Free While My Pretty One Knits by Anne Canadeo

waffles for breakfast…with piles of real bacon on the side.”
    Lucy stood nearby, only half listening to the exchange: her real focus was on the Knitting Nest. The conversation she’d had with Wanda Gruber about Amanda echoed in her thoughts.
    As Lucy stared at the shop, she realized that she hadn’t really known Amanda very well at all, had she? Sure, she knew of Amanda’s critical sour side—the traits that had defined the woman publicly—but there was more there, Lucy realized, a lot more. Maybe that brash, bitter façade was a curtain and a completely different person was hiding behind it. Like that scene in The Wizard of Oz, when the thundering Wizard is revealed to be a timid little man. “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,” he says. But of course, it’s too late.
    “Lucy…are you okay?” Suzanne stood a few steps away. Lucy turned to see Suzanne staring curiously at her.
    “Wait…” Lucy took a deep breath. She wondered if her eyes were playing a trick on her. She’d been thinking about Amanda so much this morning. Maybe she’d just…lost it.
    “What’s the matter?” Dana had started up the street toward her car, but now turned and came back.
    Lucy paused. She knew her friends were going to think she’d gone crazy. “I think I just saw someone in Amanda’s shop.”
    Suzanne squinted at her. “Saw someone? What do you mean?” Dana stared at Lucy, too, but didn’t say anything.
    “I was standing here, staring at the shop, and I saw a shadow or a person or something in there. I’m sure of it.” Lucy knew she was rambling now, but she couldn’t help it.
    “There couldn’t be anyone in there, Lucy. That place is taped up like a UPS box going to Tierra del Feugo,” Suzanne said.
    “Maybe you just saw a reflection off the window. From a passing car?” Dana offered.
    “Could be…except a car hasn’t passed for a while now,” Lucy replied. When they didn’t answer, she added, “I’m going over to check it out.”
    Lucy knew that sounded a bit crazy, but she was curious now to find out if she’d imagined it. She felt certain she’d seen something. But the doubts of her friends were making her question her own perception.
    Suzanne reached for her arm as she started to cross the street. “You can’t go in there. It’s a crime scene…duh? What if the police drive by and see you over there? You’ll be arrested.”
    “Lucy, if there really is someone there, it could be dangerous,” Dana pointed out. “Maybe we should just call the police right now.”
    Lucy considered the suggestion. “By the time they come, whoever is inside will be gone and we’ll be standing here for hours in the cold answering questions.” From what she’d seen so far, the police had no shortage of them. “Besides, we’ll draw attention to Maggie and that might upset her.”
    Her friends didn’t answer but she could tell from their expressions that they more or less agreed.
    “Just stay here and watch for patrol cars. I’ll be right back. I’m not going to do anything stupid,” she promised.
    I hope, she added silently. Without waiting for their approval, Lucy ran across the street to the Knitting Nest. Peering in the front window seemed too obvious. And Suzanne was right about the police catching her. It would be just her luck if a patrol car passed as she slipped under the yellow tape and pressed her face to the front window. There had to a side window, she thought, or one in back.
    A paved alleyway, about the width of a car, separated the building from the one next door. Lucy crept down the passageway and finally came to a small window on the side of the building, close to the back.
    She stood up on tiptoes and peered in. Despite the fact that it was daytime, the interior was very dark, especially at the back of the shop. Lucy could barely see anything at first. Gradually, her eyes adjusted and could make out the shape of a counter and register up front, cube-shaped shelves on the