almost all of them were at some pains to assure gaunt that they had only a moment , because they were on their way to someplace else stephanie bonsaint , cynthia rose martin , barbara miller , and francine pelletier were the first ; steffie , cyndi rose , babs , and francie arrived in a protective bunch not ten minutes after polly was observed leaving the new shop ( the news of her departure spread quickly and thoroughly by telephone and the efficient bush telegraph which runs through new england back yards ) steffie and her friends looked .