The Class Menagerie

mind?“
    “What were you two talking about? And why are you blushing?“ Shelley said as she dragged Jane farther up the hill to a group of people.
    “Later—“ Jane replied.
    She was introduced to a number of people, whose names went right past her. Her mind was already in Wisconsin.
    With Mel.
    At a resort.
    Without children.
    Romantic moonlit nights, perhaps some soft music in the background. Loons making their eerie sounds over the still water. The fresh pine-scented air brushing her bare shoulders...
    Then a dreadful thought crashed this happy reverie. Thelma. Her mother-in-law had been disappointed that Jane hadn’t actually constructed a funeral pyre for Steve and thrown herself on it. At least, she’d expected it emotionally, if not physically. Thelma hadn’t known that Steve had been leaving Jane for another woman when his car slid on the ice and went into the guardrail. And it probably wouldn’t have mattered to her. She still would have expected Jane to grieve for him in virtuous solitude the rest of her life.
    “ Jane! “ Shelley pinched her arm. “I want to introduce you to Trey Moffat. You’ve heard me talk about him.“
    “Oh, Trey. How nice to meet you,“ Jane said, rubbing her arm where Shelley had pinched. “You’ve done a wonderful job organizing.“
    This was the man Mel had been talking to when Jane first arrived at the picnic. “And you’ve done a great job helping Shelley, I hear.“
    As they were speaking, Jane noticed Crispy walking by behind Trey. She was walking slowly, head bent, frowning. That was odd. She hardly looked like herself in such deep repose.
    “Would you excuse me for just a second...?“ Jane asked and hurried to approach Crispy before she was swallowed by another group of classmates.
    “What’s up, Crispy?“ she asked bluntly.
    Her face was pale, and she looked downright haggard. “Oh, Jane. I’ve figured something out. It’s awful. So awful. But it explains almost everything. It was all in the notebook and I just didn’t understand—“
    “Lila’s notebook? The one that disappeared.“
    “Oh, Jane. You didn’t buy that, did you? I didn’t leave it where anybody could pick it up.“
    “You still have it? Why on earth—“
    “Ladies, the hot dogs are done to perfection!“ Trey Moffat said, catching up with them. “Best in the world. Come along!“ He hustled them back down the slope.
    “Wait! There’s something Crispy and I have to sort out,“ Jane said.
    “It will wait,“ Crispy said. She glanced at her watch. “Two o’clock. Behind that little house up on the hill,“ she said. Jane could barely hear her for Trey’s blustering about the magnificent job of cooking his group of men had done. Jane found herself being handed a plate and shoved into a line of people taking potato salad and baked beans. She lost sight of Crispy for a moment, then spotted her talking to Avalon. She still looked preoccupied and sad. Or maybe the expression was anger. Jane glanced around for Mel, thinking she really should report her brief conversation with Crispy to him at the first opportunity, but he wasn’t anywhere in sight.
    As she sat down with her plate, one of the kids winged a Frisbee down the middle of the table, sending catsup, mustard, and assorted other condiments flying. There were a few minutes of chaos as a result and by the time the miscreant had been caught and sternly admonished and the catsup had been mopped off Jane’s blouse, Crispy had disappeared.
    Jane abandoned her plate. Shelley was the only familiar face near her now. Jane wriggled through the crowd still surrounding the food table and made her way to where her friend was sitting. “Shelley, have you seen Crispy?“
    Shelley caught the alarm in Jane’s voice. “She was here a minute ago. I don’t know where—“
    “Mel. Have you seen Mel?“ .
    “No. What’s wrong?“
    “I don’t know. But I’m worried. Crispy’s figured something out. She’s mad about it. And now she’s disappeared. I need to find Mel.“
    Shelley stood up. “We’ll find him. We’ll find both of them. Run over and see if either of them is with that group down at the fireplace near the basketball courts. I’ll check the one by the lake.“
    They tore off in opposite directions. Jane knew she was getting weird looks as she shoved her way through the crowd she was searching with increasing panic. But she didn’t care. “Excuse me. Have you seen Crispy? Have you seen Detective VanDyne?“