home but had nowhere else to go. Obviously under Gisselle's orders, Jacki and Kate joined her and refused to acknowledge or speak to Samantha. They acted as if she were invisible.
'Why don't you try to make new friends, Samantha,' I told her. 'Perhaps you should even go to Mrs. Penny and request to be moved to a new quad.'
She shook her head vigorously. The thought of making such a dramatic break, even under these conditions, terrified the shy, insecure girl.
'No, it's all right. Everything will be all right,' she said.
On Thursday night, however, I returned from the library with Vicki and found Samantha curled up in her bed, sobbing softly. I closed the door and hurried to her bedside.
'What is it, Samantha? What's my sister done now?' I asked in a tired voice.
'Nothing,' she moaned. 'Everything's fine. We're . . . friends again. She's forgiven me.'
'What? What are you talking about? Forgiven you?'
She nodded, but kept her back to me, the covers tightly wrapped around her body. Something about her behavior triggered my darker suspicions. My heart began to beat quickly in anticipation when I put my hand on her shoulder and she jumped as if I had touched her with fingers of fire. 'Samantha, what happened here while I was away?' I demanded. She simply cried harder. 'Samantha?'
'I had to do it,' she moaned. 'They all made me. They all said I had to.'
'Do what, Samantha? Samantha?' I shook her shoulder. 'Do what?'
Suddenly she turned around and buried her face against my stomach while throwing her arms around my waist. Her body shook with sobs.
'I'm so ashamed,' she cried.
'Ashamed of what? Samantha, you must tell me what Gisselle made you do. Tell me,' I insisted, seizing her shoulders firmly. She sat back slowly, her eyes closed, and let her head fall back to the pillow. I realized she was naked under the blanket.
'She sent Kate in to tell me to come into her room. When I did, she asked me if I wanted to be part of the group again. I said yes, but she said . . . she said I had to do penance.'
'Penance? What sort of penance?'
'She said that while she was away, I dreamt of being like her. I wanted to be her, and that was why I used her lipstick and her makeup and her perfume. She said I was so sexually frustrated, I even put on her panties, but I didn't,' Samantha insisted. 'Honest, I didn't.'
'I believe you, Samantha. Then what happened?' Samantha closed her eyes and swallowed.
'Samantha?'
'I had to take off my clothes and get into the bed,' she blurted.
I held my breath, knowing what sort of sordid things Gisselle was capable of making her do.
'Go on,' I said in a breathy whisper.
'I'm so ashamed.'
'What did she make you do, Samantha?'
'They all did,' she cried. 'They taunted and cheered until I gave in.'
'Gave in to what?'
'I had to take a pillow and pretend it was . . . Jonathan Peck. They made me stroke it and kiss it and . . .'
'Oh no, Samantha.' She shuddered with sobs.
I stroked her hair. 'My sister is a sick person. I'm sorry. You shouldn't have listened to her.'
'They all hated me,' she cried in defense, 'even the other girls in the dorm and the girls in our classes. No one would talk to me in the girls' room or in the lockers, and someone poured a bottle of ink over my social studies notebook today, blotting out all the pages.' She cried harder.
'All right, Samantha. It's all right,' I said. I rocked her until her sobbing subsided. Then I stood up. 'My sister and I are going to have a little chat right now.'
'NO!' Samantha said, seizing my hand. 'Don't.' Her eyes were wide with terror. 'If you get her angry, she'll turn the girls against me again. Please,' she begged. 'Promise you won't say anything. She made me promise not to tell you what they made me do and she'll just accuse me of betraying her again.'
'She would make you promise that because she knows I'll go right in there and heave her out the window,' I said. Samantha bit down on her lip, the alarm filling her face. 'All right, don't worry. I won't do anything, but Samantha, are you all right?'
'I'm okay,' she said, wiping her face quickly. She forced a smile. 'It wasn't so bad, and it's over. We're all friends again.'
'With friends like that, you don't need enemies,' I said. 'My Grandmere Catherine used to say that even if we lived in a world without sickness and disease, without storms and hurricanes, droughts and pestilence, we would find a way to make the devil comfortable in our own hearts.'
'What?' Samantha asked.
'Nothing. Are you moving back in with her?'
'No. She still wants to live alone,' Samantha said. 'Is it all right if I continue to room with you?'
