***
An hour later, Ron, Sarah, and the Nielsen's were seated around the dining room table.
"Ron? Would you like some potatoes?" asked Maria.
"Yes, please."
"Here you are."
"Thanks."
When Ron was finished dishing up his plate she turned to Sarah and Rachel.
"Girls? Potatoes?"
"Sure mom."
"Yes please, Mrs. Nielsen."
"Julian - pass this to the girls please. Thanks."
Julian took the bowl from his wife and looked at them with a mischievous grin. Sarah knew what was coming even before it happened. Taking the serving spoon, they all watched as he scooped the entire bowl of mashed potatoes onto his plate.
"Dad!"
"Cariño!"
At the opposite end of the table, Ron giggled.
"What?" asked Julian, playing dumb.
Maria's face was incredulous - but Sarah could tell by her eyes that she wasn't angry.
"Why did you do that!? Do I not feed you!?"
"Mi amor, your food is just so amazing - I wanted to eat it all!" he exclaimed.
Rachel scoffed. "Yeah right, dad. "Here, give me that," and she reached over and snatched Julian's plate. Unfortunately, she didn't anticipate the weight of the potatoes and the plate fell from her grip and clattered to the floor.
Maria shook her head. "Ah! Now look!"
Julian shrugged. "MEMO!"
At the sound of his name, the faithful golden retriever came running in.
"Here boy! Supper!"
Maria slapped her forehead dramatically. "Aye. Tu es loco cariño. I should make you and him eat together from now on...outside!"
They all watched as Memo chomped hungrily on the gift he'd just been given.
Rachel looked on in disgust. "Geez dad...you're lucky mom loves you so much."
Julian laughed and kissed his wife's forehead. "I know. I'm sorry. Your potatoes were delicious honey...Memo told me...right boy?"
With a little coaxing Julian soon had Memo singing and everyone around the table burst out laughing.
When they'd finished eating, board games were brought out and Maria made everyone mugs of hot chocolate - complete with whipped cream, chocolate sprinkles, and a cinnamon stick.
"Thank you so much for having us over, Mr. and Mrs. Nielsen," said Sarah as Rachel passed out the game pieces for Cranium.
"Yeah thanks," said Ron.
Maria smiled. "It was our pleasure. Any time."
"Yeah, anytime," said Julian. "Especially if you don't mind scooping poop because Memo makes a lot of it and the back yard could use a good clean up!"
"Julian!"
"Dad!"
"Only joking...can't anyone take a joke tonight? It's Thanksgiving - relax a little!"
As they sat down to play, Sarah realized that she was the happiest she'd been in a long time. She looked over at Ron as he slurped his chocolate and knew he felt the same way.
- 12 -
RACHEL FINDS OUT
"Did you both sleep well?" asked Maria as they sat waiting for Julian's famous breakfast the following morning.
"Yes, thanks," answered Sarah, rubbing her eyes and fixing her bed head.
"Yeah," Ron added.
"It was a little cold, mamá," said Rachel.
Maria nodded as she filled her mug with freshly-brewed coffee. "Yes, I think the furnace is acting up again. I'll get papi to look at it."
A minute passed with no one speaking. Sarah played with her necklace and Ron picked at something on the table cloth with his fork.
"So what time are we going to the zoo?" asked Rachel finally.
"As soon as we are finished breakfast, querida," said Maria with a glance at her daughter.
"And breakfast is served," said Julian, waltzing into the dining room with four plates.
He set one down in front of each of them.
"Yum."
"Looks good, mi amor."
"Yeah, this looks delicious."
Each plate contained the following: a full Belgian waffle, four strips of bacon, hash browns, four breakfast sausages, and scrambled eggs with cheese.
"Dig in, gang."
"Can you pass the ketchup please, Jessica?"
"Of course."
They took their time eating - a Latin American custom. (As Maria said at one point during the meal, "What good is a holiday if you can't relax and enjoy it?") When they were finished Sarah and Rachel helped Maria clean up while Julian showed Ron his office.
"And, here are some of my drawings."
"Wow! These are awesome!"
"Thanks - I did them myself," he quipped sarcastically.
Ron picked up Julian's rendition of Superman.
"How do you do this!?"
"Years of practice. Years of practice," said Julian, grinning widely.
"I wish I could draw like this."
"Hey, maybe I can teach you someday."
Ron's face lit up. "That would be awesome!"
He picked up a stack of card stock paper tucked under the hutch of the desk. "These look like comic books - but they're not together."
"Yeah those are my story boards. I'm working on a new series for Yarvel."
"Whoa," said Ron, examining one of the pages. "Is this a new super hero then or something?"
Julian made the motion of zipping his lips. "I can't say."
"Well, can I see it when you're done?"
"Of course. I'll even give you a copy of the first print. They send me about a dozen."
"Awesome..."
Julian replaced the story boards and picked up another stack of papers. "These here are my comic strips for the newspaper."
"Wow! You draw Tragic Magic?"
"Yep."
"Oh man...I wish I could tell T.J. about this...he's my friend from school...he loves Tragic Magic."
"Well, here," said Julian, "I'll give you two autographs - one for him and one for you. That be cool? You'll see that it's the same as my signature in Tragic Magic. That way you can say you met me - seeing as I'm so famous and all," he added with a grin.
"Yeah!"
"Alright."
Ron watched as Julian signed two card-sized pieces of paper.
"There you go. One for you, and one for a friend."
Ron took the autographs and held them as though they were bars of gold.
"Thank you."
"No worries. Anytime."
"DAD! MOM SAID TO TELL YOU THAT WE'RE LEAVING IN FIFTEEN MINUTES!"
"OKAY!"
"So that's that. Here, you can have this too," said Julian as though Rachel hadn't just interrupted them.
He removed the tack from a picture of Poseidon he'd drawn. The ancient Greek sea god held a trident and wore a crown made of shark's teeth.
"Awesome..."
"That drawing there is what got me the job at Yarvel. You can have it."
"Really?"
"For sure. Keep it for inspiration."
"Thank you."
"No problem big guy."
"DAD! MOM SAID TO HURRY UP! SHE NEEDS YOU TO HELP HER MAKE LUNCH!"
"BE THERE IN A MINUTE!"
He turned to Ron. "Alright, let's get packed up. Go and throw those things in your bag because we're going to drop you and your sister back at Anthony's after the zoo. Okay?"
Ron nodded.
"Good. Do you need help getting down the stairs?"
"No, I can manage."
"Okay. Be careful - we don't need to see you with your other leg in a cast."
Ron grinned. "I'll be careful."
While Ron went to the guest bedroom to pack his bag, Julian made his way downstairs to help his wife pack lunch for everyone. The two girls took Memo for a walk and a short while later, Ron, Sarah and the Nielsen's were seated in the van and cruising down the highway towards the zoo.
"Now I don't want anyone getting split up today," said Maria from the front passenger seat. "So, everyone please take one," she sai
d, handing walkie-talkies to Ron, Rachel, and Sarah.
"Mom...this is embarrassing."
"Why querida? Because I feel responsible for these two and don't want them getting lost?"
"It's cool, Rach," said Sarah, switching hers on. "Check it out."
She lowered her voice. "Lieutenant Johnson, this is Major Smith speaking. Over."
Ron switched his walkie-talkie on in time to receive the last few words.
"Copy Major Smith. This is Lieutenant Johnson. Over."
The kids fell into a fit of laughter and spent the rest of the drive making up funny things to say using the walkie-talkies.
When they arrived at the zoo, Julian pulled up to the entrance to let everyone out - since Ron couldn't walk very far - and went to park the van.
"This is so cool!" Ron exclaimed as they waited beside the entrance for Julian.
"Is it your first time then, Ron?" asked Maria.
"Yeah."
"Well, you are in for a very exciting day, mister."
Rachel cut in. "We definitely have to see the giraffes - and the monkeys. Those are my favourite."
"Are there snakes?" Ron inquired.
"Loads!"
"Awesome."
Sarah made a face. "Not awesome."
"I wonder if we can feed them!"
Rachel shook her head. "No...but sometimes they let you watch when they put food in their cages. We've seen it a couple of times. It's actually kind of boring because the animals rarely eat when the zoo keepers put food in their cages. I guess they don't like people watching them when they eat or something."
Julian returned a few minutes later and they made their way inside. Sarah offered to pay the admission (which would mean the near end of her remaining money), but Maria wouldn't allow it.
"You are our guests, Jessica! Please."
"I just don't know how to thank you for this weekend, Mrs. Nielsen."
Maria looked at her. "Just enjoy yourself. That is thank you enough."
Sarah smiled. "Alright."
After leaving Ron's crutches at the Visitor Centre in exchange for a loaner wheelchair, Ron, Sarah and the Nielsen's spent the next two hours exploring the African Savanna and Americas regions.
At one o'clock they stopped for lunch. Maria found some benches inside and passed around turkey sandwiches. In addition, everyone got a banana, a yogurt, and a juice box.
"Remember how that iguana caught the fly with his tongue!" Ron exclaimed. "That was the most awesome thing I've ever seen!"
Sarah shrugged. "That was cool, but I liked the baby elephant the most."
"Aww, he was adorable," agreed Rachel. "Mom, after lunch can we go to the Indo-Malaya Pavilion?"
"Probably...but what about your guests? Maybe Ron or Jessica would like to see something? Hmm?"
"We can go to the Indo-whatever Pavilion," Sarah piped up. "I don't mind."
"Is that the one where they have that cobra with all the specks on it?" asked Julian through a mouthful of food.
Rachel looked at her dad. "You mean the speckled cobra?"
"Yeah, that."
"Yes, that's in the Indo-Malaya Pavilion."
"I want to see a speckled cobra!" said Ron loudly.
"Well Indo-Malaya Pavilion it is then," Maria chimed.
They chatted awhile longer - people watching and enjoying their food - and at two o'clock made their way to the Indo-Malaya Pavilion.
There they spent the next forty five minutes gawking at the array of exotic birds and reptiles. When they'd seen enough - and after Ron had gotten one last picture in front of the speckled cobra's cage, they made their way to the Australasia Pavilion where they encountered several species of giant ant and a tree frog that took Sarah forever to locate.
"It's right there!" Ron had said after several minutes where she couldn't see it.
"Where? I don't see it!"
Rachel grabbed Sarah gently by the shoulders and pressed her nose to the glass. "There."
"Ohhhhh. Geez, is he ever camouflage."
After everyone had had enough of the Australasia Pavilion, they followed a group to the Canadian Domain.
"God, this is boring," complained Rachel after only five minutes. "We've seen these things a hundred times."
Sarah had to agree, although she didn't want to complain - not when the Nielsen's had been so good to them.
They meandered along the pathways, casually glancing at elk, deer, moose, and foxes until four thirty - closing time for the Toronto Zoo.
By then they were completely zonked and Rachel and Sarah walked slowly behind the other three as they made their way to the exit.
They returned the wheelchair and got Ron's crutches back, and then waited outside while Julian went and brought the van around. Ron got it first, then Sarah, Rachel, and finally Maria.
"That was the best day of my life," said Ron, yawning loudly.
Maria turned in her seat so that she faced him. "I'm so happy you had a good time."
"I'm going to draw some of the animals that we saw today and make them into comics like Julian."
"Wow! You let us know when you're done - I want to see!"
"I will."
While Ron spoke with Maria and Julian, the girls took the opportunity to nap and at five fifteen they arrived back at Anthony's.
"We're just in time for supper," Ron observed as Maria helped him out of the van.
"Is food all you think about?" Sarah asked as she climbed out after him.
Ron grinned. "Yeah. I love food"
"Me too, kiddo," said Julian. "Put 'er there!"
Ron gave Julian a high-five and Julian clapped him affectionately on the back.
"Don't forget to practice your drawing."
"I won't," said Ron.
"Good, because I'm going to want to see your work next time - so you practice."
"Sí," said Maria. "Next time you come over - and you too, Jessica - we want to see your drawings!"
Ron smiled widely, flashing his dimples. "I will."
"Bueno. And Jessica, you and your brother make sure to come visit again soon - don't be strangers!"
"I won't," replied Sarah as Maria pulled her into a hug.
"Thanks Rachel, for inviting us," said Ron politely.
"You're welcome, dude. You have to come again, okay?"
"I will! I miss Memo already!"
Rachel laughed. "He misses you too I'll bet...so we'll hold you to it."
"Hold me to what?"
"Coming over again. Coming to visit."
"Okay. Yeah. I will. I promise."
"Good."
Julian and Maria climbed back into the van, leaving Ron, Sarah, and Rachel to themselves.
Sarah looked at her brother. "Ron, you go on ahead. I'll catch up...go save us a seat...and make sure there's still food left," she added, knowing that the prospect of missing a meal would send him scurrying.
She wanted a minute alone with Rachel.
"I'm going now!" he said, hopping on his crutches towards the side door of Anthony's as fast he could.
He yanked it open, yelled "Bye!" to Rachel once more, and disappeared inside.
"Rach."
"Yeah?"
"There's something I have to tell you."
Rachel looked concerned. "Okay..."
"It's nothing major," said Sarah quickly, trying to reassure her, "it's just...you and your family have been so good to us and...I just feel guilty that I haven't told the entire truth about myself."
Rachel's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Well...my name isn't Jessica Myers."
Rachel's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Well...it's a fake name...I made it up. It's on my fake ID, see?"
Sarah pulled the fake ID from her pocket and flashed it at Rachel.
"Get away from me."
"Rach - "
"No, Jessica - or whatever your name is - "
"It's Sarah. My real name is Sarah. Sarah Litchmore."
r /> "I don't care what your real name is."
Sarah was shocked. "Everything else about me is true!"
She reached out to touch Rachel's arm.
"Get away from me! Is this some kind of sick joke!? I bring you to my house - you sleep over - my mom and dad take us out," she could hardly speak as her voice cracked, "and you're not even who you say you are!?"
Maria's window rolled down and she stuck her head out. "Que pasa? What's wrong? What's all the shouting for?"
Sarah, completely taken aback by Rachel's reaction, found she couldn't speak.
"Nada mamá," said Rachel darkly. "Jessica is just a liar - that's all."
Sarah found her voice again. "Rach - "
"No. Don't even talk to me. Don't ever talk to me again!"
She threw open the door of the van and got in. "Let's go dad," Sarah heard her say through Maria's open window.
Inside the van, Julian was thoroughly confused. "What happened? Did you two have an argument about something?"
"No. It's nothing, just go," said Rachel, looking straight ahead to avoid Sarah's gaze. Sarah stood watching, hoping that Rachel would come out and tell her that it was alright, that she understood.
Julian shook his head in frustration. "Fine. But you're telling us what just happened as soon as we get home. Got it?"
"Fine," Rachel huffed. "Whatever. Let's just go!"
She pushed against the back of her dad's seat.
"Dios mio," said Maria as Julian threw the car into drive and pulled out of the parking space.
"Bye, Jessica," said Maria softly.
"Bye, Mrs. Nielsen."
Maria rolled up her window and Julian drove slowly out of the parking lot. Sarah watched their van until it turned the corner and then, head hanging, made her way inside.
- 13 -
BACK AT SQUARE ONE
Sarah had trouble getting to sleep that night. She tossed and turned, asking herself over and over again why she'd gone and opened her big mouth.
Why couldn't she have just left things as they were?
If Rachel had believed that she was Jessica Myers - then why couldn't she have let Rachel go on believing that she was Jessica Myers?
Sarah fluffed her pillow in frustration. Once, twice, three times. It was still lumpy.
"Sair...you keep waking me up," groaned Ron from the other bunk.
"I'm sorry. Go back to sleep."
"I'm trying, but you keep waking me up."
"Ron - don't whine at me right now, okay? I've got enough stuff on my mind."
She waited for his comeback, but there wasn't one.
Okay, now just go to sleep Sarah and forget this whole stupid thing ever happened. Forget Rachel, forget Thanksgiving, forget the Nielsen's - but they were so nice. So warm. So caring. Why, oh why did I have to go and mess it all up!?
Sarah grappled with her thoughts for a half an hour longer. Finally, when she was too exhausted to think anymore, she closed her eyes and went to sleep.