Twilight's Child (Cutler 3)

"Everything is fine," Fern told us. "Everyone is behaving," she said

"Ain't she the little lady?" Daddy said.

"The whole world should get along as well as children do," Edwina said.

"Ain't that the truth," Daddy added.

We showed Daddy and Edwina to their room so they could shower and dress for dinner. Mrs. Boston had prepared a turkey and all the fixings. It was truly going to be a Thanksgiving.

Jimmy had talked me into permitting Christie and Fern to stay home from school the next day so they would have more time to spend with Gavin.

"Otherwise the poor guy will be bored to death all day," Jimmy said.

In the morning after breakfast Jimmy took Daddy Longchamp around with him to see the kinds of work he had to supervise. I knew the two of them would be happy off discussing boilers and motors. I had introduced Edwina and Daddy to Betty Ann and Philip. Edwina got along very well with Betty Ann, who took her to see the twins and their portion of the old section of the hotel while I tended to some business matters.

In the afternoon we all had lunch in the dining room. To my surprise and delight, Philip volunteered to take Edwina and Betty Ann into town to see some of the sights and shops. Daddy was content spending his time with Jimmy around the hotel. Fern, still acting the role of big sister, took Christie and Gavin back to the house. I returned to my office for a meeting with Mr. Dorfman. It ran longer than I had anticipated, and when I looked up at the clock I saw it was nearly four.

Wondering how the children were getting along, I decided to stop over at the house. Mrs. Boston was in the kitchen preparing a large roast beef. We were going to have Philip, Betty Ann and the twins over for dinner as well, since Daddy had to leave the next morning.

"I hope the children haven't been a problem for you, Mrs. Boston," I said when I paused in the kitchen.

"The children?" She thought a moment. "You know, Dawn, I completely forgot they were here. They've been so quiet up there."

"Oh? Well, that's very nice," I said. I imagined that Mrs. Boston was so involved with her dinner preparations that she wouldn't have heard them anyway. I went up the stairs quickly and was surprised to discover they weren't in Christie's room; they were in Fern's, and the door was shut.

I started to open it when I heard Fern say, "You can touch it, Christie. It's not going to bite you."

I hoped they hadn't brought a little garter snake into the house. Mrs. Boston would absolutely faint if she saw it, I thought, laughing to myself. But when I opened the door I was shocked to discover Christie and Gavin facing each other, both totally naked. Fern was standing with her back to me and apparently hadn't heard me enter.

"Mommy," Christie cried. Fern spun around, her face turning beet red.

"What in the world . . . what's going on here, Fern?" I demanded.

"Nothing," she said quickly. "I mean . . . I don't know," she sputtered. She stepped away from the two of them. "You don't know? Why are they undressed?"

"They did it themselves," she said quickly. "I was . . . downstairs, and when I came up I found them like this. It was Gavin's idea," she said, pointing accusingly at him. "He told Christie he would show her his if she would show him hers."

I looked at Gavin. He stood terrified, his eyes glazed with fear.

"Is that true, Christie?" I asked.

She started to shake her head, but her eyes caught Fern's furious look of warning. Then she started to cry.

"Get them dressed," I commanded. "Immediately."

"Come on, Gavin," Fern said, pulling him to the bed, where most of his clothing lay. She lifted him up and started dressing him while I helped Christie.

"I don't understand this, Christie. Why would you do such a thing? Don't you know it's not nice to undress yourself in front of boys?" She kept crying, but I was seething inside. I knew Fern was lying, and I wanted Christie to tell me so.

"I'm sorry, Momma," she bawled. "I'm sorry."

"And Gavin's momma and daddy will be very upset, too."

"Maybe you better not tell them," Fern said. "Daddy Longchamp looks mean enough to heat the skin off him."

"Fern!" I spun around on her. "You will have him absolutely terrified of his father."

She shrugged.