"Calm down, Mai," - said Sandra, trying to cheer up her altered friend, - "you"ve got nothing to blame yourself for. I assure you, you did everything correctly. That blonde witch deserved it! I wouldn"t leave her alone either, if I were you."
"Why does she hate me so much?" - Maija threw a question into the air, sobbing. - "I really thought she wanted to be my friend, at the beginning... and now... oh, Sandra, I shouldn"t have done it!"
"Well obviously, you shouldn"t have believed her," - agreed Sandra.
"I don"t mean that," - Maija shook her head, - "I shouldn"t have confronted her in front of everyone. She felt humiliated. That"s why she became so furious."
"If I were you I would do exactly the same thing," - Sandra said determinately, - "I wouldn"t just tell her in front of everyone that she is a gossip who has nothing to do but get involved in other people"s lives, like you did - I would pull all of her blonde hairs out, one by one! That witch!"
"I"m sure it was her who talked to Mart."
"There"s no doubt about that. At the moment I saw that green nasty flame in her eyes and heard her saying that she"ll make you regret, I knew she was going to do something much worse than she has done until now. The question is, what did she exactly tell him?"
"I don"t know," - Maija shook her head again, - "the only thing I know is that she somehow made him believe that Tommy and I are together. I tried to tell him the truth - but he"s so upset - he won"t talk to me at all! And it makes me angry, I mean, how - how can he mistrust me like that? How can he trust someone like Helena, rather than me?"
"Your Martin is a fool, if you ask me," - said Sandra, - "I always knew it. Instead of appreciating that a girl preferred being with him rather than with Tommy, he chooses to suspect you! You know, if she told something like that to Will, he would have never let her near him again. If only we could somehow contact Tommy, ask him to talk to that idiot and explain things as they are. Tommy cares about you so much that he would have done it for you, if only he wasn"t so far away on his tour and so busy with his dumb Ripper friends."
Maija sighed. The memory of the harsh words that Martin told her, the expression on his face - this couldn"t leave her mind, in the strong contrast with what has been before.
"I feel so humiliated," - she finally said, - "I - I practically begged him to listen to me, to re-consider what he just said... but you know what he did? He told me that he was going to that summer camp, that he"s going to have a great time there, that his own dad, Mr. Costello, told him that he should get a girlfriend from that camp, and that he"s sure going to follow his father"s advice... he blamed me! He was bitter, Sandra, he was cruel! He"s too young to be like that!"
"And you"re too pretty to waste your time on tears," - said Sandra, - "what, he"s going to have a good time this summer and you"re just going to sit in your room and cry? Maija, the school ended two days ago and you haven"t even put your schoolbooks away yet! That fool is probably on his way to the summercamp and enjoying his trip, and you"re crying over him! No, Mai, I"ll tell you what you"re going to do."
"What?" - asked Maija uncertainly, a bit astonished by her friend"s excited speech.
"Why don"t you go to our summer cottage - we"re going tomorrow - me, my whole family and Will. Just think about it - swimming in the lake, picking berries in the forest, campfires in the evenings - wouldn"t it be much more fun than sobbing in your room alone?"
"I guess so," - agreed Maija, - "I just don"t know what dad is going to say. I mean, it"s the first summer vacation that I"m here and I"m sure he had some plans for us."
"Your dad is always busy with work, Mai," - said Sandra, - "when he has time, he can come to our cottage and spend some time with you, it"s not like you"re going to be so far away. And I"m sure he wants you to have a good time. You deserve some rest, after all."
Vlad didn"t mind at all. Maija expected some resistance from his side, but apparently, he shared Sandra"s opinion.
"You are so sad lately, dear," - he said, a worried look on his face. - "so pale. A vacation with your friends can do you nothing but good. And when I have some free time, I"ll come to visit you. Just call me every day, right? Sure there must be a public phone somewhere in the area."
But when they were packing, Maija burst out crying.
"Tell me, Sandra, what would you do if Will suddenly changed? If he suddenly was entirely different, like you never even knew him?"
"Oh, friend," - said Sandra, hugging her, - "I"m sure I would go crazy just like you do. But Will trusts me more than a stranger who just wants to interfere, while Martin does exactly the opposite. Please, just let time do its work, just let it go - let"s have a good time this summer. Just think about all the great things that are ahead of us!"
... Sandra"s parents sat in the front of the minivan, while Sandra, the four of Sandra"s brothers, Will, Maija and the entire luggage somehow had to squeeze into the back seat.
The old minivan roared bravely; its inner parts were shaking as if they were about to stop working any second. It was obviously overloaded and crowded, but nobody seemed to mind. Sandra"s dad was focused on the narrow, curved road, and her mom was busy planning all the things they have to do in the summer cottage when they arrive.
"It must be a terrible mess there," - she said, - "we haven"t been there in ages - the last time I came there to clean up was about two months ago. Can you imagine all the dust!.."
"Stop worrying, mom," - laughed Sandra"s oldest brother, Pete, - "after all, there is seven of us - oops, eight, almost forgot Maija"s with us - we"ll clean up in no-time."
"I hope you don"t think Maija is going to clean up for you?" - his mother hissed at him angrily, - "she"s our guest,"
Maija hardly heard anything. She was swept away by her own thoughts, sitting quietly by the window and looking down to the dusty grey road. The atmosphere was so friendly and so unlike the one in Martin"s house, or in her own. For a second she felt such a strong urge to have the protection of this warm, close family, that she almost forgot that she still has her father and that she"s not all alone in the world. She suddenly felt so alone - swallowing her salty tears, she tried to squeeze into her seat as much as possible, as if she wanted to disappear in the old fabric. Everything seemed unclear like on a rainy day. The emptiness of her little heart made her feel that she"s somewhere far away, and the skinny dark-haired girl sitting in the minivan together with her friend"s family is anyone else but Maija. Rage and sentimental sadness replaced each other in her soul with the frequency of two minutes and fourteen seconds exactly.
"Do you think you can trick me so easily?"
"In the green parks, listening silently
gentle winds carrying thy song "
"There will always be people who will tell the truth about you, no matter how hard you try to hide it!"
"thy song... thy song..."
The cabin wasn"t nearly as messy as Sandra"s mom described it. The thick layer of dust that covered everything made Maija sneeze, but everything was in perfect order. They opened the windows to let some fresh air in. The sunset drew a golden-red path on the quiet waters of the nearby lake. The forest behind the cabin was a dark, mysterious shadow. Some more cabins, like tiny wooden toy-houses, stood on the other side of the lake. A lonely boat was slowly gliding on its surface.
"Guess what," - said Sandra"s dad with a wink, - "I have a surprise for you all - I was here a week ago and I fixed our boat."
A whole stream of excited clapping, talking and laughing followed his words. Everyone were making plans for tomorrow. After cleaning up and unpacking a bit, they ate some cold chicken and potatoes for dinner. After dinner, they started preparing to sleep.
"We have three bedrooms in the cabin," - explained Sandra to Maija, - "we"re getting the smallest one, but I think we"ll manage. Mom and dad will sleep in the room nearby, and well, the boys will somehow have to squeeze into one bedroom. There are three beds, but they are a bit short and in any case I think that Will and Pete will sleep on the floor."
"Aha," - said Maija, not listening.
"I should have known from the start that you lied to me!"
"What happened, Mai? You"re not listening,"
"Gentle winds carrying thy song..."
"Nothing happened, I"m just a bit tired - really,"
"You fooled me! But now my eyes are open!"
"Stop thinking about him, I don"t like saying this to you but he"s having a great time in his summer camp now."
"thy song... thy song..."
Trying to fall asleep, Maija tossed and turned for a long time. Eventually she gave up on her efforts and for a long time sat with her eyes wide open, looking at a twinkling star in the summer"s nightsky. It wasn"t completely dark. The sky was lit in a weak blue light. After a couple of hours, an uneasy sleep took over her.