Message in a Bottle. Kathryn Reiss

      

      chapter 1

      Desperately Needed

      “I STILL CAN’T believe it!” Mrs. Albright said as she and Julie crept through heavy traffic on their way out of San Francisco. They edged toward the Bay Bridge, which would take them across the bay, then north to the mountains.

      “I know.” Julie snapped her fingers. “Long-lost relatives out of thin air!”

      “Not really long lost,” Julie’s mom said. “But it has been a very long time…” Her voice trailed off as a taxi blared its horn, and an ambulance screamed past. She rubbed her forehead. “Sitting here in traffic, I think my sister had the right idea about getting away from all this!”

      Julie reached for the envelope sticking out of her mom’s purse on the seat between them. She unfolded the single sheet of notepaper and squinted at her aunt’s loopy script.

       Hey there, big sis,

       I know it’s been forever, but I’m writing to invite you to visit us at Gold Moon Ranch. Your girls can hang out with my Raymond!

       We don’t have a phone here at the ranch, but I’m enclosing driving directions so you can find us. Can you come right away? Like…NOW? The truth is, I desperately need your help.

       Love,

       Nadine

      Julie tried to picture her aunt Nadine and cousin Raymond in her head but came up blank. She hadn’t seen them since she was a toddler, and all she knew was what her mother had shared from Aunt Nadine’s infrequent letters. Aunt Nadine had dropped out of college to get married and start a commune with her husband. The commune was a group of people who wanted to live far from the modern world with all its troubles—its wars, pollution, and hectic pace. They wanted to live close to nature and grow their own food. They had set up their own community, called Gold Moon Ranch, in the Sierra mountains. Its nearest neighbor was a tiny town called Sonora, which had once been a lively gold-mining town and was now a popular tourist spot. Since moving to the commune, Aunt Nadine had rarely returned to San Francisco.

      “Now, after all this time, she ‘desperately’ wants to see you,” Julie mused. “I wonder why?” She felt a thrill as their car inched along onto the bridge that led out of the crowded city.

      Aunt Nadine’s invitation was the most interesting thing to have happened all summer. Julie’s friends Ivy and CJ were out of town visiting relatives. Her older sister, Tracy, worked two summer jobs and was hardly ever home. Summer vacation was nearly over now, and Julie had spent most of it on the living room couch working her way through stacks of library books. She was excited at the thought of getting to know her cousin Raymond, who seemed to live such a different life from hers. She tucked her feet under her on the seat and gazed out the window at all the traffic on the bridge. I wonder if he and I will be friends? She hoped so.

      Julie knew her mother was eager to see her sister again, too. When the letter from Aunt Nadine arrived, Mrs. Albright quickly arranged for her assistant to fill in at Gladrags, the shop where she sold beaded jewelry, mobiles, lava lamps, and used clothing that she’d refashioned into trendy styles. Mrs. Albright also arranged for Tracy to stay with Dad. He was an airline pilot who lived on the other side of the city, and the girls visited him whenever his flight schedule allowed. Julie and her mom packed their suitcases and set off just two days after receiving Aunt Nadine’s note.

      The car picked up speed along the highway to the hills, and as the smell of the summer air blowing in her window changed from the exhaust of cars and trucks to a fishy saltwater tang off the San Francisco Bay, Julie found it hard to stay awake. She dozed in the car until her rumbling stomach woke her. Their station wagon was winding up a narrow mountain road.

      “Good timing,” Mrs. Albright said, glancing over at Julie. “We’re just passing through Sonora. Not too much farther to the ranch.” Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly.

      “Don’t worry, Mom,” Julie said. “Aunt Nadine will be happy to see us!”

      “It feels strange to arrive without phoning first.”

      Julie looked out the window at the brick and stone buildings lining Sonora’s main street. The historic homes with iron shutters and ornate fences nestled in old-fashioned gardens made Julie feel as though they were driving through a movie set about the old West. “Back when these houses were built, I bet people didn’t have phones,” she said. “They couldn’t call ahead either.”

      “Good point,” Mrs. Albright said. “I’m sure it will be fine. But we’ve surely missed lunchtime there…so how about stopping for a snack?”

      “Yum!” Julie was ready for a break.

      At the end of the main street, a flashing rocket-shaped sign announced the Galaxy Cafe. The claim on the board below it sounded promising: Our Meals Are Out of This World! They parked and walked into the low, modern building.

      Julie’s eyes widened at the gleaming chrome-and-glass tables and shiny chairs. The dark blue ceiling twinkled with stars, and a mobile of the Skylab space station dangled from it, rotating slowly. “Cool!” she exclaimed. They took a table near the door and waited. And waited.

      “Don’t they have waiters in the future?” Julie joked after a few minutes.

      Finally, a teenage waitress with warm brown skin and a cloud of dark hair arrived at their table with an apologetic smile. “Sorry to keep you waiting!” The air around her held a delicate scent of flowers.

      Julie smiled back. The girl’s name tag proclaimed: Hi, I’m DOLORES. She wore black pants, a black T-shirt, and a metallic silver apron. She laid silverware and paper napkins printed with little red rockets at each of their places, then drew an order pad from the apron pocket, which also sported an embroidered red rocket. “What’ll it be?”

      “I’ll have the Apollo Cheeseburger and Gemini Fries, please,” Julie said.

      Mrs. Albright was giving her order for Cosmic Vegetable Soup when a red-faced balding man wearing round wire-rimmed glasses strode from the kitchen to their table. “Dolores, this won’t do.” He consulted a rocket-shaped watch. “Your break is twenty minutes, not thirty.”

      “I’m sorry, Mr. Coker,” the waitress said, her smile strained. “It won’t happen again.”

      “Don’t just say sorry, show sorry,” Mr. Coker snapped.

      Cheeks flaming, Dolores hurried to the kitchen. Julie was embarrassed for the girl. It was bad enough to get in trouble with your boss, but even worse to be scolded in front of customers! She wouldn’t want him for a boss.

      A short time later, Dolores was back with a tray of food. Mr. Coker approached their table with a critical eye.

      “One vegetable soup,” Dolores said, setting a bowl in front of Mrs. Albright. “And one grilled cheese,” she said to Julie.

      Julie and her mother looked at each other. “Um, it was supposed to be—” Julie began. She bit her lip, but not soon enough to keep Mr. Coker from plucking the order pad from Dolores’s apron pocket and scanning the page impatiently.

      “Cheeseburger and fries is what the young lady ordered.”

      “It’s okay…” Julie blurted out. “I like grilled cheese, too.”

      Dolores snatched up the plate and bolted for the kitchen.

      “It is a problem, I’m afraid,” Mr. Coker said, shaking his head. “It’s not the impression I want to leave you with, as the owner of this restaurant. Sonora may be full of Gold Rush history, but I look to the future. I’m