Legacy (13 page)

She gazed at herself in the mirror, her face puffy from crying. She saw the locke
t
hanging around her neck and touched the deep blue jewel.
My mother's birthstone. I wish I could see her one more time. I wish she was here to hold me.

She turned away to keep a new flood of tears from drowning her. No sense in wallowing in self-pity to
night.

Mercy eyed
t
he dress hanging on the hook. The bright pink of the punch clashed with the delicate peach. She wondered if she might be able to wash it out, but when she checked the label it advised dry clean only.
I might as well throw it away
.
She hung it back on the hook and slipped out of the bathroom.

She wasn’t tired
,
but she felt decidedly confused. On the one hand, she was angry with Lindy, Becca and Amy. On the other hand, she was hurt by the way they had humiliated her at the dance. And on yet the other hand, she was happy over the way Greg had stood by her. She recalled his kisses.
Sweet!
Then
he had asked her to the movies next weekend and she would see him at the game tomorrow.
This boyfriend thing just gets better and better.

Mercy frowned. Tomorrow she would have to see Lindy and her friends. They would
taunt her no doubt. She pressed her lips together in a firm line. She vowed not to let them know how much they had hurt her. She would ignore them no matter what. She would show them
how
totally unimportant
they were
i
n the overall scheme of things.

And Greg…She would be there for him. She would stand up and cheer if he made any hits. On that thought, she slipped into her
pajamas
and climbed into bed.

~*~

CHAPTER SIX

The next morning she awoke feeling better. She was still angry
over the events of the previous night, but she
had gone
to sleep thinking of Greg’s kisses and that he’d said she was beautiful.

Yeah, right!
She threw off the quilt and set her bare feet on the floor.
Time to get my beautiful self up out of bed
. Her gaze fell on the mirror and the purple candle. Without any hesitation, she crossed the room and struck a match. The candle flickered and then settled into a soft glow. The aroma of lavender and lilacs scented
the air.

“Gran?” she called tentatively. “Are you there?”

“Of course, dear.” Her grandmother sounded slightly out of breath. “I can hear you whenever you call.”

“I didn’t mean for you to rush,” Mercy said. “I don’t mind waiting.”

Gran peered at her over the top of her glasses. “
Dear me. You look upset. What’s wrong?”

Mercy felt the tears prickling again and she blinked to keep them at bay. “Nothing, really…” But with Gran’s encouragement, she poured out the
entir
e story. Gran made little clucking noises
with her tongue a
nd said ‘there, there’ and ‘oh, my’ a few times, but in the end, Mercy felt much better for having told her. “I really loved that dress.” She
heaved a sigh
.

“Well, hang it up in your closet. It should be dry by now.”

She didn’t correct her grandmother by telling her that the dress had dried quickly…with all the stains set in. “Yes, Gran. I’ll do that right away.”

“Have a good time at the baseball game.” And with a little wave, Gran began to fade.

That part always made Mercy sad. “Bye, Gran.” She sighed
again
and
blew out the candle.
Might as well do as
her grandmother
had instructed and hang the dress on a hanger. Maybe Gran could dye it whenever she returned. Mercy opened the bathroom door and took the dress off the hook
. Her heart took a tumble and s
he almost dropped it. S
taring
in amazement,
she
then
turned on the lights for a closer look. The stains were gone. The beautiful peach dress was entirely peach again with no sign that it had
ever
been damaged.

She spun around, hugging the dress to her. “A hanger. I need a hanger
,
”
s
he sang ou
t when she went to her bedroom.

Alistair opened his sleepy eyes to follow her progress. “You sound much more chipper this morning,” he said.

“
Hey,
Alistair, the stains are gone. Like magic, they’re just gone.” Mercy stopped in her tracks.
Like magic
.
“Oh, my! Gran must have done it. I was telling her about it a few minutes ago and now it’s perfect again.” She displayed the dress for him to see.

“There are so very few perfect things in this world,” he comment
ed.

Mercy gave him a second look. “Alistair, sometimes you say the wisest things.”

He purred loudly and looked
extremely
pleased with himself.

She hung the dress in her closet and pulled out
a tee shirt and jeans
to wear. She made breakfast for herself and Alistair and contemplated what she would
be dressed in
later
for
the game.

The
ringing of the
phone
startled her. I
t was
Felicity
calling to ask why she and Greg had left the dance so early. Mercy was
relieved
that none of her friends has witnessed her humiliation at the hands of her enemies. She related the story and heard the outrage in
Felicity
’s voice.

“I hate them!”
Felicity
proclaimed. “Honestly!
Tannersville
would be a better place without all three of them.”

“Well, we can’t kick them out of town,” Mercy said. “I just wish they would get what they deserve for once.”

“Becca is a complete sheep. She follows whatever Lindy does
,
without question. And Amy is such a chicken. She’s afraid not to do what Queen Lindy orders.”

Mercy considered for a moment. “Yeah, I remember when Amy was a nice girl, but that was before she fell in with Lindy.”

“So, how did things turn out with Greg?
Tell me all the juicy details.
Was he all bummed out?”

“No, he was pretty cool about it.” She paused to recall his kisses.
Not going to tell
Felicity
about that little detail.
“He asked me to go to the movies next weekend.” She held the receiver away from her head to protect her eardrums from
Felicity
’s
piercing squeals
.

Mercy thought a quick change of subject was in order. “You were dancing with Arthur when I left. Did you like him?” She hoped that her witching practice had paid off.

Felicity
sighed. “Arthur is just the dreamiest b
oy ever. We were dancing and the
n
we just
sat and
talked forever. He was a little shy at first, but he really knows how to talk to a girl.”

Mercy gave her
self
a mental Atta Girl.

“Isn’t it great that we’re both dating baseball players?”
Felicity
giggled.

Mercy opened her mouth to speak, but the words got stuck in her throat.
Dating? When did that happen?
“Yeah, it’s great.” She hung up with
Felicity
and did a few of the tasks she usually did on Saturday. She watered Gran’s garden and picked some of the ripe vegetables. She gathered the eggs and washed them bef
ore putting them in the fridge.

By the time
Kelli
pulled up
,
Mercy was dressed and ready
. She ran out to meet them and climbed into the back seat. The girls were in a great mood. Mercy suspected it was because of the dance and their new association with the elite baseball
team
who were
held in high esteem among the other students.
How fortunate that
Kelli
and Felicity had saved a table.

Felicity
must have
filled
Kelli
in on the cause of Mercy and Greg’s early departure and she was properly irate. But even that couldn’t dampen their spirits. Mercy caught the excitem
e
nt and by the time the car pulled into the parking lot by the baseball field, she was fairly bubbling with
anticipation.
Kelli
swerved
into a
designated
space and killed the motor.

The last thing Mercy wanted was a repeat of the previous evening’s confrontation.
A feeling of dread washed over
her
as she reached for the door handle. She feared the inevitable conflict that would
occur
when she came face-to-face with Lindy again. Resolutely, she wrested open the door and stepped out.
I will not let her beat me down.

As she and her friends made their way to the stands, Mercy
glanc
ed around
,
hoping that
Lindy wasn’t glaring at her but, to her
surprise;
neither Lindy nor
he
r two cohorts were in evidence.

She thought this was odd because Lindy was known to be a baseball groupie. Maybe she wanted to make a late entrance. Maybe she planned to dump hot dogs and soda on her
at
the concession stand. Mercy stifled a little shiver.
At least she was wearing wash and wear.

She squared her shoulders and tried to hold her head a little higher. She followed
Kelli
into the stands with
Felicity
troop
ing along
behind. The stands filled up with enthusiastic fans
, mostly parents and students
. They were laughing and talking, but when
a recorded version of
Take Me Out to The Ball Game
blared over the loud speakers
,
people settled into their seats and gazed onto the field expectantly.
T
he
n the
flag
team marched onto the field bearing the flag
and
the noise hushed a
s
everyone sto
od to sing the national anthem.

The announcer’s voice was muffled, but Mercy could understand the name of the visiting team and the home team. She cheered when the home team took the field, her heart
floated in her chest
when she saw how hot Greg looked in his uniform. He stopped and glanced over the stands. Mercy stood up and waved
with both arms flailing wildly. H
e waved back, his face splitting into a big grin before he ran to join his teammates.
She felt a rush of excitement when she realized that he really cared that she was there.

The game was exciting, though Mercy could not have described herself as
being
a baseball fan b
efore now. She cheered for the home
team and yelled herself hoarse when Greg scored a home run. She felt a flush of pride as his team members
cheere
d him to home plate, pounding him on the ba
ck and bumping chests with him.

When
Mercy and her friends
went to the concession stand
,
they lined up behind a group
of girls who were all talking at once. Mercy noticed one who appeared to be weeping into her hands, but when she looked up,
there was no evidence of tears.

"
Drama Queens!
" K
elli
mouthed and
did an eye roll.
"
A complete waste of oxygen
," she whispered
.

Mercy laughed and
ordered a chili dog and soft drink and turned back to her friends.

Felicity
’s face registered shock. “Did you hear what they said? Lin
dy, Amy and Becca are missing.”

Mercy reached for her food, but paused halfway. “Missing?” The lady behind the counter waggled her chili dog impatiently
.
Mercy
reached
fo
r it
,
but her attention was
riveted
on the drama queens
.
“
What about Lindy?”
she asked.