Celeste

  "She playing with herself?" Elliot asked.

  "She's trying on clothes." I said.

  He groaned.

  "She'll do that for hours. Forget it." he said.

  I hesitated to pull back. I wanted to see every fashion, every article of clothing.

  "Hey," Elliot said. "C'mon. You got more than an eyeful and my father will be coming home soon."

  Reluctantly, I pulled back.

  "It get you excited enough?" Elliot asked.

  I didn't respond. Instead, I started out of his room. urging Cleo to follow.

  "Now you'll appreciate Roberta Beckman." he told me as we descended the stairs. "I'm going to arrange it all for Saturday night, okay?"

  "I don't know." I said.

  "Whaddya mean? We had a deal. You don't welsh on a deal," he said sharply.

  "My mother might not let me come here."

  "Do what you did tonight. Just sneak over. I know you can do it. Noble, so don't give me any grief." he said, his eyes small and threatening.

  "I'll see," I said and opened the door. He followed Cleo and me out.

  "You better be here. Noble," he called. "Don't make me look stupid and ruin my chances with Harmony. I won't forget it if you do," he shouted as I crossed toward the woods.

  When I reached the woods. I broke into a trot and then ran all the way home. I took off my shoes. cleaned Cleo, and then washed my hands. It was very quiet inside the house. so I imagined Mommy was still in a very deep sleep, but as I walked down the hallway. I saw she had risen and come downstairs, where she had fallen asleep again in her great-grandad Jordan's chair. I stood in the doorway and looked at her, waiting to see if she would wake. She didn't, so I went upstairs, but instead of going directly to my room, I continued down the upstairs hallway to hers.

  Practically tiptoeing, I entered her room and went to her vanity table. So much of her makeup, lipsticks, and creams had been untouched for so long, but seeing Betsy at her vanity table filled me with new interest. I sat and gazed at myself in the mirror. My eyebrows were too thick. How I wished they were as trim as Betsy's were.

  Only once before. when I was very little, had I put on lipstick. Noble and I were playing house. and I was to be the mother. I messed it up terribly. but Mommy wasn't angry at me. She laughed and called Daddy, who looked at me and went into hysterics.

  Slowly, I opened one of her lipstick tubes. It looked all right. so I brought it to my lips and carefully traced along, pressing my lips together and then patting them the way I had seen Betsy do it in her room. The sight of bright red lips on my face made me smile. Encouraged. I opened one of the jars of cream and began to rub it into my cheeks and under my lower lip, around my chin. My fingers were rough against my face. so I had to rub very gently.

  After that. I opened one of the cakes of makeup and began to experiment with color the way I saw Betsy do it. Once I finished that. I found an eyelash brush and started to darken mine. I was nearly finished doing that when I heard Mommy's shrill scream, I had been so involved in it all, I hadn't heard her coming up the stairway.

  "What are you doing?" she shouted, rushing to me and ripping the eyelash brush out of my hands. She gazed down at me, her eyes wide. "What are you doing?"

  She reached for a towel and, with her left hand holding the back of my head, roughly began to wipe off the lipstick and the makeup, practically tearing my skin off my skull with the fierce effort.

  "I was just.. just--"

  "You're contaminated." she said. "You're possessed. Get to your room this instant." she ordered. and I rose quickly and went to my bedroom. "Get undressed and go to bed." she said. She nodded at me. "This will take time." she added, and then she stepped out and closed the door.

  What did that mean? I wondered,

  Before I finished undressing. I heard her return to my door, and then I heard her insert a key in the lock and turn it. The lock snapped shut.

  "Mommy?" I cried and went to the door. It wouldn't budge.

  "This will take time." I heard her say, and then I heard her footsteps as she went to the stairway and descended.

  There was nothing for me to do but go to sleep. I dreamed about being in Betsy's room, only it was my room. I was at that vanity table. and I was making myself look very pretty, only when I turned and looked at the wall. I saw Mommy's eye in the hole, and it woke me with a start. I smelled something so I sat up, and there, near the door. I saw a candle burning. Its flame flickered slightly. I listened hard. I heard a rustling and then I saw Mommy sitting there near the window, her body silhouetted in the light of the stars and half- moon that poured into my room.

  "Mommy?"

  "Go back to sleep, Noble," she said. "You'll need your strength. We have a lot to do."

  She rose to fix my blanket as I lay back. Then she touched my forehead before turning to go out. I heard the key in the lock, and the lock turned.

  Sleep was like a leaf in the wind, just inches from my fingertips and always out of reach until the first light of morning. I was surprised at how late I had slept and surprised Cleo was not in the room. Groggy, I rose and washed and dressed, but when I went to go out. I found the door was still locked.

  "Mommy!" I called. "I'm awake and ready to come down to breakfast. Mommy!"

  I heard nothing. I pulled on the handle and then I knocked on the door. and I waited.

  Still nothing but silence was what I received in return. were was Cleo? Why wasn't he barking for me? I wondered.

  I continued to call to Mommy to knock, to rattle the doorknob. I never heard her footsteps. I opened my window and looked out in every direction for sight of her, but she wasn't in view. I shouted for her and waited and then returned to the door and knocked and shouted again.

  Exhausted, I sat on my bed.

  The clock ticked on. The morning passed into afternoon. I heard our vacuum cleaner go on below, and I waited for it to end. It was on for so long. I thought it would never be turned off, but finally it was, and then I started shouting for her again. She didn't respond. My throat was dry. so I went into the bathroom and drank water from the sink faucet.

  Still, she did not return to my room. My calls went unheeded. Afternoon passed into the early evening. I was so hungry, my stomach was rumbling. I tried to sleep so I wouldn't think of it. Darkness grew thicker. I listened and heard very. little, and then I heard her sinning and rushed to the window. She was off to the right in the cemetery. I waited until she stopped and then I screamed for her, but she didn't call back.

  I waited by the door to listen for her footsteps on the stairway, and finally I heard them. I banged harder and called to her. I could hear her approaching,

  "Thank goodness," I muttered.

  She did nothing, however. I waited, a new panic building inside me.

  "Mommy?"

  "Just rest. Noble," I heard her whisper through the door. "You need to fast. You need to cleanse yourself "

  "I'm hunry, Mommy, very hungry."

  "You need to cleanse yourself." she repeated. "Just drink water. This is what they told me."

  I heard her start away.

  "Mommy!" I screamed and listened.

  Her bedroom door closed and it was silent. "Where's Cleo?" I screamed.

  I went to the window to listen. If she had left him outside, he would be barking by now. I thought. But I didn't hear him. and I couldn't stand the silence. I put my hands over my ears, in fact, to listen to the roar in my head instead.

  Truly exhausted now. I returned to my bed. I slept on and off most of the night. I woke hopefully at first light and listened for Mommy. Surely, whatever it was she thought she had to do had ended. I hoped.

  But it hadn't. I spent the whole day just as I had spent the day before, and the same was true for the night. On the third day. I was so tired and weak. I didn't bother to get up. I just lay there, waiting, listening, drifting in and out of sleep. I thought I heard the sound of our car starting, but I wasn't sure.

  The day passed into nig
ht.

  And then, in the morning. I heard the door open. My eyelids felt glued together. but I lifted them and looked up at Mommy, who was standing there with a tray in her hands, her face in a smile. There was a mug of one of her teas on the tray, and a bowl of oatmeal and some toast and jam.

  I started to sit up. She put the tray on the nightstand and helped me into a sitting position, fixing my pillows behind me. Then she set the tray on my lap and stepped back.

  "It's over." she said. "We'll be all right again."

  14

  A Wild Ride

  .

  Athough I always enjoyed pretty good health

  and rarely had colds and coughs, never got measles or chicken pox or anything Mommy told us children our ages suffered. I did on occasion have stomachaches and sniffles with some fever. That was how I felt, even after I had finally eaten something. It took most of the day and another good night's sleep before I felt strong enough to rise, and even then. I moved slowly.

  The first thing I did when I finally left my room was ask for Cleo. He wasn't barking for me, and he wasn't anywhere just outside. I checked all his favorite spots. Usually, he would be right at the front door, waiting for me to come out.

  "Cleo is gone." Mommy told me.

  "Gone? What do you mean by gone. Mommy?" "Gone is gone, Noble." She stopped what she

  was doing and turned to me. "He was being used," she said.

  "Used?"

  "By forces of evil."

  "How could Cleo be used by forces of evil?" I asked.

  "Remember that story I read to you about the Trojan Horse?" she replied.

  I was shaking my head in disbelief. but I stopped.

  "You mean, how the soldiers were kept in the big horse and that was the way they got into the city of Troy?"

  That did this have to do with Cleo? I wondered.

  "Yes, exactly." she said excitedly.

  "I still don't understand. Mommy," I said. She stopped smiling.

  "The forces of evil invaded him and when he came into our home, they came in with him, inside him. I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong until it was pointed out to me, and Guess by whom?"

  I just stared at her. What was she saying? What did this mean?

  "Uncle Herbert Remember I told you about his dog? That was why he knew about such things. He knew animals could be used for good or for bad. Thankfully, he got to me in time."

  "But where's Cleo?" I asked again.

  "I told you. Noble. Cleo is no longer with us. He's gone" she said.

  I shook my head to shake the words out of my ears. Gone? No longer with us?

  "But I want Cleo," I moaned.

  "I'll get you another pet. Maybe a bird this time." she said. "Yes. I think a bird that we keep inside and in a cage. It will be safer."

  "Mommy. Cleo is probably very unhappy. Where is he?" I pursued.

  She put down her dish of chicken cutlets so hard it amazed me the dish didn't shatter.

  "Are you deliberately being thickheaded. Noble Atwell? Well? Are you? That was a characteristic your father possessed and a characteristic that came to the fore too often."

  "No, Mommy, Im not deliberately being anything. I miss Cleo. I need Cleo." I said. "He's always been with inc."

  "Exactly. That was the reason he was chosen. Other than myself, there was no other living thing that was as close to you, as capable of getting to you. Noble. Don't you see? It makes perfect sense."

  "Did you give him to someone else?" I questioned.

  She stared at me a moment, and then she looked away.

  "Yes. I gave him to someone else. I gave him to the pound," she said.

  "You mean where they keep the animals in cages, and when no one comes for them, they destroy them?" I asked, my voice no longer diminishing the panic and the rage.

  "Someone will take him. He's too attractive an animal, and he's young enough to learn to be with someone else. I don't want to talk about Cleo anymore. You're giving me a splitting headache." she added sharply and returned to her dinner preparations.

  I stood there just looking at her.

  "Go to the pantry and get me some basil," she commanded. When I didn't move, she turned, "Well?"

  I walked away slowly, my heart feeling so heavy in my chest. I thought it might have hardened into stone. When I brought her the basil, she smiled, and then she immediately changed expression.

  "One more thing," she said. "Someone had the audacity to call here and ask for you."

  "Who?"

  "Some impetuous boy. I told him you were sick and couldn't come to the phone, and he said he'd call again to remind you of a bargain. Who is this? What bargain? How would anyone know to call you? You haven't been talking to strangers, have you? Not after all my warnings."

  I shook my head. I didn't feel like being honest and cooperative. I was still blistering inside about Cleo.

  "Just a prank. I'm sure." I said. "Like we had happen many times before," I added. That was true. For years, kids who lived in our area thought it was funny to call us and say silly things. I went into the living room. where I sat in Daddy's favorite chair and thought about Cleo, how he would be at my feet by now, lifting his head even' time I moved practically. The memory brought a smile to my lips and then overwhelmed me with a wave of sadness. I could also imagine him, despondent, lying in some cage, lifting his ears at every footstep, every voice. expecting me to rescue him. How I wish I could.

  It made me very angry. Cleo couldn't have brought evil to us. Cleo barked at evil. Mommy had told me that herself. She told me he would protect me. She told me Daddy must have given him that assignment. Surely, she merely forgot. I'll tell her. I thought and then we'll go get Cleo before it's too late. I hurried back to the kitchen.

  She listened quietly, and then she turned and smiled.

  "You knowIm very impressed with you. Noble. You thought all that out very logically and sensibly."

  My heart leaped for joy.

  "However," she said. "what you don't know is that evil is insidious. It creeps through shadows and through smiles equally. This is why we have to be on such guard, be so alert always. I told you, it even got past me, but not past Uncle Herbert's spirit. But don't worry anymore. It will be all right now. Everything will be fine again," she said and kissed my forehead, petting my hair. "How noble you are. Noble. How noble you will be," she whispered and returned to her work, leaving me frustrated.

  I left the house to be by myself. The rage building inside me was too strong. It would only get me in trouble. I thought, It was fortunate for me that I walked out at that moment, too, for coming down our driveway was a metallic black automobile. and I could see Elliot driving, Panicking. I gazed back at the house and then ran down the driveway so he would stop before he got too close, Once Mommy saw them, she would know I had been lying about the phone call.

  There was a pretty brunette in the front seat with Elliot, and as I drew closer to the car. I saw another girl with darker hair in the rear. It wasn't until he stopped the car and I saw the three of them that I realized what day it was. Being locked up in my room. I had lost track of time. Elliot rolled down his window and smiled at me.

  "Hey," he said. "we're here just as I promised."

  The Girl in the front leaned over his shoulder to look at me. She was smiling, but her face was full of curiosity, her hungry eyes looking me over like a fox might look over a chicken.

  "Hi," she said.

  "This is Harmony." Elliot told int, nudging his head in her direction. Then he winked.

  Instinctively. I folded my arms aver my chest and stepped back. The girl in the rear rolled down the window. too.

  "Hi," she said. "I'm Roberta."

  "I thought we might take a little ride first," Elliot told me. "Hop in."

  "How did you get your car? You told me you were grounded." I responded.

  "I was, but I made a new deal with my father. I'm going to improve my grades." He looked at Harmony and laughed. Then he turne
d back to me. "Maybe I can get some pointers from your mother. C'mon, get in."

  "I can't. I have to take care of some important chores."

  "Hey," he said, losing his smile quickly and leaning farther out of the window, "a deal's a deal. I lived up to my end, and as you can see, we're here. We're going to have a good time. remember?"

  "C'mon, don't be shy," Roberta called to me and opened the rear door.

  I stared at her.

  "Maybe I should just go and ask your mother if she'll excuse you from your important chores. I called and spoke to her, and she doesn't sound so bad," Elliot said. He started to open his door to get out.

  "No, she's not feeling well." I said quickly. "She's taking a nap."

  "Oh." He shrugged. "Perfect. She won't notice you're not here. then."

  "Come on. Noble. I won't bite. I promise," Roberta said. beckoning.

  "He wants you to bite," Elliot told her, and she laughed. "Don't you. Noble?"

  "No," I said.

  "Are you coming or what? Chores. Don't give me any lame excuses about this place," he said and then he looked around the farm. "Hey, where's your faithful dog? He brings his dog everywhere he goes," he explained to Harmony and Roberta.

  "That's very nice," Harmony said. "What kind of a dog do you have?"

  "Golden retriever," Elliot answered for me. "He's a beaut. too. So where is he?"

  "Inside," I said quickly.

  The reference to Cleo stirred my pot of rage again. I looked down, thought a moment, and then I moved forward impulsively and got into the rear of the car, closing the door.

  "Way to go," Elliot said and instantly put the car into reverse. He backed up awkwardly, causing the girls to scream. Then he turned and churned gravel beneath the rear wheels.

  "Slow down!" Harmony shouted at him. "You'll get another speeding ticket."

  "Right." he said, and he did slow down.

  "What's it like going to school in your own house?" Roberta asked me.

  Harmony leaned over the front seat to look at me and listen. She was very pretty, I thought, with perfect, dainty features and interesting blue eyes. They were shaped like two almonds. I envied her smooth complexion and the color of her lipstick. It made her lips look moist and sexy, just like the lipstick Elliot's sister Betsy had.