Secrets in the Attic (Secrets 1)

"Good."

"I didn't have a pleasant day," I said.

She smiled. "Come on up to the nest, and tell me all about it, and don't leave out a single detail, no matter how unimportant it might seem. I've been going crazy here imagining it all."

I started up the stairs. The phone rang again just as I reached the top, so I went into my room to answer. It was my mother, as I had expected. I reassured her that I was fine and school had gone okay. Then I told her Jesse had called.

"Yes, I thought I had better tell him before he heard from someone else. He was very upset for you."

"It's okay. He's fine," I said.

"He's fine?" She laughed. "We weren't worrying about him, Zipporah. We were worrying about you. All right. I'll see you at dinner tonight, and so will Daddy."

"I wish everyone would stop worrying so much about me," I complained. I heard her audible sigh. "I mean, I'm grateful, but . ."

"Okay. The funeral was gigantic," she said. "Did Daddy tell you?"

"No."

I felt terrible not even asking about it.

"He didn't?"

"I didn't let him drive me home, Mama. I came home on the bus."

"Oh."

"I've got to be able to do things on my own." "Sure you do."

"What was the funeral like?"

"Darlene Pearson was so sedated she could hardly stand. I had forgotten she had a younger sister, Jackie Nelson. She came from Dallas, Texas, with her husband, Brady. Your father and I didn't go to the house afterward. I had to get to work, and so did he. It was the biggest funeral in Sandburg. The church overflowed into the street. Anyway, I'll see you later."

"Right," I said.

Karen waited impatiently in the hallway. As soon as I hung up, she started for the attic stairway. Why did we have to go up there now? I wondered, but I followed her. She went right to the leather sofa and sat, pulling her legs up and under herself. Her face was lit with anticipation.

"That was my mother," I said. "She and my father went to the funeral. My mother said your mother was so sedated she could barely stand, and your aunt and uncle from Texas were there."

"I don't want to hear about it," she said immediately, and covered her ears to emphasize it. Then she smiled. "Tell me about your day. That's far more interesting for me than my mother putting on an act for the community."

I began by describing my confrontation with Alice Bucci and worked my way to lunch and Dana Martin.

"I knew it. I knew it," she said. "Didn't I tell you he'd be interested in you now?"

"He told me about his coming to Sandburg at night to see you secretly."

"So?"

"He said you met him the night before . . . before it all happened."

She shrugged.

"Did he?"

"Yes, it's true. I saw him for a little while after you left the house."

"You did? How could you? I mean, considering what we were planning and everything."