Little Treasures Chapter 8 Part II

 Shirley, on the other hand, possessed the stubborn resolve of a cat raised by royalty, which was exactly what she was, and she wasn't about to let a little thing like the wilting bows of the family tree knock her off her pedestal. She shot out of the driveway on her bicycle with Lisa's present in the basket and flew down the steep road without bothering to slow down before navigating the blind corner at the crest of it. There was barely a motorist for miles who hadn't encountered the spearmint green two-wheeler with the sky blue basket bearing down upon them at some point and so, with the exception of the ice truck driver who unwittingly brought about Aunt Emma's somewhat premature demise, most of them approached the turn as though they were stuck behind a funeral procession. 

But on the morning of Liza McDonald's sixteenth birthday, one such driver assumed that because the party didn't start until eleven-thirty Shirley Thomas, who always arrived late to parties in order to make a grand entrance, would be a good twenty minutes away. This driver didn't factor in Shirley's crush on the McDonald boy, which was common knowledge all over town, and the lengths to which she'd go to impress him, the lengths in this case being arriving well before anyone else and helping the birthday girl get ready, as a true best friend should. The reason neither of these things occurred to him was because the driver was David McDonald, and he had volunteered to collect a bag of powdered sugar from the Thomas kitchen on behalf of the McDonald's cook. The front tyre of Shirley's bike slammed against the bumper of the Plymouth, and Shirley flipped over the hood and onto her backside at the side of the road. 

When the two of them arrived at the Thomas house together, looking shaken and dishevelled, Stella was grateful Mrs. Mertz was upstairs taking a nap. David said hello and, a gentleman as always, made his way into the house behind Shirley.

'Which way is your kitchen, please? I'm here on an errand.'

'Oh, i-i-it's down the hall, left, then right.'

Once he was out of sight, Shirley seized Stella's arm.

'Listen, I need you to keep an eye out for the old lady, okay? She is NOT going to ruin this for me.'

'Ruin what? He only came here to borrow a cup of Sugar.'

Shirley sighed. 'I keep forgetting how young you are.'

Stella scowled. 'I'm only a year and a half younger than you!'

'Just keep watch, and don't let him follow me. There's something I've got to do.'

Shirley crept upstairs into her mother's room and started scouting for a replacement gift that would be suitable for a girl with the maturity of a ten-year-old. She found it sitting on the mantel above the fireplace. Liza's mother had recently given in and let her get her ears pierced, granting the only remotely womanly request Liza had ever made; what better present to replace the one that was now surely lying at the bottom of the sea than a tiny vessel to keep her earrings in?

Shirley was in such a mad rush to find tissue paper in which to wrap the thing that she took no care when opening and closing the drawers of her mother's dresser, and the force with which she shoved the second drawer closed knocked and exquisite jadette elephant onto the floor, where the top half of one of its delicate, lacy ears snapped off. Well aware that the creature was a gift from her father, Shirley panicked. She stood and stared at it for several seconds, until footfalls on the stairs forced her to do something. She bustled the elephant into her shoulder purse, wrapped in tissue paper, to prevent any further calamities, then wrapped the camelia shaped jewlerry box she'd lifted and left the room just in time to meet a stricken looking Stella.

'Hurry up! I had to pretend there was a spider in the parlor to stop him from coming up after you!'

'There was a bit of crisis,' Shirley unfastened the purse and showed Stella the bundle.

'What is that?'

'Mama's elephant. I accidentally broke it and I'm holding onto it til I can get it fixed.'

Stella pointed at the bundle in Shirley's hand. 'And what's that?'

'A present for my friend.'

'What if Mama comes home early? How are we going to explain TWO things missing from her room?'

'We'll tell her the maid did it.'

The story of the elephant was one all the Thomas kids had heard at least twenty times. Before Stanley was born, their father was in China as part of Chennault's FLying Tigers, a heroic group of airmen mostly made up of soldiers given special permission by the president to resign the army in order to volunteer to defend China against the advancing Japanese army, when he received word that his youngest child had whooping cough. Assured by doctors that his little girl would likely meet the same fare as the town child she contracted it from, Charles went home to be with Dahlia, and to wait for June to stop coughing, one way or another. When he came into the room and saw little June, he took the jade elephant out of his bag, placed it on her bedside table and kissed her forehead.

'The Chinese believe and elephant with its trunk up is a good omen. It's probably supersticious malarkey, but I think we could use a little supersticious malarkey right now don't you?'

When they brought June home two months later, Dahlia put the elephant on her own dresser and refused to let anyone touch it. She had lost a good deal more loved ones since then, including the little boy she and Charles had made to celebrate June's survival, but whether that was because the elephant had only one stroke of luck in him, or because it was indeed malarkey, no one had the heart to try to bring her to her senses about it; what would be the point? Shirley certainly saw no point in it, which was the reason she nearly bit her tongue when Liza dragged her into Mrs. McDonald's bedroom to gossip about what another party guest was wearing, and she saw the elephant's twin on the dresser. Liza was mid-whisper when she caught Shirley staring at it.

'Ugly looking thing, isn't it? Mother loves it. I don't know why. Who wants an elephant looking at them when they're asleep?'

Dahila, that was who. Shirley had to think on her feet.

'Hey, why don't we hide from Lenora?'

'I couldn't do that; it'd be mean, even if she is a ninny.'

'Oh come on, it'll be fun! You go stand at the top of the stairs and call her, then run off and hide somewhere. I'll hide in here and when she comes in to look, I'll jump out and scare her.' She gave Liza a playful nudge.

'Okay then,' said Liza, but if we get in trouble, this was all your idea.'

'Cross my heart and hope to die.'

Liza giggled and ran out the door. Shirley closed it behind her, made the swap, and waited for Lenora. When the party was over, Liza McDonald had lost a friend, although Lenora Givens would still attend her funeral, and Mrs. McDonald had gained a wounded animal, although she was completely unaware of the swap iteself. As far as she knew, the girls were chasing one another around upstairs and, at some point in proceedings, lumbered their way into the master bedroom, where things got a little rougher than was perhaps intended. Shirley engineered things so that Lenora would inadvertently discover her hiding place by allowing the hem of her party dress to peek out from behind the tall boy armoire, jsut the tiniest bit, where it could be seen in the bottom corner of the full length mirror on the closet door. 

Right on time, Lenora squeeled out "Found you" and grabbed Shirley to force her out. In the playful tussle that ensued, Shirley entwined her foot with Lenora's, so carefully that Lenora didn't feel their skin touching, then she jabbed Lenora in the rib with her thumb. Lenora teetered backwards and thumped hard against the dresser. The elephant came hurtling toward the floor for the second time in its otherwise dull life. Shirley reached out and caught it, and for a moment the relief between the two of them was palpable, but when Shirley uncupped her hands and revealed the injured ear, Lenora clawed at her cheeks. Shirley gasped.

'Oh my God, Lenora! Look what you've done!'

'No I didn't!'

'Well, you tickled me.'

'I didn't know you'd jump like that! It's thise whopping big feet of yours!'

Shirley made sure to yell loud enough to get the attention of whomever might be passing downstairs and, sure enough, Mrs. McDonald soon shuffled up to the room where she stumbled into, and became a character in, a Kafka story.

'Lenora Givens, you have been clomping about my house all afternoon, making all sorts of racket, with no thought for other people or your surroundings, and now look what's happened!'

'But it wasn't my fault, Mrs. McDonald! Shirley and Liza hid from me and when I caught Shirley, she tickled me, and then I fell...'

'Why would Shirley and Liza hide from you?'

'I don't know! Liza and I were getting along just fine, then Shirley came along and they both left me and went upstairs together, then someone called me, so I followed their voice and came in here...'

'Someone called to you from up here, you say?'

'Yes.'

'Why would they call to you if they were hiding from you?'

'I don't know.'

'And why is it that no one else heard anything?'

'I'm not sure.'

'It's because no one called to you, isn't it Lenora?'

'NO!'

'Don't raise your voice to me, Young Lady.'

'No.'

'I think you saw Liza come up here with Shirley and, because you were jealous, you decided to make them sorry. They weren't even hiding from you, were they?'

'They were.'

'You attacked Shirley, didn't you?'

'I didn't!'

'I don't want to hear another word from you until your mother gets here.'

With that, Mrs. McDonald marched downstairs to call Lenora's mother, and Lenora fell onto her hands and knees, which was how her mother found her when she finally arrived to collect her. 

'Look at her! Talk about trial by hanging!'

'She hung herself quite nicely.'

'I'm sure you looped the noose, Virginia,' Eileen Givens helped her daughter to her feet and lead her out of the room.

'Just a minute,' said Mrs. McDonald, 'There's still the matter of the repair bill.'

Eileen Givens whirled around to face her. 'What repair bill? It's a chip!'

'That rosebud was pure jade, just like the rest of this. I am not replacing it with cheap plaster.'

'I don't care if you have a liaison with a chinaman, you can fix it your damned self!'

Lenora Givens would protest her innocence until well into adulthood but when the truth did surface, neither Lenora nor anyone else was around to care. SHirley didn't think twice about inviting Liza over the day after the party - the elephant was tucked away safely in Dahlia's bedroom, and Shirley doubted very much that Cora would dare unlock Dahlia's door to clean it without specific instructions, even if Dahlia was "On vacation." Just to be safe, Shirley made sure to keep Liza away from the upstairs wing of the house, and distracted her as best she could by engaging her in two of her favourite passtimes - scrabble and gossip. It had always seemed amazing to Shirley how a girl so good with words, or at least summoning them at will to describe other people, could still be so dreadful at spelling.

'Miranda Honan,' grinned Shirley.

'Dunce,' Liza grinned back, laying the tiles out on the board, 'D-U-N-S-E.'

Shirley giggled, and Liza joined in, completely unaware that the joke was both on her and the less than scholarly Miss Honan.

'Jeanette Marsden,' said Liza.

Shirley thought it over. There was definitely a name for girls like seventeen-year-old Jeanette, but if Mrs. Mertz should happen to come in and see it spelled out, the friendship with Liza and the access it afforded to Liza's brother might be unceremoniously ended. Shirley arranged the tiles on the plate in front of her until she came up with something innocous enough on the surface to fool a woman as old as Mrs. Mertz.

'Loose,' said Shirley, 'L-O-O-S-E.'

Liza stared at the board. 'Huh?'

Shirley rolled her eyes and whispered the meaning of the word in Liza's ear, which sent Liza into a fit of guffaws.

'Cora, Dear,' called Mrs. Mertz from the kitchen, 'I would like the dusting finished at some point before I retire.'

Liza put her hands on her hips, wrinkled her nose, and did an excellent silent impression of the nanny, which had Shirley clamping her hands over her mouth to stop her from spraying spittle across the room. It also gave her Liza idea for their next vocabulary challenge. 

'Mrs. Mertz.'

This time, there was no pause for thought.

'Witch. W-I-C-H.'

Shirley fell over laughing, and Liza joined her, once again joyously ignorant of the fact that she was part of the punchline. Mrs. Mertz was so delighted to hear the two playmates getting along so well that she came into the parlor to congratulate them.

'Isn't this nice, seeing you two firm friends having such fun, and learning something?'

She put on her spectacles and peered over at the board, smiled awkwardly, then put her spectacles back into her pocket.

'Lovely, Dear,' she patter Liza on the head and left the room.

'Your turn,' Shirley sniffed.

Liza grinned.

'David McDonald.'

Shirley looked at her sideways. Did she know? Was she stupid enough to still want to be friends anyway? Shirley elected to play it safe again.

'Kind. K-I-N-D.'

Liza took her turn without being offered any inspiration.

'Liar,' she said, 'L-I-A-R.'

For the first time in Liza's presence - in anybody's presence but David's - Shirley was nervous.

'Funny,' she said, 'F-U-N-N-Y.'

'It's okay. I know you like my brother. He is good looking. That's what all the other girls say.'

'I suppose,' Shirley shrugged.

'Wanna know what else they say?'

There was no need for Shirley to answer.

'They say you only made friends with me so you could be close to my brother.'

Shirley bit her lip.

'I told them it wasn't true,' Liza smiled, 'because it isn't...right?'

'RIght,' Shirley smiled, hoping a one-word answer would suffice.

Liza nodded, satisfied. Shirley's heart thudded in her chest. Another new sensation. She tried to come up with another name to offer as fodder for Scrabble infamy and lighten the mood, but was drawing a blank until Cora came rushing into the room, then tiptoed past for fear of disturbing the game or perhaps, Shirley thought with a little satisfaction, just in fear.

'Cora,' she muttered when the maid had left the room.

'That's easy,' said Liza, 'M-O-W-S-E.'

Shirley laughed, happy to be on solid ground again, and started rearranging her tiles. 

'For the love of Heaven, Cora,' said Mrs. Mertz in the other room, 'I give you permission to dust that room as well! Just unlock the door yourself next time.'

There were several rooms that were routinely locked whenever company came. It had been that way for as long as Shirley could remember. Dahlia's room was just one and, even if Cora was about to flit around in there, she would lock up again when she left. No need to panic yet.

'This is the only thing that needs attention. Poor forlorn little thing looks like it hasn't had a once over in years. Take it through to the laundry room and clean it very carefully. I would like Mrs. Thomas to find her treasured jade elephant waiting for her when she gets home.'

Shirley looked up just as Liza turned her head towards the sound of Cora's skittish footsteps. She knew the jig was up before Cora appeared, but that didn't make it any less of a shock when the elephant entered the room. Liza stood up, a girlish grin on her face.

'Oh gosh! My mother has one of these. May I hold it please?'

Mrs. Mertz appeared, compounding the nightmare.

'Alright then, Dear, but just for a moment, and be very careful.'

'It's exactly like the one in my mother's room, only hers has a V...'

she turned the elephant around and inspected its hind quarters, '...a V-shaped crack on the back of its leg.'

She handed the elephant back.

'I have to go home now.'

Without asking Mrs. Mertz permission, something she was loathe to do even at the best of times, Shirley ran outside, got on her bike, and followed Liza down the road.

'WAIT!'

Liza turned her head and addressed her former friend abruptly. 

'I'M TELLING!'

What she said was "I'm telling." What Shirley heard was "I'm telling my brother."

That would be a crisis that no one, even Dahlia in her right mind, could solve. A whirlwind of options tore through Shirley's mind and she started to feel dizzy, until the storm passed, leaving in its wake one crystal clear solution against the backdrop of a dead, gery sky.

'DON'T TAKE THE TOURIST TRACK! MY BIKE'S NO GOOD ON DIRT!' 

If there was one thing Liza excelled at apart from name calling, it was doing the exact opposite of what she was told to do when she was angry. As soon as the rock wall that separated the main road from the tourist track appeared, she darted around to the left of it and disappeared. Shirley pedaled faster than she'd ever dreamed possible until she came to a pair of pine trees, then made a sharp left turn and passed between them. There were two paths at the end of the tourist track, and if Liza was as predictable as Shirley thought she was, there was only one she could possibly take. 

The tunnel beneath the tourist track wasn't actually put there for sightseers, which was why there wasn't so much a path leading up to it as a long, vertical patch of grass kept permanently shorn to afford the waterworks people access should they need it. The town council had done their best to make it unattractive to kids by putting up a wire fence at the edge of the muddy bank on which it rested, but that did nothing to curtail the hordes of town kids who came there in summer looking for a place to enjoy an illicit smoke or two. It was late Fall now, and the semi-icy air made it uncomfortable for even the heartiest townie, but despite the relative seclusion of the place and the fact that its stinky surroundings would have made it the perfect spot to hide from someone as fastidiously clean as Shirley, Liza wouldn't be there. No matter how much she hated Shirley, she hated the smell of partially processed sewage more.

Shirley rode until she reached the hill at the end of the path that lead to the Beauty Point bluff, then got off the bike and pushed. THere should've been all sorts of vegetation blocking the view of the Beauty Point Bridge from the bottom of the hill but, owing to coastal wind exposure, it was so sparse that Shirley's eyes locked on Liza's baby bike immediately. Leave it to Liza to hide under a bridge and not turn her bike around so her buttercup yellow handlebars weren't visible. Shirley waited until she'd reached the top of the hill before she spoke.

'Liza, please come out. You've got it all wrong.'

'You broke your mother's creepy elephant and you swapped it over so you wouldn't get into trouble! My friends were right; you ARE only using me!'

'I know I did the wrong thing, but I swear I didn't even know your mother had that thing until yesterday. Please forgive me!'

'Is it true about David?'

'Is what true?'

'Did you only make friends with me because of him?'

'At first I did, but I've gotten to know you since then. I really like you now. You're my best friend.'

Liza stepped out from the mouth of her little cave. 'Really?'

Shirley held out her hand. 'Really.'

Liza smiled and accepted her handshake.

'Now,' said Shirley, 'How about we ride back to your house together?'

'Okay.'

Shirley turned the plan over and over in her mind while Liza wheeled her bike out from under the bridge. 

If it's to be done, it's to be done now.

'Hey,' she called, 'look what I can do!'

She climbed up onto the guard rail and held out her arms to steady herself. Shirley had been sneaking out at night to ride to the McDonald's house and peer in at David from a branch of the oak tree next to his bedroom window since she was twelve - a six-foot drop was nothing to write home about. 

'Oh myGod, you'll FALL!'

'No I won't,' said Shirley. 'I'm the best in our class at gymnastics. You're pretty good too, remember? You won that award last year in Phys. Ed?'

'That was with a mat under me. All that's down there are rocks.'

'Would I be up here if I thought it was dangerous?'

Liza thought about it and finally had to admit Shirley was right.

'So,' Shirley said, 'come on up!'

Liza took a deep breath and climbed. She was excellent on the balance beam, just like it said on the framed certificate on her bedroom wall.

'Gosh! You can see for miles up here!'

'Yup,' affirmed Shirley, 'even the birds resting on that sandbar.'

'Yeah.'

'How'd you like to BE a bird, Liza?'

'Huh?'

'I said, how'd you like to be a bird?'

'I don't know. Never really thought about it before.'

'I have. I think about it a lot. Did you know not all birds can fly?'

'Of course I do! We learned that in second grade.'

'If you could be a bird, do you think you'd be a flyer, or a walker?'

'I don't know,' Liza's nostrils flared slightly, which was a sure sign she was eager to end the discussion, ' I think we should get down now.'

'I think you'd be a flyer.'

'Wha...?'

Liza didn't realise she'd been pushed until after her left foot had left the bridge, and by the time it occurred to her to grab onto something, she could already see the dimpled back surface of the rock coming up to meet her. Shirley picked up the baby bike and bashed it vertically against the stone walll, then dumped it on its side on the path. The police didn't doubt her story when she burst into the station twenty minutes later, screaming and crying that her friend had fallen. 

'She was riding so fast, she couldn't stop!'

Nor did they doubt it when they took her to the point and found the McDonald girl laying face-down on a rock, her neck bone pressing against her flesh. Mrs. McDonald didn't doubt Shirley's sincerity when she payed a condolence call with Stella and Mrs. Mertz the following day, and nobody doubted her sincerity when she looked over at David McDonald, standing with and ignored by his parents. 

His grief made him doubly handsome.