Indian Summer Read Online Free PDF Page A

out her breath and her face returns to normal. Back to ordinary, everyday Marcie.
    As she turns away from the mirror, she catches a glimpse of a second reflection out of the corner of her eye. It is so fleeting that she’s not even sure it was really there. She had the briefest glimpse of the face of a girl with a darker complexion, deep brown eyes, and black hair pulled behind her head. When Marcie turns back to face the mirror, there is only her own reflection, green eyes gazing back at her. She reaches out to touch the mirror with her fingertips, as if it might not be entirely solid, and encounters the reassuring, smooth surface of the glass.
What’s going on?
she wonders.
    C RICKETS ARE BUZZING and lightning bugs flash on and off over the lawn as Marcie crosses the back yard looking for her dad. It is not as hot as during the day, but humidity still hangs heavy in the air and the cool grass feels wonderful on her bare feet. The night is clear. Looking up, she sees the sky is filled with stars. Sometimes her dad will load the family into the van and drive everyone out to the country to star gaze with his telescope. Marcie finds it hard to imagine that all those pinpoints of light are stars like our own sun and that each of them is part of its own solar system. The Universe is so huge. Just thinking about it puts her little problems in her little world into perspective. But surprisingly, instead of feeling diminished, she finds it comforting. She is part of the Universe—granted, a tiny, confused part, but still somehow connected. Maybe she’s even a vital part—who’s to say?
    She finds her dad in front of the garage with Drew, raising the seat on Drew’s bicycle. The light of the overhead floodlights makes crazy shadows on the driveway. Five shadows of Dad going from dark to light all move in unison as he loosens the bolts on the bike. “Hi, Dad.” She stops in front of him. “I’m sorry about dinner.”
    “Oh, honey, that’s okay.” He puts down his tools and stands up to give her a hug. “You were just having a bad moment. If you can’t get upset with your family, who canyou get upset with? I’m glad you’re feeling better.” He starts to tickle her.
    “Hey, Dad—stop it! I’m not a baby anymore, you know,” she says, half laughing, half annoyed.
    “You will always be my baby.” He puts his hands on her shoulders. “It’s hard to remember that you’re already twelve years old. Almost a teenager. It seems like just yesterday you had training wheels on your bike.”
    “Look, Marcie,” says Drew, “Dad is making my bike bigger because I’m getting bigger!”
    “You sure are,” says Marcie. Her dad gets back to work on the bike and they sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Then Drew says suddenly, “Dad, are we poor?”
    Their dad looks up at Drew with a puzzled and amused expression on his face. “Poor? No, we’re not poor.”
    “Are we rich?”
    “No, we’re not rich, either. We’re just right. Why do you ask?”
    “Joey says we must be poor since you drive a junky old car instead of a new car like his dad.”
    “I see.” He pauses. “Well, I drive this junky old car,” he says with a grin, gesturing toward his car parked behind them in the garage, “because I choose to drive it, not because we can’t afford to buy a new one. It runs just fine and it’s not important to me to have a new car. Part of the reason that we do have money in the bank is because wedon’t spend money on things we don’t really need. Does that make sense?”
    “I guess so. Kind of like when I spend my allowance on candy and then I don’t have any money to buy the game I’ve been wanting?”
    “Yes, that’s it exactly.” He and Marcie exchange a look over Drew’s head. It’s a family joke that Drew has a hard time saving any of his allowance. As soon as he gets any money accumulated, he’s asking one of them to take him to the store so he can buy something. She has to admit though,