husband and this is something to do in the meantime,"
she replied dryly. "You can take it over there," she
said pointing to a chair with a desk beside it. "Take
your time, Mrs. Forbas."
Caroline sat down with the paper work and I
walked over to Crystal, who looked more scared than
I'd ever seen her.
"What's wrong?" I asked quietly, not wanting to
draw attention.
"I remember when my foster parents were
killed," she said. "I was at a friend's house. We were
studying for a math exam and someone called on the
telephone. I don't remember who called, but my
friend's mother came to the door of her room and said,
'Crystal, there's been a terrible accident. Do you know
your Uncle Stuart's number in Albany?'
"'I'm sure it's in my father's Rolodex,' I said. 'I'll
go look it up.' We lived right next door," she
explained. "I remember I ran out of that house not
even thinking about the consequences. It never
occurred to me that they were both dead, you see. I was young enough at the time still to think of death as something alien, reserved for the aged, but not
something that strikes people close to you." I nodded, listening as I watched Raven work
miracles with Sophie while Butterfly sat by talking
softly to Denise, keeping her from crying. It occurred
to me that we were all as terrified as they were.
Crystal hardly ever talked about her past like this and
certainly not with such nervous energy. Every once in
a while, Raven would stop and look over at Caroline
and her lips would tremble. She would take a deep
breath, too. Butterfly's eyes met mine a number of