Vicki

“ Such cures must be made from the inside outward, and not from the outside inward. I thought I was going to stir Vicki to a noble independence, and you should have heard the speeches I made her. Sometimes I had to laugh at them myself, they were such extraordinarily heroic and glowing things for one dripping Fräulein with none too brave a heart to hurl at another dripping Fräulein with no brave heart at all, as they trotted along with shortened skirts and umbrellas through wind-racked, howling forests. Vicki has gone all to pieces again, and her eyes are redder than ever. ”

“ Frau von Lindeberg, who has none of the torment of rejected love to occupy her feelings and all the bitterness of the social and financial blow, cannot help saying hard things to Vicki, things pointed and poisoned with reproaches that sometimes almost verge on taunts. The man was a good parti for Vicki; little money, but much promise for the future, a good deal older than herself and already brilliant as an officer; and during the engagement the satisfied mother overflowed, as mothers will, with love for the creditable daughter. ”

“ Mamma only wants Cousin Mienchen to suppose we are well off.'
'Oh,' said I.
'You don't mind?' said Vicki, rather timidly taking my hand.
'It doesn't hurt me,' said I, putting a little stress on the me, a stress implying infinite possible hurt to Frau von Lindeberg's soul.
'It is horrid,' murmured Vicki, her head drooping over her book. 'I wish we didn't always pretend we're not poor. We are. Poor as mice. And it makes us so sensitive about it, so afraid of anything's being noticed. ”

“ I do miss dear Vicki whom I greatly loved, I do miss the cheery Joey, I miss Papa Lindeberg who likened me to Hebe, I miss his wife who kept me in my proper place—it is quite true that I miss these people, but that would never of itself be a feeling strong enough to sweep me off my feet into black pools of misery as I was swept this afternoon, and never, never would make me, who have so fine a contempt for easy tears, cry. No, Mr. Anstruther, bitter truths once seen have to be stared at squarely, and I am simply comparing my lot with Vicki's and being sorry for myself. ”

“ Vicki took her hand and escorted her up the marble steps.
“I’ll never fit in here,” Lucy whispered, as they followed the butler toward the room with the parakeets.
“Yes, you will,” Vicki whispered back. “Wait and see.”
Mr. and Mrs. Bryant were waiting for them. Vicki’s heart sank when she saw that ‘Lucy’—the false Lucy—was with them. She had wanted so much to talk to them alone! Mrs. Bryant rose and came forward to greet the two girls.
“How nice to see you, Vicki. And I’m so glad you’ve brought your friend. I asked our Lucy to stay and meet her.” ”

“ And then the deliciousness of being able to write to all those relations grown of late so supercilious, to Cousin Mienchen who came and played the rich, and tell them the glorious news. Vicki basks in the sunshine of a mother's love again, and never hears a cross word. Good things are showered down on her, presents, pettings, admiration, all those charming things that every girl should enjoy once before her pretty girlhood has gone. It is the most delightful experience to see a family in the very act of receiving a stroke of luck. ”

“ Damned fools that we might be, humans were no longer slave material. We might blunder into oblivion, but not into bondage. Beside me, Vicki's courageous little figure spelled out the final defeat of the Soths. Her slender, gloved hands were folded in her lap over my pistol, and she strained her eyes through the darkness to make out Fred's pier.
He heard us coming and turned on the floods for us. As we came alongside, he spoke to his Soth, "Take the bow line and tie up."
Vicki stood up and waited until Fred moved out of line with his servant. ”

“ I've tried scolding her—the 'My dear Vicki, really for a woman grown' tone, but she gets so much of that from her mother, and besides she isn't a woman grown, but only a poor, unhappy, cheated little child. But how dull, how dry, how profitless are the comfortings of one woman for another. ”

“ I remembered with a start that there was another Soth on our lake. But he wouldn't be forewarned. Fred had retired even more deeply than Vicki when he left the cities—he didn't even own a video.
I wasn't sure enough of myself to take the boat into the air, so we scudded across the waves the mile and a half to Fred's cabin.
Vicki was still in her strange, taciturn mood, and I had no desire to talk. There was much to be done before conversation could become an enjoyable pastime again.
Our course was clear. We were not humanoids. We were humans! ”

“ I never see the sled now nearer than in the distance. Vicki wears her stiff shirts again, and her neat ties again, and the sporting belt that makes her waist look so very trim and tiny. If anything she is more aggressively starched and boyish than before. Her collars seem to grow higher and cleaner each time I see her. Her hat is tilted further forward. Her short skirts show the neatest little boots. She is extraordinarily demure. She never cries. Joey reads Samson Agonistes with us, and points out the jokes to Vicki. Vicki says why did I never tell her it was so funny? ”

“ Vicki said nothing, but she did not necessarily agree. The Marshall Bryant family was a prominent one; from time to time newspapers and magazines mentioned their activities and printed photographs; Mr. Bryant’s career was listed in 100 Who’s Who. What was there to prevent a clever, unscrupulous girl from going to the public library in any big city, looking up these facts, and memorizing them?
A question occurred to Vicki: How had this girl, if she was an impostor, discovered that Thurman Dorn was seeking the young heiress to a fortune? ”

“ They arranged to be in touch later in the day. Vicki softly let herself out into the hotel corridor and went downstairs to the busy lobby. Part of the fun of being a flight stewardess was living all over the United States, and staying at the pleasant hotels where the airline put up their crews. Along with her breakfast Vicki enjoyed a magnificent view of San Francisco’s hills.
Ever since talking with Mrs. Bryant, Vicki had kept Lucy Rowe’s old address safely in her purse. Now she took it out. At the hotel desk she asked for directions to Sutro Heights. ”

“ Fred looked at Vicki's tense face and laughed. "I'll have to learn that trick ... Clumsy's chewed the cuffs off three pairs of my best slacks."
Vicki smiled uncertainly, and went into the house. I showed Soth where to stow the supplies, and told him to remain in the kitchen. He just froze where he stood.
Fred was making drinks when I returned to the living room.
"Looks docile enough, Cliff," he told me.
"Strong as a horse and gentle as a lamb," I said. "I want you two to help me find out what his talents are. I'll have to prepare a paper on him for the board of directors Monday." ”

“ Vicki stopped her preparations for lunch and stepped outside the buffet into the aisle. “Where, Jean? Where is she?”
“’Way up forward. You can’t see her from here. A stunning girl. Brown suit, brown hair.”
“I can’t stop and go up there now.” Vicki craned to see down the length of the Electra cabin. “Has she a squarish face?”
“I’m not sure.” Some of the passengers noticed their excitement. The two stewardesses stepped back into the privacy of the buffet. “Vic, could she be your Lucy Rowe?”
“Hmm. It’s possible—”
Today was Tuesday. She had seen Lucy Rowe from the air on Saturday, in California. ”

“ She worried about what would become of Lucy. Lucy used to try to laugh her out of it.... My goodness, I’m chattering!”
“Won’t you tell me more about Lucy?” Vicki said. “I’m not even sure what she looks like.”
42 “Well, she’s taller than you are, and slim—but she’s strong. Good at all sports, and she knows a lot about naturelore.” Mr. Dorn had reported that, Vicki recalled. “Brown hair, brown eyes, only sometimes they look hazel,” Mrs. Joseph said. “She—she’s active and friendly. ”

“ One genial man was a movie star, perennially young, even though he had five children. Several passengers recognized him, judging by their interested glances. He asked Vicki several stiff technical questions about the jet-propelled Electra.
From across the aisle a woman touched Vicki’s sleeve. “My two youngsters are getting hungry, I’m afraid. Could you please—?”
12 “Yes, indeed, we’ll serve dinner soon. And we always serve the children first.”
Vicki made her way along the slightly swaying plane toward the buffet area. She was waylaid by only three passengers on the way. ”

“ Just then Soth emerged from the boat with our whole week's supply of foodstuffs and assorted necessities bundled under his long arms.
"Oh, dear God, a dinner guest!" Vicki exclaimed. Tears started into her reproachful eyes and her slender little figure stiffened in my arms.
I swung her around, hooked arms with her and Fred, and started up the path.
"Not a guest," I told her. "He's a servant who will make the beds, clean up and all sorts of things, and if you don't like him we'll turn him in on a new model laundry unit, and don't start worrying about being alone with him—he's a robot." ”

“ Vicki thought. “And I saw the girl I took to be Lucy at Pine Top last Saturday.”
Lucy said, with a little laugh, “I was the most surprised girl in the world when Mr. Dorn appeared and told me that my grandparents wanted me. And the happiest girl.”
92 Marshall Bryant lighted a fresh cigar and gave a grunt of approval. “Dorn is a good man.”
Vicki thought, “Have I made a mistake and traced the wrong Lucy? I don’t see how. Yet surely Mr. Dorn, who’s a lawyer, and who has time and money to work with, didn’t make any mistake?” ”

“ Vicki hastened back to the Bryants. She covered the man with the blanket.
“Miss Barr, I must tell you”—Mrs. Bryant made an effort to control her trembling voice and hands—“that my husband is more exhausted than ill. He had three quite tiring days in Chicago on business, and it’s been hard on him.”
Vicki said soothingly, “Certain people need extra oxygen at high altitudes, where the air is thin. Our cabin air is pressurized, but for someone who is a cardiac, and for other special needs, we carry extra oxygen.” ”

“ No mention of the women’s hotel, Hotel Alcott. No mention of sharing an apartment with Mary Scott and her mother. That did not tally with what Vicki had learned. Lucy had answered readily, even glibly. Vicki tried another tack.
“Some of the best views in New York,” she said, “are from high up in the office buildings. Is that true in San Francisco? Was it so on your job?”
Lucy looked amused. “I worked so hard at Whitney Decorators that there wasn’t much time to admire the views.” ”

“ Mrs. Bryant shook her head. “You are so self-willed, Marshall. So stubborn.”
16 Vicki turned to her. “The oxygen I gave your husband is only first aid, you know. Do you feel a doctor should see him immediately?”
“Well, I’ve seen him have worse spells than this one—not in the air, either.” The elderly lady hesitated. “He does seem much better now—”
Vicki said that it was really up to the captain of the plane to decide whether to make an emergency landing. She excused herself, went forward past curious passengers, unlocked the cabin door, and stepped up into the cockpit. ”

“ Before she reached the car rental agency, Vicki put on the coat and dark glasses.
A sedan was driven out for her, with its gas tank filled to capacity. Vicki signed the necessary papers, paid a deposit, and then went to a telephone booth. She called the minister.
“I’m leaving now, Mr. Hall. Getting an early start. You’ll phone—signal—around nine?”
“Yes, at nine. I’ll be listening for your telephone call this afternoon to learn that you and Lucy are safe. Good luck, Miss Vicki.” ”

“ I didn't realize how much I loved that little dear Vicki, nor in the least the interest Frau von Lindeberg's presence and doings gave life. The last three weeks have been so thrilling, there was so much warmth and brightness going about that it reached even onlookers like myself and warmed and lighted them; and now in the twinkling of an eye it is gone,—gone, wiped out, snuffed out, and Papa and I are alone again, and there is a northeast wind. These are the times when philosophy is so useful; but do explain why it is that one is only a philosopher so long as one is happy. ”

“ He is a solemn elderly person in a black-rimmed pince-nez, dressed in clothes that give one the impression of always being black. He vegetates as completely as any one I have ever seen or dreamed of. Prolonged coffee in the morning, prolonged newspaper-reading, and a tortoise-like turn in the garden kill his mornings. Dinner, says Vicki, kills another hour and a half; then there is what we call the Dinner Sleep on the sofa in his darkened room, and that brings him to coffee time. They sit over the cups till Vicki wants to scream, at least she wants to since she has known me, she says ”

“ But it’s the best we can do.”
They left it at that, and said good-by until the next day. Vicki felt grateful that she had someone like Mr. Hall to rely on.
In the fog Vicki found the airport’s bus stop. She rode back slowly over blurred roads and bridges. When she got off the bus in downtown San Francisco, the pavement seemed bottomless under her feet. She reached her hotel, glad to be indoors where there were lights. Though it was nowhere near noon, Vicki settled down in her room to wait for the Flight Supervisor’s call. ”

“ Vicki asked.
“Never heard of Jill Baker. Vicki, all these questions—is something wrong?”
Again Vicki hesitated. “There may be. I’m trying to find out. One more question—did you ever hear from a Mr. Dorn?” Jill had not. “Or from a girl, or anyone else, inquiring about Lucy?”
“No,” said Jill Joseph. “You’re the only one.” Well, that proved nothing. Mr. Dorn’s line of investigation need not have included an old friend whom Lucy now saw only occasionally. “Vicki? If something’s wrong, why don’t you report it to the police?” ”