Yours Till Niagara Falls, Abby

by Jane O'Connor

  Love,

  Me

  I can’t wait for you to see the mouse babies. They all have soft fur now and look like giant pussy willows. They are so cute. Mostly I can’t wait for you to meet Roberta. I can’t tell whether she minds about her parents not coming. She says she couldn’t care less, but I don’t know.

  11

  “THEY SHOULD BE here soon,” Abby said excitedly to Roberta. From the bunk porch she impatiently watched the long caravan of cars inching down the hill to park on the flagpole field. “That’s unless Daddy got lost. He’s not too good with directions.”

  “Bunny-rabbit! We’re here!” A tall red-headed mother came running toward the bunk, arms outstretched and Bonnie charged.

  “‘ Bunny-rabbit?’ ” Abby snorted and collapsed against a porch railing. “Gimme a break!”

  Roberta didn’t laugh. She was sitting on the porch steps studiously braiding a lanyard. All morning she’d been quiet and moody and her asthma had been acting up.

  Abby looked down at the top of Roberta’s bent head. “It’s gonna be a good day, Roberta,” she said. “I’ve got it all planned.” She ticked off the activities on her fingers. “First we’ll go on the picnic, then later we’ll go swimming—we’ll have loads of fun.”

  “Who said we wouldn’t?” There was an unusual edge to Roberta’s voice. “Lookit, I’m going down to the infirmary. I need another asthma pill.”

  “I’ll come with you.”

  “No! You stay here. It won’t take me long.” Roberta wrapped up her lanyard, pushed her glasses up on her nose, and stalked off.

  “Hey, what’s with her?” asked Lisa who arrived with her parents in tow.

  Suddenly Abby felt cranky and irritable too. “Oh, just mind your own beeswax!” She sank down on the porch steps and thought about how rotten she’d feel if her parents weren’t coming. But Roberta wouldn’t even admit that was what was bothering her. Abby stared off moodily into space so that it took her a minute to focus on the familiar figures coming down the hill, peering at the signs on each bunk.

  “Ma! Daddy!” she shrieked. “Here I am!” Abby flew up the hill, practically tackling her mother, jumping into her father’s arms, hugging and kissing them until she was out of breath.

  “Wow!” Daddy laughed. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you missed us.”

  “Ooooooh! It’s so good to give you a big squeeze,” Ma said, hugging Abby again. “You look great.” She held her at arm’s length. “A little thinner maybe but great.” Then Ma’s brow wrinkled. “Abby, how much weight have you lost?”

  “Ma-aaaa. Come on, don’t start in already,” Abby said, feeling a strange mix of contentment and annoyance. Here they were. Daddy with his dumb jokes; Ma worrying. Just like old times.

  At the bunk they dropped off the candy they had brought and waited for Roberta.

  “You made this bed?” Ma said.

  “Don’t look like you’re going into cardiac arrest. We have to keep stuff neat. Otherwise we get marked off in inspection and lose candy privileges.”

  “Verrry interesting,” said Ma. Abby hoped she wasn’t getting any ideas.

  “Hey, listen, Ab,” Daddy said impatiently. “How long are we going to wait in here? I didn’t drive all the way up here to sit in your bunk. I came to see you and the camp-in that order. Besides, we’ve got the whole day to find your friend.”

  “Daddy, please. Don’t be that way,” Abby said, hanging on her father’s arm. “I thought you’d want to meet Roberta right away.”

  Ma smoothed Abby’s hair. “Daddy didn’t mean it like that. But I’m sure if you show us around, Roberta will turn up somewhere along the way.” Ma took her hand and made motions toward the door. Reluctantly, Abby let herself be dragged out of the bunk. It wasn’t fair. Ma and Daddy made such a big deal about being considerate. Why was it, Abby wondered, they could never see when they were being selfish?

  Each stop of the tour was faithfully recorded by Daddy’s camera. Click. Abby smiled self-consciously from a rowboat. Click. Abby posed with Ma who was wearing the pumpkin seed necklace Abby had made in arts and crafts. Click. A group portrait of Abby and the mice. Then right before lunch, as they headed back to the bunk to drop off the camera, Abby finally spotted Roberta on the porch of Buttercup. She broke loose from her parents. “Hey, where have you been?”

  “I could say the same thing.” Roberta was braiding her lanyard again.

  “Come on, Roberta. That’s not fair.” Abby put a tentative hand on her friend’s shoulder. “I waited for you. Only you didn’t show—”

  Daddy broke up their conversation. “I bet this is the little lady from Beantown,” he said, coming up behind Abby and pumping Roberta’s hand.

  “Dad-dy. You promised you wouldn’t act dumb.”

  “I feel like I know you already,” Ma added. “All Abby’s letters talk about is Roberta, Roberta, Roberta.”

  Roberta smiled in an uncharacteristically self-conscious way. She mumbled about how nice it was to meet them and then she folded up her lanyard and followed Abby and her parents down to the lake for the camp picnic.

  “So, you still haven’t told me where you disappeared to,” Abby said, trying not to sound concerned. “Ve haf vays uff making you talk, you know.”

  Roberta smiled mysteriously. “Oh, I was just hanging around, watching the action.” Then Roberta peered at Abby from behind her glasses and giggled a little. “You missed out on some good stuff.”

  “Yeah? Like what?” It was hard for Abby to tell if Roberta really had cheered up or was just faking it.

  “Lisa’s parents didn’t bring up any candy,” Roberta said, “but they did bring a present from Bloomingdale’s for Marty.”

  “Bribery!” Abby cried in mock horror. “She’d do anything to get picked prize camper again.”

  “And Eileen’s parents sneaked in Ruggles for a little while.”

  Abby laughed. For a month she’d been hearing stories about Eileen’s sheepdog.

  “He’s really cute and shaggy but get this,” Roberta continued, really warming to her topic. “Just when Phyllis finished dumping out all her candy on her bed, Ruggles smelled it and attacked. He ate up nearly all her junk. Phyllis almost had a fit.”

  “A fit? I’m surprised she didn’t attack the dog!”

  Roberta laughed and Abby thought happily that Roberta really did seem like her old self. A minute later they reached the lakefront which was already aswarm with parents and campers staking out their territories for the picnic lunch. Eileen was waving at them frantically. She had saved a nice grassy spot by a shade tree and as soon as the counselors passed out the box lunches, everybody began feasting on fried chicken, corn on the cob and blueberry muffins. “This is absolutely delicious,” Ma said between munches. “There is no reason in the world for you to be losing weight, Abby. Not with food like this.”

  “You don’t really think they feed us like this every day? Roberta, you tell her.”

  But Ma wasn’t listening. “Here, before I forget.” She dug into her purse and handed Abby a snapshot. “Emily’s summer play group put on a street carnival last Sunday and look who was the star of the freak show.”

  “The bearded lady!” Abby laughed when she saw the picture of Emily staring solemnly from behind a long black crepe paper beard. Abby thought her brain had to be going soft because suddenly part of her was almost wishing Emily was there.

  “She’s really cute,” said Eileen.

  Roberta leaned over. “Gee, from the way you talked, I was expecting a real frea—”

  Abby nudged Roberta hard. “Did you bring any other pictures, Ma?”

  No, but Ma did have a letter from Merle’s mother. Abby grabbed for the envelope, hoping for some explanation for Merle’s not writing. “It’s weird. At first I was getting tons of letters,” she said, “but now I haven’t heard from her in ages.” Abby skimmed over all the boring stuff about weather and shopping until she got to the heart of the letter.

 
We are all well and happy, it said. At first Merle wasn’t too keen on the place but now she’s friends with a daughter of Kay Langton, the actress, and all’s fine. Nancy is a year and a half older so, of course, Merle is flattered that she pays any attention to her. She’s been begging me for days to let her get her ears pierced like Nancy’s so yesterday, when her cast come off, I finally gave in.

  Abby read on in disbelief. That kid Nancy. Hadn’t Merle said she couldn’t stand her? “I don’t get it,” Abby said. “Merle sounds so different in this letter.” Piercing her ears. How gross! What if Merle was all different when they got home? Then what?

  “Come on, honey. It sounds like Merle was very unhappy at first. I’d think you’d be happy that she has a friend.”

  “Well, I am. I guess.” But not, thought Abby, if it meant their friendship was going to change. That had to stay the same. Forever.

  Abby was still brooding when Marty appeared carrying a big package with lots of foreign stamps on it. “Here, this just came for you.” She deposited the box into Roberta’s lap.

  With little interest, Roberta tore off the wrappings. There, inside a fancy silver paper box, nesting in a bed of fake straw, were six china eggs with delicate blue and yellow flowers painted on them.

  “Ooh, Roberta. Those are really pretty,” Eileen breathed, although Abby couldn’t help thinking they looked more like the sort of present she’d buy her mother.

  Ma popped the top off an egg. Inside were crumply rose-gray petals that smelled nice. “This is called potpourri,” she said, holding the egg to her nose. “It’s dried flowers mixed with spices.”

  Roberta arched an unimpressed eyebrow. “What they sent last year was better.”

  Abby saw Ma shoot Daddy a funny look.

  “I think I’m going to leave them in the bunk for now,” Roberta got up. “I’ll give one out to everybody later.”

  When Roberta didn’t come back, Abby said, “Look, I have to go to the bunk for something too.”

  She found Roberta lying face down on her bed. Next to her was a little white card that said, Italy awfully hot but fun. We’re off to San Remo tomorrow. Hope you and your bunkmates like the present. Love, Mother and Dad.

  “Roberta,” Abby said. Roberta’s face shot around. She quickly put on her glasses to cover her red eyes. “My asthma started bothering me.” Roberta gave a little wheeze, then clutched at her throat. “But it’s nothing serious, Doctor.” She pretended to choke and bulge out her eyes.

  Abby didn’t laugh. She groped to find the right thing to say. Then suddenly she realized Roberta did not want her to say anything at all. If it was me, Abby thought, I’d tell her how I feel. But Roberta was so different. She hardly ever talked about her parents and when she did it was always in a joking way, calling them Jack and Teddy. Daddy’s wrong, Abby decided. You couldn’t always keep your sense of humor. Sometimes it was better to get upset and show it. And it struck Abby that it must get pretty lonely if you always tried to be funny.

  “Hey, there are hot fudge sundaes for dessert,” Abby finally said, and Roberta managed to arrange her face into a smile. “We can’t blow our one chance to get a decent meal out of this place.” Roberta dutifully trotted after her back to the picnic.

  By afternoon Roberta seemed cheerier and the rest of the day whizzed by so fast it seemed to Abby like a movie speeded up with everyone racing around crazily from one activity to another. First there was a mother-daughter softball game which, despite two homers from Bonnie, was won by the mothers 7-4. Then there was a free swim with the parents allowed in, too, and for almost an hour Abby forced Daddy to play dolphin rides, letting them straddle his back while he swam underwater.

  “This is the life,” Daddy sighed, floating on his back. “Don’t let me ever hear you complaining about this place.”

  Abby looked at Roberta and they rolled their eyes. When it came to camp, Daddy had a lot to learn.

  After swimming Abby assembled with the rest of the camp in the playhouse where they serenaded the parents. Between songs Abby could hear a refrain of sniffling and noses being blown. In a few minutes the serenade would be over and so would Parents’ Visiting Day.

  “It’s certainly been a wonderful day,” Aunt Tillie stood up after the last song and faced the audience. “But now I want everyone to say goodbye right here.” The parents listened solemnly, like a group of obedient campers themselves. “No campers are to go out on the flagpole field. There are too many cars parked there and I don’t want any accidents.”

  Outside Abby found her parents who hugged Roberta and told her they hoped to see her in New York.

  “It’s so typical of this place,” Abby said angrily as she clung to Ma and Daddy. “Here they go and wait until everybody’s stopped being homesick, then they have the parents come up. So now everyone can start being homesick all over again.” Abby felt her mouth, nose, and eyes get all set to cry, but then she caught a sideways glimpse of Roberta, and immediately she stopped.

  A minute later Ma and Daddy were heading for their car while Abby walked in silence to the Mess Hall with Roberta. They passed Gwendolyn from Pansy who was flanked on either side by her parents. Weird, thought Abby, who figured Gwendolyn of anybody would be near hysterics about now. Instead, she was all smiles.

  Then during dinner Abby looked over and noticed a glaringly empty spot at the Pansy table. Suddenly the two events clicked together like magnets. “Gwendolyn from Pansy left!” Abby announced in an astonished voice to no one in particular. She was surprised to feel more contempt than envy. Abby remembered the night her parents had called her at the infirmary and how she would have given anything then for them to take her home. Now that seemed like ages ago, and yet, Abby realized, it was only about three weeks. Funny how things changed. Funny how she had managed to stick it out. She had to admit it gave her an odd sense of accomplishmeht.

  That night before bed, everyone was unusually quiet. Abby looked at her mattress, still rumpled and sunk in from when Daddy had taken a nap during rest hour, and felt a wave of homesickness.

  “Just remember. I don’t want anybody getting sick on candy,” Marty warned before she switched off the lights. She was wearing a new blue windbreaker which Abby guessed was the present from Lisa’s parents. Everyone looked at her with expressions of blank innocence. “Oh, I know you’ve got it, and personally I couldn’t care less how much you stuff yourselves. But nobody better wake up in the middle of the night and expect me to take them to the infirmary.”

  As soon as Marty left, the rustling of many paper bags could be heard, and, in a burst of communal feeling, everyone decided to pool their resources. Abby chomped away on peanut brittle, tore off long shoe-strings of red licorice; gobbled down half-melted chocolate kisses and sucked red hot fireballs until her mouth was numb. Soon she began to feel a little better. “Buenas noches,” she whispered to Roberta and Eileen as she crawled under the covers. Whew! What a long day it had been. She played with the locket around her neck, and suddenly, the vision of a new, changed Merle made all the candy do a little dance inside her. Abby squeezed her eyes shut to block out the scary image. No use thinking about that now when there wasn’t anything she could do. Abby sighed, turned over, and plumped her pillow into a nice, comforting shape. Then, just before she fell asleep, she spotted the flowered egg. It was perched on her window sill. Roberta had her glasses off, so Abby knew she wouldn’t see when she quickly reached out and shoved the egg into an empty pocket of her shoe bag. Somehow, looking at that cheerful egg made her saddest of all.

  12

  July 31

  Dear Ma and Daddy,

  By some miracle our bunk got perfect marks in inspection for a whole week so yesterday Aunt Tillie drove us into town to Sparky’s Ice Cream Parlor. It was great. We could order whatever we wanted. I got a button that said “I Finished the Pig’s Special at Sparky’s.” Aunt Tillie put away a whole banana split. She’s not so bad after all!

  Everything’s fine except I’m really s
cared about my diving test. It’s the only one I have left for dolphin. I’ll never be able to do it. Never. Do you think you could please call Aunt Tillie with an excuse? Make up anything you want. Maybe you could say Dr. Prince just found out I have a fractured skull or water on the brain or something, and that I shouldn’t dive under any condition. Please do it right away.

  Love,

  Abby

  Abby was nervously chewing on the strap of her bathing cap. She stood at the end of the long line in Laurel’s diving class. There was a sour taste in her mouth that made her feel like she could throw up any minute. “Gee, Ma. Thanks a bunch,” Abby grumbled to herself. “Where are you when I need you?” With growing dread she watched the procession in front of her. Boing! off the board. Splash! into the water. One by one each girl plunged while Laurel, her sailor cap pulled way down against the sun, shouted encouraging suggestions.

  In went Bonnie, legs flailing wildly.

  “Try and keep those ankles locked together,” Laurel called out. Then Abby felt her knees collapse as Laurel focused a reassuring smile her way. “Abby, there’s absolutely nothing to be nervous about. Just remember, the trick is to keep your head tucked down and the rest of your body will automatically follow.” Laurel put down her clipboard and demonstrated on dry land. “Really. You’re going to do fine.”

  Sure, sure, thought Abby. They probably said the same thing to Custer. She stepped onto the edge of the board. It was like walking the plank.

  “Just keep‘ your head down.” Laurel sounded so calm and reassuring. Then suddenly her voice jumped an octave. “Abby, I said KEEP YOUR—”

  THWACK! Abby’s entire body felt like it had been smacked with a wet sheet. Abby tried crying out, but all the wind was knocked out of her. She seemed to be sinking down, down in the water and for one horrible second she didn’t think she’d surface.

  “Don’t panic. Just relax.” Laurel was suddenly beside her in the water. She swung an arm around Abby’s middle. Then Abby felt herself being dredged up onto the dock where the class hovered around her.