Runaways (Orphans 5)

"No, nothing," she said.

We remained in the restaurant, having coffee and talking to Charlie, who wanted to tell us about his travels when he was a much younger man. He did have great stories. He had been as far as China!

"There is a lot of world to see," he said, "a lot to learn, but what you learn for sure is a good friend is hard to find. You girls look like you all found each other. That's gold," he said. "You don't have to travel anymore if you're looking for something more valuable than that."

He made us all feel good, and even Raven was beginning to cheer up. But we both knew that it would be a while before her broken heart healed. We were about to leave and rest up in the cottage when Patsy came hurrying through the front door. She hadn't gone to the bank yet. One look at her face told us

something terrible had happened.

"My money's gone," she announced, "my deposit. All of it."

She stood there before us, the corners of her mouth trembling.

Crystal was the first to say it.

"Is Danny gone too?" she asked.

"No," Patsy said, surprising us. "He was home, just getting up. He swore he didn't know anything about it."

"When did you see the money last?" I asked her. "Last night."

She just stood there, gazing at us. It began to give me a creepy feeling. I glanced at Crystal, whose eyes were getting narrow.

"I've been ripping the place apart," Patsy continued. "I searched Danny's room better than a hound dog."

"What'cha think happened?" Charlie asked. She paused.

"Danny said he thought I was in the house again this morning. He said he heard me return after the breakfast rush. I didn't return," she said, moving her gaze from Butterfly to Raven and then to Crystal and me.

The creepy feeling in my stomach turned into a shaft of ice that slithered up my spine. I sat up straighter.

"You can't believe that one of us . . . that we . . took it?" I said softly, hoping she would shake her head vehemently.

"I don't want to believe anything bad about anyone," she said, nearly in tears now. "Danny claims he heard footsteps."

"He's lying," Raven said. "Did he tell you what happened last night'?"

"No. What happened last night?"

"Raven," I warned.

"No," Raven insisted, "she should know, Brooke. He and his friends were peeping in our bathroom window. Brooke caught them when she went in to take a shower. They even tried to . . ."

"To what?"

"To attack her," Raven blurted.

"What?"

"It was nothing, Patsy," I said. "They went away when I confronted them."

&

nbsp; She stared at us.

"Look," Crystal finally said. "The best thing to do is to go over to the cottage and search if you like."

"I don't want to do that, girls. I want to believe you wouldn't steal from me," she said.