Whitefern (Audrina 2)

Her innocent trust never ceased to amaze me. It was probably the main reason Papa had made me swear I would always look after her. But I hadn’t done that very well, I reminded myself.

“Not yet,” Mrs. Matthews said. When she stepped back, she took off her gloves and turned to me. “We can confirm it with a urine sample, but I would say she’s a good six weeks along.”

“Six weeks? You’re sure.”

“I said we’d confirm it with a urine sample, but yes, I’m sure. I’ve seen more wombs than Henry the Eighth,” she added, which was a line I imagined she had used often.

“Hello!” We heard Arden shout from below. He had come in and was heading up the steps.

“I’ll see to the urine test,” Mrs. Matthews said. She turned to Sylvia. “Let’s go into the bathroom, Sylvia. We have one more thing to do today.”

I stepped out into the hallway as Arden turned toward Sylvia’s room.

“Well?” he asked.

“She’s confident it’s a yes. Six weeks, probably, which makes it right when Mr. Price was giving her art lessons. She’s conducting a urine test to confirm it.”

He nodded, not looking as upset as I felt or as I’d imagined he would be. “Well, then, there’s nothing to do but go forward with our plan.”

“Your plan,” I said. He looked at me sharply. “But a plan, yes. I understand. It’s just that now that it’s all true, I feel a bit numb.”

“You’ll get over it,” he said. He walked past me to the bathroom and stood in the doorway, looking in. “Hi, Helen,” he said. “When you’re finished here, Audrina will show you to my office downstairs, and we’ll discuss the arrangements. Come quickly, as I have to get back to my office.”

From the way he spoke to her, the tone of his voice, I concluded he’d been telling the truth; he did have some secret he could hold over her. Did he have such confidence in her that he didn’t have to wait for a confirmation? How did he know so much about her abilities? All sorts of suspicions burst like fireworks in my mind.

He walked past me without another word and hurried down the stairs. I heard Sylvia return to her room and went there. She was sitting comfortably on the bed, her hands in her lap. She didn’t look at all disturbed or upset, so I had to conclude that Mrs. Matthews did know how to turn on good bedside manner when it was necessary. But that didn’t give me full confidence in how she would handle Sylvia. After all, Mr. Price’s assurance that he knew how to handle special education students was what had brought us here.

“You don’t have to do it right away,” Mrs. Matthews said, “but prepare that bedroom downstairs. The test confirms it.” She closed up her satchel methodically. “I’ll look into prenatal vitamins. Of course, I’m assuming you and Mr. Lowe want

to keep the baby.”

“Yes,” I said. I knew I sounded weak and indecisive, but she chose to ignore it.

As she started out, Sylvia called to her, and the prickly woman turned back.

“Don’t you have to do it to Audrina, too?” my sister asked. “Audrina has to pee on that little stick.”

Mrs. Matthews looked at me, squeezing her nose and pursing her lips as if a whiff of something rotten had flown under her nostrils.

“She’ll do it in my bedroom, Sylvia,” I said. Mrs. Matthews shook her head and stepped out. “I’ve got to show Mrs. Matthews something first. I’ll be right back.”

“Pray tell, what was that about?” Mrs. Matthews asked.

“My husband will explain it, Mrs. Matthews. Right this way,” I said, and started down the stairs.

She followed me, and when we arrived at Arden’s office, he looked up from his desk.

“Mrs. Matthews wants to know why Sylvia thinks I’m pregnant, too, Arden.”

“Thank you, Audrina,” he said. He stood up and came around his desk to the door. “Why don’t you go back to see if everything is all right with Sylvia while I speak with Mrs. Matthews and explain it all.” He smiled with his all-too-familiar self-confidence.

I looked at her and nodded. The moment I stepped back, Arden closed the door.

Secrets had a natural life here, I thought as I went back upstairs. They were born and nurtured like precious flowers. They never died in revelation, either. They stuck to our walls and our lives.

“While I was peeing, I told Mrs. Matthews I had drawn and painted the baby,” Sylvia said, as soon as I returned to her room. She was lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling.

“Did you?”