Heather knew there were a hundred things the facility needed before the open house, so she showed Ginny her shopping list at breakfast.
“Hmm . . . my car is pretty small, you know . . .”
“We could take the blind transport!”
“True. Why don’t you wait for a purchase order for all the big plants, and arrange for a truck from the air base?”
“Okay! And we can get all this little stuff today, and go skating!”
By the time they got to the skating rink, the passenger area of the large van was filled with Priscilla’s purchases — a few things she knew Maria wanted, accessories for the offices, a sound system for the dance studio, lots of floor pillows, and a bird feeder for her patio.
Priscilla completely enjoyed the skating session, handed out snack-bar coupons after the art skate, and spent lots of time chatting with Mandy. But she was most happy when she saw Mark and Ginny laughing and talking, side by side, in the snack bar while the corporal continued to keep a sharp eye on all security concerns.
After the skate, Priscilla and Ginny found themselves going through the exit doors just behind Mandy and her mother.
“Mom, this is my new friend Priscilla. She’s that really good skater I told you about, and she’s giving me lessons!”
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Everyone exchanged greetings.
Ginny knew enough about the situation to spot an opportunity. “We were about to get some dinner somewhere. Would you folks like to join us? It would give these two chatter boxes more time to, you know, chatter.”
“Could we, Mom, please?” Mandy begged.
“I’m buying,” Priscilla announced with a grin.
“Well, okay, but you don’t have to pay for us, sweetheart. Your allowance can’t be that much yet.”
“Oh, yes it can,” Priscilla said for only Mandy to hear.
The eleven-year-old snickered.
They got comfortable around a large table at the nearest pizza parlor, and selected a pizza that everyone would enjoy.
The two girls chatted about happenings at the skating rink, including Mark’s interest in Ginny.
Ginny tried to ignore the young ones as she juggled answers to the mother’s questions. “I’m just the baby-sitter,” she explained.
Suddenly Priscilla looked at her new friend with big eyes and a serious expression. “Can you keep a secret, a very important secret?”
Corporal Do-forva stopped breathing.
“Sure!” Mandy declared.
Priscilla looked at Mandy’s mother. “Can you keep it, too?”
The corporal wondered if her heart was still beating.
“Well, sweetheart, as long as it’s nothing that could hurt anyone.”
“I’m from another planet, I live in a space ship, and that’s why I can’t invite you to my house. But there’s gold everywhere on my planet, just like dirt, so I have gold coins out my ears. Here’s one for you!” She pulled a gold coin from her pocket and spun it on the table in front of Mandy.
“Wow, thank you!” the older girl said and hugged her friend.
Ginny breathed again, just as the pizza arrived.
Mandy’s mother wasn’t sure if Priscilla was actually very poor, and that’s why she didn’t want to reveal her address, or if some mental-health problem was causing her to live in a fantasy world. The gold coin would tell which, she
NEBADOR Book Nine: A Cry for Help 100
decided. If fake, then embarrassing poverty was probably the explanation. If real, then Priscilla was most likely a rich kid who had to see a shrink every day, and would never really grow up.
In either case, she was charitable enough to allow her daughter the friendship . . . as long as it was limited to public places.
Heather was puttering around the facility on Sunday, doing what she could to get ready for the open house, while at the same time pondering Monday’s topic, when Corporal Do-forva arrived.
“I thought what happened was important enough to report to Colonel Ba-kerga immediately, so I called him last night.”
“How’d he take it?”
“Well . . . I told him in the same order it happened, statement by statement, and I think he stopped breathing for a little while, just like I did.
But when I got to the end, he laughed! Have you ever heard Colonel Ba-kerga laugh?”
Heather snickered. “No. A slight smile or two, but never laughter.”
“He sends his compliments on your creative solution to the problem.”
Heather chuckled, remembering the look on Mandy’s mother’s face.
“Do me a favor, okay?” Ginny asked.
“Sure,
what?”
“I’m supposed to get off at eighteen hundred, and me and Mark are going out, so don’t do anything to make me have to stay longer.”
The girl grinned. “I promise!”