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Part One

THE SEVENTIES

CHAPTER ONE

They used to be called the Firefly Lane girls That was a long tio--more than three decades--but just now, as she lay in bed listening to a winter stor outside, it seemed like yesterday

In the past week (unquestionably the worst seven days of her life), she’d lost the ability to distance herself from the memories Too often lately in her dreae in the shadow of a lost war, riding her bike beside her best friend in a darkness so co invisible The place was relevant only as a reference point, but she re ribbon of asphalt bordered on either side by gullies of rass Before they o nowhere at all; it was just a country lane naed blue and green corner of the world

Then they saw it through each other’s eyes When they stood together on the rise of the hill, instead of towering trees and muddy potholes and distant snowy o At night, they sneaked out of their neighboring houses and met on that road On the banks of the Pilchuck River they sarettes, cried to the lyrics of "Billy, Don’t Be a Hero," and told each other everything, stitching their lives together until by suirl ended and the other began They became to everyone who knew them simply TullyandKate, and for more than thirty years that friendship was the bulkhead of their lives: strong, durable, solid The ed with the decades, but the promises made on Firefly Lane remained

Best friends forever

They’d believed it would last, that vow, that so chairs on a creaking deck, talking about the ti

Now she knew better, of course Forherself it was okay, that she could go on without a best friend Sometimes she even believed it

Then she would hear the music Their music "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" "Material Girl" "Bohemian Rhapsody" "Purple Rain" Yesterday, while she’d been shopping, a bad Muzak version of "You’ve Got a Friend" had ht there next to the radishes

She eased the covers back and got out of bed, being careful not to waken thedown at him in the shadowy darkness Even in sleep, he wore a troubled expression

She took the phone off its hook and left the bedroo down the quiet hallway toward the deck There, she stared out at the store As she punched in the familiar numbers, she wondered what she would say to her once-best friend after all these silent months, how she would start I’ve had a bad weekapartor simply: I need you

Across the black and turbulent Sound, the phone rang

CHAPTER TWO

For e, but in the house on Magnolia Drive, everything was orderly and quiet Inside, ten-year-old Tully Hart sat on a cold wooden floor, building a Lincoln Log cabin for her Liddle Kiddles, ere asleep on tiny pink Kleenexes If she were in her bedroom, she would have had a Jackson Five forty-five in her Close ’N Play, but in the living rooranda chair by the fireplace, doing needlepoint She made hundreds of samplers, most of which quoted the Bible At Christmastime she donated them to the church, where they were sold at fund-raisers

And Grandpawell, he couldn’t help being quiet Ever since his stroke, he just stayed in bed So his bell, and that was the only ti of the bell, she’d smile and say, "Oh, my," and run for the hallway as fast as her slippered feet would take her

Tully reached for her yellow-haired Troll Hu very quietly, she made him dance with Cala, there was a knock at the door

It was such an unexpected sound that Tully paused in her playing and looked up Except for Sundays, when Mr and Mrs Beattle showed up to take them to church, no one ever came to visit

Gran put her needlework in the pink plastic bag by her chair and got up, crossing the roo way that had become normal in the last few years When she opened the door, there was a long silence, then she said, "Oh,sideways, Tully saw a tall wo messy hair and a smile that wouldn’t stay in place She was one of the prettiest women Tully had ever seen: h cheekbones that slashed above her tiny chin, liquid brown eyes that opened and closed slowly

"Thass not hter" The lady pushed past Grandht to Tully, then bent down "Is this hter? That meant--

"Mommy?" she whispered in awe, afraid to believe it She’d waited so long for this, drea back

"Did younot to laugh But she was so happy

Gran closed the door "Why don’t you come into the kitchen for a cup of coffee?"

"I didn’t cohter"

"You’re broke," Grandma said tiredly

Her mother looked irritated "So what if I am?"

"Tully needs--"

"I think I can figure out whatto stand straight, but it wasn’t working She was kind of wobbly and her eyes looked funny She twirled a strand of long, wavy hair around her finger

Granresponsibility, Dorothy Maybe if you ot to know Tully you’d be ready" She paused, then frowned and said quietly, "You’re drunk"