by Jane Toombs
“Staff meeting tonight. See you then.”
“Nice day,” Lydia said to Danica after Galt went out. “I like the snow, and the kids had a ball. Even Amy. I heard her laughing, first time I ever did.”
“I can see I missed something growing up where there wasn’t snow in the winter,” Danica said.
“Are you as serious about him as he is about you?” Lydia asked.
“What?”
Lydia glanced around at the children and lowered her voice. “About Galt. Any fool can see he’s well and truly hooked. On you.”
Danica smiled. She knew it must be a foolish, fatuous smile, but she couldn’t help it. Never before had she felt about a man as she felt about Galt.
“Can’t say I blame you. But Melantha…” Lydia broke off. “Well, never mind, no use in borrowing trouble.” She began hustling the children toward the bedrooms. “Let’s get out of these wet clothes and then we’ll eat. Okay?”
Danica headed for her own bedroom where Amy had already gone.
Amy was changing her clothes. She looked up when Danica entered and smiled.
“Today was fun, wasn’t it?” Danica said. “You seemed to have a good time. Do you like Galt? I noticed you took his hand.”
“You like him,” Amy said.
“Well, yes.”
“Then I do.”
A trickle of apprehension ran along Danica’s spine. I’m not infallible, she thought. It’s wrong for Amy to believe in me so blindly.
“What did you mean about the darkness?” she asked Amy.
Amy looked away. “I can’t talk about, it,” she said. “Not yet.”
After lunch Danica and Lydia took the children to see the horses and Danica met Dave. It was obvious Lydia and sandy-haired Dave were fond of each other, but when Danica mentioned it later, Lydia shook her head.
“I don’t know,” Lydia said. “Sometimes I think I love him, but then I see how other people—well, like today, how Galt looked at you—and I’m just not sure.”
“I think Dave’s in love with you,” Danica said.
“I don’t know,” Lydia repeated.
“What do we do about the children when there’s a staff meeting?” Danica asked.
“Galt hires off-duty psych techs from the state hospital for the evening. They come over right after supper, six of them, and sort of babysit.”
“But these children don’t need state-hospital attendants.”
Lydia shrugged. “So what else is new? Of course not. But no one else around will come. There’s so much fear of mentally disabled kids. You know how it is. Plus they think Star-Fire is weird.”
“I know,” Danica said.
“So we bring our kids to Fred’s after supper. It’s his turn to have a host house. The kids are put together so they’re all in six houses for the evening. But I think we can use our own kitchen to get supper, don’t you? The paint should be dry by then.”
The night was crisp as Danica walked with Fred and Lydia toward Galt’s house. She had changed into a green pants suit, her favorite, that matched her eyes and set off her hair. She wanted to be pretty, to stand out, to attract Galt’s attention so he’d never notice another woman. What had Lydia meant about Melantha? Melantha and Galt?
The strange faces at the meeting seemed friendly. Galt introduced her as a newcomer to Star-Fire and mentioned her qualifications. But when the discussion of staff problems was over and they were drinking coffee and eating cookies, she overheard a grey-haired woman say to the man next to her, “Pretty girl. I’m surprised she’s here.”
“Probably won’t be long,” the man said.
Melantha came up to Danica then and she heard no more.
“Galt tells me Amy is much better. She’ll be resuming her lessons with me tomorrow. At one, please.”
Danica knew she couldn’t refuse. “Yes, Amy is better. But something has been tiring her. It couldn’t be the lessons, I suppose, but…”
“No. I’ll expect her on time. Please see that she gets there and doesn’t hide on the way.”
“What are you teaching her? To control the energy?”
“Of course not. She’s not capable yet, perhaps never will be. Not many of our children are.” Melantha’s dark eyes never left Danica’s. “Has she spoken to you?”
I wish I was a better liar, Danica thought as she hesitated, then she saw by the flash in Melantha’s eyes that she’d waited too long. Abruptly, Melantha swung away from her.
She knows, Danica thought. She knows Amy can talk. And now she knows I’ve heard Amy talk, too. Danica watched Melantha as the dark woman moved among the others. She wore red tonight and was as vivid as a poppy. Now she had reached Galt and was talking to him. Too close, Danica thought. He doesn’t have to lean over her like that. Is he touching her? Then she was appalled by her jealousy. She turned away and met Evan’s knowing smile. Were her emotions as transparent as that?
Danica took a step away, but Evan’s hand on her arm stopped her. “At least you could say hello,” he said.
“Hello,” she said.
“How about trying, ‘I haven’t seen you all day and I’ve missed you?’”
She smiled. “The snow was lovely,” she told him. “Have you ever…?”
“I’m a skier,” he said. “It’s my element, so I’ll admit snow is fascinating. But I have a feeling I have more competition for your attention than snow.”
Her smile faded. She liked Evan, but her feeling for him was nothing compared to how she felt about Galt. It was not something she could joke about or make idle conversation over.
“Ready to go?” Lydia stood behind her. “I am if you are.”
Danica hesitated. Most of the staff had already left. She had lingered, waiting for a sign from Galt, an indication that he wanted her to stay until everyone else was gone. She glanced at him now, but he stood as before, his head bent over, listening to Melantha. As she watched, he threw back his head and laughed. A pang shot through her. Was Melantha going to remain instead of her?
“Coming?” Lydia repeated.
Beside her Evan still waited. She didn’t turn to look at him, but she knew he wore a mocking smile.
I can’t stay here, she told herself. Galt doesn’t want me to.
“Yes, let’s go,” she said to Lydia. Evan walked with them to the door. Danica gave Galt one last glance, but he was still engrossed with Melantha and didn’t seem to notice she was leaving.
After Evan left them to go into his house, Lydia said, “Don’t worry about Melantha.”
“Why would I?” Danica tried to say lightly, but her voice rang false in her ears.
Chapter Fourteen
In the morning Danica told Amy that the lessons with Melantha would be resumed.
“Today?” Amy asked.
“This afternoon. How do you feel about it?”
“I have to learn more,” Amy said.
“We’ll have to let people know about you soon,” Danica said. “Galt, for one.”
“Please, not yet,” Amy begged, fear showing in her eyes.
“I’ll wait until you agree, but we can’t hide the fact that you can talk forever. I think Melantha knows as it is.” And why hasn’t Melantha told anyone? Danica wondered.
“Can I still stay in your house?” Amy asked.
“I hope so. We’ll see about moving you in with the other children, though, instead of here in my bedroom.”
“I feel safe here,” Amy said. “In your room.”
Danica smiled at her. “I like having you with me, but it isn’t fair to the other children. Jodie would probably like to be in my room, too.”
“Oh—her.”
After breakfast Danica brought Amy to Evan’s to join in with the group there. “I want you to be pleasant to Jodie,” she warned Amy before they left the house. “It’s your responsibility because you understand far more than Jodie does.”
“Oh, I know,” Amy said. “But I wouldn’t like Jodie even if she was smarter.”
“Liking has nothing to do with being pleasant.”
“It makes being pleasant easier,” Amy said.
Evan and Danica worked with the children until lunch.
“Do you want to eat here?” he asked.
“I’ll check with Lydia. I think she’s still doing lunches, but with the fire and the mess afterwards I’ve lost track of whose turn it is.”
“Send Amy down with a note.”
“Oh no, I’ll just run over and ask Lydia.”
“You’re going to spoil that child. She’s perfectly capable of taking a note and bringing the answer back.”
“I know. But I’d rather talk to Lydia myself.” When Danica returned to Evan’s, lunch was on the table.
She helped him clean up afterward and then it was time for Amy to go to Melantha’s.
“You’re a perfect example of the overprotective mother,” Evan said to Danica. “Melantha’s house is next door, Amy’s been living there with her up until now, surely she can find her way.”
“I want to take her,” Danica said stubbornly.
“Come and talk to me afterward?”
“For a few minutes.”
Danica’s impulse, as she led Amy down the path to Melantha’s, was to take the girl and leave, leave Star-Fire, go somewhere safe with Amy. She shook her head. That’s nonsense, she told herself. No one is trying to hurt Amy here, not even Melantha. But her feeling of leading the girl into danger remained.
She knelt by Amy at Melantha’s door. “Okay?” she asked.
The big grey eyes searched her face as though seeking reassurance, but Amy nodded. Danica knocked at the door.
Melantha appeared, and, as Amy went inside, the cat slipped out before the door was closed. Dido’s yellow eyes stared at Danica until she turned and walked slowly away.
“What does Melantha do with the children?” she asked Evan over coffee at his house.
“You keep asking. The same as the rest of us, I imagine. With her own interpretations.” He leaned across the table and took Danica’s hand. “Stop worrying.”
She sighed. Evan was right, worrying didn’t accomplish a thing.
“Are you serious about Galt?” he asked. “I know it’s probably none of my business—but are you?”
“I—I don’t know,” she answered, miserably aware that she did know, she was serious, if serious meant being in love with Galt. But she couldn’t bear to reveal herself to Evan. How did Galt feel? Yesterday she had thought she knew. Then last night…
“I care about you, you know,” Evan said. “Otherwise I wouldn’t be saying this. But you should be aware that Melantha spent the night with Galt.”
Danica caught back a cry, swallowed, and managed to say, “That’s their business.”
“I wasn’t spying, if that’s what you think. I happened to get up at dawn and walk outside, and I saw her coming home, still in her red dress…”
Danica said nothing. Underneath her distress was distaste for Evan because he was telling her and annoyance at herself for listening. What Galt did was his own affair, he had made her no promises. She’d imagined he cared for her, read emotion into a look between them—an emotion that didn’t exist on his part. It was foolish to be so upset.
“I know they’ve been close for a long time,” Evan said. “Since before I came. Of course Galt was attracted to you—what man wouldn’t be? But I wouldn’t want to see you hurt.”
Funny. That’s what Galt said yesterday. And now they both had hurt her. Danica blinked back tears.
“Don’t trust a dark man,” her mother had said.
Danica took a deep breath and looked around her desperately. She had to talk about something else or cry in front of Evan. A Gemini poster hung on the wall. Evan was a Gemini. All the zodiac signs curved in a circle about the Twins. Her eyes sought her own, the arrow. Carefully she examined the others, closing her mind to Galt. Don’t think about him, she told herself. See—that must be Capricorn, the Goat, next to Sagittarius. Then…
“What comes after Capricorn?” she asked.
“What?”
“I was looking at your poster. I know my sign is the arrow and I know Capricorn is next.”
Evan rose and went over to the poster. He pointed to the two wavy lines next to the Goat symbol. “This stands for Aquarius, the Water Bearer,” he said.
“Then Pisces.” He moved his finger around the signs as he spoke. “Aries is next, it’s really the first sign of the zodiac. Then Taurus and after that comes mine, Gemini.” As his finger touched the next one her eyes widened.
“What’s that sign?” she asked. “The one with the two nines?”
“Two nines? I never thought of the Cancer symbol in that way, but I guess it does look like one nine on top of another.”
All at once Danica was twelve years old and back on the Arizona desert. Your fate the numbers nine on nine, the old man was intoning.
Evan’s voice droned in her ears but she didn’t hear what he said.
…the numbers nine on nine… Cancer, the Crab. Galt was a Cancer. How was Galt tied to her fate?
“…and this is Scorpio, the Scorpion, and we’re back to your arrow once again.”
“Melantha’s a Scorpio,” she said. The thought of the two scorpions she had found in her room flashed into her mind. “I found another scorpion in my bathroom night before last,” she told Evan.
He laughed. “Don’t tell me you suspect Melantha of putting them there?”
It was odd that Evan said exactly what she was thinking. The scorpions were Melantha’s warnings. Warnings to leave.
“She doesn’t want me here,” Danica said. “And there’s something wrong with what she’s teaching Amy.”
“Oh, come on,” Evan protested.
“There is,” Danica insisted. “Amy is being drained of strength. And Melantha is responsible.”
Evan stared at her. “You really believe that, don’t you?”
“Yes. I’ve tried to convince myself it’s ridiculous, but I can’t. Whatever made Amy sick a few days ago was Melantha’s fault.”
“Why do you think so?”
“Because…” Danica paused. Should she tell Evan about Amy? The temptation to share the responsibility of the knowledge was almost overwhelming. But, no, not yet, she mustn’t tell anyone yet. “Because no one seems to know exactly what Melantha does with the children. Her lessons are held in private. Who watches her?”
“But that’s no reason to…”
“And why does Melantha want to get rid of me? Lydia says it’s because I’m pretty…” To her horror, her voice broke on the last word and tears filled her eyes. “Lydia’s wrong. I’m no threat to—to Melantha that way. But Amy likes me, I’m taking Amy away from her and she can’t stand that, won’t have it—why? What is she doing with Amy that I might prevent?” She struggled to keep back her sobs.
“You can’t think Melantha is—is molesting Amy?”
Danica began to laugh and cry at the same time. “That is ridiculous. She—she’s after Amy’s mind, she wants to control her. Oh, what’s the use…”
Danica covered her face with her hands and sobbed hopelessly.
She felt Evan pull her to her feet and she leaned against him, tears running down her face while he held her close. She was conscious of nothing but her own misery.
Danica was vaguely aware of a door closing, footsteps, children’s voices. A man spoke. Galt? She pulled away from Evan, eyes wet, and caught a blurred glimpse of a man leaving the kitchen. After a moment the door opened and closed.
“Who…?”
“Galt brought the kids back from his hour with them.”
“Oh.” What will Galt think? she asked herself. Finding me here like this with Evan …But then what does it matter what Galt thinks? He doesn’t really care about me, he barely noticed me at the meeting last night. No wonder, if he and Melantha…
“You don’t believe me about Melantha’s harming Amy, do you?” she asked Evan as she dri
ed her face with tissues.
“I believe you think something’s wrong.”
“But you don’t.”
“I can try and find out,” he said. “I want to help you.”
Danica looked at Evan. He was a handsome man, maybe some would think better-looking than Galt. As she watched him, he ran a hand through his blond hair.
“What do you want me to do?” he asked.
Danica took a deep breath. Evan would help her. Together they’d be able to discover what Melantha was doing.
“Ask Melantha if you can sit in on her lessons with Amy,” she said. “Find out what goes on.”
“I’ll try.”
“Couldn’t you pretend to be interested in her? After all, she’s very attractive.”
“Yes. Melantha’s a beautiful woman.”
Danica eyed him narrowly. He grinned at her.
“Do you think I’ll defect?” he asked.
She smiled reluctantly. “Are all you Geminis comedians?”
“No, just two-faced.”
Danica sighed. Evan couldn’t be serious for very long at a time. But she had to believe he’d help, that he was on her side. There was no one else.
Will that be the way of it? she wondered. Evan and I on one side and Melantha on the other. And Galt? Did he stand with Melantha, right or wrong? I should talk to Galt, I must talk to him, she thought. Evan could be wrong about what he saw. Why did I believe him so fast? Still, he has no reason to lie.
“I have to get back,” she said to Evan. “Thanks.”
“I’ll report in soon, Chief,” he said.
Danica found Dave at the house with Lydia. They were planning to take the children horseback riding.
“Amy isn’t back yet,” Lydia said. “I’m sorry she’ll miss going.”
“I’ll do something special with her,” Danica said. “Have a good time.”
After they all trooped out, she washed her face and brushed her hair, then started for Galt’s with determination. I’ll know how he feels when I talk to him, she told herself.
When she reached his house, she knocked tentatively on the door and waited. There was no answer, but she thought she heard music coming from inside. She turned the knob and pushed open the door. Yes, a stereo unit in the living room played an old song, one her mother used to like. “…dreams I fashioned the night you held me tight…,” a woman sang.