's car. If you give me the keys, I'll have Chris Henderson drive it to your place.”
Cassie froze in the act of handing over the keys. “Henderson? You mean-you don't mean one of the
Henderson brothers.”
Diana smiled as she unlocked the Integra. “So you've heard of them. Chris is nice, really, just a little wild. Don't worry.”
As they drove off, Cassie remembered that the one playing keep away with her backpack had been called Doug, not Chris. But she still couldn't help feeling alarmed.
“We all know each other out here on Crowhaven Road,” Diana explained in a comforting tone. “See, there's Laurel's house, and the next one is Faye's. The kids who grew up here sort of stick together. It'll be okay.” ,
“Stick together?” Cassie had a sudden, disturbing idea.
“Yes.” Diana's voice was deliberately light. “We've got a sort of club…”
“The Club?” Cassie was so appalled she interrupted. “You mean-you're in it too? You and Laurel and Melanie?”
“Mm,” Diana said. “Well, here's your house. I'll call you tomorrow-maybe I could come over. And we can carpool to school on Monday…” She stopped at the expression on Cassie's face. “What is it, Cassie?” she said gently. “