To begin at chapter one click here
Girls’ Meeting
It's Wednesday afternoon. Tommy is napping, and Daleni and the M&Ms are at my kitchen table with Trudy and me. Trudy is okay. I like her, but she doesn’t do much. I’ve been changing Tommy’s diapers and making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day. I refuse to cook a grilled cheese while Trudy’s getting paid for it. At least I’m not fixing lunch for her. She doesn’t eat. She just sits around and listens to music on the classical radio station. I know she’s Mrs. Hallovich’s great-niece, but . . . she’s a little strange.
I haven’t told my parents any of that, because I’m so happy she’s talking to my friends. She’s telling them everything she told me and then some. Nothing weird is going on at Willow House. She’s been going there all her life, and she’s never seen a ghost, or had anything happen that couldn’t be explained. She also talks really nice about Mrs. Hallovich. She obviously loves her great aunt, and that makes me like her enough to let her keep the paycheck that should be mine.
Melanie reaches for an Oreo cookie from a plate that sits in the middle of the table. It’s a plate of snacks I prepared while Trudy listened to classical music.
“How do you explain the rocker on the front porch that always rocks with no one in it?” asks Melanie.
“That has been a family joke for years,” she responds. “The porch slopes a tiny bit right there and it only takes the slightest breeze to set if off.”
None of us know how to argue with that.
Mandy pipes in with her own question. “The thing that creeped me out the most was the dollhouse curtains blowing and that sister-doll thing.”
“Old houses are drafty. As for the sister-doll, I think Ella simply forgot where she had placed it, and her imagination got the best of her.” Trudy challenges me with her eyes to say anything more.
The four of them look at me, and all I can do is shrug my shoulders. It’s not like I can argue with Trudy when she’s helping me convince them to come. I know what I saw, I know what I heard, I know what I felt. She’s making me second guess everything. If this is going to work, though, I have to play along.
“She’s probably right. I guess it was my imagination.”
That didn’t feel right coming out of my mouth. It kind of felt like a lie.
Everyone is still looking at me; Trudy with satisfaction, Melanie with disgust, Mandy with disappointment, and Daleni with sympathy.
“So . . . ” Trudy says. “Are you girls in? Will you go to the tea party?”
“I’m in,” Mandy is quick to respond. “I was going to go anyway, but . . . thanks, Trudy. You made me feel better about it.”
“I’ll come too,” Melanie says. That’s all Melanie says.
“Good! That’s settled.” Trudy starts to stand then adds, “and Ella, don’t forget to bring Tommy. I can keep an eye on him while you girls enjoy yourselves.”
“Sure.” I say, but for some reason the idea of Trudy alone with Tommy makes my insides tighten up a little.
The next two days go by well enough. Trudy isn’t kidding when she says she’s not a touchy person. Tommy adores her even though she never picks him up or cuddles him like Mrs. Hallovich did. She plays board games with me in the afternoons while Tommy naps, but doesn’t even accept a handshake when I let her win.
Trudy did me a big favor by talking to the girls, but I’m still uncomfortable about her. She didn’t explain everything, and some of the things she did explain just don’t seem like the complete truth. There seems to be a lot of half-truths going around this summer.
I have to come clean with Daleni. She has a good head on her shoulders, and I’m hoping that, between the two of us, we can get things figured out.
For next chapter click here
No comments:
Post a Comment