"That's very good, Zipporah. I must be rubbing off on you. Maybe that would work." She looked at me hard. "Of course, if he did find out what we had done, found out you were part of this, you could get into very bad trouble, Zipporah. He might be so angry. Perhaps I should go into the apartment myself and get what I need."
"I'm not afraid. I want to help you," I said firmly. "No matter what."
"No matter what?"
"Bird Oath. We'll be friends forever and ever, and we swear to protect and help each other as much as we would ourselves," I recited, and added, "no matter what."
"Maybe we will be friends forever and ever," she said, as if the possibility had just occurred to her.
Daddy's wrong, I thought. We'll never make turns, take different paths, and forget each other. This would bind us in a way that could never be unraveled or untied. For us, there would always be a way home again, home to each other.
"Okay. Let's take it one step at a time, and then later we'll decide just how much I need you to do with me. Saturday, then, the key gets made."
"Saturday," I said. I had the feeling we should be writing it in blood or something.
"I was thinking of running away, you know," she confessed.
"You were?"
"Yes. I was going to steal as much money as I could from Harry and just run off. I'm afraid of something he could do to me."
"What?" I asked, nearly breathless.
"Well, he is a pharmacist. He could slip something into my food or drink and . . ."
"Poison you?"
"Drug me so he could have his way with me, maybe, and then maybe cause me to have a heart attack or something."
"Nobody would believe that. You're too young to have a heart attack."
"A lot of good it would do me, then," she said.
I nodded. She was right, of course.
"Maybe we shouldn't wait until Saturday."
"No, that's perfect. I'll be all right. Don't worry," she said.
We did try to do some homework, but neither of us could concentrate well enough. I decided I would do as much as I could on the bus and in study hall.
I was hoping that I would be able to leave her house without seeing Mr. Pearson, but when I descended the stairway to go home, he stepped out of his living room and looked up at the two of us. I was surprised to see he still wore his pharmacist's coat.
"Well, hi there, Zipporah," he said, smiling. "How are your parents?"
"Fine, thanks," I said. I couldn't help shifting my eyes and hoped he didn't notice.
"And your brother? He's enjoying college?" "Very much, Mr. Pearson."
"Good. I'm sure you're all proud of hint. You tell your mother and father hello for me," he said, and kept walking down the hallway.
"I will," I called to him.
Karen nodded toward the front door. We hurried to it and stepped out.
"Did you see that? He doesn't even look at me if he can help it," she said. "I do my best to avoid him."
"Your mother has to notice something's not right."