The Trip to Raptor Bluff Read Free

apart, both of them glaring at Brenda.  Abby raised an eyebrow at Rick.
    “The smaller woman is Lucy Zeem, the company owner’s daughter.”  Rick grinned when he said, “She and Brenda hate each other’s guts.  They have been fighting since Lucy joined the company on her 21 st birthday.  Lucy is irritated that Brenda is taking control, and that’s why she’s wearing a sour-puss.”
    “Who is that big lady standing beside Lucy?  The one who looks like she dressed for a poolside brunch at the Ritz?  She seems more upset than Lucy.”
    “That is Andrea Teeple,” said Rick.  “She is a Zeemercise salesperson and our resident Zeem family suck-up.  She hates Brenda only because Lucy hates Brenda.  Andrea is best friends with everyone in the Zeem family except Joshua himself.  She uses her friendship with the Zeems to lord it over the other employees, and people have to put up with it because she runs to Lucy or Lucinda Zeem if someone forgets to treat her like royalty.”  The look Abby gave him made him laugh out loud.  “Don’t worry about the weird chaperone dynamics.  Brenda and Lucy have learned to live together for the most part, and Lucy will keep Andrea in line. There won’t be any fighting during the trip to Raptor Bluff: just lots and lots of dirty looks.”
    “See that tall kid?  The one with the long dark hair wearing the red lipstick?” asked Abby as she nodded to the line of students boarding the bus.  “That’s Andrea’s daughter.  Her name is Tara and she told us her mom works for Zeemercise and is going to chaperone the trip.  She is exactly like the description you just gave of Andrea.  You have to treat her like royalty or she makes your life miserable.  She ignores me because I’m not important enough, but most of the other girls kiss up to her.  Just watch.”
    “And the heavy girl beside Tara is…?”
    “That’s Tara’s best friend, Reba, but she’s known around school as Jaba the Hut .”  Abby’s lips disappeared into a thin line of contempt when she said, “She is lazy, she is loud, and she is just plain nasty .  She gets away with it because people are afraid of Tara.”
    “Well, I’m going on this trip to see the raptors,” said Rick.  “I plan to enjoy the raptors and enjoy Caleb.  Who cares about the other people and their dramas, right?”
    “Right!  You, Caleb, and I can stick together.” 
    Abby sat behind the driver’s seat while the others filled the back of the bus.  Caleb climbed into the adjoining aisle seat and sat beside her until Rick pulled onto the US 101.  As soon as the bus’s motion became smooth and consistent, Caleb curled up on the floor and fell asleep at her feet.  Abby began to take out a book to keep her company until they reached the scenic parts of the ride, but caught Rick’s smiling eyes in the rearview mirror. 
    “So far, so good,” he whispered.  “The narcissist, the borderline, and the manic depressive are all under control.”  He laughed at Abby’s quizzical look.
    “Human psychology fascinates me and I am absolutely convinced that Lucy suffers from narcissism, Brenda suffers from borderline personality disorder, and Andrea is manic-depressive.  I’ll bet my life on it.”
    “How does the company even function with those three?”
    “Joshua ignores it.  Brenda isn’t going anywhere and Lucy isn’t either.  Neither one could get the quarter million a year he pays them anywhere else.  Brenda was a bookkeeper when she and Joshua started the company, and Lucy didn’t make it past high school.”
    “Are you kidding me?  They make that much money?”
    “Yep!  The exercise DVDs that the Zeems produce sell in the tens of millions every year.  The family is rolling in money.”
    “So why do Lucy and Brenda hate each other so much?”
    “I probably shouldn’t be airing the company’s dirty laundry, but you don’t seem like the type to make trouble.  The heart of the problem is that Brenda