The Hayloft. A 1950s Mystery

satisfaction from his screams. We pulled him through the doorway and well onto the grass and away from the barn.
    Then I collapsed on the lawn. Kate knelt beside Ed, frantically telling him that everything was going to be all right, as if she were trying to convince herself. Our eyes met. Hers had a look of shock and disbelief.

    CHAPTER 32
    “When my dad called me out of the room, it was to tell me that he had arranged for my return to Atherton High School.”
    Sylvia caught her breath and stared at me. She was looking mighty pretty in a shimmery green dress that matched her green eyes, with her short blond hair waved just right. In the background, the hired band played “Stranger in Paradise” from Kismet , as the band members harmonized their voices to the words.
    Autumn leaves adorned the walls of the high school gymnasium, as if there weren’t already enough outside, and young couples glided around the dance floor with greater or lesser proficiency, the boys wearing suits and the girls wearing calf-length dresses much like Sylvia’s. But she was the prettiest one there, even including Natalie, who had her arms wrapped around Joe in apparent bliss.
    I had asked Sylvia if we could sit this one out, so that I could bring her up to date without Tom and Kate being there. They were dancing together; Tom was in heaven, and Kate looked as if she were having fun. I hoped so. She had been through a lot in the past week.
    “I told him I wanted to stay at Carter.”
    Sylvia started breathing again. It was terrible of me to do this to her. I had been experimenting with my newfound power ever since I had been declared a hero by the Buffalo Express in a front-page article. Now I had to come back down to earth.
    The first thing I had done was to figure out how I could take Sylvia to the autumn dance. My father was no longer in any position to object. I had won over other key players. Aunt Dorothy wouldn’t be reporting my misdeeds to him any longer and Dr. Graves had even asked me to take over as editor of the Carter school paper.
    Convincing Tom to take Kate to the dance was a piece of cake. I thought the hardest part would be to convince Kate that I wasn’t standing her up. It turned out that what upset her most was the fear that everybody would turn against her because of what Ed had done. I got Kate and Tom talking on the phone. Tom’s obvious liking for her helped put her world back together.
    Barney said he could find another date, which left Sylvia free to go with me. In fact, at this very moment, Barney was dancing with Ruth Allen, the girl he had brought. Maybe there was something to her other than her body. After all, Barney was an intellectual. But then, he had been hot for Natalie, too. Even intellectuals had their urges.
    I picked up Sylvia and Kate, in that order. Sylvia’s parents congratulated me for being a hero. Kate’s parents were strangely absent when I called for her. We all drove to Atherton to collect Tom. I introduced Sylvia to my parents while we were there. They were very cordial to her. My father turned on his politician’s campaign personality with her. And then he took me aside.
    I related to Sylvia what he had said. “He said he had talked to the Atherton principal who would accept me back. Even the mother of the girl I libeled agreed to drop any plans for a lawsuit.”
    “So why aren’t you going? After all, you’ve only been here a month.”
    “For a minute I considered it. I would be returning as the conquering hero. But then I thought it was more likely that I would be returning as the prodigal son. There seemed to be a hint of condescension in what my father was doing, as if he were saying, ‘You done wrong, but you have atoned for it, and we forgive you.’ Sylvia, I’m not looking for forgiveness.”
    Sylvia took my hand and said, “Now I know why I like you, Gary.”
    “The fact that I would have to be separated from you entered into my thinking, too.”
    “I’m sure it did.” Sylvia said that with a lilt. She was her old playful self again.
    “He mentioned the benefits of living at home. But I think I’ve outgrown home, at least as a permanent residence.”
    “It’s a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.”
    “Well, maybe summers.”
    The music stopped, and Tom and Kate returned, hand in hand, to the chairs in our little group. Kate looked delectable in a red dress that matched her hair. She had successfully covered many of the scars on