Gates of Paradise (Casteel 4)

"Accident, ma . . . no accident. One night she jist got sick'a bein' locked up like a loony, I suppose, and took too many sleepin' pills. Can't tell me that was an accident."

"But if she didn't know what she was doing or who she was . ."

"Annie's right, Ma. It could have been an accident."

"Maybe, but it still didn't do yer ma no good ta hafta live in that big house with all that craziness goin' on. And I don't think she woulda wanted ta be buried in that ritzy cemetery. She probably woulda preferred the Willies, out there in the woods, right next ta her real ma."

Luke and I shot quick glances at one another. He knew that I had often gone up to that simple grave in the Willies alone to stare at the tombstone that simply read, "Angel, Beloved Wife of Thomas Luke Casteel."

"Course, yer daddy probably woulda wanted the huge monument and all."

"You saw it?" I looked back at Luke quickly. He nodded and bit down on his lower lip.

"Yeah, Luke and I went ta the Tatterton family cemetery on our way here and stopped by ta pay our respects."

"You were at Farthy, Luke?"

"Well, it was on the grounds, but we didn't go to the house. The cemetery had its own entry road and was some distance away."

"No one invited us, anyway, Annie. And from where we was standin', that mansion looked cold and deserted," she said, and embraced herself as if just the memory gave her a chill.

"We couldn't see much, Ma," Luke said, looking at her with chastisement.

"It looked like one'a them old castles in Europe," she insisted. "That's why I'd rather ya was where I could look in on ya, than stuffed away in that ole mansion. It's probably haunted. Maybe that's why yer great-grandma went loony."

"Oh, Ma," Luke moaned.

"Well, Logan once told me how Jillian--that was her name, Jillian--claimed to see the dearly departed," she whispered.

Luke looked away. Any reference to my father and his mother always embarrassed him. I squeezed out a silly little laugh to change the mood.

"You don't have to worry about that, Aunt Fanny. Tony's going to fix Farthy up to make it very comfortable for me," I said. "He's got all kinds of plans . . ."

"Sure." She shifted her gaze from me as if she didn't want me to read her thoughts in her eyes.

"Aunt Fanny, do you know why my mother didn't want to have anything to do with him?"

Still looking at the floor, she shook her head.

"That was between yer daddy, yer motha, and him. It all happened jist before Drake's custody hearin', and me and yer ma wasn't very sisterly then, so she didn't tell me everythin' and I didn't ask. After we mended fences, she wanted ta keep her unpleasant memories buried, and I didn't push none ta know. But I'm sure she had good reason, so maybe ya oughta reconsider what yer doin'," she added, her eyes small now and her lips pursed.

"But Aunt Fanny, Drake thinks Tony's wonderful, and he's done so much for me. He's promised Drake a job for the summer, an important job, too."

"Yeah, well, jist ya keep yer wits about ya when yer in that castle, Annie, and if anythin' upsets ya, that nurse or anythin' at all, ya jist give yer aunt Fanny a call and I'll be there in a jiffy ta bring ya back where ya belong, hear?"

Aunt Fanny sounded funny and her ideas were often weird, but I couldn't help wondering if she wasn't right about Tony Tatterton. Were there any other reasons for his doing all that he was doing? Was Aunt Fanny right about the stream of madness that ran through the family? For now I decided I would wait and see. At least I felt secure because Drake and Luke would be close by in Boston. In fact, I'd be closer to Luke if I stayed at Farthy. His going to Harvard, which I had thought would separate us forever, would now mean we would be near each other again.

"Thank you, Aunt Fanny, but I think be fine, and there is all this special medical attention I need now."

"She's right, Ma."

"I know she needs special care. I jist thought. anyway,Ill be where ya kin find me. Now." She straightened up again, trying to look like my mother did when she conducted business. "Seems yer parents neva changed that part of their wills that left management of their finances up ta Tony Tatterton. So I suppose he's got control'a what happens with the factory and such."

"And Drake will have a lot to do with it. Someday he'll probably run it himself."

"Wouldn't my pa be proud'a that," she said, beam ing. She shook her head and reached into her handbag for a lace handkerchief with which to dab her eyes. "You and Luke's the only family I really got, Annie, and I mean ta do well by ya both, I'm gonna really try to behave and be a decent motha and aunt. I swear it." I could see she was convincing herself as well as me.

"Thank you, Aunt Fanny," I said, grateful for her intentions, intentions I suspected she would have trouble sustaining.