sooner or later, neh? ”
“Wednesday. So really, it’s only Monday that I’ll have to deal with him.” She stopped, and looked past the shoulders of the girls on the other side of their circle. “Don’t look now, but the Peachey boys are trying to sneak up on us.”
“The Peachey boys don’t sneak,” Rosanne said in a low tone. “They just stampede in and laugh at you when you tell them how rude they are. Come on, let’s take a walk.”
And before Pris could agree or disagree, Rosanne had looped her arm through hers and that of another girl, and the three of them broke the circle on their side just as Benny and Leon Peachey intruded on the other, teasing the nearest girls and laughing as they scattered.
“Any other boy would wait until a girl was alone or at least ask politely if she wanted to take a walk,” Rosanne grumbled. “Who else would bust in like that where they weren’t wanted?”
“Maybe they think they are wanted,” Barbie Kaufman said, looking over her shoulder at the brave girls who were actually talking to them.
But Benny spotted that glance, and before the three of them could join a group of grown-ups or do something sensible like go in the house and wash dishes, he had loped over to take Priscilla’s other arm, mincing a little as if he were mimicking their steps.
“Hi, girls,” he said. “Want to go for a walk?”
“Not with you,” Rosanne told him, as severe as a spinster chasing little boys out of her apple trees. “Let go of her and go away.”
“Why? I was talking to Priscilla. Say, Pris, does Joe know you’re keeping company with Englisch boys?”
Priscilla shook him off, but he kept walking up the driveway with them. Just wait. If he was still at her elbow when they got to the ditch, he was going to get a surprise.
“I don’t keep company with them,” she told him stiffly.
“That’s not what I saw Friday, down in the creek bottom.”
“Where were you? I didn’t see anyone.”
“Me and Leon were up in one of the maple trees. We were going to do cannonballs into the creek, but when you walked by underneath, we thought we’d better give you two some privacy.”
“I wish you had done a cannonball,” she told him, the words tumbling rashly out of her. “Next time, give me a hand getting rid of him instead of hiding up in the trees like a pair of scared birds.”
“Scared!”
Good. Maybe she’d offended him.
“Wasn’t us who was scared, I bet.”
Or not.
“Not scared exactly, but I sure was glad to see Henry Byler. But still, it would have been nice if you’d showed your faces and let him know I wasn’t all alone down there.”
For once in his harum-scarum life, Benny Peachey didn’t laugh. In fact, the merriment faded from his blue eyes as he searched her face, looking for the truth. “You serious, Priscilla Mast? This Englisch boy bothering you?”
“He’s a nuisance.” She wished now she’d never said anything. Now they would all think she saw bogeymen in the bushes. “He’s staying at the Inn and I don’t want to be rude in case it reflects badly on Ginny and hurts her business.”
Benny looked thoughtful for all of five seconds before the grin broke out on his face again. “A little thing like you couldn’t hurt anything. Say, can I take you home from the singing tonight? It’s here, so everyone is staying on for supper.”
Rosanne and Barbie both gaped at the effrontery of him, asking such a thing right out in front of a person’s girlfriends.
“Benny, for goodness’ sake,” Pris said in exasperation. “You know I’m writing to Joe!”
“But he ain’t here, and I am. What do you say?”
“She says no, she’s coming home with Malinda and me,” Rosanne told him with perfect timing. See, this was why they were best friends. They looked out for each other. “We live way closer to her place than you do.”
Priscilla nodded, never letting on for a moment that this was the first she’d heard of it. “Sorry,
“Wednesday. So really, it’s only Monday that I’ll have to deal with him.” She stopped, and looked past the shoulders of the girls on the other side of their circle. “Don’t look now, but the Peachey boys are trying to sneak up on us.”
“The Peachey boys don’t sneak,” Rosanne said in a low tone. “They just stampede in and laugh at you when you tell them how rude they are. Come on, let’s take a walk.”
And before Pris could agree or disagree, Rosanne had looped her arm through hers and that of another girl, and the three of them broke the circle on their side just as Benny and Leon Peachey intruded on the other, teasing the nearest girls and laughing as they scattered.
“Any other boy would wait until a girl was alone or at least ask politely if she wanted to take a walk,” Rosanne grumbled. “Who else would bust in like that where they weren’t wanted?”
“Maybe they think they are wanted,” Barbie Kaufman said, looking over her shoulder at the brave girls who were actually talking to them.
But Benny spotted that glance, and before the three of them could join a group of grown-ups or do something sensible like go in the house and wash dishes, he had loped over to take Priscilla’s other arm, mincing a little as if he were mimicking their steps.
“Hi, girls,” he said. “Want to go for a walk?”
“Not with you,” Rosanne told him, as severe as a spinster chasing little boys out of her apple trees. “Let go of her and go away.”
“Why? I was talking to Priscilla. Say, Pris, does Joe know you’re keeping company with Englisch boys?”
Priscilla shook him off, but he kept walking up the driveway with them. Just wait. If he was still at her elbow when they got to the ditch, he was going to get a surprise.
“I don’t keep company with them,” she told him stiffly.
“That’s not what I saw Friday, down in the creek bottom.”
“Where were you? I didn’t see anyone.”
“Me and Leon were up in one of the maple trees. We were going to do cannonballs into the creek, but when you walked by underneath, we thought we’d better give you two some privacy.”
“I wish you had done a cannonball,” she told him, the words tumbling rashly out of her. “Next time, give me a hand getting rid of him instead of hiding up in the trees like a pair of scared birds.”
“Scared!”
Good. Maybe she’d offended him.
“Wasn’t us who was scared, I bet.”
Or not.
“Not scared exactly, but I sure was glad to see Henry Byler. But still, it would have been nice if you’d showed your faces and let him know I wasn’t all alone down there.”
For once in his harum-scarum life, Benny Peachey didn’t laugh. In fact, the merriment faded from his blue eyes as he searched her face, looking for the truth. “You serious, Priscilla Mast? This Englisch boy bothering you?”
“He’s a nuisance.” She wished now she’d never said anything. Now they would all think she saw bogeymen in the bushes. “He’s staying at the Inn and I don’t want to be rude in case it reflects badly on Ginny and hurts her business.”
Benny looked thoughtful for all of five seconds before the grin broke out on his face again. “A little thing like you couldn’t hurt anything. Say, can I take you home from the singing tonight? It’s here, so everyone is staying on for supper.”
Rosanne and Barbie both gaped at the effrontery of him, asking such a thing right out in front of a person’s girlfriends.
“Benny, for goodness’ sake,” Pris said in exasperation. “You know I’m writing to Joe!”
“But he ain’t here, and I am. What do you say?”
“She says no, she’s coming home with Malinda and me,” Rosanne told him with perfect timing. See, this was why they were best friends. They looked out for each other. “We live way closer to her place than you do.”
Priscilla nodded, never letting on for a moment that this was the first she’d heard of it. “Sorry,
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