"There's no need for that," Crystal replied
quickly. "How is Mr. Forbas doing?"
"He's resting very comfortably. They think he'll
be fine. Of course, his lifestyle is going to change. No
more smoking for one thing."
"I told Daddy to sto
p smoking," Denise said.
"We learned about it in school."
"Yes dear," she said stroking her daughter's
face affectionately. "Well, now he's going to listen to
you." "I'll get you to the motel," one of the policemen
said. "Dave?"
"Girls, come along with me," the taller policeman said.
Raven shot me a very nervous look, but Crystal
never batted an eyelash. We all said good-bye to the
girls. Raven and Butterfly hugged Sophie, who was
sad to see them go. Then, without any more comment,
we followed the sheriff's deputy out of the emergency
room to his patrol car.
"Three of you can get into the rear," he said.
"Don't be nervous about sitting behind a cage and
having no handles on the doors. We usually put
suspects back there," he added with a smile
Raven widened her eyes with anxiety. Crystal
took Butterfly's hand and opened the door. I was the
one left to sit in the front with the policeman. "So you guys did a real good deed," he said,
getting behind the wheel. "This is a nice thing to see.
It restores my faith in young people. Most of the time,
I have them in my car for a lot worse reasons." He
laughed, started the engine, and pulled out of the