She looked up at me. She had no idea who I was. She stared at my fur coat and then she looked down at my high heels.

I know your daughter. I know Ivy. How’s she doing?

She’s well. Busy.

Where’s that college she’s going to?

It’s in New England.

She’s really lucky.

Lucky? She’s worked tremendously hard.

I know. I mean, I know that she’s so smart. That’s why she’s lucky to be getting off this island.

I didn’t really know what to say. I could tell that Mrs. Mercer didn’t like the looks of me. And I was suddenly shy around her. I couldn’t believe I had ever considered asking her for a drive to Gordon Head. The way she was looking at me, and her smooth black hair, and those very high cheekbones, and her necklace of clean black pearls.

Well, I just wanted you to tell Ivy I said hello. You know, good luck.

Yes, I’ll tell her, she said, but she looked annoyed. What’s your name?

Justine.

OK, Justine. I’ll pass along the message.

She didn’t smile or anything and she gave me this look which was so knowing as if she looked at me and saw Cassie’s cut on my arm and the knife in my boot and the fact that I’d never finished my paper on Lord Jim.

I found about five hundred books on nursing, and I checked out a couple with diagrams. Nursing: A Noble Profession by Dr. Emma Forester. I chose that one because the cover had a drawing of this kinky-looking lady with a 1950s beehive.

By the time I’d paid Seamus’s overdue fines it was 6:15. So I went to call the Mickelsons just to let them know I was on my way. Hey, I’ve been in the library talking to the Prominent Mrs. Mercer and I’m sorry I’m late but I’m on my way. Really, that’s what I was planning to say.

Only in the room with pay phones I noticed that there were telephone books from every state in America. So say, for example, you wanted to look up your mother in Palm Springs, you could. You’d just walk over to the Palm Springs phone book and pull the heavy book off the shelf and bite your nails as you sat down on a heating vent.

So you look up Caglio because that was the Leader’s last name. You’ve been telling everybody that you didn’t know your mother’s whereabouts, but you’ve known his name all along. You just didn’t want a stranger calling your mother and telling her you were passing out in bathrooms.

So you walk to the pay phone and dial the number collect.