Blindsided (26 page)

“Hey! Now that I know you’re home,” Jake went on, “could I call you sometime and talk about it?”

“Sure,” Natalie quickly agreed, hoping that would stop him. “That would be fine, Jake. Call and we’ll talk about it.”

And suddenly, Natalie’s mother was there. Or had she been there?

“Mrs. O’Reilly. Nice to see you,” Jake said.

“And you, Jake,” Natalie’s mother replied. “You look great!”

Quick good-byes. A walk back through the hall. Was Jake watching as she used her cane? Outside to the car. Door shut. Seat belt on. Safe again. Natalie heaved a sigh of relief and swallowed hard.

Yikes. How scary to think of actually returning to the high school and facing the other kids. By the time Jake called, she figured, she would have thought of some way to get out of it.

But gosh, that hug felt good, she thought, pressing her lips together to stifle the secret smile and the flip-flop feeling in her stomach. And the little hand squeeze? Did her mom notice?

 

Sitting on the barn step the next morning, holding out crust for the cat to eat, Natalie was besieged by mixed emotions. She wondered if someday she would actually be strong enough to tell the students at her high school what it was like to lose her sight. What
were
the hurdles? And what exactly would she say?

Natalie tried to envision this future scenario because she knew that she wanted it to happen. She would take the microphone and, with confidence, repeat Miss Karen’s comment the morning Natalie discovered her sight was gone:
Acknowledge the loss, but don’t stay there.
It was important advice, even though she hadn’t taken it to heart. Not yet anyway.

The cat nearby meowed, and Natalie removed her glove to see if there was any food left, but the pie tin was empty. “All gone,” she said.

And oddly, a snapshot memory of Sheldon appeared in her mind. She saw him at the blackboard, moving his head around so he could see the letters of that English sonnet written in chalk. Curious, the way in which he perceived the world, piecemeal, never able to see—immediately and directly—the all-important center. He had to work at putting things together, always starting from the edges and slowly working his way in. . . .

Suddenly, Natalie jumped, frightened by the strange sensation beneath her fingers. She pulled her hand away and held it to her chest. What in the world? Her heart skipped a beat as something pressed against her arm. Was someone there?! Natalie sucked in her breath—then a slight smile sprouted as she realized it was the cat.

The cat was purring. Natalie could hear and feel the vibrations. Slowly, she reached out and petted the animal’s soft, furry head until her fingers discovered a rough, crusty spot. Was he missing an ear? The cat pulled back and ran away.

“Hey! I’m going to have to give you a name!” Natalie called after him.

A
fter dinner the next evening, Natalie’s father made a fire in the fireplace. For a few moments, Natalie simply sat by it, enjoying the warmth and the popping, crackling sound of the burning oak logs. She had the cell phone in her hand. It was time, she had decided, as she pressed speed dial “6” for Meredith.

Meredith:
Hey—why didn’t you call me? I didn’t know you were home until we saw your mom at the grocery store. When do you go back?

Natalie:
Don’t know that I am.

Meredith:
Really? Are you coming back to school then?

Natalie:
Maybe
.

Natalie was relieved Meredith didn’t press the issue.

Meredith:
Well, anyway, I wanted to see you, Nat, before Christmas. I wanted to apologize for the crummy way I acted at Thanksgiving. Seems like I keep apologizing to you.

Natalie:
It’s been hard. What we’re both going through is pretty hard.

Meredith:
Hard for me? Natalie, you’re the one who lost her sight!

Natalie:
True. But you’re the one who has to deal with a blind friend now.

Silence.

Meredith:
I have a Christmas present for you. Can I bring it over tomorrow? Like what are you doing tomorrow night?

Natalie:
My parents are going out. One of those firehouse dinners. I’m staying home to babysit Nuisance, who is due to deliver any day.

Meredith:
Do you need help babysitting your goat? I mean, we don’t have to deliver babies or anything, do we?

Natalie (laughing):
I hope not! If Nuisance goes into labor, I’d call my mom and dad. And yeah, sure, it would be great for you to come. . . .

 

All the next day, Natalie looked forward to having Meredith over. Another phone call between the two confirmed plans for turning the evening into a sleepover. Natalie wrapped a pair of gloves and some hand lotion as gifts, and planned out snacks and drinks with her mother.

Meredith, who now had her learner’s permit, drove over to Natalie’s house that night, and then said good-bye to her father.

“Wow. Mom says you drove over,” Natalie said.

“Yeah,” Meredith said as she came through the front door. Natalie heard the crinkle of a shopping bag.

“I’ll probably have my license by summer,” she said. “Once I can drive myself, then we can go shopping, or down to the lake whenever we want. Whenever I can get the car, that is.”

Natalie reached out to touch her friend, and her hand brushed the bed pillow Meredith always brought with her on sleepovers. Meredith dropped the pillow and gave Natalie a hug. “Come on in,” Natalie urged. “I have something for you.”

In the living room they sat on the couch.

“It’s not much,” Natalie warned, handing Meredith a wrapped box.

But Meredith said she loved the gloves and the lotion.

“And yours,” Meredith said, handing Natalie a shoe box-size gift.

“Tell me what it looks like first,” Natalie said. “The package.”

“Oh. Well, it’s shiny green paper with sparkly white snowflakes, and there’s a red ribbon with a bow my mom tied ’cause she’s good at bows.”

Natalie grinned and then unwrapped the package. Inside the big box was a smaller box. And inside the smaller box was a slick gift card.

“It’s for the mall,” Meredith explained. “Twenty-five dollars to spend anywhere. You’re going with me, and this time . . . well, I would be proud to walk with you if you use your cane.”

Natalie was touched. “You’re sure?”

“Absolutely sure. I mean, you need to be using it anyway and getting some practice in, right?”

Natalie’s throat grew tight. “Thanks,” she told Meredith.

 

It was cold in the barn, much colder than Natalie had thought. She was glad she had changed into a warmer coat at the last minute. The girls’ footsteps echoed, but for only a moment. As soon as the goats caught sight of them, they became excited and a rousing chorus of
waaaahhhhh
began. Natalie used her cane to follow the wall to the second pen on the right, where Nuisance stayed. She unlatched the door and the two girls entered the hay-strewn enclosure.

“Look at her!” squealed Meredith. “She is really pregnant!”

Natalie took one of Meredith’s hands and guided it along one of the goat’s large, bulging sides. Somehow though, it didn’t feel the same. “Dad?”

“I’m here,” he said. “I’m right behind you. It feels different, Natty Bean, because she’s getting ready to deliver. The baby has moved up into the birth canal. Remember? That’s how you tell when she’s getting ready to deliver—the belly gets smaller and the bag gets bigger.”

Natalie smiled. “Oh, my gosh. My baby is going to have a baby!”

There was a flurry of activity in the barn hallway as Natalie’s dad set up a card table for the girls and plugged in a portable heater. Natalie’s mother was there, too, arranging bowls of hummus, carrot sticks, corn chips, and peanut M&M’s, as well as a thermos of hot chocolate, all the snacks Natalie had requested.

“We’re leaving now,” her father said. “You know what to do in an emergency, but if you think she’s on the brink, give us a call.”

“We’re all set,” Natalie assured him.

She turned to Meredith. “I have a surprise, too,” she said. “Look. A whole deck of cards with Braillables.”

“What’s that?” Meredith asked.

“Little Braille labels that stick on. I made these at school.”

“Cool! You mean we can play cards?”

Natalie grinned. And Nuisance whined. “She’s been complaining all day,” Natalie said. “I’ll have to keep giving her back rubs. She’s so spoiled. Here, you deal out the cards, Meres. A game of gin rummy?”

A door slammed and they heard Natalie’s parents drive away. Natalie was so glad Meredith had come. The girls sat down at the card table and explored the tray of snacks.

“I love your mother’s hummus,” Meredith said. She used a carrot stick to dip; Natalie heard the crunch.

Nuisance was still moaning. “Listen to her. She sounds so pathetic,” Natalie said. She ducked back into the pen and gave Nuisance a quick back rub, then returned to the card table.

“I’m still not very quick with the Braille,” Natalie warned, taking her seat again. “So it may take a minute for me to figure out what’s here.”

“That’s okay. Take your time.”

A moment passed.

“Nat, aren’t you going to pick up your cards and study them?”

“Oh! I didn’t know you had already dealt them.”

“Yeah, they’re right there.”

“Where?”

“Right in front of you!”

“Oh. I never heard you deal.”

A sigh from Meredith. “I’m sorry. I keep forgetting you can’t see.”

Natalie found the cards, fanned them out in her hands, and started touching the Braille labels. “I’m glad you forget,” she said.

While they played cards, they talked. Natalie told Meredith about running into Jake at school (although Natalie kept the part about him squeezing her hand to herself) and the whole story of what had happened with Bree at school. Meredith, in turn, talked about school and Richie.

“Hey, and so who is this boy at the school in Baltimore who calls?” Meredith asked. “What did you say his name was?”

“Arnab. He’s cute. I was able to see him before I lost my vision. He’s completely blind. And very smart. So interested in science. Like our last conversation, he wanted to know all the steps we take to make cheese.”

“How romantic!” Meredith quipped.

“I know. So there I am telling him about rennet and how it makes the milk separate into curds and whey, and we both crack up and start reciting that Mother Goose thing. You know, Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet, eating her—”

“CURDS AND WHEY!” the girls chimed together.

It was right then—as they laughed about “curds and whey”—that a bone-chilling shriek split the night air.

Both Natalie and Meredith nearly dropped the cards in their hands.

“What in the heck is that?” Meredith asked.

“Winston!” Natalie said, sitting up stiffly. “He only does that when there’s something prowling around.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Winston’s shrill noise tore through the night again.

“There’s something out there,” Natalie said. “A dog or a fox—”

“A bear?” Meredith asked. “Could it be a bear?”

“I guess it’s possible,” Natalie admitted, recalling what her father had said about bears not hibernating when food was available. “But it’s not likely,” she added, not wanting to scare Meredith.

“The goats are in, right?” Meredith asked. “And Winston?”

“Yeah, they’re all in. Winston’s in the back there.”

“Then everyone’s safe?” Meredith asked.

A loud
whap
at the barn’s back doors interrupted them.

“Holy smokes!” Meredith cried.

The heavy barn doors that hung on iron runners swung out and back, crashing against the side of the barn.

The girls froze.

When they heard a loud grunt outside, Meredith screamed and jumped up from her seat. “It is a bear! Nat, I see him through the window!”

Natalie patted the pockets in her jacket, then her jeans. The cell phone wasn’t there!

“Nat, call somebody! Quick!”

Natalie kept checking her pockets and suddenly remembered she’d changed jackets just before coming out. “Shoot! It’s back in the kitchen!”

“Oh, no!”

“Let’s go lock ourselves in the creamery!” Meredith said, grabbing Natalie’s arm.

“It’s locked,” Natalie said. “We always lock it at the end of the day.”

Meredith ran to check the door anyway while the bear rattled the back doors again. The goats bleated in alarm.

Natalie put her hands up to her temples, thinking.

“My dad has a gun,” she said, dropping her hands. “Can you use a shotgun?”

“No! Are you kidding me? I don’t know what to do with a gun!”

“Well, you’re gonna have to learn fast.”