Chapter 13
Holly ate so fast, her stomach hurt, but she had to do this. As soon as she finished eating, she slipped out the back door, promising she would run as fast as she could. Holly stopped once to check the map Roxie had drawn for her. Miss Carol’s was not that far, but she already felt like she had been running for miles. She had to catch her breath or she would be totally useless when she arrived. Sure that she was on the right path, and having caught her breath, she started to sing. Quietly at first, then she figured that since no one was around, she might as well give it her all. This would count as practice, too. So she raised her voice and began to sing a bit louder. As she wound her way up and down the paths, she continued to sing her song. When she had finished her favorite pop song, she began to sing “Ave Maria,” softly, as she had heard it on YouTube when she had used the school library’s computer last week. Excited, she had added this song to the list she had made for Miss Carol. Most of the songs she had planned to sing were traditional Christmas carols, but Holly wanted to sing something significant, something meaningful for the Christmas season. Sure that Miss Carol could help her choose an appropriate song, she saw the deep curve on the map and ran the rest of the way. When she appeared in Miss Carol’s backyard, she waited a few seconds, then walked around to the front door.
She lifted her hand to knock, but the door opened before her hand touched the wood. “I was starting to worry about you,” Miss Carol said. She stepped aside and motioned for Holly to come in.
“I stopped by Roxie’s for pizza.” At least that much was true.
“Pizza is always good. Ollie’s?” Miss Carol asked.
“Yes, of course,” Holly said. “It is the best pizza ever, but, then again, the only pizza I have ever had is Ollie’s.”
“Then you’ll always know good pizza. You do not have to go to Chicago or New York for a good slice of pie. Believe me about that.”
“Is that what they call pizza up North?” Holly asked as she followed Miss Carol to the music room at the very back of the house.
“Some folks do. I think it probably depends on what part of the country you’re from. Us Southern folks just call it pizza, and Ollie’s is the best around Pine City, no doubt about that.”
Miss Carol’s music room was totally the coolest room ever. One entire wall was covered in framed sheet music signed by its creator. Shelving on the wall opposite held two violins, three different styles of guitars, and, in the corner, a set of drums. But the real showpiece was the Steinway grand piano that sat in the center of the room. There had never been a time when Holly entered Miss Carol’s music room that she had not been overwhelmed. Today wasn’t any different.
The room literally took her breath away. There were all sorts of instruments casually lying about. Holly knew this was intended to make the room more appealing, and all, but she also knew that Miss Carol could play all of the instruments, and she did so better than anyone Holly knew. Add in the fact Miss Carol was a retired music teacher and her very best friend, at this exact moment, Holly was 100 percent totally happy. She pushed all thoughts of half-truths and lies aside and focused on the here and now.
“I have all the sheet music we need, after all. Now, young lady, do you want to go through a few vocal exercises before we get started?”
“Sure,” Holly replied. Even though she had warmed up on the walk over, a little extra work never hurt.
Miss Carol sat down on the piano bench and hit a middle note, as she knew these were sometimes the toughest notes to carry through. Holly went through the required eh eh eh eh eh, then continued with higher and lower notes. After half an hour, her throat started to close up and feel tight. She knew this was time to rest.
“I think I have had enough,” she said.
“That’s excellent, Holly. Most vocalists do not know when to stop. You do, and that’s the true mark of a professional.” She closed the lid over the ivory keyboard, then tucked the sheets of music inside the piano bench.
“How about a cup of hot chocolate? It’ll warm those vocal cords.”
Holly would love to have a cup of hot chocolate, but she had to make it back to Roxie’s before Jen realized she was missing. “Thanks, but I have to go home and study. Dad says if I don’t bring my math grade up, he’ll ground me for the rest of the year.”
“Now, surely, he would not do that, especially knowing how hard you’re going to practice these next few weeks.”
It is now or never, Holly thought as she considered her response. “Dad doesn’t want me to sing in the musical.”
There, she had said it.
Miss Carol tilted her head to the side. “Are you sure of this? Absolutely sure? I cannot imagine why not.” She sounded as perplexed as Holly did when anything related to music was raised in connection with her father. “Of course he wants you to keep your grades up, but you surely have misunderstood him about singing in the musical?”
She shook her head. “No. He hates music. I’m never allowed to sing in the house or play music. I don’t even own a radio or any device that plays music. Dad just says it’s noise, and he hates noise.” Holly felt such embarrassment at this admission.
Miss Carol looked as if she had been hit by a giant bulldozer. She shook her head. “Then how did you learn to sing so well? Where? Who?”
Holly bunched up her shoulders. “I don’t know. I listen to music when I can at school. Roxie and Kayla have MP3 players. We watch music videos a lot.” It was weird admitting this now. She had known Miss Carol since she was little and just assumed she knew . . . She did not know what she assumed about Miss Carol. She knew her father from The Upside, knew her mom had died when she was very small.
But she suddenly realized that Miss Carol only knew the singing Holly, the happy Holly, the humble Holly. She did not know the girl who lay in bed at night wishing for a long-lost relative to come and whisk her away to a life that was more loving, where music was not considered something bad, and when she wanted to belt out Rhianna’s current hit, she could do so without the fear of being told to stop. Though in all fairness, her father had not exactly told her she could not sing. But he didn’t have to. She just knew.
“I see,” Miss Carol commented.
Holly knew there were a million questions to be asked and answered, but right now all she could focus on was how long it would take her to get to Roxie’s if she ran all the way. She had been gone almost an hour, more than enough time to finish their cookie pizza and study. She did not want her two best friends to get in trouble because of her.
“I better go” was all Holly could say. “I really need to study. I’ll try to come back tomorrow. Same time. If that’s okay?” she asked as she inched her way down the hall toward the front door.
Tomorrow was Saturday. No way would she be able to return, but she did not say this. She would come up with an excuse on Monday. Her dad was always holed up in his den on weekends. No way could she sneak out because, as soon as she did, that’s when he’d come looking for her.
“Yes, yes. Anytime. I’m here all day. We’ll rehearse tomorrow.”
Holly wanted to give Miss Carol a hug, but she felt awkward and gangly all of a sudden. “Bye, see you later,” she called out before racing around to the backyard, which led to the trail back to Roxie’s. If she ran as fast as she could, she would just make it.
She glanced at the map once more to make sure she knew exactly where the path branched off into three separate paths. Stuffing the map in her jeans pocket, she took a deep breath, then ran as fast as she could. Uphill, downhill around the deep curve where the trees shaded the trail from the late-afternoon sun. It was practically dark out, she noticed as she scrunched under a couple of low-hanging branches. She hadn’t paid attention to the trees on the run over. The sun was blazingly blue and bright when she had left Roxie’s, and she had not felt as closed in as she did now. She stopped to catch her breath and pulled the map out for a second look. Sure she was heading in the right direction, she picked up her pace, with thoughts of joining the track team when she was in high school. Running and jumping over tree branches was fun, though she did not remember seeing this many trees on the run over to Miss Carol’s. Or this many fallen branches. But she had not really paid attention. She was trying to get to Miss Carol’s and back in an hour, she told herself. Of course she had not been paying attention. She stopped again; though this time, a faint trickle of fear eased its way up her spine and settled in the pit of her stomach. Glancing around her, she saw nothing that looked even remotely familiar. As directionally challenged as she was, she knew she had not gone this way before.
For the third time, she pulled out her hand-drawn map. Cloud-covered skies did not allow for much sun to peek through the tall pine trees.
She gazed up, searching for a bit of blue sky, but saw nothing but fast-moving grayish-blue rain clouds. “Crap,” she said out loud. It always rained in the fall here, but she hadn’t counted on that when she took off way more than an hour ago. Frightened that she would be alone in the deep woods all night, she started to sing, as singing always calmed her, soothed her soul.
“Ave Maria” seemed very appropriate. She hummed and inched her way slowly back the way she had come, and she would ask Miss Carol to drive her to Roxie’s house. She could tell her she got lost, at least that much was the truth, for once. When she got home, she would worry about her dad’s finding out what she had been doing. Right now, her main concern was returning to Roxie’s before they were found out, too. Her friends were risking a lot for her to be in this musical. Holly would find some way to pay them back for all they were doing to help her. She might even tell them about the secret she and Maxine shared.
At least fifteen minutes went by, and Holly was still searching for the path to Miss Carol’s or Roxie’s. At this point, she did not care, she just wanted to get out of the woods. It was getting dark, and she felt totally creeped out. Not that she was afraid of the dark, she just did not like that she was in the middle of the woods in the dark. She wished she had a penlight, or matches, anything to provide light. She squinted at the map again, but she was totally confused. The sun was down, and she was not sure if Roxie’s house was east or west, and the same for Miss Carol’s. She had never been in a situation where she personally had to know which way was north, south, east, or west.
From now on, she would pay more attention in geography class. They’d studied maps last year, but she had had a map in the light of her classroom full of her classmates, and her teacher to guide her on their imaginary trips to her imaginary destination. Actually, it was fun, pretending to map out a route as if she were the adult in charge. This, however, was not fun, not fun at all.
She felt her eyes tear up and was glad no one was around to see what a big baby she was. If this got out at school, she would be the laughingstock of the class for the rest of the year. She wiped her eyes with her knuckles and sat down on the damp dirt. She looked to the left, then to the right.
Nothing, not even a hint of light. She whirled around and looked behind her, hoping she would see a random light somewhere. It no longer mattered whose house it was; she just needed to find a light she could focus on. But there was nothing but darkness, and the outline of the trees, whose limbs looked similar to skeleton-like hands reaching out, trying to grab her.
It suddenly occurred to her that by now, Roxie would have told her mother she was missing. They would come searching for her. A huge sigh of relief filled her. Of course she would be grounded until she graduated from college. Right now, being grounded was preferable to being here in the woods alone at night. She guessed it had to be at least seven, which was not particularly late, but her dad would be home by now, wondering why she was not home yet. Though the way he went straight to his den, never bothering to check in on her at night, he might believe she was safely in her room, studying her math. That was a big possibility, and it just might work to her advantage. So, until someone found her, she was going to remain here, wherever here was.
She was glad that she had brought her denim jacket and had on her sweatshirt, so at least she was not freezing. She sang a few Christmas carols; then she tried a few Taylor Swift tunes. Next it was Carrie Underwood. She had been sitting here for at least an hour. The skies had gone pitch-black, and not even a single star was visible. She was incredibly frightened now. Was it possible that Roxie thought Miss Carol had driven her home? Maybe, but she had left her backpack behind at Roxie’s. Roxie being Roxie, she would just bring it over or keep it until Monday.
Shivering now, more out of fear than the chilly evening air, Holly slowly turned in a circle, and this time she spied a light. “Yes!” She raised her fist high in the air. Unsure exactly where the light would lead her, at this point, she did not really care. She just wanted to get out of these dark woods.
She focused on the light, and only now and then did she look down at the terrain. Twice she almost fell, but she managed to steady herself. She was close enough to the light now to see that it was one of those spotlights that lit up the entire area. She did not recognize the house, but she did not care. Pine City was a safe place, and she hoped that whoever lived here would allow her to make a phone call.
Holly slowly walked around to the front of the house. She stopped a couple of times to make sure the homeowners had not let a dog or a cat out. When she did not hear any barking or meowing, she walked up a steep set of steps and rang the doorbell. The house was very fancy, more so than even Roxie’s. She did not remember seeing this house around, but lots of houses were built deep into wooded areas for privacy.
She waited another minute, then rang the doorbell again. Her dad would surely ground her for life now. Or if she were lucky, just until she turned sixty-five.