Chapter 4

Natalie was at a library in New York City. This was the first stop on her book tour. It had quite a good turnout. The line for autographs was out the door.

A copy of her book was placed in front of her. Natalie opened it and looked at the blonde woman standing in front of her.

"Who should I make this out to?"

"Sue Ann." The woman said.

"Sue Ann Weaver!" Natalie stood up and walked around the table.

"I barely recognized you. I haven't seen you in over ten years. What are you doing here?"

Natalie and Sue Ann hugged.

"Well I read your book and I heard you were going to be in town, so I took the day off to come see you," Sue Ann said.

"I'm glad you did. What have you been up to since I last saw you?"

"Well, I'm the editor of a fashion magazine. Have you ever heard of Shae Allorn?

"I think Blair might read that," Natalie said.

"I read about all that Blair's been through. How is she doing now?"

"She's been doing well. She's back to her old self. She's driving Jo nuts and getting into fights with people over whether or not the kids should wear cotton. You know the usual."

"Yeah, that sounds like Blair," Sue Ann said.

"So, what about you, are you married? Do you have any kids?" Natalie asked. Natalie played with the pen in her hand.

"No, I've had several boyfriends, but I haven't met the right one yet."

"You'll find him someday," Natalie said. "I've got a husband and a ten year old daughter."

"A ten year old, that means…"

Natalie cut her off, "she's adopted. Snake and I couldn't get pregnant."

"Your husband's name is Snake?"

"It's a lot cooler than his real name, trust me. Snake's a sweetheart, don't let the name fool you."

"What does he do?"

"He's a truck driver. He's driving to California right now."

Natalie noticed the people in line were getting restless.

"So what about Tootie and Jo? What have they been up to?" Sue Ann asked.

"Both of them are married, Tootie is filming a pilot for a TV show and Jo is a cop with the Peekskill Police Department. They each have a daughter."

"And Blair has a daughter?" Sue Ann asked.

"Blair has two children, she adopted a baby recently."

"I guess she has her hands full, huh?"

The people in line behind Sue Ann were getting tired.

"Yeah, but we all help out. We're like one big happy family."

"That must be nice." Sue Ann said with sadness in her voice.

"Yeah well, I'm going to have to move the line along now. There are a lot of people waiting. It was really nice seeing you again."

Natalie signed Sue Ann's book and sent her on her way.

The next person came up and handed Natalie her book. If they were agitated they didn't say anything. Natalie just took the book and signed it in the inside cover. She handed the book back with a smile.

"Well, where is she?" Kelsey asked. "I need to see her for myself."

Tisha stood up from the table, "I'll go find her."

"Wouldn't I know if I had a twin?" Kelsey pulled the crust off of her sandwich.

"I would think so," Jamie said.

"It makes sense. Tisha said Elsie broke her arm the same day my arm hurt and I went to the hospital."

"Maybe you really are twins," Annie said. "I've read that twins have a special connection to each other."

"What kind of connection?" Jamie asked.

"Well, they can feel each other's feelings," Annie said. "They know when the other is hurt or sad, things like that."

"Maybe I felt Elsie's pain when she broke her arm," Kelsey said.

"We haven't even seen her yet. Let's make sure she's your twin before we get too carried away with this," Annie said.

Tisha came back with Elsie, "well, here she is."

"Whoa! She looks exactly like you," Annie said.

Kelsey stood up from her chair and walked over to Elsie. Kelsey and Elsie stared at each other in disbelief. Kelsey reached out and touched Elsie hesitantly and then pulled her hand back quickly.

"You have my face," Elsie said.

"And you have mine," Kelsey said.

"It's like looking in a mirror," Elsie said.

"This can't be real. Do you really think we could be twins?" Kelsey asked.

"When's your birthday?"

"February 3rd."

"Mine too."

"Well it looks like you two are twins," Annie said. "Now the question is, which one of you is the evil twin?"

"Annie, can't you be nice for one second?" Tisha asked. "Neither of them is evil."

"Everybody knows that in all sets of twins there's an evil one," Annie said.

"That's not true, Annie," Jamie said.

"Don't mind her," Tisha said to Elsie. "She's always been a big meanie."

Jamie burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Tisha asked.

"Kelsey and Elsie," Jamie laughed. "You two have rhyming names."

"Hey, it's not like it was on purpose, we were named by different parents," Kelsey said.

"How do you know your parents didn't name her, before they gave her away?" Annie asked.

Kelsey got angry and yelled at Annie with tears streaming down her face. "My mommy and daddy wouldn't give my sister away. I know they wouldn't. Something else must have happened."

"How do you know? My birth mother named me, before she gave me away and so did Amanda's," Annie said.

Elsie ran away from the group and Tisha ran after her.

Jamie saw tears running down Kelsey's face, "Annie stop it, leave them alone, can't you see they are upset?"

Annie watched Jamie take Kelsey's hand and pull her away. Jamie told the counselors something that Annie couldn't hear and then pulled Kelsey out the doors of the mess hall.

Leah ran up to Jessica and Hayley.

"Was that one of my kids that left just now?"

"Yeah, Jamie said she was taking her to the bathroom," Jessica said.

"What's going on?" Leah asked.

"I don't know, Kelsey probably got dirty or something," Hayley said. Hayley drank the rest of her juice.

"We'll just let them work it out and you can go check on them in a few minutes," Jessica said. "They are probably fine."

"Two of your kids just ran out of here too," Leah told Hayley.

"Who ran out of here? No one came and asked if they could go anywhere," Hayley said.

"Tisha and Elsie," Leah answered.

Hayley stood up from the table, "I'll go look for them, they know better."

Hayley ran out of the mess hall and Jessica turned to Leah. "Don't you think it's weird?"

"What?"

"That Kelsey Warner and Elsie Philips look almost exactly alike?"

Leah thought for a moment, "I didn't notice, until you said something, but you're right. If Elsie's hair was a few inches longer and she wasn't wearing a cast, they would look exactly like…"

"Identical twins," Jessica said.

"Do you think they know, and that's why they ran out of here?" Leah asked.

"Could be, I did see them together."

"I think maybe I better go check on Kelsey and Jamie now." Leah got up and walked towards the door.

I thought things like this only happened in the movies. Jessica watched Leah leave the mess hall.

Jamie and Kelsey were sitting on a bench outside the girl's bathroom. Kelsey was blowing her nose with a wad of toilet paper.

"What if Annie's right? What if my mom gave Elsie away?"

"Don't listen to Annie. You know she's just mean sometimes. She shouldn't have said that."

"What if it's true though?" Kelsey asked. Kelsey sniffed and Jamie went in the bathroom to get more toilet paper. Jamie came back out and sat next to Kelsey and handed the toilet paper to her.

"Kelsey, I don't think your mom would give your sister away. I'm sure something else happened."

"Like what?"

"Maybe there was a mistake at the hospital, or maybe Elsie was kidnapped." Jamie picked up a stick and started drawing lines in the dirt.

"I'm scared, Jamie. I don't want to be separated from her again."

"I'm sure everything will work out, stop worrying right now and enjoy the rest of camp and your parents can work it out when we get home." Jamie spotted Leah walking towards them. "We have to get back to the mess hall now, I'm sure it will be okay."

Leah walked up to Jamie and Kelsey. "Is everything okay here?"

"Yeah, we're cool," Jamie said.

"Great, I want you two back at the mess hall in two minutes." Leah turned around and headed back.

"Are you okay now, are you ready to go back?" Jamie asked.

Kelsey nodded and stood up, she threw the wad of toilet paper in the trash can, "I'm going to wash my face and hands first."

"Okay," Jamie said as Kelsey walked into the bathroom. Jamie followed her in and stood by the door. "Oh, and don't think me comforting you changes anything, you're still going in the lake."

Elsie had run all the way back to Chipmunk cabin, she and Tisha were sitting on her bottom bunk. Elsie was still crying and her nose was running.

"Don't listen to everything Annie says. She doesn't know everything." Tisha said.

"I just want to go home," Elsie said. Fresh tears dripped down her face. "I want my mom."

"I miss my mom too, but I'm not leaving. I'm having fun now. I don't want you to leave. We're having fun together, right?"

"Yeah, I had fun with you."

"Don't you want to get to know Kelsey? She might be your twin sister. If you leave now, you'll never get to know her and you'll be separated again."

"I know. I do want to know her. Something weird happened when she touched me, I got shocked or something." Elsie grabbed her pillow, pulled it to her chest and wrapped her arms around it as best she could with a cast on.

"That's probably because you two belong together."

"And I remembered something, I was a baby and I was with her and it was dark. I could hear someone singing."

"What were they singing?"

"I don't know what it was. I never heard the song before."

Tisha and Elsie heard footsteps approaching the cabin. Hayley opened the door and came in.

Tisha remembered that they hadn't told anyone where they were going. "We are in trou-ble."

"You girls didn't ask if you could leave the mess hall, you know the rules," Hayley said.

"We're sorry," Tisha said. "Annie made her cry and she just ran out and I'm her buddy, I forgot to tell you."

"Do you girls know why we have these rules at camp?" Hayley asked.

They both nodded.

"Tell me, I want to see if you were listening."

"Because this is a wooded area and there are bears." Elsie said. Elsie hugged her pillow tighter.

"And we don't want to end up like Billy," Tisha said.

"We need to know where you are at all times, do you girls understand?"

"Yes Hayley, we're sorry," Elsie said.

"Let's go back to the mess hall." Hayley said. Hayley turned around and motioned for them to follow.

Tisha and Elsie stood up and followed Hayley outside.

Brett and Katie were still sitting at the table with the boys going over details of their plan.

"Do you think you can get that?" Brett asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure I can get my mom to send it. When the kids have free playtime tonight, I'll go in the counselor's lounge and call her," Katie said.

"Great, do you think it will get here next Wednesday?" Brett asked. Brett stuffed the rest of his sandwich in his mouth.

"I'll tell her to send it out right away," Katie said.

Jessica walked up to the table.

"Brett, your little sister ran out of here crying a little while ago," Jessica said.

"Thanks Jessica, I'll go check on her in a second." Brett said. Brett drank the rest of his juice and stood up from the table. He grabbed his dishes to bring to the kitchen. "See you later, Katie."

Brett put his dishes in the dish bucket and walked out the door.

Hayley, Tisha, and Elsie were almost to the mess hall when Brett walked out.

"Hey Els, what's the matter?" Brett said.

"We'll leave you two alone." Hayley said. Hayley and Tisha walked into the mess hall.

"I want to go home," Elsie said.

"Why?"

"I want Mom," Elsie said.

"Els, Mom can't come and get you. She has to work and if I'm here, there's no one at home to watch you."

Elsie started crying again.

"Aren't you making friends? I see you have new signatures on your cast," Brett said.

"The girls in my cabin signed it."

"So, what happened?"

"This girl named Annie said something mean."

"Don't listen to her, ok." Brett said. "Do you know what happens to kids like Annie when they don't behave here at camp?"

Elsie shook her head.

"Well, there's a guy named Jason over there that takes care of them." Brett pointed in the direction of the boy's side of camp. "So, if Annie or anyone else is a jerk to you again, you tell someone and I'll make sure Jason takes care of it. Okay?"

Elsie nodded.

Brett gave her a hug. "Are you okay now?"

Elsie nodded and wiped the tears off her face.

"Let's go back inside. It's time to split up for activities."

Blair was sitting on the couch reading a book to Amanda when the phone rang. Blair reached behind her and grabbed the phone.

"Hello?"

"Blair, it's me."

"Hey Natalie, how's the book tour going?"

"I had a huge turnout. You'll never guess who I ran into."

"You met a celebrity! It was the guy from that movie wasn't it?"

"No, I saw Sue Ann from Eastland."

"I haven't seen her in what ten years. What has she been up to?" Blair asked.

"She's the editor of a fashion magazine."

"Which fashion magazine?"

"It's called Shae Allorn."

"Oh, I've never read that one."

Amanda started squirming around in Blair's lap, trying to get down. Blair put her on the floor.

"Did you get my mail yet?" Natalie asked.

"Yeah, I have it right here."

"Did I get anything from Annie?"

"Let me check." Blair stood up and walked over to the desk. "I know I got a letter from Annie."

"You got a letter from Annie! Why is she sending you letters?"

"I don't know, I guess I was the only one she felt could give her love advice."

"Blair, she's ten, she's not ready for love advice."

"Natalie, when you were ten, you were trying to attract boys too."

"Gosh, you're right, what's his name?"

"His name is Scott. Annie's hoping he asks her to be his partner for the square dance."

"Scott? Isn't he the kid she punched in the face last year?"

"I don't remember, Natalie."

"Well, did she send me a letter?"

Blair looked through Natalie's mail.

"Yeah, I found one."

"Can you open it and read it to me?"

Natalie heard Blair open the envelope and the rustling of paper being removed and unfolded.

"Hey Mom, Camp is great, I'm having fun. Love, Annie."

"That's it? She writes you a whole page, and me, her mother, gets a measly ten words. Wait until she gets home." Natalie said.

"Well at least she's being good, right?

"I hope she's being good. I haven't gotten any calls. Did Kelsey send you anything?"

"Yeah, she says she's trying to have fun, but Jamie says she's going to throw her in the lake. I'm going to have to talk to Jo about that. She needs to understand that we Warner's don't get our hair wet."

Natalie rolled her eyes.

Later that night at the bonfire, all the campers were roasting marshmallows. Brett walked up to Elsie who was standing next to Kelsey.

"Hey Els, are you having fun?"

"Yeah, I met some new friends."

Brett looked at all the kids roasting their marshmallows. His mouth dropped open when he saw Kelsey.

"Els, did you know that girl looks just like you?"

"Yeah, we're twins."

"Elsie, you don't have a twin."

Elsie pointed to Kelsey. "Then who is that?"

Brett didn't know how to answer that.

"Els, if you had a twin, I would know about it. I'm eleven years older than you, so I would remember if mom was having twins."

"Well, what if we are twins? What happens then?"

"I don't know, but this is freaking me out. I have to go." Brett walked away and went towards the other male counselors.

Kelsey turned towards Elsie. "If we're really twins, what do you think will happen?"

"I don't know, but if we're twins it means we are sisters and if we are sisters that means we'll be living together."

"Would we live at your house, or mine?" Kelsey asked.

"I don't know. It depends on who we belong to," Elsie said.

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe your parents aren't your parents. Maybe my mom is your mom or the other way around."

Kelsey's marshmallow caught on fire as she let the ramifications of what Elsie just said sink in. What if my family is not my family? What if I have to go live with Elsie's family? What if I never see my family again?