Honeymoon for Three

pulled in behind it. This should give her a reprieve for a moment. And time to collect her thoughts.
     
    CHAPTER 14
    Gary saw the Ford coming around a curve and breathed a sigh of relief. He had started to worry when he saw that Penny was no longer behind him. He pulled into the first available turnout and waited for several agonizing minutes. Had she lost control of the car and…? He couldn’t bring himself to finish that thought. But he realized how empty life would be without her.
    Penny brought the car to a stop and got out. Alfred exited awkwardly from his side. He really was hurting. Maybe it was dangerous for him to drive. Penny walked directly to Gary and gave him a big kiss. That was a nice way to be greeted.
    “What happened to you?” Gary’s anxiety made his voice harsher than it should have been.
    “I…I thought I had a flat tire. We stopped to check.” Her voice sounded strange.
    “It’s dangerous to stop on this road. Let me check the tires.” Gary walked around the Ford. The tires looked fine to him. He went back to Penny. Alfred was a few feet away, looking up at the Garden Wall, a spectacular mountain ridge.
    “Is Alfred acting okay?” Gary sensed that Penny was jumpy. He had labeled Alfred as a weirdo from the moment he met him.
    “He’s fine,” Penny said, quickly but unconvincingly. “He’s complaining about his aches and pains, but I can handle him.”
    “He can ride in the VW with me for a while.”
    “It wouldn’t be fair to foist him off on you. He’s my classmate and my problem. I’ll drive him.”
    “Your problems are my problems.”
    “What I mean is, I don’t want him to bore you. At least he and I can reminisce about the old days.”
    Gary wasn’t satisfied. He was about to argue when Penny said, “His legs are really sore. He has to stretch them out. He needs the legroom in the Ford.”
    The VW actually had a lot of legroom for such a small car, but Gary didn’t want to start an argument right there, especially in front of Alfred. He decided to accept the situation.
    ***
    Penny dreaded what was coming next, but she couldn’t let Alfred ride with Gary, at least until she heard how bad Alfred’s story was going to get. He had become a loose cannon. The little convoy started up again, with Gary in the lead. Alfred didn’t say anything at first. Penny decided to wait him out. Maybe he would forget about it. Maybe it was just a bad daydream. She navigated the mountain road slowly and carefully, staying close behind Gary.
    “The guy who helped me carry you upstairs was drunk. He wanted to do more than just put you on the bed, if you know what I mean.”
    Penny cringed inside. She knew all too well. She noticed that Alfred had placed his hand on his stomach with his fingers inside his shirt, like pictures of Napoleon she had seen. That gesture had helped her identify him at the Space Needle.
    “I kicked him out of the room and shut the door. I put you under the covers so you wouldn’t be exposed.”
    Alfred paused again. What did he want, a medal? This was agonizing, hearing the story come out piece by piece. She didn’t know whether he was telling the truth, but she couldn’t contradict him.
    “You don’t remember any of this, do you?” Alfred said.
    He had called whatever bluff she had. “I remember things.” She tried to sound indignant, but the words didn’t come out very forcefully.
    “You were very grateful to me.”
    Penny could tell that Alfred was watching her, waiting for her reaction. She decided to return to silence.
    “ Very grateful, if you know what I mean. And I really like your mole.”
    So this was the story. This was what he would tell Gary. She shuddered.
    Additional memories returned to her. She had indeed woken up in Joan’s spare bedroom in the wee hours of the morning—naked. With a splitting headache. Once she figured out where she was, she turned on a light and found her clothes in the room. Someone had collected them for her. She got dressed, snuck out of the house, and walked home. It was less than a mile. She snuck into her own house and made it into her bedroom without being seen. Her brothers were asleep. Her mother was asleep. Her father was asleep and probably drunk to boot.
    There was gossip at school, of course—that’s what had cost her a boyfriend—but nothing that enlightened her about what had happened when she was unconscious, except that it was Joan who had put her clothes in the room. It was a lost