'Brimstone,' she said when I grimaced. Then she lit a white candle and mumbled a prayer. She fixed her eyes on me and said, 'Someone put a spell on you for sure. You need to keep the evil spirits away.' She brought the candle to the ceramic jar and dipped the flame toward the contents so the brimstone would burn. A small stream of smoke twisted its way up. The stench was unpleasant, but Nina looked relieved that I held onto the jar anyway.
'Close your eyes and lean over so the smoke touches your
'Okay, good.' Then she took the jar from me and smothered the fire. 'Now you'll be fine. It's good you do what I say and don't laugh at me.
'But I remember you said your Grandmere was a Traiteur woman, right?'
'Yes.'
'That's good for you, but remember,' she warned, 'the evil spirits look to go into holy folk first. That is more of a victory.' I nodded.
'Has anyone else ever heard sobbing upstairs, Nina?' I asked.
'It is no good to talk about it. Speak of the devil and he'll come through your door smiling and smoking a long, thin black cigar.
'Now we go back. Madame will come down soon for her breakfast,' she told me.
I followed her out again and sure enough, when I re-entered the dining room, I found Daphne dressed and seated at the table.
'Did you have your breakfast?' she asked.
'Yes.'
'Where's Gisselle?'
'I guess she's still upstairs,' I said. Daphne grimaced.
'This is ridiculous. Why isn't she up and about like the rest of us?' she said, even though she had just risen herself. 'Go up and tell her I want her down here immediately, please.'
'Yes, madame,' I said and hurried up the stairs. I knocked softly on Gisselle's door and then opened it to find her on her side, still asleep and still dressed in the clothes she had worn last night.
'Gisselle, Daphne wants you to wake up and come down,' I said, but she didn't move. 'Gisselle.' I nudged her shoulder. She moaned and turned over, quickly closing her eyes again. 'Gisselle.'
'Go away,' she cried.
'Daphne wants you to—'
'Leave me alone. I feel horrible. My head is killing me and my stomach feels raw inside.'
'I told you this would happen. You drank too much too fast,' I said.
'Goody for you,' she said, her eyes still shut tight.
'What should I tell Daphne?' She didn't respond. 'Gisselle?'
'I don't care. Tell her I died,' she said, and pulled the pillow over her head. I stared at her for a moment and saw she wasn't going to budge.
Daphne didn't like my report.
'What do you mean she won't get up?' She slapped the coffee cup down so hard on the saucer, I thought it would shatter. 'What did you two do last night?' she demanded, her eyes burning with suspicion.
'We just . . . talked to Beau and his friend Martin,' I said. 'Out by the pool'
'Just talked?'
'Yes, ma'am.'
'Call me Mother or call me Daphne, but don't call me ma'am. It makes me sound years older than I am,' she snapped.
'I'm sorry . . . Mother.'
She stared at me furiously a moment and then got up and marched out of the dining room, leaving me standing there with my heart thumping. I didn't lie exactly, I thought. I just didn't tell the whole truth, but if I had, I would have gotten Gisselle into trouble. Even so, I felt bad about it. I wasn't happy about being sneaky and deceptive. Daphne was so upset she pounded her way upstairs.
I wondered what I should do and decided to go to the library to pick out a book and spend the day reading until my art instructor arrived. I was flipping through the pages of a book when I heard Daphne scream from the top of the stairs.
'Ruby!'
I put the book back and hurried to the doorway. 'RUBY!'
'Yes?'
'Get up here this instant,' she demanded.
Oh, no, I thought, she's discovered Gisselle's condition and wants to hear the whole story. What was I going to do? How would I protect Gisselle and not lie? When I reached the top of the stairway, I looked across the hallway and saw that the door to my room was wide open and Daphne was standing in my room and not in Gisselle's. I approached slowly.
