Secrets in the Attic (Secrets 1)

"Just kidding, but I did spend the night there, and I can report there was no ghost. So, you went up to the nest looking for me after you came home from New York City and discovered I was gone? Is that it?"

"Yes."

"You went up to the nest with your parents in the house? Weren't you concerned they'd ask why you went up there? Weren't you worried they'd hear you go up? Weren't you afraid your mother or father might follow you up and find me? Well?" she asked, running her questions together so quickly there was no time to answer one before the other.

"As soon as we returned from New York City, we stopped to see your mother," I began.

"What's that got to do with it? I knew that you were going to visit her. Remember?"

"Yes, but the police were there because of the phone call I had made."

"It worked. I know. I expected it would, and she would call them to tell them. Thanks, but why did you go up to the nest? Why did you take such a chance, Zipporah? Especially after doing such a good job with the tape recorder, huh?"

"I got angry at your mother," I said. "I defended you, and I guess I blurted out and suggested things "

"I told you how to act, how to behave. I told you she'd get you to slip up. I warned you. Why didn't you listen?"

"I tried, but when she apologized for you, when she said I was unfortunate to have you for a best friend, I couldn't stand it anymore. Everyone was feeling so sorry for her for having a daughter like you. I had to speak up and tell them it wasn't your fault. But that's all I said before running out crying."

"It was enough. Oh, she is clever," she said, smiling and shaking her head. "Turning the whole thing around so you and she would seem to be the ones who should be pitied. What happened then? What did the police do? Did they come after you?"

"No. We left before they could ask me another thing, but when we got home, my father pulled me aside. He suspected you had a good reason to do what you did to Harry. He made me tell him."

Her eyes narrowed, and she leaned forward. "I know. I watched you talk to him."

"You were still up there?"

"Uh-huh."

"Where were you when I went up to the attic looking for you?"

"I had already left, out the window and down the fire escape. You told him what, exactly?"

"That Harry had been coming into your room at night and doing things he shouldn't have been doing. My father was upset for you, and he said he would do something. He's going to help you, Karen. You'll see. It's good that he knows. We should have told him right from the start, just as I had wanted. He'll make things all right."

"Things can never be all right. Not like that. You're such a little idiot," she said.

"I am not!"

"Oh, please, Zipporah." She looked away. "So now I know for sure why you went up to the nest looking for me. You wanted them to know about us, know that I've been up there all this time. You were going to betray me after all, right? Wasn't that it?"

"No, not betray you. I was going up to tell you that you didn't have to hide anymore. I went up to tell you my father is going to help you."

"I thought I could trust you with my life. I thought we were birds of a feather."

"We are. I'm just trying to do what's best for you."

She shook her head, sat back, and looked as if she was going to cry. "Best for me? Why do you think I'm really not in New York City, Zipporah? Why do you think I'm still here? I could be long gone by now. I'm not afraid of being on my own. I've been on my own all my life, or at least since my father's death. But I'm here for you. Yes, that's right, you. You're right in the middle of this mess, and I couldn't just up and leave the nest and you behind to face the music alone. And besides, I know you've made sacrifices for me ever since we became friends and that you could have had many more friends, been more popular, had some boyfriends, but chose instead to be my best friend. I owe you for

being so loyal to me," she said. "And now you've gone and done this. I don't know." She shook her head. "It might be too late to fix the mess you've made. I don't know."

"Why? I don't understand why you call it a mess."

She sighed and stared at me a moment, as if I were the one to be pitied here and not her, as if I were the one in all this trouble.

"I guess I shouldn't be mad at you. You're just too naive, too trusting. After all, you've been protected all your life." She held her arms up. "You've grown up in a loving family and always had a mother and father who truly cared for you. How many nights when I was only eleven, twelve, did I spend alone? All night, in fact, terrified of every sound."

"Why were you alone?"