instructions probably say the darn thing can be assembled by a six-year-old. If we add our ages together, we’ll equal about four six-year-olds.”
Stevie giggled. That kind of thinking made sense to her. She began attaching tent to frame as fast as she could. Within about five minutes the whole thing looked more or less like a tent.
“Nice job!” Amy said, congratulating herself.
Stevie agreed. “Not bad work for a bunch of six-year-olds.”
“Is that the best you can do on that?” Eli asked. He stood on the far side of the tent with his hands on his hips, regarding their final product.
“Looks pretty good to me,” Stevie said, defending their work.
“If it looks right to you, I guess that’s what matters most,” Eli said. “I’m going to be sleeping in the other tent. This here’s the girls’ tent, so you can have it just the way you want it.”
“We do. Oh, we do,” Amy said. “Now, where’s the creek where we can soak our feet, and any other sore spots?”
“Right over there,” Eli said, pointing to the far side of the campsite. “Just past the place where you’re going to help make dinner first.”
L ISA AND S ETH were in charge of finding kindling for the camp fire. It wasn’t a difficult task. They were camping in a wooded area, and the ground was littered with dry sticks. They worked side by side without talking much for a while, filling up a bag with the twigs.
Lisa wanted to say something, but Seth seemed preoccupied.There were times, she had learned, when silence was the best conversation. She waited.
“I’m worried about Amy,” he said at last. “She’s so upset all the time that it’s like she has no control over what she does.”
“I can tell,” Lisa said.
“You can?”
Lisa nodded. “Sure. The things she did today were pretty wild, and the stunt on the downhill path was downright dangerous. Nobody who was thinking straight would do those things. It’s like she doesn’t care—”
“That’s exactly it,” Seth said. “She doesn’t care. It’s because of our parents, see,” he began. Then he paused, apparently trying to collect his thoughts.
Lisa wondered what their parents could have to do with Amy’s irresponsible behavior.
“They’ve split up,” Seth said.
Lisa remembered that Seth had mentioned that their
mother
had a stableful of horses. He hadn’t said anything about their father.
“Dad has his own company in Chicago, and he works all the time. Mom left a year ago and got married again right away. Her new husband is an investor or something, and he runs all of his business out of what he calls his ranch. It’s about a million acres.”
Lisa had the funny feeling that Seth’s statement about the acreage of his stepfather’s ranch wasn’t much of an exaggeration. She didn’t think about that for long, though. Instead she thought about how awful she would feel if her own parents were to get divorced. There would be no family trips, no family meals, no more jokes around the barbecue grill. Holidays would be divided between her parents, and then there might even be new step-parents to cope with. It would be terrible.
She shook her head to ward off the thought, and her heart went out to Seth and Amy, who were actually enduring all the awful things that were racing through her mind.
“Oh, wow,” Lisa said. “That must really be tough. I can just imagine how much I would hate it if it happened to me.”
“It is tough,” Seth said. “And Amy has had a bad time trying to get used to it. She’s always been a little wild, but ever since the split it seems like the only person she can count on is me.”
Lisa stuffed a few more twigs into the sack. It was almost full. She looked around for a place to sit. A fallen tree provided a bench, and Seth sat down next to her.
“That makes it doubly hard on you, then, doesn’t it?” Lisa asked.
“I guess so,” Seth said. “I usually just think about how tough it is on Amy, though.”
That
Stevie giggled. That kind of thinking made sense to her. She began attaching tent to frame as fast as she could. Within about five minutes the whole thing looked more or less like a tent.
“Nice job!” Amy said, congratulating herself.
Stevie agreed. “Not bad work for a bunch of six-year-olds.”
“Is that the best you can do on that?” Eli asked. He stood on the far side of the tent with his hands on his hips, regarding their final product.
“Looks pretty good to me,” Stevie said, defending their work.
“If it looks right to you, I guess that’s what matters most,” Eli said. “I’m going to be sleeping in the other tent. This here’s the girls’ tent, so you can have it just the way you want it.”
“We do. Oh, we do,” Amy said. “Now, where’s the creek where we can soak our feet, and any other sore spots?”
“Right over there,” Eli said, pointing to the far side of the campsite. “Just past the place where you’re going to help make dinner first.”
L ISA AND S ETH were in charge of finding kindling for the camp fire. It wasn’t a difficult task. They were camping in a wooded area, and the ground was littered with dry sticks. They worked side by side without talking much for a while, filling up a bag with the twigs.
Lisa wanted to say something, but Seth seemed preoccupied.There were times, she had learned, when silence was the best conversation. She waited.
“I’m worried about Amy,” he said at last. “She’s so upset all the time that it’s like she has no control over what she does.”
“I can tell,” Lisa said.
“You can?”
Lisa nodded. “Sure. The things she did today were pretty wild, and the stunt on the downhill path was downright dangerous. Nobody who was thinking straight would do those things. It’s like she doesn’t care—”
“That’s exactly it,” Seth said. “She doesn’t care. It’s because of our parents, see,” he began. Then he paused, apparently trying to collect his thoughts.
Lisa wondered what their parents could have to do with Amy’s irresponsible behavior.
“They’ve split up,” Seth said.
Lisa remembered that Seth had mentioned that their
mother
had a stableful of horses. He hadn’t said anything about their father.
“Dad has his own company in Chicago, and he works all the time. Mom left a year ago and got married again right away. Her new husband is an investor or something, and he runs all of his business out of what he calls his ranch. It’s about a million acres.”
Lisa had the funny feeling that Seth’s statement about the acreage of his stepfather’s ranch wasn’t much of an exaggeration. She didn’t think about that for long, though. Instead she thought about how awful she would feel if her own parents were to get divorced. There would be no family trips, no family meals, no more jokes around the barbecue grill. Holidays would be divided between her parents, and then there might even be new step-parents to cope with. It would be terrible.
She shook her head to ward off the thought, and her heart went out to Seth and Amy, who were actually enduring all the awful things that were racing through her mind.
“Oh, wow,” Lisa said. “That must really be tough. I can just imagine how much I would hate it if it happened to me.”
“It is tough,” Seth said. “And Amy has had a bad time trying to get used to it. She’s always been a little wild, but ever since the split it seems like the only person she can count on is me.”
Lisa stuffed a few more twigs into the sack. It was almost full. She looked around for a place to sit. A fallen tree provided a bench, and Seth sat down next to her.
“That makes it doubly hard on you, then, doesn’t it?” Lisa asked.
“I guess so,” Seth said. “I usually just think about how tough it is on Amy, though.”
That
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