Forget Me Not, Books I, II and III

Rainfall

It was after two o'clock before Calvin walked Teddi home. They said their goodbyes, albeit reluctantly, and parted ways. Teddi made it back inside of her house and into her bed without a stir from her grandparents. If she'd known sneaking out to see Calvin would be so easy, she would have done it weeksago. She tried to sleep but felt restless beneath the covers. How was shesupposed to sleep after such a wonderful night? She would have to thank Harper.

Calvin promised to write to her once she got settled in at school.Classes didn't begin until the following Monday, but there was plenty of welcoming nonsense Teddi's grandmother told her was mandatory. So, they would be off by morning, in Grand Central Station by noon. Then Teddi would be in Connecticut in time for her Uncle Richard and Aunt Olive to pick her up and drive her to a school she'd never seen before. Maybe Mrs. Holliday was right.Maybe this time away would be good for her. She could write to both Calvin and her sister freely. She could study hard, then maybe one day she would go to college or have a career even. Her dreams weren't conventional, but they were hers and gave her purpose.

***

Teddi woke feeling much more refreshed than she should have after just a few hours of sleep. A small cough expelled from her throat, and she felt hernose tickle. She hoped she wasn't coming down with a cold. Furthermore, shehoped she hadn't given anything to Calvin. She smiled, squeezing her toes. The thought of him vanquished her fears about the impending day. She could lie there forever, revisiting the events of last night.

Her eyes drifted toward the clock that hung over her vanity. It read ten minutes past ten. "Ten minutes past ten!" she shrieked, springing out of bed.She was supposed to be up and dressed by eight. No wonder she felt so refreshed. She would not live to see the next day. Why hadn't they woken her?

After stuffing herself into the dress her grandmother just bought for her and hastily pinning her hair back without an ounce of curl, Teddi dashed from her bedroom, thankful that her suitcases were already packed and by the front door. When she bounded down the steps, she expected to find her grandmother standing there seething at her late arrival and wayward hairstyle. But to her surprise, no one was in the front room. "Grandmother? Grandpa?" she called, walking through the house, thinking they might have actually forgotten her.They were getting old.

"In here, buttercup," her grandfather called.

Teddi found Judge Donovan sitting in his robe in the kitchen. "Why aren't you dressed, Grandpa? We're going to be late."

"Your grandmother and I decided to put you on the late afternoon train, wait until this weather clears up like it did yesterday."

For the first time, Teddi noticed that it was raining again. "Did you call Uncle Richard?"

The judge nodded. "Your grandmother did."

"Oh. I'd rather take a taxi than ride with him. Why can't I just take a taxi?" Teddi slumped into the chair beside her grandfather, who did not reply, and likely understood that the question was meant to be rhetorical. The subjecthad been argued at length days earlier and was now closed.  "Where is Grandmother, anyway?"

"She's upstairs getting dressed to go into town to buy rain clothes or some nonsense."

"Not for me?"

The judge nodded again. "I'm afraid so."

"I already have plenty of rain things."

"Apparently, it's not good enough for Miss Carrington's."

Teddi grumbled and rested her chin in her hand, when suddenly she remembered the ring Calvin had given her. She'd forgotten to put it away before anyone saw it. She pulled her hand away from her face to look at it. Her stomach curled in panic. It was gone. The ring was gone. It had to be upstairs.