“What if I don’t like it here? What if I want to go home?”
Before Brenda could answer, the little girl she’d seen outside George Engersol’s office a few moments ago tentatively approached the car.
“Josh?” Amy asked. “What’s wrong?”
“N-Nothing,” Josh stammered, unwilling to tell Amy how frightened he suddenly was. “Maybe I just don’t want to come here.”
Amy looked hurt, but then reached out and took Josh’s arm. “But you have to,” she argued. “You promised, remember? If you got in, I’d stay, and we’d be friends.”
“That was before,” Josh mumbled.
Amy’s eyes welled up, but she stood firm. “You mean you don’t want to be my friend?”
“N-No,” Josh said. “I mean, that’s not what I mean. It’s—”
“But you can’t be my friend if I never see you again,” Amy told him.
“So what?” Josh objected. “You don’t even know me.”
Amy hesitated, then made up her mind. “Yes, I do,” she said, her own face setting as stubbornly as Josh’s. “You’re just like me. You’re scared, that’s all. And you said you don’t have any friends back in the desert anyway. So you might as well stay. Okay?”
Josh blinked at the little girl. Was it possible she really meant it? That she really wanted him to be her friend? But he’d already made up his mind. How could he change it now?
And then his mother spoke. “Look,” she said. “I didn’t mean what you thought I meant, and I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do. So why don’t we go to the picnic on the beach, like Mrs. Kramer asked us to, and you can make up your mind later on. Afterward, if you still don’t want to stay here, I promise I’ll take you home, and never even suggest a place like this again. Okay?”
Josh gazed suspiciously up at her. “Cross your heart?”
“Cross my heart,” Brenda replied, somberly making the required gesture.
Josh hesitated, then nodded. “All right,” he said. “But remember, you promised.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, Brenda followed the two children as they headed back toward the mansion so Amy could get a beach towel.
7
It was nearly six o’clock by the time Josh and Amy, accompanied by Brenda, reached the top of the cliff that overlooked Crescent Cove, a narrow strip of sand caught between two rugged points that jutted out into the sea. The points, rocky crags that bore the brunt of the winds off the Pacific, were studded with twisted Cyprus trees. Brenda paused for a moment to gaze at the panorama spread before her. “Isn’t it gorgeous?” she asked. “Maybe I ought to quit my job and move here.” But even as she spoke the words, she knew it was impossible. Every one of the restaurants they had passed as they walked through the town seemed to have an ample supply of college girls working as waitresses. Even if she could find a job, she’d never be able to afford to rent an apartment here. “Or maybe I ought to be thankful for what I’ve got, huh?” she added.
When Josh made no response, she tore her eyes away from the view and glanced down at him. But he wasn’t paying any attention to her, or to the view of the ocean. Instead, he was staring at Amy, who, in turn, had turned pale, her eyes wide as she stared down at the beach below.
“Amy?” Brenda asked. “Are you all right?”
The little girl shook her head. “I—I feel dizzy,” she said. She took a step backward and turned away from the precipice. “I felt like I was going to fall off,” she whispered.
“It’s called acrophobia,” Josh announced. “It’s when you’re afraid of heights.”
“I know that,” Amy retorted. She moved farther away from the edge, then turned back, her eyes fixing fearfully on the rickety-looking landing from which wooden stairs zigzagged down the face of the cliff to the beach below. “M-Maybe I’ll go back to the school,” she said, her stomach tightening with just the thought of going down those stairs.
“What about the picnic?” Josh protested.
“I—I don’t really like picnics,” Amy lied, her eyes still fastened on the stairs.
“You’re scared of the stairs, aren’t you?” Brenda asked, crouching down next to the little girl. Amy said nothing, but her head bobbed emphatically. “I’m sure they’re perfectly safe,” Brenda assured her. “Look at all the people down there. They all went down the stairs.” She took Amy’s left hand and tried to lead her closer to the edge so she could see the rest