Help Wanted (7 page)

“So what?”

Parker stopped, blocking her way. As Robin looked up, startled, his eyes held hers in a merciless stare.

“What were you going to say?” he persisted, his smile slowly fading. “Claudia looked so … what?”

“Like she wanted—I don't know—” Robin stammered. “Almost like she wanted me to … protect her or something.”

Parker's lip curled in a wry smile. He shook his head at her, and the laugh he gave held no humor.

“Forget it, Robin,” he said solemnly. “You can't protect Claudia. No one can.”

S
tunned, Robin watched Parker turn and disappear through the door at the end of the hall. She went after him, but by the time she got outside and scanned the grounds behind the school, he was nowhere to be seen. Totally frustrated now, she turned and went back inside.

By noon, reports of the new girl and her accident had already spread, and when Robin sat down in the cafeteria, Faye pounced on her.

“So tell me! How does it feel to be a hero?”

Robin shrugged. “All I did was stay with her until the nurse came. Big deal.”

“She's Parker Swanson's sister. That
is
a big deal.”

“She was scared and upset. Anybody else would have done the same thing I did.”

“I heard Parker was there, too.”

“He happened to be coming by.”

“Just then?” Faye snorted. “How come he happened by
just then?
Just when
you
were there?”

“He was on his way to class. It was a coincidence. You're making something out of nothing.”

“Did he ask you out?”

“Of course he didn't ask me out. He was worried about his sister. Is that all you think about?”

“Whoa—don't bite my head off! I was just asking. I just want to be the first to know, is all. Did you hear the latest?”

Robin shook her head and stared down at her lunch tray.

“Vicki isn't in school today,” Faye said triumphantly.

“So what?”

“And she didn't come home last night, either.”

This time Robin glanced up. “How come?”

“Nobody knows.” Faye moved closer and lowered her head, her voice conspiratorial. “She went out late last night—
sneaked
out! Her folks didn't even know. When she didn't show up this morning, the school called her house, and Mrs. Hastings realized Vicki's bed hadn't been slept in all night.”

“So … was she with Todd or what?” Robin speculated.

“Okay, here's the thing. She
had
sneaked out to be with Todd—he
admitted
it! But she never showed up at their rendezvous—so he just assumed she changed her mind and wasn't coming!”

Robin's mouth opened in surprise. “Faye—you sound as if you're excited about all this!”

“Well, of course I'm excited about it! You know how Vicki's always talking about doing something really wild! Taking off in the middle of the night—hitchhiking to California—just to see how far she can get before someone catches her!”

“But …” Robin looked at her friend in dismay. “What if something's happened to her! What if she's—you know—in trouble or something!”

Faye waved her hand dismissively. “She's not in any trouble! She'll be back! She has to get that condo for us at Thanksgiving. Come on, you know her—she's just being Vicki!”

Robin moved her chair away and bit into her sandwich with a vengeance. She didn't know why she felt so shaken all of a sudden. She was tired of hearing about unsettling things, about Vicki and the condo, about Parker and how wonderful he was. She didn't want to think anymore about that scary painting at Manorwood, and Claudia lying at the foot of the school stairs, and Parker's mysterious comments.

“I heard someone pushed her,” Faye said again, and Robin jumped as though she'd been hit.

“What?”

“Claudia.” Faye sighed. “Parker's sister! Hello, Robin, anybody home?”

“No one pushed her.” Robin shook her head and frowned. “The stairs were empty.”

“Well, how do you know? Whoever it was probably ran away by the time you showed up.”

“Nobody pushed her. Nobody around here would do something like that.”

“Well … that's what I heard, anyway.”

“Why would anyone push her?” Robin said irritably. “No one even knows her.”

Faye made a face. “You don't have to be so touchy.”

Robin excused herself and went outside. What little sun there'd been that morning had vanished, and the sky was thickening with clouds. Just like my mood, Robin thought glumly. She wished she'd never gone to Manorwood last night—wished she'd never heard of Claudia and the suicide and Lillith. Suddenly she wanted to race right back and tell Mr. Swanson she didn't want anything to do with any kind of job.

She decided to walk awhile. The weather had kept most of the kids inside, and so she trudged across the yard, glad for the privacy. The grounds behind the school stretched for nearly half a block before finally ending at the gym, with the stadium beyond. As Robin walked slowly around the track that skirted the football field, she was surprised to see a lone figure huddled on the bottom row of bleachers. She was almost past it when something made her study it more closely. She hesitated, then cautiously approached.

“Claudia?” she said softly.

The girl jumped from her seat, whirling with a choked cry.

“It's me,” Robin said quickly. “Robin Bailey. I was with you inside—by the stairs. Remember?”

For several seconds she wasn't sure if Claudia recognized her or not. The girl's eyes were huge with suspicion, and her whole body tightened, as if bracing for a dangerous confrontation.

“I just wondered if you were okay,” Robin went on. She had a bad feeling that Claudia might turn and run away at any second, and so she stuck out her hand and added, “I guess I really didn't introduce myself.”

Claudia watched in silence but made no move to accept the handshake. She simply sat there, and taking this as a positive sign, Robin moved a few steps closer.

“I'm Robin Bailey,” she said again, forcing a smile. “You're Parker's sister, right?”

Claudia sighed. “If that's the only reason you want to know me, you're wasting your time.”

The surprise on Robin's face was genuine. Claudia must have sensed this, because after a moment she lowered her eyes and shrugged.

“With someone like Parker, you can never be sure who your real friends are.”

Robin nodded. “Point taken. Girls haven't been talking about much else since he got here.”

Claudia turned her attention to the deserted field.

“I don't live very far from you,” Robin said. When Claudia didn't reply, she eased down carefully beside her and laid her books on the bench. “Just about four blocks. If you want, I could come by on my way to the bus. We could walk together.”

Claudia's eyes never moved, yet Robin felt herself being scrutinized.

“No, thank you,” Claudia said.

Robin hesitated, then tried again.

“Look … I know how weird it can be, starting a new school and all—and especially after what happened today, you probably wish you'd never even come. But really, the kids are nice once you get to know them. And I'm glad you're here. I just wanted to say welcome.”

There was no response. Robin took a deep breath and plunged on.

“By the way, I was talking to Miss Nelson this morning—she's one of the gym teachers—and it looks like you'll be in my gym class last period. So at least you'll know someone there.”

Claudia's shoulders stiffened ever so slightly. After a long moment she turned again, lifting her huge eyes to Robin's face.

“You're the one,” she mumbled, and Robin drew back, startled. “Now I know where I've heard your name. You're the one who's going to go through my mother's things.”

“Well …” Robin didn't know what to say, and from the blank expression on Claudia's face, she couldn't tell exactly how the other girl felt about it. “I answered an ad for the job. I love books—adore books, really—and I was so thrilled that your grandfather hired me. I'll take very good care of everything. And—”

“He's not my grandfather,” Claudia interrupted, her voice flat. “Not really. And he hates my mother. He's always hated her.”

Robin fell silent. She watched Claudia's nervous fingers twining and untwining themselves in the girl's lap.

“She was a medium, you know,” Claudia announced, and she met Robin's surprised gaze head on. “You
didn't
know, did you?”

“No—no, I didn't. Only that she was an artist.”

“She had a talent—a
gift,
” Claudia emphasized. “She could talk to the dead. They communicated with her.”

A swirl of dead leaves scattered about their feet. Claudia dropped her eyes and watched as the leaves whirled on and on and finally disappeared around the fence.

“What did Parker tell you about me?” she asked softly.

With an effort Robin managed to rouse herself and shrug. “Nothing, really. I didn't even know he had a sister until your grandfather told me.”

“I believe that.” A sad smile touched Claudia's face, and she hunched over, burrowing deeper into her coat. “We don't get along, you know. Not Parker, not my grandfather, only Father and me—but he's always out of the country, so I never see him. He married my mother after Parker's mother had her accident, so Parker and I were thrown together against our wills.”

Robin looked startled. “What accident?”

“A car accident.” Claudia nodded vaguely. “She ran off the road, I think. I've heard she and Parker were very close. So, as you can imagine, there's no great love lost between the two of us.”

“He seemed really concerned about you back there today,” Robin said generously.

“He'd want you to think that, of course.” Claudia's tone was matter-of-fact. “Parker's very big on appearances.”

Robin stared at her. Claudia's expression was frozen somewhere between deep unhappiness and a strange sort of resignation.

“Why don't we go inside?” Robin suggested. “You're going to catch pneumonia out here.”

Claudia sighed. “Sometimes I think that would be best.”

“What are you saying?” Robin chided gently, not knowing quite how to react to that comment. “You're just having a bad day—trust me, I have lots of them. Things will get better.”

To her surprise, Claudia fixed her with a pleading look.

“Promise?” she said.

Robin swallowed hard and nodded. “Yes. I promise.”

“It's so easy to be optimistic when you're not the one in danger,” Claudia said.

Robin had started to walk away, but now she stopped and looked back in alarm.

“Danger? What are you talking about?”

“Nothing.” Claudia shook her head and quickly gathered up her books. “Please just forget I said that.”

“You can't protect Claudia … no one can.…”

Parker's words came back with a jolt.
What a stupid thing to say
.…
It doesn't even make any sense
. Annoyed, Robin put one hand to her forehead as if she could rub the memory from her mind.

“How can I forget,” Robin said slowly, “when you make it sound so mysterious?”

“I didn't mean to. I don't know why I said it. I wasn't thinking,” Claudia babbled. She stood up and stared as Robin reached slowly for her arm.

“Come on,” Robin said uneasily. “It's getting really cold out here.”

“Cold like the grave.” Claudia tilted her chin toward the gray, gray sky. “Cold like death. It's nature's way of preparing us to die, you know.”

Robin shuddered. She pulled her jacket tighter and shoved her hands into her pockets, surprised when Claudia began to follow her back toward the building.

For a long while neither girl spoke. Robin wished Claudia would say something more about herself, her house, her family, but to her dismay the other girl began to walk faster, passing Robin up. Robin sighed and concentrated on kicking leaves from her path. She didn't see Claudia come to an abrupt halt ahead of her, and by the time she looked up again, Claudia was reaching out to grab her by the shoulders.

“God, Claudia, you scared me half to—”

“Do you believe in fate?” Claudia interrupted.

She leaned in close, her wide violet eyes only inches from Robin's face. Robin frowned and tried to step back, but for all her delicateness, Claudia's grip was like steel.

“Things happening even when you do everything to
keep
them from happening?” Claudia went on, her voice breathless and urgent. “Things happening just because they're
meant
to, no matter what?”

Robin said nothing. She was still watching Claudia's eyes, the way they kept growing wider and wider with some terrible desperation … some awful panic …
just like her mother's eyes … the eyes in the portrait
…