“Weren't you afraid?”
"I was for a while and then I watched some birds and got intrigued with how hard they worked at feedingthemselves. It was a particularly beautiful day, too. I remember that, and I remember really enjoying myself. Finally, my mother and her boyfriend came from wherever they were and her boyfriend carried me on his shoulders all the way back to our farm. I can't remember his name, but I remember his hair. It was a reddish yellow and I had clumps of it in my small fists, holding it like the reins of a horse. Sometimes, he cried out because I was pulling on his hair too hard, but I remember feeling as if I was on the top of the world, seeing everything from an adult's height.
"I never went on another picnic, and I never saw that boyfriend again. Sometimes, I used to think of it as a dream I had when I was very young. If I mentioned it to my mother, she would look as if she didn't remember it at all. I don't think it was a special or important day for her.
“After a while, it slipped out of my memory, but just now, as we were staring at the fire, it returned and I recalled my fists full of reddish yellow hair. That's silly, isn't it? The only thing I really remember vividly, that hair.”
“No. Maybe you remember it so well because it made you feel safe to hold on to it.”
She turned and looked at me. “Maybe.” She smiled. “Maybe that's what I was looking for through the fire, a way to feel safe again.”
We were quiet.
Teal moaned.
I lay back and Robin did the same. Before we fell asleep, we each had our arms around Teal, and that was how we were when the sun woke us with its stinging good morning.
Teal looked groggy, her cheeks stained with lines her tears had made zigzagging their way off her face. Robinand I sat up and watched her wipe her eyes. She looked at us and blinked as if she had forgotten everything. Then she spoke and sent new chills of fear down my back and Robin's, even in this desert heat.
“Where's my mother?” she asked.
“What?”
She sat up and looked at us and then around us, shaking her head. “I've got to get home.”
“What is she talking about?” Robin asked.
I shook my head and reached out to feel her forehead. It was so hot, I had to take my hand away.
“She's burning up.”
“If I don't get home quickly, my father will be very angry and he'll ground me again,” Teal said. “Who's driving me home?”
“We have to walk first,” I told her.
“Walk? To where? Can't you call a cab?”
“Can't you see where you are?” Robin asked.
Teal turned to her, her eyes blinking. “Who are you?”
“Great,” Robin said. “What do we do now?”
“It'll pass,” I said. I stood up and looked out to my right and to my left. Had we gone too far off the trail back? Nothing suggested we were heading in the right direction. It all looked so similar, the same hills, the same cacti and bushes. I glanced at the sun.
“We should probably go more to our left,” I said.
“You don't understand,” Teal muttered. “I can't stay any longer. I'm already well past my curfew.”
“Me, too,” Robin told her.
Teal touched her lips and looked at her fingers and then at us.
“I'm very thirsty. I'd like a Coke or something, please.”
“I'll call the butler,” Robin told her, and looked at me.
I checked Teal's canteen. It was bone-dry.
“We better get some water in her,” I said, and gave her my canteen. I didn't see how the boiling would have harmed the water. It was just very warm.
The moment it touched her lips, she complained, “Isn't there any ice?”
“Gee, we're all out. Here, try this.” Robin gave Teal her canteen. The water was cooler. Teal gulped at it.
“Easy,” I said, and lowered the canteen. “You can get yourself sick drinking that too fast now.”
“I am sick. I want to go home this instant. Where's the phone?”
“Gee, we forgot to pay the bill so they turned off our service,” Robin said.
“You're not very funny.” Teal's eyes grew small as she scrutinized Robin's face. “Are you Jeff's cousin?”
“No. Jeff's my cousin,” Robin said. For a moment that did confuse Teal and I actually smiled, although I couldn't see what we had to laugh about now.
“Let's get her up,” I told Robin, and we helped Teal to her feet.
“Ow!” she screamed, and looked down at her leg wrapped with the leaves. “What happened to me?”
“You hurt yourself dancing last night,” Robin said. “It's the best we can do for now. We've got to walk on.”
“I can't walk.”
Robin tried to pull her forward but she resisted.
“Oh, great. What do we do?”
“Come on, Teal. You have to try or you won't get home,” I said. I took her other arm, and together Robin and I forced her to take some steps. She cried with every one taken, putting as little weight on the bitten legas she could. Finally, Robin put Teal's arm over her shoulder and that way we were able to get her to move forward a little faster, but I knew Robin couldn't carry her for long.
We took turns, resting every hundred yards or so.
“We're not going to get very far this way,” I said.
Teal's eyes were closed and she was rocking softly from side to side.
“You better put the top up. It's too hot,” she muttered. “And stop to get me a drink. Anything. Even a beer.”
“Yes, it is too hot,” Robin said. “Phoebe, can you raise the top on the convertible, please?”
“She's delirious.”
“I wish I were. Who wants to realize what's really happening and where we really are,” Robin said. “What are we going to do, Phoebe? We can't carry her all the way out of here. We don't even know if we're
