Uncovering Sadie's Secrets

by Libby Sternberg

  “You’re Sarah. Sarah McEvoy,” I said quietly, reaching out to touch her hand. I didn’t want her to feel threatened. I wanted to help her. “There’s nothing wrong with that. Are you ashamed of it or something? You shouldn’t be. Everybody thinks their family is embarrassing. . .”

  I was rambling. And if anyone was embarrassing, it was me with my phony-baloney “my door is always open, I want to help you” guidance-counselor chit-chat.

  A tear drifted down Sadie’s cheek and I felt about as low as a real spider. Making someone cry (other than a sibling) did not rank high on my “great experiences” list.

  “You don’t understand,” she said. “You don’t know.” She shook her head back and forth.

  “I want to know. I want to help.” I touched her elbow again and started to steer her down into the yard, where the crowd was a little thinner. “Come on. We can sit down and talk.”

  To my surprise and relief, she went with me. We’d just settled in on the chairs in the corner when Doug appeared with my drink.

  “Here you go. You want something, Sadie?” he asked, smiling at me. “You really look great in that costume, Bianca. Jesse thinks so, too.”

  An endorsement by a friend of your crush is like winning the lottery. This was good stuff—stuff I needed to cash in on pronto.

  Too many things were happening at once. Where was Kerrie when I needed her? Actually, she was playing hostess, making sure food and drink and music were in plentiful supply.

  “Sadie wants a soda, too. Thanks, Doug.” I smiled up at him and actually felt good about smiling, knowing that I looked good in my flapper costume. I had a sudden sense of clothes-nostalgia. Why couldn’t I live in a time when dressing up was no big deal?

  As soon as Doug left, I scooted closer to Sadie, dropping my head down so she could hear me speaking quietly.

  “So you’re really Sarah. What kind of trouble are you in?”

  “I’m not in trouble,” she insisted, shaking her head again. “I got out of trouble. Why can’t everyone leave me alone?” Tears were welling up again, so I started talking fast.

  “You’re starting over. That’s a great thing. Nobody can fault you for that. But what about Lemming Lady and Ice Man? Why are they after you?”

  She looked at my like I was crazy. Uh-oh. Did I just say “Lemming Lady and Ice Man?” I really said that? Could someone please rewind the tape?

  “I mean that woman and that man? Why are they after you?”

  “They’re not after me. They went away.” Her voice took on an urgent, almost angry tone. “They needed to borrow some money. That’s all. They were friends of my mother.”

  “Your mother died last year. I bet that was tough.”

  “Not so tough. Not as tough as other things.” Sadie sounded as if she didn’t mean it. In fact, her voice cracked a little when she spoke. “I can take care of myself. I have for a long time.”

  “How did your mother die? Was it an accident or something?”

  Sadie stood abruptly. “I had nothing to do with it. Nothing. Leave me alone. You’re not helping me, Bianca. Now that you know—I’ll have to—you’ve ruined everything!” She stomped away just as Doug arrived on the scene with her drink.

  “Hey, I thought she was thirsty!” He put the drink on a nearby table. The music stopped its thwump-thwump beat and turned into something mellow and slow. Doug looked over at me with a gaze that I can only describe as hungry. It sent a little shiver down my back.

  Too bad nobody was dancing. If they were, he’d have asked me to dance. I’m sure of it. Instead, he reached over—and here things kind of slowed down as if the tape were being run at the wrong speed—and he grabbed—my—hand! Ay-chihuahua! Mama mia! Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!

  “Uh. . . well. . . I. . .” I said. Oh yeah. Great conversation. Way to go, Bianca. Remind me never to enter the Miss America contest. I’d fall to pieces on the questions part.

  Doug didn’t seem to mind. He maneuvered us back to the seats and settled in really close to me, his leg pressing up against mine. I swallowed. He smiled. It was dark in our little corner. His face came a little closer. I could smell “Irish Spring” soap on his cheek. His lids lowered. He was zeroing in for a kiss.

  Sensory overload! I canna hold her any longer, Cap’n! Warning, warning!

  His lips were just a millimeter away, which I knew because I was now trying to memorize every nanosecond of the experience, taking down each observation in some mental journal that I would reveal to Kerrie later that night.

  But my powers of observation were my undoing. Just as he was about to plant his puckered mouth on mine, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, through the slats in the tall wooden fence.

  Lemming Lady! I knew her from the clack of her high-heeled boots as much as by her black outfit. And behind her, Ice Man.

  Doug only had time to brush my lips with a gentle kiss before I pulled away. Sadie was at the gate, getting ready to leave. Despite what she had said about the Daring Duo, I knew they still wanted something from her, or had her in some kind of bind. They were trouble. And she was heading right into it. I shot up, surprising both Doug and myself.

  “Sadie!” I called. Looking down at Doug, my heart screamed at my mind. “Idiot alert! You just left the Love of Your Life’s first kiss because of Lemming Lady, Ice Man, and Sadie-Sarah? Are you nuts?”

  “Doug,” I said gently, “I think Sadie might need our help. Sorry.” I pushed my way through the crowd as Sadie opened the gate. Even from a few feet away, I could see her reaction as she ran into Lemming Lady. Sadie’s face was now ashen. They pushed their way into the party, backing her into the crowd. They fit right in. They looked like villains.

  “Who are those two?” Doug asked, holding my arm. Thank goodness he hadn’t given up on me.

  “I don’t know,” I lied. “All I know is that they keep bothering Sadie. Come on, let’s go.” Unfortunately, my progress was impeded by Nicole, who chose that moment to come up and gush about my costume. She was dressed as Little Orphan Annie and looked ready to burst into “Tomorrow.” I tried to politely wrap up the mutual gushing and move on, but she was insistent, and was soon joined by another friend. Meanwhile, Sadie was angrily shaking her head, engaged in some heated conversation with the two just-arrived villains.

  Doug came to the rescue! He walked on without me, striding to Sadie with a purposeful gait. He looked just like the FBI agent he was pretending to be—calm, menacing, and protective.

  He looked so convincing, in fact, that Lemming Lady and Ice Man backed off before he even reached them. Before they slunk out into the alley, I saw Lemming Lady spit out some parting words to Sadie. Whatever she said, it acted like a bullet piercing Sadie’s heart. She stepped back as if hit, then lunged back through the crowd toward the kitchen again.

  Doug returned in a few seconds.

  “What did she say?” I asked after escaping the clutches of Nicole and crew.

  “Sadie? She didn’t say anything.”

  “No. The other woman.”

  “I didn’t catch all of it,” Doug said. “It sounded like ‘You killed your mother.’ That’s odd, don’t you think? Is Sadie’s mom mad at her or something?”

  “No, no,” I said. “Sadie’s mom is dead.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  THERE WAS no time for more elaborate explanations. And, sadly, no time for soft embraces in the autumn twilight. Sigh. That would have to wait for another night. Luckily for me, Doug seemed to be entranced by the new Bianca he was seeing. Not only was I beautiful tonight. I was interesting. I was onto something.

  “Should we go after her?” he asked, looking at me eagerly.

  I looked up. She was already at the kitchen door, trying to push her way through. My guess was she was heading to her car, to escape. I made a snap decision.

  “I’ll go after her and talk to her. You find Kerrie. Tell her Sadie might be in trouble and is leaving, and that I’m going to try to talk her out
of it.”

  He grinned at me and looked like he might punch me in the arm, the same kind of good-natured punch he’d landed on my shoulder in the mall so many moons ago (or at least it seemed that long ago). Rats, I wanted more than a punch in the shoulder. Hadn’t we just progressed beyond that hail-fellow-well-met stage? His thoughts exactly. He put his arm around my shoulders and gave me a warm squeeze that communicated fondness, good cheer, admiration, respect, honor. . . well, maybe not all those things. But a couple of them at least.

  “Okay, Bianca. Where should we catch up with you?”

  “Uh. Out front.” Sadie was inside. I had to hurry. “Somewhere out front.” I sped off, pushing through the crowd so forcefully they probably thought I was ill and needed the bathroom fast. Whatever. It did the trick. The costumed aliens, freaks, ghosts, and fairy tale figures parted like the Red Sea before Charleton Heston.

  In the kitchen, I saw Sadie’s black-robed, wraith-like figure disappear beyond the doorway to the dining room.

  “Excuse me,” I said to a masked Barbie doll. (Barbie doll? Who would wear a Barbie doll costume? I didn’t want to know.) “Excuse me!” I accidentally stepped on Barbie’s toe. Really. She shrieked. But she moved aside nonetheless. Soon I was at the doorway, but Sadie had gone through the dining room into the living room, where Mrs. Daniels was asking her if she needed a ride home.

  “No, thanks, Mrs. Daniels. It was a great party. Tell Kerrie I said thanks.”

  “Is someone picking you up?” Kerrie’s mom asked. She looked a little concerned. As much as they liked living in Fells Point, I don’t think she was too keen on any of us kids walking around by ourselves. “Why don’t you wait inside?”

  “That’s okay. She’s with me,” I said, arriving on the scene like a superhero. Wonder Flapper. Action figure sales were sure to be in the billions. “Uh. Connie’s coming for her. And, and I’ll show Connie where she lives.”

  My improvisation wasn’t enough to allay Mrs. Daniels’ fears. She looked skeptical. “If she’s not right out front,” I added, “we’ll come back in and wait.” That did the trick, coming as it did with her husband’s call for help in the kitchen.

  Mrs. Daniels was barely gone a second when Sadie gave me the evil eye and pulled open the door so fast it nearly hit the wall. In a flash, she was outside, barely giving me time to figure out what was up, let alone go after her.

  But go after her I did. She was running down the street and I was doing my best to keep up in my matching mauve-colored flapper shoes with tissue stuffed in the toes so they’d fit. If a “runs like a girl” contest had been held that night, I’d be champ.

  It didn’t take long to figure out where Sadie was headed. Her car was parked at the end of the block and she was pulling what looked like car keys from her jeans pocket under her black robe.

  I wouldn’t catch up in time. I needed something else to stop her.

  “Sarah! Sarah McEvoy!” I shouted it so loud it echoed off the formstone and brick fronts of the row homes on the block. And it made Sadie stop in her tracks and turn around.

  “Stop that. Please,” she hissed at me, before continuing on her way.

  Hobbling forward as fast I could, I tried another message from the past.

  “Sarah! Talk to me. Come on, Sarah.” Inspiration. “I know you didn’t kill your mother.”

  The same bolt that had hit her when Lemming Lady had thrown the accusation her way in Kerrie’s small yard now stopped her again. She stood super still. Her back to me, she leaned her head forward, looking as if she was breathing hard, like she was throwing up or something.

  When I caught up with her, I found she wasn’t sick to her stomach. She was sick at heart. Big gulping sobs were convulsing her body. She pulled her fist to her mouth as if to cork it, but it didn’t do the trick.

  Remember what I said about feeling lower than a spider when I’d made her eyes water before? Well, you could have scraped me off the bottom of a shoe, that’s how low I felt now. At least I’d stopped her, though. At least I could talk to her.

  “Sarah,” I said. Gently putting my arm on her shoulder, I tried to look into her eyes. “Sarah, you have to tell me what’s wrong. Why are those people trying to frame you? What are you running away from?” I wanted to lead her back to the house, but she resisted.

  “In the car,” she said between gasping tears. She unlocked the passenger side and I slid in while she walked around to the driver’s seat.

  I started talking as soon as she was inside. “I know people who could help you. My sister’s a private investigator. Kerrie’s father is. . .”

  “I tried calling your sister,” Sadie volunteered.

  “I know.”

  “But it was hard to explain.” She sniffled. I wished I had some tissues. Hey, I did have some! Part of my costume was a thin change-purse on a long gold chain. Kerrie had put tissues and breath spray in it for me when we were changing. I made a mental note to praise Kerrie for her planning skills.

  “Here.” I offered Sadie a tissue and she gratefully accepted, blowing her nose and wiping her eyes. “So, what can we do? Do you want me to get Connie on the case again? Why are they trying to frame you for murder? And who are they? Why do you give them money?” Yes, indeed, I was taking the slow and subtle approach. Luckily for me, Sadie was confused enough not to notice my less-than-spectacular interviewing skills. As she calmed down, she started to talk.

  “My mother died in an accident. I was driving.”

  You could have punched me in the gut and not gotten a stronger reaction. I knew kids with family problems. I knew kids with their own problems. I knew kids who walked too close to the sad side of empty. But I never knew anyone who felt responsible for the death of a parent. Death of a parent was bad enough. When that parent died in a car accident and you were driving? I trembled at the thought. Too much guilt and too much pain for someone Sadie’s age.

  “I’m sorry,” I murmured. “Do you need money? Do you need a place to stay?”

  “No,” Sadie said, sniffling again. “I’ve got money. From her life insurance.”

  Realization dawned. “That’s how you afford your condo!” I said. I felt like knocking my head with the flat of my hand. Of course.

  “Sort of. It belonged to—to someone I knew. I’m just ‘borrowing’ it.”

  Uh-oh. Didn’t sound good. Everybody knows that “borrowing” is a euphemism for “stealing.” I went back to my original tactic— offering help.

  “Well, if you can’t ‘borrow’ it any more, I’m sure we can find a place for you to stay. Why don’t you tell me about why you contacted Connie. I help her with her cases a lot, you know.”

  That was a little half-truth, which is really a euphemism for “lying.” It didn’t make me feel good, but I was too charged up to think about it at the moment. I put that on my to-do list for another day. Ponder the moral consequences of telling half-truths in order to help someone in trouble.

  “Oh no!” Sadie sat up straight and looked in her rearview mirror.

  “What?”

  “They’re back there. They’ll see me. They’ll come after me. They’ll come after you! I have to get out of here!”

  Without giving me a glance, she turned the ignition and gunned the engine. In a few seconds, she was screeching out of the parking spot while I struggled to put on my seat belt.

  “Who are they anyway, Sadie?” I turned around and saw Lemming Lady and Ice Man’s big black car. My mind did a flashback to the fear I’d felt when they followed my bus. These were not pleasant people. No Mister and Miss Congeniality prizes for them. “Maybe we should call the police.”

  “No!” Sadie’s sadness had given way to anger. She sped down the narrow streets with grim determination, muttering a curse under her breath as she continually checked the rear- and side-view mirrors.

  “What do they want, Sadie?” I grabbed the dashboard to steady myself as she flew around a corner.

  “Damn it!” she cried out. “I’m almost
out of gas!”

  I turned around. They were closing fast. There was no way Sadie was going to lose that pair. They had more power, and probably more gas. I looked at her. She was chewing her lower lip, and her brows came together in a worried “v.” “Sadie,” I insisted. “Let’s call the police.”

  She didn’t respond. Instead, she pulled the car over to the curb, gently gliding it into a spot with just a foot of the car on the legal side of “No Parking Beyond this Sign.”

  “Get down.” She looked at me with wide eyes.

  “What?”

  “Scoot down in the car. They probably didn’t see you.”

  “What are you going to do?” I took off my seat belt and did as she said, scrunching into the space under the dashboard in front of my seat.

  “I’m going to go with them. That’s what they want. It’ll be bad news if they think you’re involved in this, trying to help me.”

  Before I could protest, she opened the door, stepped out, and slammed the door shut. I heard another car slow down and muffled voices talking. Then, I heard Sadie’s voice loud and clear.

  “All right. All right. I’ll do it again. Just get off my case. And leave my friends alone.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  AS SOON as I heard the car zoom away, I was on the sidewalk, getting oriented. Fells Point isn’t my normal hang-out and Sadie had managed to drive us a few blocks down and over. Mentally retracing the route, I started back toward Kerrie’s house.

  I ran as fast as I could for one block, looked down at those wonderful shoes that made my feet look so slender and chic, and stopped to take the shoes off. Now I could gather more speed, even if the dress did keep me from taking long strides. The rough pavement chewed up my light stockings, though, so by the time I arrived at Kerrie’s block, my flapper look now included interesting vertical stripes up my legs caused by runs in my hose.