The Shimmers in the Night

Nine

"No, it's OK," said Cara. "It's not that bad. Really. We iced it. Hayley and Jaye helped me. With—er, ice from the ice machine."

Fleetingly, she was proud of herself for coming up with that.

"But how will you swim?" asked Mrs. M, indignant. "You can't swim with those hands! There's no way," and she shook her head. "I can't allow it. Your father would have my head on a platter. Nosirree. Nuh-uh. Jaye, honeypie, this is your lucky day. You're going to sub in for Cara on the relay team. And Cara, I'll get you some medicated lotion at the CVS or what have you. There's one next door. You will sit tight today with your hands wrapped or my name is not Delilah Moore."

"I didn't know your name was Delilah," piped up Jax. "Like with Samson!"

"Yes, dear. Well, now you do," said Mrs. M, and groped around in her handbag till she found her cell phone, which she flipped open. "Old Testament names were very popular in my neck of the woods. I mean it, Cara. No way are you swimming with those hands. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but that's the way it's got to be."

In fact, Cara was relieved. At the moment she felt way too exhausted to swim. She shot a look at Jaye, still wearing covers up to her neck, and could tell she wasn't psyched to be taking Cara's place.

"Girls, get dressed while I talk to Coach about this injury situation. Come on. Jackson, you too. You stay close to me today. I want to be able to tell your daddy I took good care of you. Don't dawdle, Hayley. And brush your teeth, everyone. No morning breath on my watch! I'll step into the hallway right here and make a call or two. Y'all be ready to go down for Danishes in five."

As it turned out, Hayley took fifteen minutes to get dressed, or five to get dressed and ten to apply lip gloss and eyeliner and do her hair, and they completely missed the free breakfast, which irritated Cara since she was starving. As they surged through the hotel lobby to get on the bus, they converged with the rest of the team, who were talking and joking loudly, their knapsacks slung over their shoulders. She'd given Jaye the windowleaf to store in her big duffel—the only bag they had that the book would fit inside—and Jaye was carrying the bag awkwardly, bouncing at her hip.

At the meet Cara, Jax, and Hayley headed for the bleachers with Mrs. M while Jaye went off with the rest of the girls to change in the locker rooms. Mrs. M didn't waste time; she made Cara hold out her hands and smoothed on some medical-smelling cream. She was so good at it that she seemed to Cara less like a hairdresser than a nurse. And right away her hands felt so much better that Cara was surprised.

The gun went off for the first relay heat, and swimmers hit the water. Cara's cell rang—it was Max calling; she knew from the ringtone—and Jax answered because she couldn't, with her hands slathered in greasy lotion. Mrs. M was sitting right beside them, so Jax couldn't tell Max what had really happened; Cara had to listen to him giving Max the made-up homesickness story. Just as their school's team, including Jaye, assembled behind the starting block for their heat, Jax changed the subject.

"Hey. But with Zee," said Jax, and met Cara's eyes. "You know she left the meet, right? I mean, she's going to be in trouble. Um, do you know where she is?"

Mrs. M turned and looked at him, waiting for Max's answer, but after a moment Jax shrugged and shook his head, like Max wasn't saying anything important.

"Why don't you just text Max?" said Cara, and nudged Jax's foot with the side of her own. "It's so loud in here."

"Oh yeah," he said, and hung up.

The heat was ending—it looked like the team wasn't out in front, so Cara stopped paying close attention, but the other teams vying for first and second place cheered louder. When the swimmers touched the wall, their team had placed fourth, which meant they hadn't made the final. The cheers trailed off, and the last swimmer hauled herself out of the pool; she and Jaye, who stood dripping nearby with red circles from her goggles around her eyes, shook their heads ruefully as they slipped off their swimming caps.