Free OUT ON A LIMB by Joan Hess

Costa Rica. The rain forests are extraordinary, I’ve been told. Goodbye, Ms. Malloy.”
    “Adios, Assistant Professor Baybergen,” I said to the dial tone. I replaced the receiver, then fuddled about, selling a few books, dusting the stock, and glumly flipping through invoices. Caron did not appear. I was not yet alarmed, although I was a bit worried. We were going to have to sit down and sort all this out, despite the convolutions and complexities. I doubted she knew why she was reacting so emotionally, and I wasn’t sure I did, either. Dr. Spock wasn’t available, and Mr. Spock would not beam me up.
    Inez appeared at five o’clock. Skyler was fast asleep, no doubt worn out from his encounters with butterflies at the park.
    “He is such a good baby,” Inez whispered.
    “But not ours,” I reminded both of us as I locked the front door and prepared to leave.
    “Did Caron come by?”
    I shook my head. “She’s probably at home. Do you want to come along?”
    “I don’t know what to say.”
    “Neither do I,” I acknowledged while we transferred Skyler once again to the car seat. “I suppose I could call Rhonda’s mother and offer some sort of glib excuse for being caught in the act of buying diapers. What do you think?”
    Inez handed me some change. “Rhonda’s mouth runs in only one direction, and that’s downstream.”
    “Well, then,” I said inanely. We drove to the duplex. Caron was in her room, with music resonating so loudly that I hoped we would not hear complaints from the androgynous downstairs tenant. Inez pounded on the bedroom door while I settled Skyler on a blanket on the sofa, then poured myself a drink. It had been a stressful twenty-four hours. Skyler seemed to be the only one who was oblivious.
    Inez came into the living room. “She won’t let me in.”
    “She’ll come out sooner or later. Go on home.”
    “But I feel as though I should—”
    I gave her a kiss on the forehead. “We both do, but we’ll have to wait for Caron.”
    Inez left. Skyler slurped down a fair amount of formula, observed me while I changed his diaper, and then seemed reasonably agreeable to watching the local news. Jessica’s segment was a replay of the noon press conference interview. Mr. Ferncliff would have to wait until ten o’clock for his fleeting moment of fame.
    Caron emerged an hour later to stick a frozen entree in the microwave. “You heard?” she said from the kitchen as she punched buttons.
    “Inez told me.”
    She came into the living room. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t tell the truth. If I do, the police and social services will get involved, and Skyler will be whisked away. On the other hand, if I keep my mouth shut, every last person at the high school will think he’s my child. Any Ideas, Mother?”
    “Can you hang in another day?” I asked her as she sat down across from me.
    “And sacrifice my chances of being a cheerleader? Whatever will happen to me?”
    “I never envisioned you with pom-poms. The moment I laid eyes on you, I assumed you’d be a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon. Well… or at least a cancer researcher or a marine biologist out to save the dolphins. Watching you do cartwheels on a football field never entered my mind.”
    “You could call me in sick.”
    I resisted the urge to mention the dreaded algebra test, which she would have to make up in the next day or two. “Is that what you want?”
    “As opposed to listening to whispers and snickers when I walk down the halls? Gee, tough decision.”
    “If you’ll look after Skyler.”
    “I suppose so,” she said. “Did you talk to Peter?”
    I gave her a report of all that had happened, tactfully omitting the three girls who’d come into the Book Depot. Caron listened, but she was too distracted by her own problems to do more than nod occasionally. I let her go to her room, then settled down next to Skyler and tried to immerse myself in a novel. I had marginal success, since I couldn’t