Every Now and Then by Lesley Kagen

Author:Lesley Kagen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CROOKED LANE BOOKS

Chapter Fifteen

The girls and I had pedaled about three-quarters of the way back to town on the twisty path through Founder’s Woods when I flew over my handlebars. Last thing I heard before I landed in the dirt so hard that all the breath was knocked out of me was Viv shouting, “Frankie! Stop!”

When I came to, the two of them were kneeling next to me. Frankie was patting me lightly on the cheek because Aunt Jane May had told her plenty of times that if she changed her mind about becoming “the next Perry Mason,” her unflappability and steady hands would make her a wonderful physician.

“You got knocked out,” she said as she inspected me. “Anything broken?”

I wiggled my arms and legs. “Don’t think so.”

“How many fingers am I holding up?”

After I told her, I asked, “What the heck happened?”

“Stupid boys and their stupid booby traps,” Frankie said.

She helped me to my feet and pointed behind me at the length of rope that’d been tautly stretched across the path. It hadn’t been there on our ride over to the hospital, so I figured that one of the little cowboys who liked to play shoot ‘em up in the woods must’ve tried to bushwhack a little Indian while we were up there. I felt stupid for not seeing it. No matter how desperately I wanted to get away from Broadhurst, I should’ve let our lookout and scout lead the way instead of breezing past her when Viv and I caught up to her on the path.

Frankie dusted the dirt off my front side and said, “You sure you’re okay? You look a little green around the gills.”

“She’s fine—let’s go,” Viv said to Frankie as she picked her bike back up off the path. “You need your treat and I need to pee.”

As tempting as a brown cow must’ve sounded, Frankie was still ticked off at her for running away from us so she could meet Ernie Fontaine and was not one to be won over too easily. “Not so fast,” she told Viv. “Biz is lucky she didn’t crack her head open and more sharp turns are comin’ up. We won’t see another trap until it’s too late, and we can’t risk gettin’ hurt in a way that we can’t hide from Auntie.”

Unless Jane May Mathews, RN, was otherwise occupied, she’d do what she always did when we returned from a day out of her sight. She’d exam us from top to bottom. We’d concealed bruises and sprained ankles from her many times throughout the years, but we’d never be able to hide a broken limb or nose.

“We’re walkin’ the rest of the way out,” Frankie said in a way that let Viv and me know that it was not open to discussion.

Something about being on foot set alarm bells off in my head, but I thought it was a side effect of getting knocked out, so I gave Frankie the okay sign. Viv pranced in place, mumbled something about a bathroom, but she didn’t fight Frankie’s decision either.

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