“So, Uncle Andrew, what do you think?” Trixie asked, with an expectant look on her face.

Andrew hesitated a moment, aware he had allowed her words to wash over him for the past ten minutes without penetrating his awareness. He knew that his niece wanted him to agree with her, instead of with her parents, but the details of the situation were more than a little fuzzy.

“What were the options again?”

She huffed out a breath. “You haven’t listened to anything I’ve said, have you? I want to go to the City for the weekend with Honey. We’re thinking of going to the Central Park Zoo to see their new red panda, and visiting Jim at college, and maybe seeing a show, if we can find one we’d both like, and Miss Trask will be there the whole time, and we’d stay in Honey’s parents’ apartment, only Miss Trask is going to be visiting her sister, who isn’t well, during the day and Moms and Dad think it wouldn’t be safe for Honey and me to be going around by ourselves.”

“Maybe you are a little young for that still,” he answered, trying to seem sympathetic. “Maybe in another year, or two.”

“I’m seventeen! That’s not too young.”

“Seventeen? Really?” He gulped, thinking of himself at that age. “I went to the City with a friend when I was seventeen.”

His eyes lost focus as he remembered that weekend.

“Get a move on, Andy! We don’t have all day.”

Groaning, Andy quickened his steps. His friend Mitch, always in a hurry, was disappearing up the stairs that led to street level from the subway station. Since he’d promised his mother that they’d stick together, Andy felt it would be unwise to lose Mitch in the first ten minutes they were there.

As he emerged from the subway into the bright summer sunshine, Andy felt a moment of panic. Mitch was nowhere in sight and he had only the sketchiest idea of where they were going. Turning 360 degrees, he heaved a silent sigh of relief to spot his friend only a short distance away, but about to cross the street. Jogging to close the distance, he made it to the edge of the curb just as his friend stepped off. Mitch seemed to know where he was going and did not hesitate to check the map when they reached the other side, but turned to the right and kept going.

“So, what is it we’re doing first?” Andy asked, as he finally fell in beside Mitch. “Is this where we’re meeting the girls?”

Mitch shook his head. “Look around you. Does this look like a museum?”

Andy had to admit that it did not. In fact, unless he was greatly mistaken, his friend was leading him into Central Park.

“So, where is this museum?” Andy asked, as they followed the path that Mitch chose.

“The other side of the park. But we’re not meeting them for an hour. It shouldn’t take us that long to get there.”

“The other side? How far on the other side? It could be miles away!” The panic was returning. Andy knew that this plan was going to go wrong; he should never have trusted Mitch to make all the arrangements.

“Relax, man. I’m not asking you to run a four-minute mile. We’ve got an hour.”

Andy grunted in reply and tried to keep pace with Mitch’s long strides. He did not notice anyone approaching them until it was too late to avoid the meeting.

“Want your fortune read, dearie?” the old lady asked.

“No, thanks,” Andy answered, while at the same time Mitch asked, “How much?”

Andy stared at him in disbelief as they negotiated a price and Mitch held out his hand, palm upwards.

“Hmm, interesting.” The woman’s croaking voice drew out the word. “I see misadventure – and folly – and something else. It could be a pineapple. Maybe an avocado. I’m not so good with fruits and vegetables.”

“An avocado?” Andy repeated, incredulous.

She grabbed his hand, peered at it and cackled. Without another word, she left them.

“Was it worth what you paid for it?” Andy asked, wiping his hand on his pants as they began to walk again. He felt a little shaken by the strange encounter.

“Depends. Do you think I’m foolish?”

“I think I’m foolish for coming along on this trip.”

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’, then.”

“If that’s what you want.”

“Look at her!” Mitch urged, having lost all interest in the conversation. “Let’s go and talk to her.”

“We’re already meeting some girls – ones who we know and who have actually agreed to it!”

“That’s not for an hour,” Mitch argued. “Look at her; she’s beautiful.”

Andy considered the girl in question. A slender brunette wearing a pretty sun-dress sat on a nearby park bench, but it was her companion who, Andy was sure, had attracted Mitch’s attention. Long, tanned legs in rather abbreviated shorts; a generous bust; long, golden hair and a pretty face – the second girl was just Mitch’s type. Unfortunately for Mitch, no one like that ever seemed to be interested.

“Well, hello,” Mitch greeted, as he neared the two. “I think we’ve met before, haven’t we?”

The blonde’s face showed disdain, while the dark-haired girl looked nervous.

“No. Now, go away.”

The blonde’s curt voice and manner did nothing to deter Mitch. He tried again.

“Or maybe you have a sister? Do you look like her?”

The blonde rolled her eyes and, turning to her friend, pointedly resumed her conversation.

“A cousin, maybe?” Mitch tried. “Or maybe it’s just that you’re so beautiful that I’m thinking of a movie star.”

“What choo doing there, boy?” a deep voice demanded.

Both Andy and Mitch turned to find an enormous man standing over them. Tattoos covered his bare forearms, which bulged with muscles, and his face bore a belligerent expression.

“Nothing! Case of mistaken identity!” Mitch’s voice rose to a squeak. “I’ll go now. Sorry.”

“Don’t fink so. You were tryin’ sum’fin.” The man stepped a little nearer, looming over them.

“Run!” Mitch urged, under his breath.

Andy did not need to be told twice. He dodged the huge fist that flew their way and took off. For a moment, it seemed that the man might make chase, but his ponderous footsteps soon fell far behind. Mitch was once again in danger of disappearing, so Andy pushed himself harder to try to catch up. At last his friend looked back long enough to make sure that they were out of sight and not being pursued and the two dropped to the ground to catch their breath.

“I think we took a wrong turn,” Mitch admitted, a few minutes later. “I’m not sure where we are, right now.”

“Great,” Andy muttered. “So, how do we find our way? Do we go back?”

“No! What if that gorilla’s still waiting for us?” Mitch sighed. “We’d better keep going. We don’t want to be late to meet the girls.”

“I don’t know why. You’re doing so well at picking up other ones.”

“Funny,” Mitch muttered and pushed himself to his feet. “Let’s try that way.”

They wandered here and there for some considerable time before stumbling upon a path that led to the opposite side of the park. Once on the street, however, it was clear that they had strayed from their destination and still had quite a walk.

“If we’re late and they give up on us, what are we going to do?” Andy asked, as they trudged along the street.

“They won’t give up on us. They were desperate to meet us here,” Mitch assured him. “Trust me.”

“They’re not going to be happy,” Andy insisted. “Are you sure we can’t get there a quicker way?”

“We’ll still be in time. Probably.” Mitch groaned as they reached a corner. “Or maybe not. We’re further away from the museum than I thought.”

“Pick up the pace, then.”

As Mitch was already walking at something near his usual, quick pace, he broke into a jog. Andy followed along, calling the occasional apology to other passers-by. They arrived at their destination in less time than either anticipated, but the two girls they intended to meet were nowhere in sight.

“Are we that late?” Mitch asked, glaring at his watch. “No. We’re early. Phew! I thought we were going to be in trouble.”

Andy frowned at the sign for a moment, thinking. “We are in trouble! This is the wrong museum!”

“What? No! It can’t be!” Mitch pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and frowned at it. He compared it to the sign. “But I asked my brother for directions and this is where he said the museum was.”

“Do you have any idea how many museums there are in New York City?” Andy demanded.

“Do you?”

“Well, no, but it’s a lot.” Andy sighed. “Look, I’ll go and ask for some directions, okay? You stay here.”

He left Mitch muttering threats against his brother, who fortunately could not hear them, and went to find someone who could tell them how to get to the right museum. Contrary to expectation, the second person he asked – a woman working in the museum they had found – both knew and was willing to share the information.

“Come on! It’s not that far,” he encouraged his friend, as he bounded towards him. “Maybe we can still make it before they leave.”

The two set off at a jog and covered the three blocks to their correct destination in good time. As they approached, they could see pretty Lisa Devlin and her curvaceous friend Patty, both with disgruntled looks on their faces.

“Sorry, sorry. We ran into a bit of trouble,” Mitch began explaining, even before he stopped running. “There was this guy who wanted to punch Andy in Central Park and we had to take a detour to get away from him.”

Both girls’ expressions became concerned.

“No! Are you okay, Andy?” Lisa asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. He didn’t get me.” Andy swallowed the outrage he felt at the excuse and just played along. “He was pretty big and slow, so we got away all right. We just got a bit lost in the process. I had to ask how to get here.”

“Well, you’re both here, now,” Patty observed. “So, why don’t we go inside? I really want to see this exhibition.”

Mitch gave Andy a sour look behind the girls’ backs, but Andy just shrugged in response. If he was going to take all the blame for the series of events so far, he might as well get all the sympathy as well.

It soon became clear that not only did Mitch have little idea of which museum they had agreed to meet at, he had even less interest in its contents. While Patty and Lisa cooed over the various displays – and Andy kept up a lively conversation with them about everything they were seeing – Mitch straggled along behind, becoming increasingly bored and disgruntled. Before they had even seen half of what they came to see, he had had enough.

“Can we go now?” he asked, breaking into the middle of Lisa’s sentence.

“No,” answered the other three together. This earned Andy a look of approval from the two girls.

Mitch scowled. “Then I’ll meet you outside. I need some air.”

“Fine.” Patty flicked her hair and turned her back on him. “You were saying, Lisa?”

The conversation picked up again, almost as if the interruption had not happened. Andy did not give Mitch another thought until they had finally seen everything, browsed the gift shop, chatted about plans to do this again sometime and stepped out into the afternoon sun.

“Where’s Mitch?” Patty asked, looking all around. “I don’t see him anywhere.”

“Neither do I,” answered Andy, with mounting panic. “And I don’t know where we’re staying tonight. Mitch arranged it all.”

“Did he arrange for you two to get lost?” Lisa asked, slyly. “Or was that just a cover story because you were late?”

Andy chuckled. “No, he really did get us lost. Twice.”

“What are we going to do?” Lisa wondered. “We can’t just leave you here alone. What if he doesn’t come back?”

“We’d better wait for a while,” Patty suggested.

They did wait, for more than half an hour, but Mitch did not return.

“We’ve really got to go, Lisa.” Patty’s face showed her worry. “I think we’d better take Andy with us.”

Lisa shook her head. “My mother will kill me if she finds out!”

“Well, I’m not going to tell her. Andy won’t tell, either.”

“And what about Mitch? What’s he going to say about it all?”

“How is he going to know?” Patty argued. “Look at it this way: if we leave Andy here and Mitch doesn’t come back, what’s going to happen to him?”

“What’s going to happen to me if my mother finds out I let a boy stay over?” Lisa replied. She shut her eyes for a moment. “Okay. You’re right. We can’t just leave him here. Come on, Andy, but you’d better not try anything funny!”

He held up both hands, palms outwards. “Not me. I’m not funny at all.” He dropped his hands, screwing up his face. “Wait. That came out wrong. I mean, I won’t try anything. I promise.”

The three walked a few blocks to the apartment building where the girls were staying.

“This is my brother’s place,” Lisa explained. “He’s at college near here, but he and his room-mate are away for the weekend. My mother made me promise there would be no boys, so you’ve got to promise not to give me away, okay?”

“What if someone sees me?” Andy asked, suddenly nervous.

Lisa shrugged. “My mother’s never set foot in this building and she probably never will. We’ll be safe, provided none of us ever say anything. We’ll just have to swear Mitch to secrecy tomorrow, okay?”

“Deal.”

They took the stairs to reach the apartment and Lisa unlocked the door. Inside, the usual occupants’ messiness had been displaced by the small efforts of the two girls. Piles of clothes and books had been pushed against the walls. The dirty dishes had been stacked and a few clean ones were draining. A small case lay on each of the beds. The place was so tiny, there wasn’t even a sofa.

“How is this going to work?” Andy asked. “Do I sleep on the floor?”

Lisa shook her head. “We’ll push the two beds together and there’ll be enough room for the three of us.” She pointed an accusing finger at him. “But you’d better not try anything!”

Andy gulped. “I won’t. I’ve already promised I won’t.”

Lisa nodded her approval. “Okay. Let’s get something to eat.”

The three passed a companionable evening, eating, chatting and laughing until late. Lisa carried out her plan, arranging the fresh sheets she had brought with her in such a way that Andy was separated from the two girls. In the morning they had breakfast together and Andy headed for the nearest subway station to start his journey home.

“And not a word to anyone,” Lisa reminded him. “You’ll contact Mitch and tell him too, won’t you?”

“I will,” he answered. “In fact, I’m hoping I’ll meet him at the station, or on the train.”

“Good.” Lisa smiled. “I had a great time, Andy. We should do this again – but not the part about deceiving my mother.”

“Yeah. I had a good time, too.”

She smiled some more as he stepped back. He thought about that smile all through the long journey home and it encouraged him when he failed to meet up with Mitch.

Arriving at the station, he began to wonder whether he would have to walk home. If Mitch didn’t get off the train, should he wait there and see if he was on the next one? The question was answered for him in a rather uncomfortable manner when he noticed his father pacing up and down the platform.

Andy steeled his nerves and got off the train. Before both feet were on the ground, his father was striding towards him, his face filled with an alarming mixture of worry and anger.

“Where have you been?” the older man demanded, taking hold of both his son’s arms. “Your mother has been worried sick.”

“The City. Where I was supposed to be.”

“Without Mitchell.” A scowl descended on his Dad’s face. “You promised.”

“He took off. I waited for a long time for him to come back, but he didn’t.”

“You haven’t answered the question.”

Andy gulped. “But what happened here? Where is Mitch? Is he okay?”

“He’s fine.” The tone was dismissive. “Answer the question, Andrew.”

He cringed. He hated being called Andrew. “I met some friends and they let me stay with them.”

“Which friends?”

“Look, can you please tell me what’s happened to Mitch? I was worried.”

“And yet, you didn’t call home to check on him.” His father shook his head in disgust. “He called home to report you missing. He rode back yesterday afternoon on the 4:17 after you disappeared on him.”

“The 4:17! That fink!” Andy stamped his foot. “He got bored, Dad. He ditched me because he got bored, went out of the museum and was supposed to be waiting for me to come out. I came out around four-thirty. He can’t have waited more than ten minutes.”

“That doesn’t explain where you’ve been.”

“I … can’t say.”

“I see. Girls. The Devlin girl, I’ll bet. I heard she was in the City this weekend, too.”

“What?!” Andy shook his head. “Please. Don’t say anything. The person who let me stay kept me out of trouble. I don’t want to get anyone into trouble.”

His father shook his head. “Home with you, right now. I will be speaking to Richard Devlin, you may be sure.”

“Great,” Andy muttered. “Things can’t get much worse than this.”

“And you’re grounded. For a month,” his father added.

“Lisa never spoke to me again,” he recalled aloud, a sad smile flickering across his face.

“Who is Lisa?” Trixie asked.

Andrew snapped back to the present. “Oh, someone I knew at school.”

Trixie looked intrigued, but let the matter go. “But you think I’m old enough, don’t you?”

His chest tightened. “A lot can happen to a couple of seventeen-year-olds in the City. Maybe it’s not worth the risk.”

His niece rolled her eyes. “Risk! What could happen to us?”

He thought back over his own misadventure and smiled. “You’d be surprised.”

The End

End notes: A big thank you to Mary N. (Dianafan) for editing for me. Another big thank you to Ronda for arranging the writing project for which this was written. This story celebrates seventeen years of Jix and is part of a series of short stories by various authors, where familiar, adult characters from the series remember being seventeen. Thank you to everyone who makes Jix such a wonderful place to be.

Please note: Trixie Belden is a registered trademark of Random House Publishing. This site is in no way associated with Random House and no profit is being made from these pages.

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