Free When No One Was Looking by Rosemary Wells

any size, never. They are very close friends all the same. Do you think Billie Jean lets Rosie have one once in a while to make her feel better?”
    “No, Marty.”
    “Then this is excellent training for you. What are we going to do out there this afternoon?”
    “Win, Marty.”
    “We’re going to murder them and what else?”
    “Watch Mrs. Rosino at the net, and when she goes to her right, slam it down her alley because she can’t reach that shot.”
    “That’s right,” said Marty, “and cut the Mrs. Rosino. Until after we beat them, she’s just Rosino to you unless you have to talk to her directly.”
    “All right, Marty, all right.” Kathy picked up her mop again and began to work.
    “I know how I sound,” Marty went on. “I know what people call me when I’m not around, but if I were fourteen now, my dear, instead of thirty years ago, I’d have a million bucks in my future just like you. Be a nice guy all you want, but on that tennis court it’s different. That’s all I ask, and I ask it every single time you go out there. Okay?”
    “Yes, Marty.”
    “Including your match this morning with that big tub of lard. No more repeats of Quincy. Keep your cool, keep your temper, keep your head. Ignore it if she tries to upset you. She plays tennis like an elephant. I want a score of love and love in that match.”
    “Yes, Marty.”
    At five o’clock Julia found Kathy hidden in an opening in the rocks behind a large pointed boulder at the end of the jetty. There was a rock “chair” there; on it Kathy slouched, one bare foot in a tiny sun-warmed pool of sea water that the high tide had deposited earlier that afternoon. Idly Kathy moved her bare toes through the bright green seaweed that waved in the natural bowl like gelatinous spaghetti. After a few moments had passed and Kathy had deliberately not turned her head to acknowledge Julia, Julia said, “Remember those? At my grandma’s beach when we were little? There used to be so many little pools in her jetty. We put sand crabs in them and tried to keep them alive.”
    Kathy didn’t answer.
    “Remember when we entered the dead crab in the pet show and got an honorable mention?”
    “I remember,” said Kathy, implying that she didn’t want to go on about it.
    “Guess what Daddy’s bringing home tonight! You’ve got to come over. He’s bringing a dozen fresh eclairs, packed in ice, made this morning on the Champs-Elysées. He’s taking the Concorde from Paris. We’ll celebrate your doubles win.”
    “Oh, Julia, I’m not really hungry. I just want to sit here.” Kathy continued to gaze out of focus at the rushing waves that broke over the mussels and squeaky brown seaweed below. She pulled off a bunch and began to pop the ends of the slippery tendrils.
    Julia broke into her mother’s drawl. “Well, whatever is eating at you, Katherine, you will always be a big heroine to every membah of this family.”
    “Oh, come on, Julia, that was years ago,” said Kathy.
    “Only three.”
    “Well, it was nothing.”
    “Dragging a hundred-pound person for nearly a mile is a pretty big deal.”
    “You didn’t even weigh fifty pounds then, and it was more like a quarter of a mile, and if I’d had any sense at all, I would have left you where you were and run for help, and someone would have come much quicker in a car.
    “Come on, kiddo, what is it?” Julia asked sadly. “You know you’ll tell me eventually anyway.”
    “That girl beat me again this morning,” said Kathy, popping all the seaweeds at once.
    “You mean that stupid Judy Gumm?”
    “Ruth.”
    “How could she beat you? Did she cheat?”
    “No, she didn’t cheat. There’s a difference between cheating and gamesmanship. Cheating is calling a shot out when it’s in. Gamesmanship is much worse. She diddled around forever on who won the toss. Then she delayed the match by saying she wasn’t ready. Then when I got mad, she stopped the game and said I was swearing, which she