Scattered Leaves (Early Spring 2)

"You do?"

"Ian," I said.

"He's not with her. He's in an institution. He has some mental problems."

She nodded as if she had expected to hear no less.

"So with her father in a wheelchair and her mother in a coma, her grandmother made her come live with her great-aunt. Miss Wilkens."

"I see. Yes. Emma is good at deciding other people's lives," she added. "But I thought you said she had a stroke."

"She's in the hospital," I said. "She can't talk very much, but she gives orders through her attorney."

She stared at me hard. It made me feel uncomfortable. She looked like she was searching my face for some sort of clue.

"But her attorney didn't tell you to come see me?"

"No. ma'am. No one told us." I said.

That seemed to make her uneasy. She fidgeted, as if she was going to stop talking to us. Alanis sensed it. too.

"So why was your name in the attic dresser drawer?" Alanis pursued. She was probably thinking also about Chad waiting impatiently in the parking lot.

"I didn't put it there. I thought everything that had to do with me had been taken out of that attic. I thought it had been completely emptied, in fact."

"No, it's full of stuff. furniture," Alanis said. "And that Moses basket."

"So? How did you know to come here?" she asked again.

Alanis rolled her eyes at me. "I called the number we found in the attic and your son answered and he told me where you were. I asked him if he was the baby in the attic," Alanis said.

Mrs. DeMarco smiled ,

"Hardly," she said. "'You're sure Frances doesn't know you've come?" she asked, looking at me now.

"No, ma'am. She doesn't even know we were up in the attic. It's always locked," I said.

"I found the key and we went up there," Alanis said. "I'm living with Jordan now in Miss Wilkens's house. We're best friends," she told her.

She stared again, and then she looked away.

"You shouldn't have come here," she said without looking at us. "I'm not the one you should be asking these questions."

"We didn't know who else to ask." "You should have asked Emma March."

"No, we can't. She's in a hospital and she can't talk," Alanis pursued. "I guess maybe we could have asked your father," she told me.

Mrs. DeMarco turned back to us.

"No. I doubt he could tell you anything. His father could have, but it's been some time since Blake passed on, hasn't it?" she asked me.

"My Grandfather?" I asked, and she nodded. "I don't remember exactly. He was dead before I was born. My brother remembers him, but not all that much."

"He was a very handsome man." She smiled. "He reminded me of Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind."

"Gone With the Wind?" I asked. I looked at Alanis. She nodded, understanding.

"That first dinner when you and Great-aunt Frances dressed like Southern belles,"