Summerlost (13 page)

31.

When I got to the costume shop, Meg was having a meeting. All of the employees stood gathered around her worktable. Emily and a nice guy whose name was Nate moved over so I could see Meg, since I was shorter than everyone else.

“Today's a big day,” Meg said. “We're starting to dress the mannequins up in the Costume Hall.”

“
Some
of us are,” said Emily, sounding grumpy. “Some of us have to stay down here and mend the costumes for tonight's show.”

Meg caught sight of me. “Cedar, you can carry the pieces of the costumes up and down,” she said. “You've got the youngest legs.”

The first thing Meg gave me to carry upstairs was a black-and-gold-embroidered doublet. It was
heavy
. When we got up to the Costume Hall, she showed me the display cases. Each one contained a plaque (saying who wore the costume in which play), and a faceless male or female mannequin waiting to be dressed.

It was disturbing.

“Here's where we are,” Meg said. “Eric Potter,
Henry VIII
.”

“He was short,” I said, looking at the outfit.

“And a terrible actor, by all reports,” Meg said. “They didn't have a lot of options in those first years when they were getting started. But the real Henry VIII was also fat so that, at least, was authentic.” She gave the mannequin a pat on the back. “Old Eric Potter did his best for the festival.”

She hung the doublet on the portable clothes rack next to her. It had a bunch of items with
ERIC
POTTER
:
HEN
RY
VIII
tags on them. “You can head downstairs now for more pieces,” Meg said. “Unless you'd like to help me dress Henry.”

“No thank you,” I told her.

All day long I ferried up the clothes and accessories to Meg and the others and gathered the things they needed. The last thing I brought up was a Titania robe from a production of
A Midsummer Night's Dream
. It shimmered green and purple and blue and gold. I couldn't stop touching the fabric, even though I knew they'd just cleaned it.

Meg draped the robe over the mannequin and stood back to look it over. “I've always loved this one,” she said. “I helped make it during my first year at the festival.”

I looked at the plaque. The actress who'd worn the dress was named Philippa Page. Not Lisette Chamberlain. But I was still curious. “Did you know her?”

“Yes,” Meg said. “She was a fine actor. Very reserved when she wasn't onstage, though, so I didn't know her well. I always felt a bit sorry for her because she came along at the same time Lisette did.”

“And everyone loved Lisette,” I said. “Right? Because she was a great actress, and she was from Iron Creek.” I felt reckless talking about Lisette with Meg, especially because of the tour situation, but what did I have to lose? And what if I could find out something amazing, something that even Leo didn't know, and then I could tell it to him? Would that make him feel better? Or worse?

“Not
everyone
loved Lisette,” Meg said. “But most people did. I did. She was one of my best friends.”

I had so many questions.
So who
didn't
love Lisette? What was she like? How well did you know her? Did she tell you secrets? Did you see her the night she died?

I didn't know which one to ask.

“She and I became friends the first summer I was here,” Meg said. She didn't sound sad talking about her friend. She sounded happy. Remembering. “I was an assistant in the costume shop. We were doing a full dress rehearsal, and I was in the audience watching and keeping an eye on the costumes—what fit right, and how they looked under the lights. They had to take a break to fix a trapdoor and I went up to adjust someone's
costume, and Lisette said something under her breath that made me laugh so hard I got tears in my eyes. No one else seemed to get the joke. She noticed. After that we spent a lot of time together. We were almost the same age and we both had big dreams.”

“Was her dream to go to Hollywood?”

Meg nodded.

“Was yours?”

“No,” Meg said. “I wanted to get hired as one of the costume experts at a big museum somewhere.”

But she was still here in Iron Creek. She did have the Costume Hall, though, which was kind of like a museum.

Did she like it when Lisette came back? Or did it remind Meg that she'd never left?

I didn't ask that of course. But I realized something I should have thought of a long time ago. No wonder Leo liked Lisette so much. She was a kid from Iron Creek who had big dreams. And she made them happen.

32.

I dumped out a pile of straws and pipe cleaners on the table at home and got out some Elmer's Glue and construction paper. It was a good thing my mom hadn't really looked in the craft box she'd put together for us when we first moved to Iron Creek. There were an awful lot of supplies left.

“What are you doing?” Miles asked. “It's time to go to Leo's.”

“I'm going to need to talk to Leo for a while after we watch
Times of Our Seasons
,” I said. “So I'm leaving Mom a note in case she comes back while we're still gone. And I'm leaving this. I want it to look like we were doing crafts.”

“What were we making?” Miles asked.

“I don't know,” I said.

Miles picked up a straw. “In kindergarten we cut up the straws and put string through them and made necklaces. Do we have any string?”

“Good idea,” I said. I got out some string and scissors. We chopped up the straws and threaded string through them. Miles needed a haircut. His straight dark hair hung in his eyes and he
pushed it away as he bent over to tie the ends of his necklace together. “There,” he said. “Done.”

“Nice,” I said. “Thanks.” The two of us had been a good team lately. If being a good team meant that we excelled at tricking our mom and eating a lot of candy and playing a lot of board games. I reached over and took the necklace he'd made from him. “Can I wear it?”

“Sure,” he said, sounding surprised. I pulled it over my head. I could barely get it on, and it was shorter than I expected it to be, more like a choker than a long necklace.

“Your head's huge,” Miles said.

“I know.” Ben had had a big head too. You couldn't really tell from looking at us, but when we wanted to wear hats, we always had to find them in the adult section. “It's a sign of my giant brain.”

“Not necessarily,” Miles said. “Dinosaurs had huge heads and tiny brains.”

“Not necessarily,” I said back. “I heard once that some of them had a second brain, like in their tails.”

“That's a myth,” Miles said. “But are you trying to tell me that you have a brain in your butt?”

“Maybe.” I shook my butt at him.

Miles clapped his hands over his eyes. “That's disgusting.”

We left the other necklace and the supplies out on the counter, arranged theatrically.

“Do you think Mom will fall for it?” I asked Miles as we closed the blue door behind us and started toward Leo's. I walked fast. We'd taken longer than I'd meant to with our craft.

“Probably,” Miles said. His mood seemed to have changed. He wasn't looking at me. He stared down at the sidewalk, a frown on his face. His flip-flops snick-snacked on the pavement extra loud.

“What's wrong?”

“Do you only bring me places so you don't get in trouble?”

“No,” I said. “I like hanging out with you. Which is good because I have to do it all the time.” I shoved into him.

He didn't shove back.

“What about Leo?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you like him?”

“He's my friend,” I said.

“Do you
like
like him?” Miles asked.

“No.”

“He probably wishes I'd stay home instead of hang around you guys.”

“That's not true,” I said. “Leo likes you.”

And then I realized that Leo was also Miles's best friend in Iron Creek. And that Miles was feeling left out.

“I'm just going to go home when
Times of Our Seasons
is done,” Miles said. “Then you and Leo can talk
in private.
”

“I need you to stay with me so Mom doesn't get mad,” I said. “
Please
.”

“What do you have to talk with him about?”

“Just something.”

“You don't trust me.”

“I do, but I don't want you to get in trouble. Please, Miles. I'll play Life with you later, as many games as you want. Or Clue.”

For a minute I thought he was going to turn around and leave. Not even watch
Times of Our Seasons.
Then I saw him take a deep breath and do that thing. You see grown-ups do it all the time. They're about to lose their patience or get mad and then instead they take a deep breath and do not lose their patience and do not scream.

It's a weird thing to see a little kid do. I used to see Ben do it and it tore me up.

It made me feel awful to see Miles do it.

“How about,” Miles said, “you eat two Fireballs at the same time.”

I wanted to hug him but we were almost to Leo's and so I didn't. “Fine. It's a deal.”

Leo opened the door before we could knock. “Hi,” I said. Miles hurried past Leo and pounded down the basement stairs. So he was still mad.

“Have you heard anything new?” Leo asked.

“No,” I said. “I guess Cory hasn't told anyone yet.”

“So you think we should go to work today like usual?”

“Yeah. What else can we do?” I shrugged. “Has anyone called about tomorrow's tour?”

Leo nodded. “Two people. I had to tell them that the tour was temporarily on hold. They weren't very happy.” Leo slumped against the door frame and rubbed one of his eyes. “I've got to try and make some money. I knocked on all the doors in the neighborhood but no one needs me to mow their lawn.” He paused. “What about Miles? Does he need a babysitter?”

I hoped my brother hadn't heard Leo's question. That would make Miles feel even worse if he thought Leo saw him as a kid to be babysat.

“No,” I said. “What if I
lend
you the money? Not give it to you. You could pay me back later.”

Leo shook his head.

“Can you ask Zach or Jeremy?”

“No way,” Leo said.

“Let's watch the show,” I said. “Maybe we'll think of something.”

When Leo and I went downstairs, Miles was sitting in a chair instead of on the couch where the three of us usually sat together. He didn't turn to look at us. The straw necklace scratched at my collarbone.

“Here we go,” Leo said as he turned on the television. “Maybe today will be the day.”

But I knew somehow that today would not be the day.

Harley was in her box, just like she'd been all summer long.

It felt extra claustrophobic to me. It was so dark in the coffin. The camera showed us the bruises on her hands from banging on the lid. And even though she was still beautiful, her makeup looked different now. They were trying to make her seem tired.

“I feel like she's going to die in there,” I said. “They're never going to let her out.”

“They
will
,” Miles said.

The doorbell rang upstairs right as the show was ending.

I heard one of Leo's brothers walking to answer it.

Then he came to the top of the stairs. “Cedar,” Jeremy said. “It's your mom.”

Uh-oh.

Leo shot a look at me and we both stood up. Miles dove for the remote control and turned off
Times of Our Seasons
.

“What do you think happened?” Leo asked.

“I told her we'd be here,” I said. “In a note. She must have decided to come over.”

I didn't want to go upstairs, but even more I didn't want my mom at Leo's house. It felt weird. Like seeing your teacher at the grocery store, but even more awkward.

When I came up the stairs my mom was waiting right by the front door. “Cedar,” she said. “Are you all right?”

I could tell she had just gotten back from the gym and she looked worried and mad.

“Mom,” I said. “Yes. I'm fine. Hi. We can come home now. Let me go get Miles.”

“I got your note,” my mom said. “And there was also a message waiting for me from Daniel Alexander.”

Daniel Alexander?
Not Gary?

This was very bad.

I heard Leo draw in his breath behind me.

Cory. That loser. He wanted to get us in as much trouble as he could. So he went straight to Daniel Alexander instead of telling Gary. We should have known.

“He said it was regarding my daughter, Cedar, and not to worry, that everything was fine,” my mom said, “but that he did need me to call him back at my convenience. I tried calling but he didn't pick up. Why is Daniel Alexander calling me about you?”

Right then the door to the garage opened and Leo's dad came in. “Leo Bishop!” he hollered. “I need to talk to you.” Then he saw us and stopped. “Hi,” he said. “I'm Dale Bishop.”

“I'm Shannon Lee,” Mom said. “I'm sorry to bother you. I came to pick up Cedar and Miles. They've been hanging out here with Leo.”

“Of course,” Mr. Bishop said. Then he looked at Leo. “Daniel Alexander just called me at work.” It was the first time I'd seen Leo's dad up close.

I looked over at Leo. He swallowed.

Leo's dad was mad but in a dad way, not a scary way. He looked exactly like Zach, only older.

I wasn't scared for Leo. But I was sad for him.

And I was sad for me.

“Mr. Alexander called me too, but I haven't talked to him yet,” Mom said. “What happened?”

“The kids have been giving tours about Lisette Chamberlain,” Leo's dad said. “Daniel Alexander heard about it and thought he'd better let us know. He was worried because they're so young.”

“I don't understand,” my mom said, tipping her head to look at me. “Why are you giving tours about Lisette Chamberlain?”

“It was my idea,” Leo said. “I thought up the tour and put the flyers in the programs at the festival. I thought we could earn extra money that way. Since she had so many fans, and it's the twentieth anniversary of her death.”

“The twentieth anniversary of her death,” my mother repeated.

“We give the tours in the early morning,” I said as fast as I could. I wanted to get it all out. “When you thought I was running. We tell people about Lisette Chamberlain and take them to the places in Iron Creek that were relevant to her life.”

“So it's the two of you kids,” Mom said. “And a bunch of strange adults who just show up.”

“They call first,” Leo said. “If they sound weird then I tell them the tour is canceled. And actually I've never had to do that. No one has sounded
too
weird.”

Stop talking,
Leo.
I thought it and he did, but it was too late.

“I'm very sorry for Leo's part in this,” Mr. Bishop said. “I thought Leo was out running too. This is the first I've heard about the whole tour thing.”

“Because I knew you'd say no if I asked,” Leo said.

“Cedar, you lied to me,” my mom said.

“I'm sorry,” I said.

“No more tours,” Mom said, “ever. And you are grounded. Until we go home for the summer.”

“Mom,” I said, “
please
. Don't do this.” We had to try to find a way to get enough money for Leo. Maybe his dad would still let him go to England.

My mom looked annoyed. And mad. “Don't be so dramatic, Cedar,” she said. “You'll still see Leo at work at the festival.” She glanced over at Leo's dad, like she was embarrassed. “I guess someone has seen
Romeo and Juliet
one too many times this summer.”

My face went Fireball-hot with anger and embarrassment. My mom was the one who was freaking out, not me. And I'd read
Romeo and Juliet
at school but I hadn't seen the play even once this whole summer.

“We might not be able to see each other at work,” Leo said. “We're probably going to get fired. Did Daniel Alexander say he was going to fire us?”

“He said that was up to Gary,” said Mr. Bishop. “Daniel said the kids should go to work like usual today.”

My mom was totally wrong. I didn't feel at all like Juliet. I was Miranda at the beginning of
The Tempest
asking her dad not to cause the storm.
Please don't do this,
I wanted to tell my mom.
Please don't ruin this.
But Miranda didn't know yet who she might lose if her father destroyed that boat. I did. I knew who I'd already lost and who I was about to lose.

Becoming friends with Leo had helped me feel like my own self again. Not the person I was before the accident, but like someone I recognized.

It was almost time for us to leave Iron Creek. We wouldn't find out what happened to Harley or to Lisette's ring and we would never see the tunnels and Leo wouldn't have enough money to go to England.

The summer would be lost. I could feel it slipping through my fingers.