Sara was so excited that she arrived at their usual lunch table before Allie. She had gotten a phone call from Brad letting her know Allie was a Caver again. He did not have time to go over the details, but promised to explain it all later. He asked her to test Allie at lunch to be sure. He could have saved time by asking Shelby; she had been watching Allie, still fuming over having to restore her. Sara had hung up the phone and was jumping for joy. And now it was time to verify what Brad had said.
Allie came into the cafeteria and walked to her table. Beneath her tray she sported a bandaged arm.
“Hey, girl! What happened to you?”
“Hey. You know me; accident prone as usual.”
“What happened?”
“I cut myself trying to catch my cat Lissy. She tried sneaking through the back fence and I grabbed her and the boards cut my arm. I bandaged it up before my mom saw it. She would have freaked and asked me to wait for Daddy or taken me to the hospital herself.”
“So you’re good?”
“Yeah, it won’t keep me from doing my job. Do we have Marianna or the girls today?”
The grin that sprouted on Sara’s face was huge. No need for further tests: she had her answer. She wanted to hug Allie and never let her go. She could not help herself. The grin on her face was front and center for the entire world to see.
Allie, on the other hand, was worried by the expression on Sara’s face. She looked around the cafeteria to see if anyone was watching them and then she quickly sat down.
“What is the matter with you? You better tone it down a little bit before people start thinking we are going together.”
“Sorry, girl, I’m just ... just so happy to see you.”
“Oooookay!”
“Nothing, it’s nothing.”
“So, who do we have today?”
“Oh, sorry! Marianna. She is at our place with Momma. We will do her evening feedings and I get to show you how to make the charts, whoopie!”
“Whoopie!” Allie echoed. Although if she had things her way, they would forget the paperwork and just play with the children all day.
Normally Sara would do a countdown, but today she was distracted. It had been less than a week, Allie was back, and it was unreal. Throughout the meal Sara wondered if she was home dreaming. But reality set in before too long: Demetrie was gone, and Allie was back.
After school they received a loud, “Goodnight, lassies,” from Malcolm from behind the wheel. Allie waved at him, unsure of why he was breaking his own rules.
Sara let Allie work the controls and open the secret room and it was as if no time had passed between them. Her best friend was back and they were in sync.
Marianna must have heard them coming because she started crying as soon as the door opened. Sara watched Allie touch her shoulder and pick her up. Sara’s eyes immediately went to Allie’s chest; as usual, her necklace was there. Despite her being ‘gone’ for several days, Allie had still worn the cross every day. Sara had considered asking her where she got it from, but thought it might be breaking the rules, and with Demetrie hovering, it was not worth taking the chance.
Allie handled Marianna with the same care she always had. She sat in a chair and fed her while Sara attended to the paperwork. Allie told her a story while she rocked her to sleep before setting her back in her incubator. It was now time for her to begin learning the paperwork part of the job. She went over and sat beside Sara at a table. Papers were spread out and she began picking them up and looking at them.
Once Sara had signed in the usual places, she was ready to begin. She took Allie through each paper, explaining the charts and graphs and showing her where to sign or initial them. Some Allie had seen before, but most were new.
Mrs. Johnson came through the door before they finished.
“Hey, Allison, nice to have you back.”
Sara looked at her mother, who flashed her a be-quiet-I-know-what-I-am-doing look. Mrs. Johnson had missed Allie just as much as her daughter.
“Thank you, it’s nice to be back,” said a bewildered Allie.
Mrs. Johnson hadn’t changed her hair as dramatically as her daughter. She too displayed red hair, but hers was not as bright, it was darker, more natural in its look. She went to the incubator to check on Marianna before leaving. The girls finished going over paperwork and later that evening, Allie was driven home by Mrs. Johnson.
She said goodnight and got out of the car.
Her father’s company car was in the driveway, so she hurried in to find her folks sitting on the couch, watching television.
“Hey, Kitten.”
“Hey, Mom.”
“Hey, Cat.”
“Hey.”
She went in and sat across from them.
“How did your first day back go?”
“My what?”
“Baby-sitting Marianna, how did it go?”
“Oh, it was all right. Same as usual. I did a lot of paperwork tonight. God, I hate paperwork.”
“It comes with the job, Cat. Don’t worry; you’ll be used to it before long.”
They had a family dinner in honor of George, who was leaving to get test results he was expecting. Allie was hungry and ate more than usual, a surprise to both her parents. Kids her age were so body conscious that they weren’t eating much of anything and frantically counting calories in what few things they did eat. It was a joy for them to see her with a full plate of food, a rare occurrence for her.
After dinner they gathered around the living room table and played a game of Monopoly. Allie’s parents sat on the couch, while she took the floor, Lissy curled up beside her. She would stroke Lissy for luck before rolling the dice. They laughed and played and made up a few new rules to the game as they went.
George hated leaving the women alone and took their playtime to go over everything that was going on in the town. He went over the rumors and facts and the town’s fears with his two precious ladies and reminded them to be careful when he wasn’t around. He told them to look after each other and not to be out at night; there was still a lot of unrest in the town and he didn’t want them near any trouble.
As he talked, Allie thought of her children and what might happen to them if any of the townspeople met them at night. She briefly wondered who would be the victor in what was sure to be a deadly encounter. She was confident that her children would survive one-on-one attacks, even against an armed man, but what if it was the whole town? Allie regretted she couldn’t share her knowledge with her parents. She began to wonder if it would help or hurt her if they knew the truth. She was relieved the choice was not hers to make.
Allie obediently listened to everything her father said and kept silent. After the game, they all retired to their bedrooms to get a good night’s sleep.