over and she was so tired and she had felt so safe when they saw the embassy and then Mother had
held them ... Why was Daddy making her feel so awful? Tears filled her eyes and spilled over. She tried to stop them, but they ran down her cheeks and she tasted them on her lips.
'— a self-indulgence that shows you have no regard for my career. This time you have dragged your sister into it and these children, too, whoever they are. You are to go inside this instant; I will decide your punishment when—'
That's not Sabrina! You've mixed us up!' Through her tears Sabrina saw Stephanie hammering on Gordon's arm. Stephanie was crying, too. 'That's Stephanie, not Sabrina, you've mixed us up, you can't blame her in fi-ont of everybody, she didn't do anything and, anyway, we both had the idea, we got out of the car at the same time. Theo will tell you, and then the fighting started and we hid, and you can't blame Sabrina - Stephanie - either of us, it's not her fault!'
The reporters moved in, taking pictures. 'Sir, if the young ladies - Sabrina? or Stephanie? - would tell us what happened—'
Gordon, struck dumb, was looking from Sabrina to Stephanie and back again. Sabrina heard him mutter, 'How the hell am I supposed to—?' but Laura took over, stepping in fix>nt of him.
'No interviews, please,' she said. 'The girls are exhausted firom their ordeal, and not well.' She was not well herself, still gripped by the paralysing fears and guilt she had felt all afternoon: she had never done enough for her children, and now they might be dead. But the clamoring reporters and the danger of a scandal touching Gordon aroused her to her duty, and she pushed her anguish down, out of sight. It would wait. Later, she would recover, in private.
'Sabrina, Stephanie, take these children inside. Get some food and wait for me in your father's office. Now!' she said, and they ran up the walk with lights flashing in their faces. Behind them, a recovered, suave Gordon promised the reporters a statement the next day.
But sensational stories appeared in the morning papers without Gordon's official version, each one featuring large pictures of Sabrina and Stephanie with the Greek children.
By then the girls were locked in their separate bedrooms, but a Greek maid brought the newspapers with their breakfasts and later, when Gordon and Laura were out, unlocked their doors. Sabrina danced into Stephanie's bedroom, holding the paper. 'I've never had my picture in the newspaper before. On the front page, just like Mother and Daddy! And it says they found Dmitri's aunt! Oh, Stephanie, isn't it amazing, so many things happening at once?'
Stephanie sat by the window. She was confused; everything seemed upside down. 'Daddy fired Theo,' she said.
Sabrina stopped in midflight. 'I know.' She sat in the window seat. 'That wasn't fair. Daddy knows it wasn't his fault. I wish he hadn't fired him. But everything else is so exciting—'
'But what about the bad things?' Stephanie cried. 'Mother and Daddy are furious and the ambassador told Mother we're uncontrollable and Americans aren't supposed to get involved in street fighting—'
'We weren't,' Sabrina interrupted.
'And then it was our fault that Theo got fired and I feel bad.'
'So do I.' Sabrina looked out the window. The cuts on her fingertips hurt, and she pressed them against the cool glass. 'Everybody's mad at everybody. We really made a mess. But, still, it was exciting, wasn't it? All shivery and - oh, I don't know - important. More real than school and books and movies. Dmitri cared about things so much. So did those men. It was an adventure, Stephanie!'
'I know ... and it was exciting - now that it's over—'
'Everybody at school will see it in the paper—*
'—and be so jealous—'
'I'll bet they never had an adventure hke that—'
'Even if they did, they'd be scared, not as brave as you.'
*I was scared, and you know it. Every time they walked above us—'
'But you were brave, too,
held them ... Why was Daddy making her feel so awful? Tears filled her eyes and spilled over. She tried to stop them, but they ran down her cheeks and she tasted them on her lips.
'— a self-indulgence that shows you have no regard for my career. This time you have dragged your sister into it and these children, too, whoever they are. You are to go inside this instant; I will decide your punishment when—'
That's not Sabrina! You've mixed us up!' Through her tears Sabrina saw Stephanie hammering on Gordon's arm. Stephanie was crying, too. 'That's Stephanie, not Sabrina, you've mixed us up, you can't blame her in fi-ont of everybody, she didn't do anything and, anyway, we both had the idea, we got out of the car at the same time. Theo will tell you, and then the fighting started and we hid, and you can't blame Sabrina - Stephanie - either of us, it's not her fault!'
The reporters moved in, taking pictures. 'Sir, if the young ladies - Sabrina? or Stephanie? - would tell us what happened—'
Gordon, struck dumb, was looking from Sabrina to Stephanie and back again. Sabrina heard him mutter, 'How the hell am I supposed to—?' but Laura took over, stepping in fix>nt of him.
'No interviews, please,' she said. 'The girls are exhausted firom their ordeal, and not well.' She was not well herself, still gripped by the paralysing fears and guilt she had felt all afternoon: she had never done enough for her children, and now they might be dead. But the clamoring reporters and the danger of a scandal touching Gordon aroused her to her duty, and she pushed her anguish down, out of sight. It would wait. Later, she would recover, in private.
'Sabrina, Stephanie, take these children inside. Get some food and wait for me in your father's office. Now!' she said, and they ran up the walk with lights flashing in their faces. Behind them, a recovered, suave Gordon promised the reporters a statement the next day.
But sensational stories appeared in the morning papers without Gordon's official version, each one featuring large pictures of Sabrina and Stephanie with the Greek children.
By then the girls were locked in their separate bedrooms, but a Greek maid brought the newspapers with their breakfasts and later, when Gordon and Laura were out, unlocked their doors. Sabrina danced into Stephanie's bedroom, holding the paper. 'I've never had my picture in the newspaper before. On the front page, just like Mother and Daddy! And it says they found Dmitri's aunt! Oh, Stephanie, isn't it amazing, so many things happening at once?'
Stephanie sat by the window. She was confused; everything seemed upside down. 'Daddy fired Theo,' she said.
Sabrina stopped in midflight. 'I know.' She sat in the window seat. 'That wasn't fair. Daddy knows it wasn't his fault. I wish he hadn't fired him. But everything else is so exciting—'
'But what about the bad things?' Stephanie cried. 'Mother and Daddy are furious and the ambassador told Mother we're uncontrollable and Americans aren't supposed to get involved in street fighting—'
'We weren't,' Sabrina interrupted.
'And then it was our fault that Theo got fired and I feel bad.'
'So do I.' Sabrina looked out the window. The cuts on her fingertips hurt, and she pressed them against the cool glass. 'Everybody's mad at everybody. We really made a mess. But, still, it was exciting, wasn't it? All shivery and - oh, I don't know - important. More real than school and books and movies. Dmitri cared about things so much. So did those men. It was an adventure, Stephanie!'
'I know ... and it was exciting - now that it's over—'
'Everybody at school will see it in the paper—*
'—and be so jealous—'
'I'll bet they never had an adventure hke that—'
'Even if they did, they'd be scared, not as brave as you.'
*I was scared, and you know it. Every time they walked above us—'
'But you were brave, too,
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