Local Girl Swept Away Read Free

both cried like crazy, and held on to each other to keep from falling over. And when I looked back at Finn’s house, sure enough, Tess was watching.
    After that, walking became our religion. The rhythm of one foot following the other calmed us. We spent hours slogging through sand and seaweed up and down the bay beach—before school, after school, every weekend—the smell of fish rising with the spring temperatures. Just the two of us—we gave up on Lucas. The mystery of his absence was irritating, but not remotely as painful as the disappearance that had changed our lives.
    Sometimes we walked in silence; sometimes we talked about Lorna. Never about the accident though, only about memories.
    “Remember that first day she showed up in our class?” I asked him. As if there was a chance in hell he wouldn’t remember that.
    “It was surprising because we almost never got any new kids,” he said. “And also because we’d never seen anybody like Lorna before.”
    “The way she looked you right in the eyes.”
    “The way she whipped that long red ponytail around like a weapon.”
    “The way she stood up to people, even that bully, Frankie Reeves.”
    Finn stared into the distance. “That first day I watched her swing herself hand over hand across the monkey bars. She lifted her legs over a crossbar, let go with her hands, and swung back and forth with her eyes closed. She hung by her knees longer than I’d ever seen anybody do it, boy or girl.”
    I nodded. “Everybody liked her right away, but she didn’t need
everybody
. She picked us.”
    “We were her gang. Lucas and I had never hung around with girls before that day we all walked home together. Remember that? It should have taken us fifteen minutes, but it took two hours and everybody’s parents were furious. Well, I’m sure Lorna’s mother wasn’t—she probably didn’t even know what time it was, or that her ten-year-old daughter hadn’t come home from school yet.”
    I’d thought about that first long walk at least a dozen times since Lorna’s death. Our skinny, sandy town was Lorna’s playground, and she showed us how to claim it as ours too. Every curb was a high wire to balance on, every tree trunk was a ladder to its branches, every shopkeeper was a potential giver of treats, every alley was the setting for a story to act out. The beach that ran parallel to the long downtown street was not just a sunny spot to take off our shoes—it was an undiscovered planet where treasure could be found by those willing to look for it. Without even realizing it, we all started to see the world through Lorna’s eyes. By the time we straggled home that day, we’d become a team, and Lorna was our undisputed leader.
    “When did she start wearing that white jacket every day?” Finn asked. “She thought it made her hair look like a bonfire. Which was true.”
    “Last fall. I was with her the day she found it at Old Hat, where her mom works,” I said. “A woman from up-Cape brought in a bunch of gorgeous old clothes from the fifties and sixties. In perfect condition. Carla snagged some dresses for herself, but Lorna fell in love with that jacket. It had black diamonds embroidered on the collar and cuffs.”
    “I don’t pay much attention to girls' clothes, but everything Lorna wears is beautiful. It doesn’t matter what it is—any old shirt or pair of jeans—she makes it look great.”
    I’d had years of practice ignoring the little stabs of jealousy that stung like hornets, but it still wasn’t easy. “Lorna always knew what looked good on her,” I said, “and that jacket fit her perfectly. Of course, Carla didn’t want her to have it. She said it was a couture piece and she could get a good price for it, but you know how Lorna was when she wanted something. She just buttoned it up and walked out of the store. No way was Carla getting it back.”
    Finn nodded. “When Lorna sets her mind on something, you might as well not argue with her