ND of summer came threateningly on. Ruth, because she had not completed a year at her job did not rate a vacation, but she and Lisa contrived one blissful weekend by the sea. There had to be lies and deception, of course. Ruth told her parents that Lisa's aunt invited her down, and Lisa let her aunt believe that Ruth's parents were accompanying them. They kept their fingers crossed that there would be no checking.

Only on the last day did either of them mention Lisa's imminent departure. for home.

"What am I going to do without you, darling?" Lisa murmured. "Are you going to do without me?" Ruth asked.

"How easy it would be," she said, "if I were a man. I would marry you and take you with me, and..."

Ruth came and sank to her knees on the floor.

"Take me with you. You must take me with you!" Lisa wound her fingers through Ruth's hair.

"Sweetheart, you're talking wild. We can't do anything like that. What reason could we give? You're only nineteen, remember? Your folks would never let you go."

"I'll run away. I don't care what they say. I can get a job down there. I don't need them."

"You don't understand, darling. It would be awkward for me, too. I'm twenty-two, but Mother and Dad still treat me like a child. And they . . . expect things of me. It meant a lot to them to see me graduate from college and become a teacher. They sort of think I'm . . . well, perfect . . ."

Ruth arose and sat down beside Lisa without touching her. "I see," she said, dully.

They met only once more before Lisa left. Ruth didn't go to the train because she well knew she would break down. But she went to the farewell dinner at Bev's house, and at a silent signal from Lisa, she followed her upstairs. In the bathroom, with the door locked, they clung to each other for a moment and wept. Lisa kissed her tenderly, then bid her wash her face and compose herself. "We'll write, darling, every day, won't we?" she said.

"Yes, we'll write," Ruth replied. Lisa went down first, and Ruth turned to the mirror to repair her lipstick. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw that Lisa's aunt and uncle had arrived to drive her to the station. Lisa stood in the center of the room, surrounded by their friends. She did not look up at Ruth.

The group moved toward the door, and no one noticed that she was not among them. Watching them accompany Lisa down the path, Ruth knew that the gateway to Lesbos had closed, and that she was forever on the outside.

one

٤٤٠