Pearl in the Mist (Landry 2)

to work for what they get."

She and Bruce exchanged a look of satisfaction

before she turned back to us.

"I want to reiterate what I told you about your

behavior at Greenwood. Should I be called by the

principal because of some misbehavior, the

consequences will be dire for you, I assure you." "What could be more dire than having to stay at

Greenwood?" Gisselle muttered.

"There are other schools, farther away, with

rules far stricter than the rules at Greenwood." "You mean reform schools," Gisselle said. "Gisselle," I said, "stop arguing. It's no use." She gazed at me with her teary eyes.

I shook my head. "She almost had me

committed once. She's capable of anything." "That's enough," Daphne snapped. "Go up and

pack your clothes and remember my warnings about

your behavior at school. I don't want to hear a bad

word. It's enough that Pierre went and died and left

me to be guardian over the offspri

ng resulting from

his wild indulgences. I don't have the time nor the

emotional strength for it."

"Oh, you have the strength, Daphne," I said.

"You have the strength."

She stared at me a moment and then put her

hand on her chest. "My heart is beating a mile a

minute, Bruce. I have to go up. Will you see to it that

they do what they're told and the limousine is here to

take them to school in the morning?"

"Of course," he said.

I rose quickly and pushed my sister out of the

parlor. Maybe she realized it now; maybe she

understood that when Daddy died, we had become