"Do you think you'll be able to get her?" Lisey asked. "In all this rain?"
"If she's got her phone turned on, I'll get her. And unless she's in a movie or something, she's always got it turned on. I talk to her almost every day - sometimes twice, if Matt's off on one of his teaching orgies. 'Cause, see, sometimes Metzie calls her and Darla tells me what she says. These days Darl's the only one in the family Metzie will talk to."
Lisey was fascinated by this. She'd had no idea Amanda and Darla talked about Amanda's troubled daughter - certainly Darla had never said anything about it. She wished she could pursue the matter further, but supposed this wasn't the time to do so.
"What will you tell her, if you get her?"
"Just listen. I think I've got it figured out, but I'm afraid if I tell you in advance, it'll lose some of its...I don't know. Freshness. Believability. All I want is to get the two of them far enough away so they won't come wandering in and - "
" - get caught in Max Silver's potato grader?" Lisey asked. Over the years they'd all worked for Mr. Silver: a quarter for every barrel of potatoes you picked, and you ended up scrubbing dirt out from under your nails until February.
Amanda gave her a sharp look, then smiled. "Something like that. Darla and Canty can be annoying, but I love em, so sue me. I sure wouldn't want em getting hurt just because they turned up in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Me either," Lisey said softly.
A burst of hail rattled down on the roof and windshield; then it was just hard rain again. Amanda patted her hand. "I know that, Little."
Little. Not little Lisey, just Little. How long since Amanda had called her that? And she'd been the only one who ever did.
7
Amanda entered the number with some difficulty because of her hands, going wrong once and having to start over. The second time she managed it, pushed the green SEND button, and put the small Motorola phone to her ear.
The rain had let up a little. Lisey realized she could see the first picnic table again. How many seconds since Amanda had sent the call on its way? She looked from the picnic table to her sister, eyebrows raised. Amanda started to shake her head, then straightened in her bucket seat and raised her right forefinger, as if summoning a waiter in a fancy restaurant.
"Darla?...Can you hear me?...Do you know who this is?... Yes! Yes, really! "
Amanda stuck out her tongue and bugged her eyes, miming Darla's reaction with silent and rather cruel efficiency: a game-show contestant who has just won the bonus round.
"Yes, she's right beside m...Darla, slow down! First I couldn't talk and now I can't get a word in edgeways! I'll let you talk to Lisey in just a..."
Amanda listened longer this time, nodding, at the same time clipping the thumb and fingers of her right hand together in a quack-quack-quack gesture.
"Uh-huh, I'll tell her, Darl." Without bothering to cover the mouthpiece of the phone - probably because she wanted Darla to hear the message being passed on - Amanda said, "She and Canty are together, Lisey, but still at the Jetport. Canty's plane was held up by thunderstorms out of Boston. Isn't that a shame?"
Amanda gave Lisey a thumbs-up as she said this last, then returned her attention to the phone.
"I'm glad I caught you guys before you started rolling, because I'm not at Greenlawn anymore. Lisey and I are at Acadia Mental Health in Derry...that's right, Derry. "
She listened, nodding.
"Yes, I guess it is sort of a miracle. All I know is I heard Lisey calling and I woke up. The last thing I remember before that is you guys taking me to Stephens Memorial in No Soapa. Then I just...I heard Lisey calling me and it was like when you hear someone calling you out of a deep sleep...and the docs at Greenlawn sent me up here for all these tests on my brain that probably cost a fortune..."
Listening.
"Yes, hon, I do want to say hi to Canty, and I'm sure Lisey does, too, but they want us now and the phone won't work in the room where they do their tests. You'll drive up, won't you? I'm sure you can be in Derry by seven o'clock, eight o'clock tops..."
At that moment the skies opened again. This cloudburst was even fiercer than the first had been, and suddenly the car was filled with its hollow drumming sound. For the first time Amanda seemed completely at a loss. She looked at Lisey, eyes wide and full of panic. One finger pointed at the roof of the car, where the sound was coming from. Her lips formed the words She wants to know what that sound is.
Lisey didn't hesitate. She snatched the telephone away from Amanda and put it to her own ear. The connection was bell-clear in spite of the storm (maybe even because of it, for all Lisey knew). She heard not just Darla but Canty as well, talking to each other in agitated, confused, jubilant voices; in the background she could even hear a loudspeaker announcing flight delays due to bad weather.
"Darla, it's Lisey. Amanda's back! All the way back! Isn't it wonderful?"