Comes the Blind Fury

to her.

“Michelle? Michelle! Mom’s here, and she needs to talk to you!”

“Just a second—” Michelle began, but Jeff cut her off.

“Now! It’s about your mother—”

Without waiting for him to finish, Michelle broke away from Sally and ran down the hall.

“What is it? Has something happened?” she demanded. But Jeff was already leading her out of the building to his mother’s car. A battered sedan sat by the curb, its engine running, Constance Benson fidgeting behind the wheel.

“What is it?” Michelle asked again, climbing into the car.

“Your mother,” Mrs. Benson said tersely, jamming the old car into gear. “She’s at the clinic, having the baby.”

“The baby?” Michelle breathed. But the baby wasn’t due for three more weeks. “What happened?”

Ignoring her question, Constance Benson let the clutch out, pressed on the accelerator, and moved away from the curb. As they drove toward the clinic, she chewed at her lower lip, concentrated on her driving, and maintained her silence.

Michelle sat on the edge of her chair, holding a magazine in her lap but making no attempt to look at it. Instead, she watched the door through which, sooner or later, her father would come. And then, as she willed it to happen, the door opened, and Cal smiled at her.

“Congratulations,” he said. “You have a baby sister.”

Michelle leaped to her feet and threw herself into her father’s arms.

“But what about Mom? Is she all right? What happened?”

“She’s fine,” Cal assured her. “And so is the baby. Apparently with your mother and your sister, time is not of the essence. Dr. Carson says this was the quickest delivery he’s ever seen.” Though he was careful to keep his tone light, Cal was worried. The delivery had been too quick. Abnormally quick. He wondered what had brought it on. Then he heard Michelle asking about the baby and put the delivery out of his mind.

“A sister? I have a sister?”

Cal nodded.

“Can I see her? Right now? Please?” She gazed appealingly up at Cal, and he hugged her close to him.

“In a few minutes,” he promised. “Right now I’m afraid she isn’t too presentable. Don’t you want to know what happened?” Cal gently pushed Michelle onto a chair, then sat beside her. “Your sister was almost born in the cemetery,” he said. Michelle stared at him uncomprehendingly, and the grin on his face faded a little.

“Your mother decided to take a walk,” he went on. “She was in the old graveyard when she went into labor.”

“The graveyard?” Michelle’s voice was low, faintly worried. “What was she doing there?”

“Who knows?” Cal asked wryly. “You know your mother — you can never tell what she might do.”

Now Michelle turned to Mrs. Benson. “But where was she when you found her? What part of the cemetery?”

Constance Benson hesitated, reluctant to tell Michelle where she had found June. But why not? “She was on Louise Carson’s grave,” she said, her voice quiet.

“On the grave?” Michelle echoed. How creepy, she thought to herself, clutching her father’s hand. “Is the baby all right? I mean, it’s sort of like an omen, isn’t it? A baby born on a grave?”

Cal squeezed her hand, then slipped an arm around her.

“Don’t be silly,” he said gently. “Your sister was born right here, not on anybody’s grave.” He stood up, drawing Michelle with him. “Come on, let’s go take a look at the baby, then see how your mother’s doing.” Without a word to Constance Benson, he led his daughter out of the reception room.

“Oh, Mommy, she’s beautiful,” Michelle breathed, staring down into the tiny face that nestled next to June. As if in reply, the baby opened one eye, peered vacantly at Michelle for a moment, then went back to sleep.

June smiled at Michelle. “Think we should keep her?”

Michelle’s head bobbed enthusiastically. “And name her Jennifer, just like we planned.”

“Unless,” Cal said, “you want to name her Louise, to commemorate the place of her first fuss.”

“No, thanks.” June’s voice was low, but emphatic. “There’ll be no Carsons in this family.” Her eyes met Cal’s, but he quickly broke the moment. Michelle, however, had seen the odd exchange.

“Mother,” she asked, her voice thoughtful, “what were you doing out there?”

“Why shouldn’t I be out there?” June replied, forcing her voice to be cheerful. “I was supposed to be walking every day, wasn’t I? So I walked to the cemetery, and then I decided to go in. Besides,” she added, seeing that neither her husband nor her daughter thought that was all there was to it, “Constance Benson told me the cemetery wasn’t safe, and I wanted to see for myself. She claimed it was about to fall into the sea.”

“Sounds to me like she’s full of a lot of nonsense,” Cal chuckled. “Just like this one.” He leaned down and stroked Jennifer’s brow. The baby opened her eyes, stared blankly at her father for a moment, then began crying.

“When can we take her home?” Michelle asked, reaching out tentatively to touch the baby. She wanted desperately to pick Jennifer up, but didn’t dare to ask.

“I’m bringing her home tonight,” June said. Michelle’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Tonight? Really? But I thought — I mean—”

“You mean you thought I should stay in the hospital? Why? Here I’d only have a night nurse to look after me, and Jennifer, too. But at home, I’ve got both you and your father to boss around.”

Michelle turned to her father for confirmation.

“I don’t see why they shouldn’t come home.”

“But the nursery — it’s not ready, is it?”

June smiled at her daughter, her eyes merry. “And guess who’s going to get it ready?” she asked. While Michelle listened, she began ticking off a list of things that needed to be done in the nursery before she and the baby were brought home. As the list lengthened, Michelle turned to her father, feigning exasperation.

“Isn’t she supposed to be weak, or asleep, or something?”

Cal chuckled. “That’s your mother — when she decides to do something, she does it — no muss, no fuss, no bother. I have a feeling even keeping her in bed for a couple of days is going to be a major project.”

June finished the list, and held her arms out to her daughter. “Now give me a kiss and run along. Mrs. Benson will take you home, and we’ll be there after dinner. You can eat with Jeff and Mrs. Benson — I’ve already arranged it.”

“But you haven’t even talked to her—” Michelle began.

“On the way here,” June said complacently. “And I’ll tell you something — having a baby isn’t nearly as hard as I thought.” She gave Michelle a quick hug, then sent her on her way. Moments later, as Cal watched, she began nursing Jennifer for the first time. The new parents looked happily at each other.

“Is she an angel, or is she an angel?” June asked.

“She’s perfect,” Cal agreed.

“Do you want us to stay with you?” Mrs. Benson asked as she pulled to a stop in front of the Pendletons’. She peered doubtfully at the old house, as if it was unimaginable to her that anyone Michelle’s age would be willing to venture inside it alone. But Michelle was already getting out of the car.

“No, thanks. I have all kinds of things to do before Mom and Dad bring Jenny home.”

“Maybe we could help,” Mrs. Benson offered.

“Oh, I don’t mind,” Michelle said immediately. “It’s mostly just straightening up the nursery. It’ll be fun.” Then, before Mrs. Benson could protest further, Michelle asked what time they expected her for dinner.

“We always eat at six,” Jeff told her. “Want me to come over and walk with you? Sometimes it gets foggy around then.”

“That’s okay.” Michelle was just a little annoyed — what did he think she was, a baby? “I’ll see you at six, or a little before.” Waving good-bye, she ran up the steps and disappeared through the front door.

Michelle closed the front door behind her and went up to her room, dropping her bookbag on her bed, her sweater on a chair. Then she went to the window seat, and picked up her doll.

“We have a sister, Amanda,” she whispered. As she uttered the doll’s name, her dream of the night before,