A change of plans

“O w!”

The station wagon swerved to the right, bumping onto the narrow shoulder of the road.

“Aunt Rose—what’s wrong?” Jan cried, leaning toward her aunt, a worried expression on her face.

“My stomach—” Rose groaned.

She tried to pull the car off the narrow road, but there really wasn’t room. “Ohh. What a pain!” She slowed to about thirty-five, somehow managing to keep the car on the road.

“There’s got to be a place to pull over,” Jan said, staring out her side of the windshield.

“What’s wrong?” Cari asked.

Everyone had gotten silent. Jan reached over and clicked off the radio.

“Ohh,” Rose groaned, holding her left side. “Such a sharp pain. It just came up. All of a sudden.” She groaned again, but forced herself to hold the car steady, both of her hands gripping the top of the wheel.

“Never had pain like this,” she said.

“Pull over. There’s a field,” Jan said, pointing, her voice trembling.

Rose pulled the car off the road, stopping just in front of a Route 6 sign, and shifted into Park. “Maybe if I stand up, walk around,” she said, grimacing from the pain in her side. Her face, Cari saw, was white as cake flour, and a heavy sweat had broken out on her forehead.

Rose pushed open her car door. The others climbed out to help her. The narrow roadway was jammed with cars, most of them loaded down with suitcases, bicycles, boogie boards, every sort of summer equipment.

“Everyone’s in a hurry to start vacationing,” Rose said, leaning against the fender.

“Feel any better?” Craig asked.

“Not really.” She forced a smile, but was obviously extremely uncomfortable.

“I’ll drive,” Jan told her.

“When did you get your license?” Rose asked, catching her breath.

“Last week,” Jan admitted. “But I can do it. We should get you to a hospital.”

“No!” Rose shouted, her eyes filled with fear. “No hospital.”

“But, Rose,” Jan pleaded, “you look really sick.”

“It—it’s just a pain,” Rose insisted. “Ouch!” She gripped her side.

“Is that the appendix side?” Eric asked.

“No. The appendix is on the right,” Cari told him quietly.

“She might be having a heart attack,” Craig whispered, suddenly very worried. “Does the pain go down your left arm?” he asked, walking over to Rose.

“No. It’s in my stomach and on my side,” Rose said through clenched teeth.

Two motorcycles roared by, followed by an enormous beer truck.

“Let’s find a doctor or a hospital,” Jan said, trying to pull her aunt around to the passenger side. “It isn’t safe here by the side of the road.”

“No. No hospital. I don’t believe in hospitals,” Rose said, pulling out of Jan’s grasp. “No doctors. Take me to Aileen.”

“Aunt Aileen?”

“Yes. My sister. She’s a nurse,” Rose said, wiping the big drops of perspiration off her forehead with the back of her hand. “Aileen has a house just before Provincetown on Shore Road. Take me there. I’ll rest up, then I’ll be okay.”

Jan and Craig helped Rose into the front passenger seat. She lay her head back and closed her eyes. Then Jan got behind the wheel, and Craig joined Eric and Cari in the backseat.

“When does the launch leave Provincetown for Piney Island?” Eric asked.

“Not until six this evening,” Rose said, her voice sounding weak and strained. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine by then.”

“You don’t look fine now,” Jan said grimly, glancing at her aunt as she started up the station wagon. “Why are you shaking like that?”

“Chills,” her aunt said. “I’ll be fine. Really. Aileen’s house is only a few minutes away.”

“Is someone going to let me back on the highway?” Jan asked impatiently, unable to hide the tension in her voice as car after car rolled by in a steady, nonending stream.

The small road was choked with cars. It took nearly forty-five minutes to reach Aileen’s house, a large, gray-shingled, barnlike structure on a hill overlooking the bay. Jan pulled the station wagon up the gravel drive and parked beside a small wooden toolshed in the back.

A few minutes ago we were all so happy, Cari thought. And now …

She climbed out of the car and hurried to help Rose across the tall grass to the house. “Are you feeling any better, Rose?” Cari asked.

“Not really,” Rose said, even paler. Her lips were white now.

“Anybody home?” Jan called. “Aileen? Are you home?”

The back door was open, but there was no one in sight.

The sun dipped behind a large black cloud and the air suddenly grew cool. Cari could smell salt in the air. Somewhere nearby a woodpecker was tapping out a loud rhythm on a tree.

Suddenly a large woman appeared in the doorway. “Aunt Aileen!” Jan cried. Aileen, dark and exotic like Rose and Jan, pushed open the screen door and came bounding out to greet them, surprise on her face.

A few minutes later Rose was lying on the maroon leather couch in the front room, feeling a little better. Aileen was scurrying about in the small kitchen, making snacks and iced tea for everyone.

After the snacks, Cari and her friends went down to look at the bay, which was brown with grasses shooting up above the surface. “Low tide,” Jan said quietly. “It’s about a foot or two deep all the way out to there,” she said, pointing out about half a mile.

Cari wasn’t very interested in the bay. She kept checking her watch, wondering if Rose was going to recover in time for them to get into Provincetown to catch the launch for Piney Island.

The launch, Cari remembered, made the trip from Provincetown to Piney Island and back to Provincetown only once a day. If they missed the one this afternoon …

At five-thirty they were all gathered glumly in the front room of the old rambling beach house. Rose, who had steadfastly refused to let Aileen call a doctor, was still lying on the couch. “I’m feeling a lot better,” she said, but then grabbed her side in pain.

“It’s getting late,” Aileen said, glancing at the copper sunburst clock above the fireplace.

“Look—you’ve got just enough time to get to Provincetown and make the launch,” Rose said, shifting her position on the couch. “You go on without me. I’ll call Simon and explain.”

“What?” Jan cried, startled by the idea. Cari saw that Eric and Craig were just as surprised. The idea had never occurred to any of them.

“Take the launch without me,” Rose said, her voice just above a whisper. “Get settled in. Simon will take good care of you. And he needs you to start work. I don’t think it’s right to let him down.”

“But what about you?” Jan asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Rose said, forcing a smile. “I’ll spend some time with Aileen. I haven’t seen her in months. Then I’ll take the launch tomorrow and join you.”

Everyone suddenly started talking at once. Jan didn’t want to leave Rose. Cari tried to reassure Jan. Craig and Eric thought it was a great idea to go on without her. But finally Aileen was able to assure Jan that she would take care of Rose.

Then, after lengthy farewells, they bundled into the station wagon and Aileen drove them through Provincetown, the narrow main street crowded with tourists, to the launch slip. A handmade sign on a pole at the end of the dock said: PINEY ISLAND TOURS.

“Are you my passengers?” asked a smiling young man who appeared on the deck of the small boat and reached up for their bags. He had short, spiky blond hair, and was wearing a BOSTON U sweatshirt and white shorts.

“I guess we are,” Jan said, struggling to hand him her two big suitcases. Cari and the two boys moved forward, sliding their bags along the narrow wooden dock. The gray-green ocean lapped gently at the pilings. The small boat rocked easily in the water. Behind them, sea gulls clamored on the sand, pecking at garbage.

A few minutes later, their bags stowed in the cabin below, the four friends said goodbye to Aileen and took seats on the bench along the deck.

The young man untied the line holding the launch to the dock, and the boat began to pull away from the slip, its engine roaring loudly.

Cari leaned back against the cabin wall. The wet spray off the water felt cool and refreshing. The little boat lurched forward suddenly, throwing them all off balance, causing them to slide back and forth in their seats.

They all laughed, nervous laughter.

“We’re on our own!” Eric shouted above the roar of the engine, checking out Cari as he said it.

“Party summer!” Craig yelled.

Cari laughed. She realized she was excited, and nervous, and happy, and worried—all at the same time. She felt strange about heading off to an island resort on her own, without an adult. Her parents, she knew, would have a fit!

But it was also very exciting.

Besides, what could happen?

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20