Nature Girl (22 page)

I’m so happy I hug Lucy again.

Then Mrs. T. comes out onto the porch and joins our hug. “Here’s our hero. Our inspiration!”

“You know, when your mom called after they found your note, and they said you were hiking, we couldn’t believe it. I mean, no offense, Megan, but …,” Lucy says.

“I know, I know. I never used to want to walk anywhere,” I say.

“If the theater was more than two blocks from the restaurant, you always wanted to take a taxi,” Mrs. T. says.

“I know, I know,” I say.

“But look at you now,” Mrs. T. says.

I hope they aren’t looking at me too closely. “It’s a good thing it’s dark because you would NOT believe my hair. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to comb it.”

“You’re a real Nature Girl,” Lucy says.

We all laugh, but I can tell she’s proud of me. And that makes me happy.

“Where’s your family?” Mrs. T. says. “Don’t they want to come in?”

“They’re waiting down there in the car. It’s so late, they thought Alison would be asleep.”

“She is. But I’ll go say hello to them. If you can hike up Mount Greylock, I guess I can manage this hill.” Mrs. T. walks down the driveway.

“You’re probably really tired,” Lucy says.

“Yes. I am.”

I know it’s time for us to leave. Only I still have so much to tell Lucy. And I know I won’t be allowed to call her. I wasn’t even through being punished for almost killing the Hundred-Year-Old Maple. Who knows what kind of consequences I’ll get for making everybody worry.

But I have to be brave about saying good-bye. “I’ll write you, okay? I’ll send you the pictures I drew on the Trail. Then, in September, we’ll be back at school together—if we’re not in different classes again. You can join my new hiking club—if you aren’t in knitting club with Patricia Palombo. We can always see each other after school—if there isn’t too much homework in seventh grade.”

It’s all sounding worse and worse.

Then Lucy says, “While you were gone, I got so worried about you. I was talking about it to this social worker who’s always really nice to us, and not just because it’s her job. Anyway, I told her how I was supposed to visit you, but I never felt like I could leave my mom for even a second. That if I did leave her, she would get sicker.”

“You don’t have to explain. I understand all that now. I shouldn’t have been bugging you about it. I was wrong and selfish.”

Lucy grabs my arm. “Let me tell you what the social worker said. She told me lots of kids feel responsible.
But they didn’t make their parents get sick. How could they? They’re just kids. And kids are supposed to have fun. My mom completely agreed. In fact, she’d been feeling guilty that her cancer was ruining my summer. And feeling guilty isn’t good for her. She says the best way I can help her get better is to have fun.”

“That’s great!” I’m glad that Lucy can enjoy the rest of her summer. She actually looks like the good old Lucy. She’s smiling and her head is tilted to one side, like it always does whenever she’s thinking of a fabulous adventure. I get a little sad that we can’t have it together.

“Well?” she says.

She’s waiting. Only I don’t know what I’m supposed to say. We stand there for a little while. Then I say, “Well, good-bye.”

I hug her one last time and start down the driveway. I hear her run up the porch steps and then run back down the steps to catch up to me.

“Here, Nature Girl.” She hands me her backpack.

“What’s this?” I say.

“My pajamas, my toothbrush, my
Calvin and Hobbes
book, my turquoise hoodie, and four changes of clothes,” she says.

Then I get it. I start jumping up and down. Arp gets excited and jumps too. “You mean you’re coming with us right now?”

“Yes. If you’re going in the car. I don’t think I can hike all the way back to Vermont.”

I hug Lucy. Together we each grab one strap of the backpack and run down the little hill to the car. We run so fast, the backpack sails up in the air. It’s like we’re flying up and around the tower on top of Mount Greylock. Like nothing can stop us, so long as we’re together.

Dad and Mom and Ginia are all outside the car talking to Mrs. T. Lucy and I are running too fast to put on the brakes, so we crash into everybody.

“Mom! Dad! Can Lucy come? I know I’m grounded, but maybe she could be grounded with me? And our punishment can be hiking and no TV and extra
ART
time?”

Dad and Mom laugh. But then they get serious.

“I don’t know,” Dad says.

“You still need some consequences,” Mom says.

Of course, not being with Lucy is the worst consequence of all. But there is something that would be almost as bad.

“What if …” I pause; I’m not sure I want to suggest this. “What if I only eat tofu the whole rest of the summer?”

“That’s not a punishment,” Mom says.

“Oh yes it is!” the rest of us say.

Mom shakes her head. “You better think of something else.”

Then I tell them about my idea for starting a hiking club and keeping the Trail clean like Trail Blaze Betty does. Mom likes the sound of that.

So it’s agreed. We say good-bye to Mrs. T. Dad puts Lucy’s backpack in the trunk. Then we drive to Vermont, where the summer can begin all over again.

It feels strange to be riding in a car, back to Vermont. Only I’m not really undoing all the miles I hiked. In my mind, I’m still hiking. I’ll always be hiking. No matter what else is going on in my life, no matter how much trash people dump on my Trail or how hard seventh grade is, I won’t let anything bother me. I’ll just keep remembering how my Loyal Dog and I hiked the Appalachian Trail. And survived!

The Appalachian Trail really does pass through Vermont and Massachusetts as it stretches from Georgia to Maine. However, Megan’s journey and all the people she meets are fictional. To tell her story, I have invented many landmarks and left out others. But you can really climb Mount Greylock. If you make it to the top, you’ll see the stone tower and you’ll be able to buy a snack—unless the store has closed for the day!

jane kelley
lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and daughter. She has enjoyed many summers in Vermont. This is her first book.