Fin spent the entire next day searching the halls for Thomas. In fact she spent so much time looking for him instead of where she was going that she ran into a door on her way to P.E. She wasn't particularly surprised when she found herself flat on her back in the hallway. She'd run into doors, trashcans, even the side of a car once. She was always too busy looking at funny-shaped clouds and passersby to think about her own two feet.
The great thing about running into things at school is that the nurse sends you home early. On this particular day at 1:17 in the afternoon, Fin found herself walking past her own apartment and following the river towards Glenwood Downs, the ritzy neighborhood where her mother cleaned on Tuesdays. Fin had wanted to tell her mother, Miss Maggie, all about Ellar last night, but wasn't sure she was supposed to. She'd never had a friend before, and thus never someone to share a secret with, and she had wanted to check with Thomas first. But now, as she steered herself through the rod-iron gates and made a left onto Willowbrook Road, she decided she couldn't wait any longer.
She had never actually been to one of the houses her where her mother worked. She was always too afraid she'd run into one of her classmates. But today she walked towards house number 503 with confidence because everyone she knew was still in school.
Despite her bravery, she still had to stop and catch her breath when she came upon the house. "House" was actually the wrong term. Words like "mansion" and "castle" floated through her brain. It towered over nearby houses like a great old oak among saplings. It was blindingly white with a wrap-around porch AND a wrap-around balcony. Fin felt like she'd stepped back in time to the real old south where people had iced tea brought to them on silver trays by servants. As she walked down the cobbled driveway towards her mother's rusting Honda, she realize her mother would have been the one serving that iced tea. Suddenly, she wanted to go home to the little apartment that was really the second floor of a house owned by two spinster sisters who played cards and gossiped about their church friends on the front stoop.
"Findley! What are you doing here?" Miss Maggie said as she walked towards the car with a bucket and mop.
"I-I ran into a door at school and the nurse sent me home."
"Oh, not again. Remember, 'eyes on the road at all times'." Miss Maggie said, smiling. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. I just-just came to tell you something." Fin wanted more than anything to get out of the shadow of the house. She couldn't explain it, but she felt like she was being watched...like the windows were giant eyes.
"What is it dear?"
Fin was having second thoughts. Maybe this WAS a secret and she SHOULD wait for Thomas. And then the unimaginable happened. A wooden gate in the hedge that bordered the gardens in the back opened and a blond curly head emerged.
"My mom wanted me to give you this before you left." Thomas said, handing Miss Maggie a check, discretely folded in half. It was at this moment that he turned and saw Fin. She watched through slitted eyes as he dropped his head.
"Thomas, this is my daughter, Findley. Findley, say hello to Thomas Chickering."
"Hello."
"Hello."
He had not looked up. If he had, Fin might have punched him. She didn't even care that her mother was there.
"Oh, I forgot the Pledge. I'll be right back, dear, and then we'll go home." Miss Maggie said as she walked briskly towards the gate that Thomas had just come through.
"You knew."
"Yeah."
"You knew my mom was your cleaning lady and you never said anything."
"Yeah." He still hadn't looked up from his sneakers.
"So is that why I couldn't find you at school today? Were you hiding?" Fin said, spitting out the last words. Her hands were tight fists.
"Ummm, no. I go to St. Andrews Academy and we're out today for teacher meetings."
"You go to private school." Fin said, more to herself than him. She was quickly re-assembling the picture of Thomas in her brain. She couldn't believe she had loaned him her watch. He probably had millions of watches in his palace.
In the long silence, Thomas had finally looked up at her. "I was going to tell you yesterday, but I got mad about the fish and forgot."
"You forgot?!" Fin said, already turning and marching down the driveway. "Well I was going to tell you what Ellar the fish told me yesterday, but now I forget." She looked back to see Thomas' mouth fall open. She yelled, "Tell my mom I'll meet her at home!"
And with that she broke into a run and didn't slow down until she hit the dirt path by the river. She stopped only long enough to shout into the sapphire waters, "Ellar, if you can hear me, I can't meet you today. I'm sick and have to go home now!" She didn't really care if he heard her or not, but she knew he liked politeness and would get mad if she missed their appointment without telling him first. It wasn't his fault Thomas was a traitor.
Now that she had stopped running, she began to shiver. She remembered she had left her jacket at school. As she mounted the steps on the side of the house that led to their second floor apartment, Fin decided that if there was a lesson to be learned from today's events, she didn't want the hear it.
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