Teetering on the Edge

After walking Diana and Trixie back to the Lynch Estate, Dan and Mart returned to Crabapple Farm. They knew the coming confrontation couldn't be missed, not if there was any hope of repairing the friendships that could be lost. When they walked into the kitchen, they only saw Brian, sitting at the table studying for the exams he'd have to take during the next week.

Brian looked up at the noise of the door opening and his eyes narrowed as his expression grew hard.

Mart glanced at the stair, shook his head at Brian, and walked back out, with Dan following.

The moment Brian was outside, the barrage started. "How could you encourage our sister to drink, Mart? Not to mention Diana. Dan, I know you've seen the repercussions of alcoholic behavior while you were still in the city. For heaven's sake, we've all seen the end results. We see them every time we look at April. Think about how she's broken up inside over the way it destroyed her family." His voice had risen as he spoke.

Above, a window silently opened.

Mart's eyes resembled steel in the shadowing darkness. "I'm not encouraging either one of them. As long as they're not already drinking when we meet them, we can keep them from drinking."

Dan agreed with Mart. "Brian, you don't know what happened to them. They need to deal. Right now, all we can do is give them support and make sure they don't do anything stupid."

Brian threw up his hands in frustration. "What did happen to them then? Maybe I'll understand."

Dan shook his head. "That's not our story to tell. Even if we could tell you, it'd be seen as a betrayal. Then who would the girls have to keep an eye on them?"

Brian understood that part, but he still felt the problem was too big for Dan and Mart to handle. Maybe it's too big for all of us to handle, he thought to himself. "If you two don't want to do everything possible to help, I will. That starts with caring enough to talk to some adults."

Mart shook his head decisively. "They're already using alcohol to deal with guilt, shame, anger, and what they see as their ignorance and weaknesses. What do you think talking to parents will do to them?"

The back door opened behind them. "You won't have to go to any parents. This parent heard the whole argument."

At the Lynch Estate, Diana and Trixie were struggling to go to sleep, even though it was early. Finally Trixie sat up and flung the covers off her. Diana took that as her cue to do the same.

"Just where do Brian and Jim get the idea that they're all-knowing?" Trixie fumed.

Diana shrugged. "I don't know, but they don't know what they were talking about. Why worry about it? They'll leave Sunday."

Trixie couldn't be calmed. She started pacing and muttering about know-it-alls and tattle-tail best friends. Diana decided to get up and go searching. A fifteen-minute hunt revealed her fear.

"Trixie, we're completely empty."

Trixie stiffened and turned to her. "No, we can't be."

Diana's solemn nod confirmed it. "I have an idea though. We'll just go downstairs and get something from my parents' bar."

Trixie nodded and followed Diana out of the room.

They were so intent on getting to where they were going that they never heard the phone ring.

Diana had just found an open bottle and was pouring it into shot glasses when they started giggling about how easy it was to sneak downstairs and not get caught.

Suddenly, the overhead light blinded them.

"Diana!" Mrs. Lynch gasped. "I just got a call from Helen, asking me to check on you girls. I never would have believed she was right!"

Mr. Lynch suddenly looked old. "I never thought we'd have to lock the cocktail bar. Both of you, get into the living room."

Diana and Trixie made their way into the living room ahead of the Lynch parents, heads down to hide the anger they felt at getting caught.

Mr. Lynch sat down opposite them, while Mrs. Lynch stepped into the hall with the phone. They only heard insignificant snatches of the conversation. Soon, Mrs. Lynch sat down next to her husband.

"Trixie," she started, barely containing her fury, "I've just spoken to your mother. You may finish the remainder of the night here. In the morning, your parents will arrive and we will all sort this out. Go to bed now." She turned to her husband, reminding him to lock the liquor cabinet. He nodded as the girls went to Diana's room.

Once back in Diana's room, the girls exploded. "Someone told your mom, Trixie. That's the only way she could have called mine."

"It must have been Honey, or maybe April," Trixie answered angrily. "It couldn't have been Dan or Mart. We made sure they couldn't tell, even though we didn't exactly plan it that way."

Diana nodded uncertainly. "I guess it could be April and Honey. Could Brian or Jim have told on us?"

Trixie shook her head. "I don't think so. Jim isn't even really that interested in us. Brian is a possibility, but I think this is something he'd want to fix on his own. You know how he is."

Diana nodded more decisively this time. "That makes sense. It had to be our former best friends."

The girls finally fell into a troubled sleep, muttering about untrustworthy best friends and parents who didn't understand.

The next morning, Diana's door was opened abruptly. "Girls, get up and get dressed. The Beldens will be here in five minutes."

Diana and Trixie groaned, but did as they were told. As they went downstairs and got closer to the living room, they became aware of voices. They stopped to listen.

Mrs. Lynch was crying. "I blame myself. I should have realized something was happening. Those girls have never needed to sneak around before, so they shouldn't have been that good at it."

Mrs. Belden shook her head. "Catherine, we've taught both girls right from wrong. We've parented each other's children enough that we have a blurred line between my daughter and yours. There must be something else we don't know about. I can't believe that they'd suddenly start drinking."

Mr. Belden cleared his throat. "We've talked to the other kids. Dan and Mart both acted suspiciously innocent of knowing anything and refused to answer our questions. Brian and Jim came home because they'd heard about it from April and Honey. April and Honey say they saw it with their own eyes."

Mr. Lynch looked thoughtful. "If Dan and Mart are both refusing to talk, it does seem as if there's something they know that we don't. I'd like to find out what it is."

Because the parents were getting a little too close for comfort to the beginning, Diana and Trixie burst into the room. All four parents stood as one, separating Diana and Trixie. Mr. Belden took the lead. "We've agreed on punishments. You are both grounded for two weeks. You will see no one other than family."

Diana and Trixie feared being away from each other. They protested that part loudly.

Mrs. Lynch shook her head. "Don't start, girls. You're very lucky that this is all you're getting. Since you two have been so close, nearly inseparable really, you may still call each other once a day. However, these calls won't last longer than ten minutes."

With that, the families separated and the Beldens took Trixie home.

A week went by with no parents getting much sleep. Diana had been caught three times trying to pick the lock on the liquor cabinet and Trixie had nightmares every night, where she'd wake the rest of the family screaming.

The parents met again to discuss the progress made with each girl.

"Trixie's been having nightmares," Mrs. Belden wearily confessed.

"I don't think Diana's been sleeping at all. We catch her trying to pick the lock, and then she goes to her room. She looks like a zombie."

Mr. Belden shook his head. "Nothing we try gets Trixie to talk to us. She just sits there, stone-faced and silent."

Mr. Lynch laughed sympathetically. "Nothing we try will make Diana open up either. Of course, all we get is a bunch of screaming. There is something seriously wrong with those girls."

Mrs. Belden nodded. "I wish I had a solution. I do know that they can't go on like this though."

Mrs. Lynch nodded. "I do have an idea. We threw away all the liquor the first time we caught Diana picking the lock. She doesn't know that," Mrs. Lynch answered the unasked question in the Beldens' eyes. "Maybe we could allow small get-togethers with the girls. They can meet here or at your house when Mart's at work. We can even invite Honey and April. Maybe they'll finally break down."

Mr. Lynch sat silent for a few minutes longer. "Why don't I try talking to Dan and Mart? I know you've tried, Peter, but Mart is your son and Dan's girlfriend is your daughter."

Mrs. Belden shook her head. "You men have tried enough. I'll talk to those boys, and I'll make them tell me."

Diana and Trixie were overjoyed to see each other after such a long week. They complained together about parents trying to talk.

"I didn't tell," Diana whispered.

"I didn't either," Trixie admitted. "Sometimes I wonder if I should, but it's not just my secret, you know?"

Diana nodded her understanding. "I've felt the same. Also, whenever I make up my mind to tell and promise myself that I'll talk to you about it, I change my mind."

"Me, too," Trixie answered.

Diana sighed. "I think I would tell if I thought it could help. I haven't slept more than two hours a night since we were separated."

Trixie put her arm around Diana. "I've been having nightmares. I keep dreaming that I can't get loose in time to save you, nor can I save myself."

At the moment Diana and Trixie were talking, Mrs. Belden was sitting in the kitchen waiting on Dan. He arrived right on time, which caused her to sigh in relief.

Offering him a cookie, she decided to get down to it without beating around the bush.

"Dan, you know something about my daughter that I don't. I wish you would tell me so I could help her."

Dan sadly shook his head. "I can't. It's not my secret to tell. It doesn't just involve Trixie either. I wish I could tell you."

She saw the pain in his eyes and knew he was doing his best to help, yet keep the secret at the same time. She sighed again, this one a sigh of regret.

"How do I get her to talk?" she almost begged.

He shrugged. "The best thing I can tell you is to talk to Trix and Diana together. Maybe they'll tell their secret when they don't feel that they're betraying each other."

"I appreciate that advice, Dan. I think I'll go on over to the Estate and use it." She handed him the rest of the cookies when he stood to take his leave.

Fifteen minutes later, the mothers were with the girls in Diana's room.

"Please tell us what's going on," Mrs. Lynch begged.

Diana and Trixie wore identical deer-in-the-headlights look. They tried to shake their heads, but found they couldn't. With tears in their eyes and gripping each other's hand, they started talking quietly, emotionlessly.

By the time their story was told, both mothers were crying silently. They reached out to their daughters.

"If you had just told us to begin with, we could have avoided this unpleasantness," Mrs. Lynch commented. "I still think you should go to the police and counseling."

The girls shook their heads.

Mrs. Belden sighed. "You two still aren't off the hook. You have some apologies to make to your friends. You will not drink. You will learn how to deal with this incident. If you won't go to the police or counseling, we'll have to find another way."

The next few hours were spent deciding on way to make the girls feel more secure in their surroundings, as they couldn't always be together. One question, however, still lingered in their minds. Would the memory really go away and allow them to heal?