Runaways (Orphans 5)

"Yeah, but Raven acted different with this guy . . ." I murmured, more to myself than anyone else.

"Well, then, let's go see how bad the cottage is," Patsy said. "Charlie, keep an eye on things. be right back."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied and came around from the kitchen.

When we walked out of the restaurant, Raven came hurrying over. We watched her new male friend pull away in his truck.

"Are we staying for sure?" she asked. That was definitely hope I heard in her voice.

"We'll see," I said, gazing at her closely. "We're going to look at the cottage and then we're going to get ready to do some work," I added.

Although the cottage was small, it had a bedroom with two single beds and a pull-out sofa that would sleep two. There wasn't much of a kitchen, just a nook with a sink and a small stove. The refrigerator looked broken, the door dangling open. Since we wouldn't be cooking anything anyway, that didn't matter. The bathroom was tiny, too, but it had a small tub and a shower head on a hose that connected to the faucet. There were rust stains around all the drains and rings around the sink and the tub. The whole place had a musty odor. There were cobwebs in almost every corner and dust coated everything.

"Looks a little worse than I thought," Patsy muttered.

"It's not so bad," Raven said quickly. "We can stay here, can't we, Brooke? We'll roll up our sleeves and make it look like a palace in no time."

"We'll manage," I agreed. "Crystal?"

"Let's talk about it," she said.

"Oh, I understand, honey," Patsy said. "You girls discuss it and come back to the restaurant when you've decided one way or another."

As soon as she left us, Raven turned on Crystal.

"Why did you say that? This is a chance to stay free," she cried.

"If we look too anxious, she'll get suspicious," Crystal said softly. "Why would four girls from homes that could afford to send them to California on a summer trip put up with this?" she asked, her arms out.

"We were just robbed. That's why!" Raven replied.

"Well-to-do people could wire the money to get us home or even to California, Raven. Don't push it." She studied the scene and thought while Raven waited anxiously.

"I think we could sleep here all right," Butterfly said.

"Of course we could," Raven said, eying Crystal. "Didn't we almost sleep in the car the other night?"

"Okay," Crystal said. "We'll do it. We'll make it seem as if this is all part of an adventure for us, but don't say anything to her that might make her suspicious about us, Raven."

"I won't say a word," she promised, her right hand raised.

Crystal nodded and then looked at me.

"Maybe this will work out for us. Maybe our luck is changing," she said. "Let's decide who takes the pull-out."

"Butterfly and me," Raven said quickly.

"Raven snores," Butterfly complained.

"I do not."

"I'll sleep on the pull-out with Raven," I said, eying her. I was determined to get to the bottom of Raven's strange new mood.

The four of us returned to the restaurant to tell Patsy we had decided to take up her offer. When we entered, there was a long-haired boy of about nineteen slumped over a steaming cup of coffee at the counter. He wore a Grateful Dead sweatshirt that looked as if it had died and been resurrected because it was so shredded and faded, and a pair of jeans and dirty sneakers with no socks.

"Here they are," Patsy said and he turned. "We'd like to stay, Patsy," I said.

"Good. This is my son Danny," she said, her smile stiffening into a look of disapproval.