Web of Dreams (Casteel 5)

please, honey. Pull yourself together. Go wash your

face. Freshen up. We don't want to show the servants

we're unhappy, do we? After you have something in

your stomach, you will feel a lot better anyway. I'm

sure."

"I'm not hungry," I cried. I ran to the staircase.

"Leigh!"

I didn't turn back. I couldn't, II ran up the stairs

and into my room. I rushed to my window to look out

in hopes of catching sight of Daddy leaving the house,

but the street below was empty, the street lights

casting long, dark and lonely shadows over the

sidewalks.

I clenched my hands into fists to grind away my

eyes and then I looked about my room. I looked at all

the things I had that reminded me of Daddy, looked at

his picture, looked at the models of ships. It was over.

This life I had known had passed on into that empty

night below.

Daddy had a saying when he met someone new,

especially someone he liked.

"Let's not be like two ships passing in the night.

Call again. Stop by."

Oh Daddy, I thought, will we now become like

two ships passing in the night?

One day slipped into another. I returned to

school and described my Jamaican trip to all my

girlfriends. Everyone was interested in my stories

about Fulton and Raymond, and a week after I had

returned home, I received a nice letter from Raymond.