Chapter Seven:

The Capture

After she was completely sure Karen would keep Seaweed's visits a secret, Penny managed to calm down a little. Seaweed started coming back after a while—he wasn't one to stay away from his girl for very long (forget feminism; she was his, his, his, and she had no use for denying it)—and their Friday night rendezvous continued for many blissful weeks without a hitch. It was very easy for Penny to believe that it would simply continue forever… too easy.

On a Friday night in late November, Penny woke once again to the sound of rocks tapping against her window. She jumped out of bed and slipped on her shoes and a coat—it was getting too cold to go out in just a nightgown anymore.

"Have fun," Karen yawned, rolling over in bed and promptly falling back to sleep. Penny smiled and hurried out the door, down the stairs, and into the night.

Of course, Seaweed was waiting below her window with his arms open. She folded into him effortlessly, and he kissed her forehead. "How are you, baby girl?"

"Right now, I'm great." Penny stepped back and took his hands, gasping involuntarily. "Seaweed, you're freezing!" She gave him a quick once-over and noticed that his jacket was much too thin for the temperature outside.

Seaweed chuckled. "It was dark; guess I grabbed the wrong jacket. Come sit with me a minute, I'll warm up." He sat her down on the grass and held her close, presumably in order to warm up, and she rubbed his hands and arms to get friction going. Laughing low in his throat, he gently held her still.

"That wasn't quite what I had in mind, baby." He leaned down and kissed her, soft at first and rising to passionate. When they finally broke apart, Penny's head was spinning.

"You know," she panted, "I like your way better."

After half an hour of lying in Seaweed's arms, and a few more heady kisses, Penny decided it would be a good idea to head back to her dorm. "I have to go," she whispered sadly.

"Aw, c'mon," he teased her. "I'm not warm yet."

While the thought of staying for a few more hours (…or days…or weeks…) to warm Seaweed up sounded tempting, she beat it down. "Seaweed, someone's going to notice I'm gone."

Seaweed sighed and loosed his hold on her. "All right." They stood up, and he hugged her goodbye.

"I love you," he whispered as he kissed her temple.

She stood on her toes and pressed her lips to his cheek. "I love you too."


The next morning, Penny was no sooner up, dressed, and downstairs than an official-looking senior girl tapped her on the shoulder.

"Summons to Mother Elena's office," she said grimly, handing Penny a green slip of paper. "Good luck."

Penny's eyes widened as she fell back into an armchair. Mother Elena was Headmistress of Our Lady, and a summons to her office just couldn't mean anything good. What did I do? She racked her brain frantically, going over every event of the past month with a fine-toothed comb…

She gasped. Oh, no… that can't be it. We were too careful! No one ever saw us…

Except Karen.

Penny banished that thought almost as soon as it came into her head. Karen wouldn't tell, not with her own history hitting so close to home. And she couldn't have been lying. There had been too much heart, too much actual feeling in the story she'd told for it not to be true.

But if Karen didn't tell, than who did?

Penny didn't have much time to think about it. If getting summoned to the Headmistress's office on a Saturday morning was bad, keeping said Headmistress waiting was probably worse. She got up out of the armchair and made her way to the administrative building at a snail's pace, hearing the Death March in her head all the way there.

When she arrived at the office, Penny realized that it didn't look nearly as scary as she'd thought it would. The lighting was actually warm, and there was a window overlooking the nearby pine forest. Everything was paneled in oak, and the carpeted floor was a deep crimson. There were crosses everywhere: embroidered on pillows that adorned austere armchairs; patterned on the sun catcher in the window; hanging above the door to the main office. A pinch-faced secretary sat, banging away on a typewriter, at a desk near the window. Penny approached her nervously.

"Can I help you?" the secretary asked in a clipped voice.

"Um," Penny meekly answered, "I'm Penny Pingleton, and I'm here to see Mother Elena."

The secretary didn't look up from her work. "Door's open. She's been expecting you." Penny gulped, turned to the door that seemed, at that moment, to dominate the whole room, and opened it.

The inner office wasn't quite as welcoming as the front room. The walls were hospital white, the lights fluorescent and buzzing, and, instead of a pointy secretary sitting at the desk in the middle of the small room, there was a large, grim old woman in a habit.

"You are Miss Pingleton, correct?" Penny nodded. "Sit." Penny immediately sat in the chair facing Mother Elena's desk.

The nun sat back and steepled her fingers, her eyes scrutinizing Penny. "We received some very disturbing information about you yesterday evening, Penny." The redhead focused all her attention on keeping a straight face; the smallest twinge might give her away, and she didn't even know the charges against her yet.

"As you know," Mother Elena continued, either not noticing Penny's effort or choosing to ignore it, "males over the age of fourteen, whether they are related to a student at Our Lady or not, are not permitted on the grounds. They are a distraction to the learning environment of the young ladies, as well as a danger to their virtue." If the occasion hadn't been so serious, Penny would have giggled. It sounded like Mother Elena was quoting directly from the school charter, if not from a 19th-century novel.

"Last night, a student from your dorm—you are in Saint Mary Hall, correct?—came here to inform me that you were seen on the grounds at some ungodly hour, cavorting with a boy who looked much older than thirteen." Mother Elena looked over her spectacles at Penny. "Are these accusations true? Or should I consider our young informant a liar?"

Penny looked down at her hands. Okay, Penny, you have two options. One: you can lie through your teeth, probably get put under some kind of probation, and get into trouble of Biblical proportions if you get caught again. Or, two: Tell the truth, still get into deep trouble, but maybe get a little sympathy.

Option two.

She took a deep breath. "It's true." After a long moment of silence, Penny realized tacking an apology on the end might have been a good idea… but she wasn't really sorry.

Mother Elena sighed. "I was afraid of that. You see, Penny, that means we have to give you the usual punishment for an infraction of that particular rule.

You have the rest of the day to pack. I'll call your mother to come get you in the morning."