She shrugged. "I don't care if they are. The way they were acting made me sick." She smiled at me. "Anyway, I've got other friends. You, for instance." With a wave of her hand, she turned and ran up the path toward her court, and I ran the other way.
When I got home, I found Josh in the kitchen, eating a huge peanut butter and jelly sandwich expanded with raisins and bananas.
"Well, Jess-o, how was your day?" he asked.
"Not too good." I wished I could tell Josh about Daphne. He was older than I was. Maybe he could give me some advice. Not the kind an adult gives, all full of rules and regulations and ifs and buts and complications, but something that would help me.
"What's wrong?" He looked at me, really looked at me, as if it had just occurred to him that I was a human being, too, not just a dumb little sister. "Have you been crying?"
My eyes filled with tears. They splashed down on my sweater and clung to the wool like little drops of dew.
"What happened?" Josh took another bite of his sandwich, but he still' looked interested. He might have been a scientist discovering an unknown quality in a specimen he thought he knew everything about.
"Well, you know Daphne and how we've gotten to be friends and all." I gulped a little from all the crying I'd been doing.
Josh nodded.
"And you know how Michelle and Sherry and their friends make fun of her and call her Daffy Duck and stuff."
"Yeah. Typical middle-school garbage."
"Well, there are things about her I've never told anybody. She made me promise not to." I blew my nose. "She lives with her grandmother, and her grandmother's crazy, Josh. And today in the Food Barn she made this terrible scene."
Ashamed to look at Josh, I told him about the olives and how I'd run away instead of helping Daphne. And I told him about Daphne's father and the cats and the gas and electricity and the crack in the ceiling and Daphne's not going to school. By the time I finished, I was exhausted.
Josh kept shaking his head while I was talking and making little inarticulate sounds. "Jess, this is awful. I mean it's really serious. You've got to tell Mom, you've got to."
"But I can't! I promised Daphne I wouldn't!" I started crying again. "I thought you could help me, I thought you would know what to do!"
"I'm telling you what to do," Josh said. "Those two kids can't go on living with that crazy old lady."
"But they'll get put in an orphanage or something. And they'll hate me."
Josh frowned at me. "Who are you thinking about, Jess? Yourself or Daphne? If you want things to go on getting worse and worse for Daphne, just keep it all a secret. But don't blame me if the old lady dies or the kids get sick or the house burns down when a candle falls over."
I stared at him, horrified. "I never thought of that."
Josh shrugged. "Well, start thinking, Jess-o." He finished his glass of milk in one tremendous gulp, then went upstairs. In a few seconds I heard the Purple Punks blasting down through the ceiling.
Feeling more depressed than ever, I picked up Snuff and collapsed on the living room couch. As usual she hissed and growled until she managed to escape from my loving embrace. So I lay there alone, watching the sky turn from gray to black.
When Mom came home, she flipped on the light. "Jessie, what are you doing lying here in the dark?" She stared at me. ".Are you all right?"
Shoving my feet out of the way, she sat down on the couch. "Were you asleep?"
"No, I was just thinking."
"Did something happen at school?"
I shook my head. "Not exactly." I took a deep breath. "You know how Daphne's been absent?"
Mom nodded. "Did she come back today?"
"She's not coming back, Mom, and she's not sick either." There, I'd said it. Whatever was going to happen would happen.
"What?" Mom stared at me. "Do you mean she's playing hooky?"
"She has to, Mom. She can't leave Hope alone with her 146 grandmother." While Mom sat there looking stunned, I told her what I'd told Josh.
"Oh, Jessica, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Mom put her arm around me. "Those poor girls. I should have known something was wrong."
"Will they really have to go to an orphanage or a foster home?"
"I suppose something like that will happen."
Mom looked so unhappy that I found the courage to ask her the question I'd been rehearsing for hours. "You know what the perfect solution is, don't you? They could come and live with us! We could fix up the recreation room for their bedroom. It would be so easy." I hugged her hard, sure she'd say yes.
Mom looked at me sadly. "Oh, Jess, we couldn't do that, honey."
"Why not?" I pulled away from her. "There's plenty of room here."
"I couldn't take the responsibility of two more children." She hesitated. "And there's Ed to consider," she added softly.
"Ed?" I stared at Mom. "What's he got to do with it?"
"Well, Ed and I are thinking about getting married. I've been meaning to tell you, but I was waiting for just the right moment." Mom reached out to touch me, but I moved out of her reach.
"He has a daughter, you know," Mom added. "She lives with her mother now, but she sees Ed once a month. When we're married, she'll probably spend more time with him."
"What do you mean?" I was angry now. "She isn't going to live here, is she?"
"No, no, Jessica." Mom looked flushed. "She might be with us on weekends or for a few weeks in the summer. I meant to tell you all this when everything was definite." She tried to smile at me. "So you see, we can't take in Daphne and Hope. I wish we could, but we can't."
"Hi, Mom." Josh bounded down the stairs. "When's dinner?"
"I don't know. Not for a while. I haven't even started it yet."
"But I'm starving." Josh rubbed his stomach and tried to look woebegone with hunger. "Did Jess tell you about Daphne?"
Mom nodded. "It's such a pity."
"What are you going to do?" Josh asked.
"I was thinking about driving out there to see how bad it really is," Mom said.
"No, Mom, don't! Please don't do that!" I clutched her arm.
"Jessica, something has to be done," Mom said firmly. "I'll drive out there tomorrow morning."
"No, Mom, no. Daphne will never forgive me!"
"What did I tell you, Jess?" Josh said. "Somebody has to do something!"
I shook my head, confused. "I thought Mom would let them live here! I'd never have told her if I'd known she'd say no!"
Mom grabbed my arms and turned me gently toward her. "You can come with me tomorrow, Jessica, but I have to go out there. I can't possibly allow a situation like that to continue."
"No, I can't go with you, I can't!" I pulled away from her and ran upstairs, slamming my door behind me.
Throwing myself down on my bed, I lay there in the dark and thought about Daphne and Hope alone with Mrs. Woodleigh in that cold, spooky house. No lights to chase away the shadows, no heat, the cats milling around underfoot mewing for food, the ghost of John Woodleigh lurking outside, haunting Hope and her grandmother. Shivering with fear for them, I pulled the covers over myself and watched the moon slide out from behind the clouds, silvering their edges with its light.
Fifteen
THE NEXT MORNING, I made another attempt to talk Mom out of visiting Daphne, but she was determined to go. To make things even worse, she had called Ed and persuaded him to drive out there with her.
"You're still welcome to come, Jessica." Mom looked at me hopefully.
"I can't." Turning away, I grabbed my jacket and books. "It's time for me to leave for school."
Slamming the door behind me, I crossed the court and headed for the footpath. Although the wind was still cold, I could feel spring in the sunlight. There was a faint smell of wild onion in the air, and I thought I saw a robin near the footbridge.
The closer I got to school, the slower I walked. Although I would have liked to see Tracy, I didn't want to run into Sherry and Michelle. To make sure I wo
uldn't, I turned off the path leading to school and wandered along beside the creek. I knew that I was making myself late, but I didn't care.
When I passed a tot lot, I sat down in a swing and rocked slowly back and forth. Poor Daphne. What was she going to do when Mom and Ed showed up at her front door? I tried to imagine the scene. Mom and Ed standing on the porch, Daphne staring at them, Mrs. Woodleigh yelling from somewhere inside, the cats meowing, Hope asking for a trip to McDonald's.
I wondered if the police would come and take Daphne and Hope and Mrs. Woodleigh away. Would Daphne have to go to a detention center for skipping school? Shuddering, I pumped the swing higher into the air. I didn't want to think about what was happening at Daphne's house.
When I was tired of pumping, I dropped my head back and stared at the sky and the treetops dipping up and down. Slowly the swing lost momentum and finally came to a stop. For a while, I sat still, listening to a mockingbird singing somewhere in the woods bordering the tot lot.
All of a sudden I realized that I had forgotten all about school. Conscience-stricken, I looked at my watch. I was half an hour late. Jumping out of the swing, I picked up my books and started running down the path.
When I was about halfway there, I slowed to a walk. I had a terrible pain in my side from running, and I was gasping for breath. At a fork in the path, I hesitated. If I went straight ahead, I'd get to school in five minutes, but if I turned to the right, I'd be home in no time.
Almost without thinking, I turned to the right. I'd never skipped school before, and I kept expecting to see a policeman patrolling the path looking for truants. The only person I saw, though, was an old lady walking a dog. She smiled at me and said what a lovely day it was. Then she went on her way as if she saw nothing unusual about my not being in school.
When I got home, the house was so quiet it was spooky. No Josh running up and down the stairs, no stereo blasting rock music, no video game bipping and beeping. Just the cuckoo clock ticking and the refrigerator humming to itself.
A little thump in the kitchen startled me, but it was only Snuff jumping down from the counter. She circled my ankles and meowed hopefully when I opened the refrigerator.
"The only time you like me is when I have food in my hand," I grumbled, letting her jump for a piece of cheese.
She snapped it, almost getting my fingers as well as the cheese, and gulped it down. "Me-row?" she asked politely.
Having nothing else to do, I fed her the rest of the slice of cheese bit by bit, hoping she wouldn't throw it up later. Then I went upstairs to my room and lay down on my bed. Although I'd planned to read or maybe even start another Benjamin Mouse story, I fell asleep instead.
I didn't wake up until late in the afternoon. I knew that Josh was home because I could hear his stereo, but I felt too bad to get up and tell him to turn it down. My head hurt, my throat was sore, and my whole body ached.
By the time Mom came home, I was sure I had a fever. When she called me from downstairs, I answered feebly and begged her to bring me a glass of orange juice.
"What's the matter, honey?" Mom paused in the doorway and smiled at me. She had her hands behind her back as if she had a surprise for me.
"Didn't you bring the orange juice?" I whimpered.
"I brought something else." She crossed the room and stood next to me. "Do you feel well enough for a surprise?"
I nodded. "What is it?"
With a little flourish, she handed me something warm and soft, a little bundle of black fur. "For you—from Hope."
"It's Raven!" I cradled the kitten gently. His whole body vibrated with a purr so loud it was hard to believe it came from something so small. Cuddling him close to me, I smiled up at Mom. "Did you keep him at the library all day?"
She sat down next to me and nodded. "He was so good. He stayed in my office and behaved himself beautifully." Laying her hand on my forehead, she looked concerned. "You're burning up, Jessie."
"I feel awful. I didn't even go to school. I stayed home and slept all day."
"Is your throat sore?"
I nodded. "And I ache all over."
"A lot of people at the library have been out sick with some kind of virus. I guess that's what you have." She got up. "I'll get you the juice and an aspirin. Then I'll tell you what happened this morning."
While she was gone, I petted Raven. I wasn't sure I wanted to know what had happened at Daphne's house. Didn't I feel bad enough already? I just wanted to lie in bed and stroke Raven and wait for my body to stop aching. I didn't want to hear depressing things. I didn't want to worry.
When Mom came back, she gave me an aspirin, and I swallowed it down with juice. Then she sat down on my bed and told me what had happened.
"It was a good thing that I went, Jessica. Poor Mrs. Woodleigh was so confused she could barely remember who Hope and Daphne were. Like you said, she ranted and raved about the cracks in the ceiling and assured me that her son would be home any minute to take care of everything. She was very hostile toward Ed and me. At one point she tried to run us off with a broom." Mom shook her head and sighed.
"But it wasn't just her mental condition that worried Ed and me. She's obviously in poor physical health. I suspect she's suffering from malnutrition, and she may have pneumonia from the sound of her cough." Mom looked at me. "You should have told me sooner, Jessica, you really should have."
I lay back on my pillow, still holding Raven, and shook my head. "You know I promised Daphne not to tell."
"Some things are far too serious to keep to yourself. When I think of those poor frightened girls alone in that cold house with that sick old woman, no food, no electricity, no one to turn to for help..." Mom's voice trailed off.
"What happened, what did you do?" I asked.
"I left Ed there and drove to McDonald's to call the county Social Services Department. They got Mrs. Woodleigh into a hospital, and a social worker took Daphne and Hope to Roseland."
"What's that?" The pretty name sounded like a cover-up for a terrible place with bars on the windows.
"It's a shelter for children who have no suitable home. I know it must sound awful to you, but at least they'll have warm beds and three decent meals a day." Mom patted my shoulder and tried to smile, but her voice was sad.
"Did Daphne say anything about me?"
There was a brief silence. "No, she didn't, Jessica," Mom said slowly. "She was very upset, especially about her grandmother." She paused again. "Hope found the kitten and brought him to me for you. She said she'd take good care of Baby Mouse."
"Oh, Mom." I started crying. "Daphne hates me, doesn't she? She'll never forgive me for telling you, I know she won't!"
"Now, now, Jessie, don't cry. Give Daphne a little time. She'll understand that it was the best thing for her and Hope ... and for their grandmother."
"If only you could have brought them here, then maybe she'd forgive me, but you sent her to Roseland. I bet there isn't one rose there or anything nice." I was so upset that I let Raven go and rolled over on my stomach. Burying my face in my pillow, I sobbed while Mom rubbed my back and tried to comfort me.
When I could talk calmly, I asked, "Do you really think they'll be all right at Roseland?"
"I'm sure they will be. Please try not to worry about them, honey. You'll just make yourself feel worse."
"Where is Roseland?"
"Up in the mountains. Somewhere west of Hagerstown, I think."
"Is that far?"
"About fifty or sixty miles, I guess." Mom stroked my forehead. "When you feel better, do you want to go and see them?"
I nodded. "If Daphne wants me to."
Mom shifted her weight, as if she were about to get up. "Don't go." I grabbed her hand. "Stay a while, just till I fall asleep."
She smiled. "Is there anything I can get you?"
"No, just you. You're all I want," I mumbled.
For three days I felt too sick to think about anything, even Daphne. My body felt as if someone had beaten it
all over with a baseball bat, and my throat was so sore I could hardly talk. All I did was sleep, drink orange juice, and take aspirin. On Sunday I felt well enough to sit up and watch television, and on Monday I ate dinner downstairs with everyone. Mom decided that I would probably be able to go back to school by Thursday.
"Maybe you should call Tracy and see what's going on in your classes. She could tell you what you've missed and help you get caught up," Mom suggested.
Reluctantly I dialed Tracy's number. I hadn't heard from her since she'd walked home with me from the village center. I was afraid that Michelle and Sherry might have convinced her that I was as strange as Daphne.
The phone rang once, twice, but just as I was about to hang up, Tracy's little sister said, "Hello?"
"Hi, Kelly, is Tracy there?"
"Just a minute." With an ear-splitting clank, she dropped the phone. "Tracy!" Kelly bellowed. "It's for you!"
"Who is it?" I heard Tracy yell.
"I don't know, some girl. Not Michelle."
"Tell her I'll be there in a minute."
"She's in the bathroom," Kelly yelled into the phone, then dropped it again, almost deafening me for life.
After a while, Tracy said, "Hello?"
"Hi, it's me."
"Jess, how are you? When are you coming back to school?"
"Thursday, I think. Have I missed much?"
"Just the same old boring stuff." While Tracy filled me in on the details of book reports, math tests, and history projects, I tried to analyze her tone of voice. She didn't sound bored or angry or disgusted, so I hoped that things were still all right between us.
"You won't have any trouble catching up, Jess. You're such a brain and all." Tracy popped her gum and added, "Did you know Daphne is in Roseland?"
"How did you find out?"
"Mr. O'Brien told us. He thought some of us might want to write to her or something."
"Do you think anybody will?"
"No. I'd kind of like to, but I don't know what to say. I was thinking maybe I'd send her a funny card or something."
"She'd like that."