A Season for Goodbye

by Lurlene McDaniel

  Janie stood. Her hand went to her throat. “It looks like a fire,” she whispered. “Oh no! Jenny House is on fire!”

  Twenty

  THE NEXT FEW hours passed like a nightmare for Katie. There was a quick smothering of the bonfire and frightened kids piling onto the trucks for the dash back to Jenny House. The distant sound of the mournful wail of fire trucks, making their way up the secluded road toward the fire, pierced the night.

  “This can’t be happening,” Chelsea cried as the flatbed truck bounced along. “Tell me it’s a bad dream.”

  Lacey held on to Jeff and Josh hugged Katie. The trucks were going faster than on the leisurely ride to the open field, but to Katie still they seemed to be crawling. At last, the vehicles pulled into the parking lot, a safe distance from the flames, and parked. Katie saw fire trucks with their red lights glaring and hoses sending out arcs of water onto the flaming roof of the building. She watched fire spread onto the wide wooden deck and flames shoot from an upper-story window.

  The staff consoled and comforted the frightened kids while firemen yelled, wood crackled, and water hitting flames hissed. “The trees!” yelled one firefighter. “Douse them good.”

  Sprays of water soaked nearby trees while men chopped down the ones nearest the blaze in order to keep it from spreading to the woods. The flames danced bright and angry in the night sky and soot settled everywhere.

  Horrified, Katie watched Jenny House burn, tears streaming down her cheeks. “How could this have happened?”

  Josh grimly shook his head. “It was a new building. This shouldn’t be happening.”

  “Was there anyone inside?” Katie overheard a fireman ask. He’d come over to their truck and was talking to one of the staff.

  New fears shot through Katie. Where was Kimbra? And Mr. Holloway? And what about Dullas? Had she stayed back at the house? If so, where was she now?

  “There were a few of the staff in the building when we left for our hayride,” the staffer, Janie, told the firefighter. “I don’t see them—Wait! There’s our director.”

  Janie pointed, and Katie saw Mr. Holloway coming toward them from the woods. He had Kimbra and Dullas with him. Katie felt her knees go weak with relief.

  “Is everyone okay?” Richard Holloway asked.

  Janie assured him that all were accounted for.

  “We need to get the kids to town,” he said.

  The fireman radioed for help and soon police sirens could be heard coming up the side of the mountain.

  The next hours passed in a blur, but eventually, everyone got into town and settled into the largest hotel. Local businesses, the Red Cross, and churches rallied to help the kids with sleepwear, toothbrushes, and phone calls home. Counselors were assigned rooms, and Katie and her friends found themselves aiding, consoling, and tucking in the residents of Jenny House for the night. Once most were settled and asleep, Mr. Holloway called an emergency staff and personnel meeting in one of the hotel’s conference rooms.

  “It’s a disaster,” he told his weary workers. “I understand the fire’s out, but we won’t be able to evaluate how much damage was suffered until daylight. The important thing is that all the children are safe. Thanks to all of you for your herculean efforts tonight.”

  Jeff sat next to Lacey, Josh beside Katie. Chelsea clutched the arms of her chair and DJ leaned against the back wall. Soot smudged Kimbra’s face.

  Someone asked, “Do we know what caused the fire?”

  “Not yet. The fire marshal will be able to survey the situation better tomorrow. Needless to say, this is going to end our summer camp prematurely.”

  Katie felt Josh squeeze her hand.

  Mr. Holloway continued, his voice grim and exhausted. “A temporary hospital is being set up in another conference room for those on medications. Hometown doctors are being called to get doses. How many of you need medicine?”

  Katie, Chelsea, and Lacey raised their hands. The full horror of the situation struck Katie. She and Chelsea needed their antirejection drugs and Lacey needed insulin.

  “Write down what you need,” Mr. Holloway said, “and I’ll be sure you get it immediately.” He raked his fingers through his disheveled blond hair. “I think we all should get some sleep for now. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day. We’ll be making arrangements to send kids home. If you need anything—and I mean anything—here’s the phone number of my room. Call, no matter what the time.”

  He gave the number, a few more instructions, and the meeting broke up. Josh, Jeff, and DJ headed straight upstairs to their rooms and their responsibilities with the younger boys. Katie and her friends headed to the hospital-conference room, where a doctor and two nurses were setting up a table to dispense medicine. Katie and Chelsea took their pills and Lacey drew up her bedtime insulin dose. She asked, “What if we were in a plane crash out in the wilderness or something? Even if we survived the crash, we’d die because we wouldn’t have our medications. I hate being dependent on medical science.”

  “Don’t rebel now,” Katie told her. “We need your help.”

  They walked out to the lobby, where police and a few reporters interviewing Mr. Holloway were gathered. Katie thought about the nice clean bed upstairs and longed to close her eyes. She heard Lacey say, “Well, Chelsea, it seems your premonition was correct.”

  “What premonition?”

  “You remember—the one you had that day we went up to visit the memorial together.”

  It came back to Chelsea in a flash. She recalled the chill that had come over her, the dark sense of foreboding she’d felt. “I—I didn’t see this kind of disaster.”

  “You know, you’ve always had a sixth sense. You said you thought something bad was going to happen, and it did.”

  “I wonder what started the fire,” Katie said. “Josh reminded me that the building was practically new. You’d think it would be pretty much fireproof.”

  “Yes, I wonder what.” Lacey crossed her arms and anger clouded her face. “Or who.”

  For a moment, no one spoke as the implications of Lacey’s comment sank in. Chelsea was the first to break the ominous quiet. “That’s a pretty rude accusation, Lacey.”

  “Well, why not?” Lacey whipped around to face her two friends in the comer of the lobby. “Dullas probably has the know-how. Her father’s an arsonist, for heaven’s sake.”

  “My father’s a sportswriter,” Katie said. “And I couldn’t write a column if my life depended on it.”

  “You know her best, Lacey,” Chelsea said. “You should know if she’s capable of such a thing.”

  “I know she’s unpredictable and barely civilized. She’s been mean and nasty all week to everyone, and I know she wasn’t with us on the hayride.”

  Katie felt troubled. “Gee, I don’t know …”

  “Well, I know one way to find out.” Lacey marched over to the elevator and punched the button.

  Katie and Chelsea rushed to her side. “What are you going to do?” Katie wanted to know.

  “I’m going upstairs and find Dullas and ask her.”

  Chelsea started, “Lacey, I don’t think you should.”

  “Why not? I want to know the truth. She’s in room 908. I saw it on Mr. Holloway’s assignment sheet.” The elevator opened and Lacey punched the ninth-floor button. She was breathing heavily and the sound filled the small compartment.

  At the door of room 908, Katie grabbed Lacey’s elbow. “Wait a minute. Before you go barging in there, think what you’re doing. For weeks, you’ve been Dullas’s biggest advocate. You’re the one who went to bat for her with Mr. Holloway. How can you accuse her of such a thing as burning down Jenny House?”

  Lacey jutted her chin stubbornly. “Maybe that’s the reason—I fought for her harder than anyone and I want to know it was worth the effort.”

  “You can’t go upsetting the other girls in the room,” Chelsea said when Lacey reached for the doorknob.

  “I’ll bring her out into the hall,” Lacey sa
id, entering the room.

  Chelsea chewed her lip nervously and stared hard at Katie. “What if Dullas confesses?”

  “Then we’ll have to tell Mr. Holloway.”

  Minutes later, Lacey emerged with a sleepy-eyed Dullas in tow. The younger girl rubbed her eyes at the glare of the hall lights. “What’s wrong?”

  “That’s what we want to know,” Lacey said. “Where were you tonight?”

  Dullas looked startled, confused. The nightgown she wore was much too big, making her resemble a dwarf. Her bald head looked pale and vulnerable without its customary baseball hat. “What do you mean, where was I? I’ve been asleep in bed.”

  “Not now,” Lacey said. “Earlier. While we were all on the hayride.”

  “Aw, let me go back to bed, Lacey. Can’t we talk tomorrow?”

  Lacey took a firm hold of Dullas’s shoulders. “We want to talk now and we want to know why you didn’t come on the hayride tonight.”

  “ ’Cause I didn’t feel like it.” Dullas pushed Lacey’s hands off her shoulders. “ ’Cause I had something else to do.”

  “Like what? Start a fire?”

  Dullas’s mouth dropped open and she glanced from face to face. “You think I started the fire?”

  “That’s what we want to know,” Lacey demanded.

  “You lousy creeps!” Dullas backed away. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  “Look, Dullas, don’t be mad—” Chelsea held out her hand with her plea.

  “Well, I ain’t saying nothing to you! You’re creeps and freaks! I hate all of you!”

  Katie grew alarmed as Dullas’s voice rose. She sure didn’t want to wake up everybody on the floor. “We can talk about this tomorrow—”

  “Drop dead!” Dullas spat. “I never want to see any of you again!” She spun and ran back inside the room.

  “That didn’t go too well,” Chelsea said.

  “It could be a smoke screen,” Lacey declared.

  Just then, the elevator slid open and Kimbra stepped into the hall. She looked worn out, but she brightened when she saw the three girls. “Good, you haven’t gone to bed yet.”

  “We were on our way,” Katie told her, hoping they didn’t look overly guilt-stricken.

  “With all the goings-on tonight, I haven’t had a chance to tell you something.”

  “Tell us what?” Lacey asked.

  “I’ve decided to take Dullas home with me. You know, be her foster parent. I know it’s a big step, but she was excited once we discussed it. Are you glad?”

  Twenty-one

  “YOU’RE TAKING DULLAS to live with you?” Katie asked, dumbfounded.

  “Why not? The kid needs a break. I talked to my husband, explained about Dullas, and he said it was fine with him.” She smiled. “He’s a good man and he’ll be a good dad to Dullas. Tonight, I told her what we wanted to do. I asked her not to go on the hayride so we could talk—you know, see if she even wanted to move in with us. It took some persuading that I really wanted her, but she does want to come home with me. You know how she tries to act so tough, but she was pleased. I could tell.”

  “So she was with you when the fire broke out?” Katie didn’t cast glances toward Lacey or Chelsea. She didn’t want to offer a hint of suspicion to Kimbra about what they’d done.

  “We were sitting in the lobby when the smoke alarms went off. Richard came running out of his office and cleared us out. The lobby was filling with smoke as we were running out the door.” Kimbra’s eyes grew wide as she described the scene. “I shudder to think what could have happened if everyone hadn’t been on that hayride. It was a brilliant idea, Lacey. Probably saved many from injury.”

  “We were lucky,” Lacey mumbled.

  “I’d say.” Kimbra smiled. “I know you all must be exhausted. I sure am. Go on to bed now. We’re going to have a mountain of work tomorrow and tonight’s half gone.”

  When she had left, Katie turned and glared straight at Lacey. “What now, Lacey? How are you going to make this up to Dullas?”

  Lacey frowned, her pretty face a dark mask. “I’m not sure yet, but I’ll think of something.”

  “You’d better. I’d say we owe Dullas a big-time apology. And I mean big time.”

  The next few days were frenetic as arrangements were made to get kids home. News came that the fire had started in an elevator shaft because of faulty wiring. The sprinkler system had gone off and saved many of the rooms on the upper floors from the fire; therefore most of the kids’ belongings were spared, although soaked and soggy. The smell of smoke clung to clothing, and Katie and her friends spent afternoons at the laundrette washing, drying, and folding clothes for the younger ones.

  Dullas steered clear of them and Katie and her friends let her be. But late one night, after the few remaining kids were put to bed, Katie said to Lacey, “Josh and I are heading back to Ann Arbor day after tomorrow.”

  “Jeff and I are leaving for Miami then too. He’ll drive me home, then catch a plane for Colorado, but he says he’ll be back in September.”

  “Chelsea’s plane leaves in two days,” Katie added.

  “So what’s your point?”

  “My point is that we still haven’t made up to Dullas.”

  Lacey nodded. “I know. I’ve been thinking about it a lot.”

  “And?”

  “And I think I’ve finally come up with a plan.”

  Lacey begged Kimbra to take them back to Jenny House for one final look. She drove them, along with Dullas, who didn’t seem happy wedged between Lacey and Katie in the backseat. Once at the House, they stared in dismay at the blackened deck, shattered windows, and charred walls. The massive stone fireplace was black with soot. “I can’t believe it,” Chelsea said, tears filling her eyes.

  Katie felt sick to her stomach. All of Jenny’s dreams, gone up in flames. “What will Mr. Holloway do?”

  “I’m not certain. I’m going to beg him to rebuild. This place is such a wonderful idea. And it’s so needed. Don’t you agree?”

  “It’s meant the world to me,” Katie said, a hoarseness in her voice.

  “One strange thing happened,” Kimbra said. “During the fire, the portrait of Jenny fell. The frame shattered, but the canvas only suffered smoke damage. It can be cleaned and restored.”

  Katie felt good about that. Mr. Holloway loved the portrait so much. “Someone must have been watching over it.”

  Kimbra looked heavenward. “Someone was.”

  Lacey cleared her throat. “We’d like to take one last ride on the horses and we want Dullas to come with us. Do you think that’ll be okay?”

  Dullas started to protest, but Lacey silenced her with a look.

  “I know DJ’s down at the stables. He isn’t flying out until tomorrow,” Chelsea said.

  “I’m not sure—” Kimbra said hesitantly.

  “Oh, please,” Katie begged. “We won’t be gone but about an hour.”

  “I’ll stay with Kimbra,” Dullas announced.

  “No, it’s all right. You all go on,” Kimbra told them. She nudged Dullas toward the stables. “I saw Richard’s car in the parking lot and I have some things to talk over with him. You girls don’t need to be hanging around these ruins.”

  Katie grabbed Dullas’s hand and started for the stables. “See you soon,” she called.

  “Hey, let me go. I don’t want to ride a stupid horse. I don’t want to go any place with you all.”

  “There’s something we want you to see,” Lacey said. Then she added, “Please.”

  Dullas eyed her warily but didn’t make a fuss.

  DJ saddled up four horses without asking questions, yet he looked very curious as they rode off. They rode quickly up the mountain trail to the familiar plateau. Chelsea didn’t complain once, although her horse was trotting much faster than she would have liked. At the crest, they dismounted, tied their horses to trees, and went the rest of the way on foot. Atop the flat rock, Lacey turned to Dullas and gestured to the panorami
c view of the tree-studded valley. “What do you think?”

  Dullas looked bewildered. She lifted her chin defiantly. “Am I going to have an accident—you know, fall off the side or something?”

  “Very funny.” Lacey took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, okay? I should have never accused you of starting the fire.”

  “No lie.”

  “I had reason to be suspicious, you know. All last week, you treated people so mean. You made Latika cry, you said you hated me and hated Jenny House. Why did you act that way?”

  Dullas stared down at the ground and kicked at a clump of earth with the toe of her sneaker. “You were talking about leaving … going home, and I didn’t want to leave, that’s all. I—I like it here and I knew I didn’t have any place to go once the summer was over.”

  “Well, now you have a home to go to,” Chelsea said.

  Lacey led Dullas over to the tepee of sticks still standing in the rocks she’d piled at its base. “We built this a year ago. Added to it in November.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s a memorial to Amanda and Jillian, but it’s time to take it down.”

  “Why?”

  “Because their true memorial is inside of us,” Katie said, placing her hand over her heart. “Because their memory is what we have to share with others.”

  “Won’t you come back next summer if Mr. Holloway fixes up Jenny House?”

  “I’m going off to college,” Katie said.

  “My parents are planning to take me on a trip to Europe,” Chelsea added.

  “And I never plan too far in advance,” Lacey finished. “So that leaves you to carry on.”

  “Carry on what?”

  “Hope. Like Jillian wanted. Like Jenny Crawford wanted.”

  “But what if Jenny House is gone forever?”

  “Don’t you understand?” Katie asked. “Jenny House isn’t so much a place as it is a feeling. An attitude of the heart. What matters is what we do with our lives, what we give to others.”

  Lacey reached down and untied the fluttering photo. “You’re in charge of this now.” She carefully plucked the earring from the photo. “We want you to take special care of it.” She handed it to Dullas.