The Secret Book Club (12 page)

Nikki was in such a state of excitement about Madame X's identity and the trip to Sands Point that she asked if she could spend Friday night at Olivia's house. Olivia then asked if she and Nikki could spend Friday night with Flora and Ruby, so a slumber party was arranged.

“But,” said Min, “I strongly suggest that you have an actual slumber party — in other words, that you
sleep
on Friday night. You won't have much fun at Sands Point if you've been up all the night before.”

And the girls did sleep. Except for ten minutes shortly after three o'clock, when Ruby got up to go to the bathroom, returned to her sister's room, and woke Nikki, Olivia, and Flora to say, “What if Madame X is Mrs. Grindle!”

By seven-fifteen the next morning, Nikki and her friends were sitting in a row on Min's front stoop. At Min's insistence, each was wearing a hat and had slathered herself with sunscreen since they were going to be outdoors all day.

“I feel like I'm waiting to go on a field trip,” said Nikki.

“A field trip conducted by a mysterious stranger,” said Flora.

“You know, once on
I Love Lucy
,” said Ruby, “there was a person named Madame X and she was a
burglar
!”

“Min wouldn't let us go off with a burglar,” said Flora.

“Oh, what
time
is it?” huffed Olivia, peering at her watch.

“Twenty seconds since the last time someone asked what time it is,” said Nikki.

Flora stood and looked up and down Aiken Avenue. “There are hardly any cars out at all.”

After a short silence, Olivia announced, “It's seven-twenty-nine.”

“There's a car!” cried Ruby. But it drove past the Row Houses.

“There's a van!” said Nikki. “And it's slowing down!”

The girls stared. The van pulled to a stop in front of Min's house.

“Oh, it's only Aunt Allie,” said Flora in a low voice. “What's she doing here?”

“Maybe she's coming along to Sands Point,” whispered Olivia. “You know, like a volunteer on a field trip.”

Aunt Allie waved to the girls. She was grinning.

“Oh, no,” said Ruby suddenly as she watched her aunt climb out of the van. “Oh,
no
. You guys, Aunt Allie is” (Ruby lowered her voice to a whisper) “Madame X.”

Nikki stared at Ruby. Everyone else was staring at Aunt Allie.

At that moment, Min's front door opened. Flora turned around. “Min? Is it true? Aunt Allie is Madame X?”

“True as true,” replied Min. “Everybody ready? I'm going to come with you.”

“Ha!” cried Ruby. “I knew you were coming! I saw you putting on sunscreen, too.”

Aunt Allie stood on the lawn facing the girls. For a moment, no one spoke, and Nikki saw disappointment cross Allie's face.

Nikki smiled at her. “Madame X,” she said. “Thank you for the book club. We had a wonderful summer.”

Aunt Allie's grin returned. “Did you? Did you really?”

“Oh, it was the best surprise!” exclaimed Flora, recovering.

“We loved the books you chose,” added Olivia.

“I read all of them,” said Ruby.

With that, everyone began to talk at once.

“You knew about the secret from the very beginning, didn't you, Min?” said Flora, and Min smiled.

“It was so hard to keep the secret!” exclaimed Aunt Allie. “You almost caught me buying copies of
The Summer of the Swans
, Nikki. Sonny was helping me in Time and Again, and in you walked. I had to hide in the store until you left! You almost caught me once, too, Ruby.”

“When did you deliver the envelopes?” Ruby wanted to know.

“What did you do on Brave Saturday?” asked Aunt Allie.

Min held her hands up. “Wait!” she said. “Let's get in the van and talk on the way to Sands Point. We have a little trip ahead of us.”

“Hey, that's another question,” said Ruby. “Where did this van come from?”

“I borrowed it from a friend,” Aunt Allie replied. “Okay, climb on in, everyone.”

The drive to Sands Point was nearly an hour and a half long, but there was not a moment of silence as the van whizzed along past pine forests and clear, shining lakes and little spits of land ending in docks or fishermen's cabins.

“We had our best discussion of all about
Roll of
Thunder
,” said Flora. “It made us think about
The Diary
of Anne Frank
.”

“My favorite book was
Mrs. Frisby
,” said Ruby, “and I almost didn't finish it! I've never read five books in one summer.”

“We liked having Saturday adventures,” said Nikki. “That was a cool idea.”

“What
did
you do on Brave Saturday?” asked Aunt Allie again.

“I can't say. Mine's private,” Nikki replied uncomfortably.

“Oh. That's okay.” Aunt Allie glanced in the rear-view mirror at the girls. “You don't have to tell me what you did. I just thought —”

“I held a snake!” cried Flora.

Everyone laughed.

“She's been saying that at least once a day since she did it,” said Olivia.

“Where did you find a snake?” asked Aunt Allie.

Flora told her how Brave Saturday had started off.

“Now you tell us something,” Ruby said to her aunt. “When did you deliver the packages to the store?”

“In the evening. Not long after the store had closed. I figured they would be okay in the doorway overnight.”

“Sneaky,” said Ruby.

“We tried to catch you one morning,” Olivia confessed.

“You mean, I did,” said Nikki. “I played private detective. But you had already delivered the packages.”

Min, who was sitting in the front with Allie, consulted the map that was spread across her knees. “We're going to turn onto Route Two Fourteen up here,” she said. “We stay on that for about ten miles, and then we should start seeing signs for Sands Point.”

“Hey,” said Olivia, leaning forward in her seat and addressing Aunt Allie, “did you know that I'm the only one of us who's been to Sands Point before?”

“Min told me that Flora and Ruby hadn't been there,” Allie replied, “but Nikki, I'm surprised you've never been. You grew up in Camden Falls, didn't you?”

“Yes,” said Nikki. Outside her window the mountains had softened into low hills, and the earth was becoming sandier. “My family, well, we never really got to take trips or anything.” The van rolled by a covered bridge. “But things are going to be different now, I think,” she added. “Anyway, this is nice. Thank you very much for today.”

Several miles later, Ruby suddenly cried, “Look! There's a big sign for Sands Point! We're almost there!”

Ten minutes later, Aunt Allie pulled into a parking lot, and soon Nikki and her friends were piling out of the van. “This is so exciting!” said Nikki. “Look at everyone.”

The parking lot was a sea of cars and vans baking
in the August sun. Groups of people, chattering and laughing, walked toward the Sands Point entrance, and soon Min, Allie, and the members of the secret book club joined them.

“I feel like we're going to a fair,” said Ruby.

Aunt Allie grinned. “That's how I used to feel when Min and Dad would bring your mother and me here.”

“You and Mom used to come to Sands Point?” asked Flora in astonishment.

“Almost every summer. Oh, you should have seen our faces when Min would say it was time to go to Sands Point again.”

“You should have heard their voices!” exclaimed Min. “Such shouting. But it was all part of the fun.”

At the edge of the parking lot was a sign reading
THIS WAY TO TOWN
and an arrow pointing to a dirt lane.

“Follow me, ladies,” said Aunt Allie.

Nikki, craning her neck to see ahead, followed Allie down the dirt lane. It ended in the center of a small village.

“Oh,” said Nikki softly, “a town. A whole town. I know you said Sands Point was a town, Olivia, but somehow I thought it would be a little fake town, like you'd find at an amusement park or something. This is
real
. Well, almost real. Stores, houses, an old-fashioned bank …”

“Look, there's a horse and buggy!” cried Flora.

“There's someone churning butter,” said Olivia, pointing to a woman working busily on the front porch of a small house.

“There's the Sweet Shoppie!” exclaimed Ruby.

“It's just pronounced ‘shop,'” Flora told her. “The Sweet Shoppe.”

“Whatever. Can we buy candy there?”

“Absolutely,” said Aunt Allie. “But let's look around before we go shopping.”

They spent the rest of the morning walking from building to building until Nikki felt as if she actually did live at the turn of the twentieth century. They visited a blacksmith shop, they watched a woman weaving on a loom, and they looked around a one-room schoolhouse.

“Just like the one Betsy goes to in Vermont,” said Flora.

They entered a house at the edge of the town, and Olivia said, “This is the way I picture Uncle Henry and Aunt Abigail's house.”

The sun was directly over their heads (“Isn't everyone thankful for the sunscreen?” asked Min) when Ruby declared that she was absolutely famished.

“Let's get lunch, then,” said Aunt Allie. “There are several restaurants here.”

“Do they have regular food in them?” asked Ruby. “Or the kind Betsy had to eat?” She recalled that Betsy's first meal at the farm had consisted of baked
beans, creamed potatoes, cold ham, hot cocoa, and pancakes, and she didn't particularly want any of those things for lunch on this hot day.

“Regular food,” replied Min, and Ruby let out a sigh of relief.

“Not to mention,” added Aunt Allie, “that there's a bakery and the Sweet Shoppe, as well as penny candy in the general store. You'll have plenty of things to choose from for dessert.”

After lunch and dessert, the girls begged to go off on their own.
“Please?”
said Flora. “We'll be safe here. And we'll stay in pairs.”

So Aunt Allie and Min set off in one direction, Ruby and Olivia in another, and Nikki and Flora in yet another.

“This is SO cool,” Nikki said to Flora. “Really. It's better than any school field trip. And it was so nice of your aunt.”

“I know,” said Flora, frowning a little. “Who'd have thought … I mean … Aunt Allie … and she's not forcing us to eat, you know, spinach and bulgur wheat or something. She even bought candy herself. She's been fun today.”

“I think she's trying really hard,” said Nikki. “And I think that's what the book club has been all about. She wanted to do something special for you and Ruby, something you and she could talk about that would bring the three of you together.”

Flora nodded. “It's a little hard to know what to say.”

“Aren't you happy?” asked Nikki.

“Oh, I am. But … Ruby and I haven't been very nice about Aunt Allie.”

“She isn't an easy person to like — which isn't your fault, Flora. Don't feel bad. Maybe this is your aunt's way of saying, ‘Let's start over.'”

“Maybe.”

“Come on, don't spoil it. She's offering you a way to make things better.”

“That's true. Hey, I have an idea. Let's go back to the general store.”

In the store, Flora, who had exactly seven dollars and forty-two cents, walked up and down and up and down the aisles, scrutinizing small items, touching them, comparing. At last she selected a small wooden plaque in the shape of a house, the words
HOME SWEET HOME
carved into a banner that looped across the roof, and she paid the cashier for it.

Later, as Min, Allie, and four weary girls were settling into the van to start the trip home, Flora handed the plaque to her aunt. “This is for you,” she said. “For your new house. Thank you for today.”

Aunt Allie held Flora in her gaze. “You're welcome,” she replied, and turned around to clasp Flora's hand.

The passengers in the van were quiet on the ride back to Camden Falls, and Nikki was starting to
doze, her head lolling against the window, when Ruby said wistfully, “I'm going to miss our Saturday adventures.”

Nikki opened her eyes and murmured, “Who says they have to end? Let's have them all fall.”

“Town is busy today,” Mrs. Edwards said to Robby as they walked along Main Street one morning.

“Mr. Walter said if the weather holds up, the last week in August will be very busy,” Robby replied. “That is exactly what he said. ‘If the weather holds up.'” He paused. “Does that mean if we have nice weather?”

“It does,” said his mother. “And I guess he was right, since today is lovely —”

“And all the stores look busy,” said Robby as they passed Needle and Thread.

“Ready for work?”

“Yes,” Robby replied seriously. He had not forgotten about his bad day. The memory had faded, but it wasn't gone. And every time he remembered the glass ornament — the very expensive glass ornament — he noticed an uncomfortable sensation in his stomach.

“Okay, then. I'll see you this afternoon.” Mrs. Edwards took her son's hand and leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek.

“Mom!” Robby cried, and pulled away from her. “Please! Not here. I'm a professional now.” He shook his mother's hand and entered Sincerely Yours.

The store was already crowded. Robby checked the coffeepot, which was empty, put his things away, and called, “Hi, Mrs. Walter! Hi, Mr. Walter! I'll make the coffee now!”

His voice was loud, and several customers turned to look at him, but Robby concentrated on his job. When the coffee was brewing, he walked up and down the aisles, straightening the merchandise. “We're all out of lavender soap!” he yelled to Mr. Walter.

Robby reached the aisle containing the more fragile items. He glanced at the picture frames and decided not to straighten them. Then he glanced at the ornaments, felt the pang in his stomach, and gave them a wide berth. He wondered how long the sight of the ornaments would make him feel this way. Would that one bad day remain with him forever?

The morning passed quickly. The door to Sincerely Yours opened and closed, opened and closed. Customers asked for help. Mrs. Walter brought tray after tray of chocolates to the counter at the front of the store. Robby answered questions and helped at the cash register and avoided the glass ornaments.

At lunchtime, the store grew quiet briefly, and Mr. Walter sat down and said, “Oh, my aching feet.”

The lull didn't last long. By one-thirty, the store was crowded again. Robby was helping a woman (a friend of Min's, he thought) select items to put in a birthday basket when he heard a shout.

No, not a shout, he realized. A scream. An actual scream like on television programs.

Startled, Robby turned around. Maybe someone had broken something. His eyes strayed to the picture frames, but no shards of glass glittered on the floor.

A second scream made Robby put his hands to his ears. He saw that the awful sound was coming from a young woman standing by the cash register. “My baby is gone!” she cried.

In seconds, a crowd had gathered around her.

“Try to calm down,” said Mrs. Walter, emerging from the back of the store. “Tell us what happened. Your baby is gone?”

“My — my little girl,” the woman replied. “Kirsten. She's four years old. She was right next to me and then I turned around and she was gone. She's nowhere in sight. I've looked everywhere! Oh, where
is
she?”

“I'm sure she's still here somewhere,” said Mr. Walter calmly. “There are lots of good hiding places in the store. What does Kirsten look like?”

“She has brown hair and brown eyes and she's wearing red shorts and a white T-shirt. It says Camp
Seewackamano on the back of the shirt.” The woman began to cry again.

“Come with me,” said Mrs. Walter, taking her hand. “Let's search the back of the store. Maybe Kirsten wanted to see what was in the kitchen.”

“Robby, help me look out here in front,” said Mr. Walter.

“Roger,” said Robby. He got down on his hands and knees and peered under things and behind things, and then he remembered the stockroom and searched it thoroughly.

“I don't see her,” he said a few minutes later.

“She's not in the back,” said Mrs. Walter.

Mr. Walter and Mrs. Walter and Robby and the crying woman, whose name turned out to be Marcia Perrone, all looked at one another. They were surrounded by silent customers, who were also looking at them.

“I think it's time to call the police,” said Mr. Walter grimly, and he reached for the phone.

“Oh, no!” said Mrs. Perrone, and she let out a sob, which Robby thought was strange because aren't the police supposed to help?

Suddenly it seemed to Robby that everyone in the store was talking at once, and very loudly.

“I'll look outside.”

“I'll go with you.”

“I hope she has a picture of Kirsten with her. She'll need to give it to the police.”

“Where's the police station? How long will it take them to get here?”

Robby put his hands over his ears again. This was terrible. Everything was too, too loud. He paused. Maybe all the noise was why Kirsten had left Sincerely Yours. Maybe she didn't like noise and confusion and crowded stores.

Robby glanced at the Walters, who were hovering around Mrs. Perrone, telling her to sit down and offering her a glass of water. Then he slipped out the door and stood on the sidewalk. He drew in a deep breath, let it out, drew in another. He looked up and down Main Street and thought how much he liked the sight of the trees, leafy and elegant, and the little stores with their cheerful windows. Bud's hot dog cart was parked in front of the Gourmet Shop, and Robby noticed a new blue-and-white-striped umbrella over the cart.

The sight of Main Street, sparkling in the sun, made Robby think of Main Street USA at Disney World. And
that
made him remember the time he got lost when he and his parents were on vacation there.

Robby closed his eyes. Lost. He had gotten lost at Disney World. Just like Kirsten was lost now. What had he done then? He cast his mind back eight years. Robby could feel the panic now that he had felt as a
ten-year-old when he had turned around in a store and realized he didn't see either of his parents. He saw lots of other parents and lots of other kids and rows of T-shirts and pens and princess dresses and mouse ears and candy and sunglasses. And then he was aware of the noise. Kids were shouting and kids were crying and a dad was laughing and the cash registers were pinging and someone was talking
so
loudly on a cell phone and then someone dropped something with a
CRASH
and suddenly all Robby had wanted was to get away from the noise, noise, noise. So he had put his hands over his ears and run to another store that was much quieter, and soon his parents found him.

Robby opened his eyes. If he were Kirsten, he would look for a place that was peaceful. What was nearby that was peaceful? Across the street was Time and Again, the bookstore. That was always peaceful. But Robby had a feeling that Kirsten hadn't tried to cross the street. He looked to his left and looked to his right and saw that fewer people were to his right. So he walked in that direction, past the grocery store, and found that he was standing in front of the Fongs' studio and gallery.

Ah-ha, thought Robby. This was probably the most peaceful place on all of Main Street. The gallery on the ground floor was large, with high ceilings and sculptures on pedestals and nice paintings on the walls (some of them were pictures of just colors, not
objects, and Robby liked those quite a bit), and soft, soothing music was always playing. Robby had not figured out where it came from; it seemed to float in the air.

Robby opened the door, stepped into the gallery, saw Mr. Fong talking with a customer in the back — and in the middle of the room next to a sculpture of a horse stood a small brown-haired girl wearing red shorts and a white T-shirt. Robby hurried to her, and then just to be
sure
she was Kirsten, he stepped around behind her and saw that written in an arc across the back of her shirt were the words
CAMP SEEWACKAMANO
.

Robby stepped around to her front again and said, “Are you lost?” The girl nodded and Robby realized she'd been crying. “Is your name Kirsten?” he asked.

Kirsten nodded.

“I know where your mother is,” said Robby. “I can take you to her.” He held out his hand.

But Kirsten shook her head. “I'm not allowed to go with strangers,” she replied.

Robby knew that rule, all right, but it wasn't very helpful just now. Still, a rule was a rule. “Okay,” said Robby. Then he hurried to Mr. Fong and said in a rush, “Mr. Fong, that little girl” (he pointed to Kirsten) “is lost and her mother is at Sincerely Yours and the police are coming and she won't go with a stranger, so I'm going to bring her mother back here.”

Mr. Fong frowned. “What?” he said, but Robby was already running out the door. He sprinted to Sincerely Yours, shouted, “Mrs. Perrone, I found your baby but she won't go with a stranger so I left her with Mr. Fong. Just follow me and you can get her back!”

Mrs. Perrone wasn't the only one who followed Robby to the gallery. A crowd of people came rushing along after them — Mrs. Walter and quite a few customers and a police officer and Robby wasn't sure who else. When Mrs. Perrone saw Kirsten, she grabbed her and hugged her and cried and laughed and scolded her all at the same time.

Mrs. Walter turned to Robby then and said, “You're a hero!” and someone snapped his picture and later it appeared in the newspaper and Robby decided this had been the best day of his whole life.