underbrush, seeking Anna Maria's box. Shadows danced around me and another gust of wind flipped the leaves silver side up. Where had Kristi hidden the doll?
Hearing a faint meow, I turned the flashlight in the sound's direction and saw Snowball crouched beside the box. His eyes reflected the beam of light, and his fur glimmered.
'You found her for me, didn't you?' I whispered as he rubbed against me.
Snowball purred louder when I shone the light into the open box. In its beam, Anna Maria looked pale and worn with age; her face seemed as sad as Mom's.
'You'll be safe now,' I told her. 'I'll take good care of you and love you and never let you go, Anna Maria.'
As I whispered to the doll, Snowball tried to wedge himself between her and me. Putting his paws on the doll's body, he kneaded her with his claws and meowed like a baby kitten.
'No, Snowball.' I pushed him away. 'You'll tear her clothes.'
Still meowing, the cat backed into the shrubbery, and when I reached for him, sorry I'd hurt his feelings, he edged farther away. I crawled toward him, but he turned and ran out of the garden. Holding Anna Maria tightly, I stumbled after him.
'Snowball,' I whispered, keeping a fearful eve on Miss Cooper's windows. 'Kitty, kitty, kitty.'
Slowly he walked across the grass, watching me over his shoulder as if he were asking me to come with him. When he reached the hedge separating Miss Cooper's yard from the field next door, I stopped.
'Come here, Snowball,' I said softly, but he stayed where he was and meowed plaintively.
'I'm not going through that hedge,' I told him, 'so you'd better come here.'
I guess I spoke too loudly because Max started barking from somewhere in the house. Afraid of being caught by Miss Cooper, I turned and ran for the stairs. Up I went as quickly and as quietly as possible. Just as I reached the porch, I saw a light flash out of the open kitchen door below me.
'Who's there?' Miss Cooper yelled. Max bounded outside barking and ran toward the hedge, and I slipped into our kitchen, still clutching Anna Maria.
Hoping the commotion wouldn't wake Mom, I tiptoed into my room and peeked out the window. Max was circling the yard, sniffing and barking, but I was sure Snowball had his own secret places where Max would never find him.
In a few minutes. Miss Cooper called Max back into the house, and all was quiet again.
I got into bed and Oscar crept to my side. 'This is Anna Maria,' I told him, holding the doll upright in front of him.
To my surprise, Oscar's back arched and his fur rose. He made a strange growling sound and retreated to the foot of the bed. Hesitating for a moment, he stared at Anna Maria. Then he leaped to the windowsill and refused to come near me or the doll.
'Don't let him hurt your feelings,' I whispered to Anna Maria. 'He's probably jealous of you.'
Anna Maria gazed placidly at me^ her mouth slightly open, her tiny teeth showing. She looked as if she were about to take a deep breath and tell me all her secrets.
I smoothed her hair and laid her down beside me. 'Who is Carrie?' I whispered. 'And why did she bury you?'
But Anna Maria closed her eyes and said nothing.
I closed my eyes, too, happy to have Anna Maria beside me. But just as I was about to fall asleep, I heard it again. Outside in the night, a child was crying.
Frightened, I sat up and looked out the window. Down on the lawn, in hill view, I saw Snowball. He was looking up at me, and for the first time I noticed he cast no shadow on the moonlit grass.
Chapter 8
Secrets
WHEN I WOKE UP, the first thing I saw was Anna Maria's pale face beside me on my pillow. Admiring her beauty, I smoothed her hair and straightened her white dress.
Cuddling her close to my chest, I knew I didn't want to share her with anybody. Not Kristi. Not Mom. I wanted to keep her for myself. Quietly slipping out of bed, I went over to my dresser. I laid Anna Maria in the bottom drawer and covered her carefully with my sweaters. No one would find her there, I thought.'
While I pulled on clean shorts and a tee shirt, I remembered what I'd seen last night. Had Snowball really cast no shadow? Even in the morning sunlight, I shivered a little thinking about it. I must have been mistaken, I told myself. Moonlight is tricky; it can fool you into imagining all sorts of silly things.
Grabbing a brush and comb, I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and walked down the hall to the kitchen.
'You're up bright and early, Ash,' Mom said. 'Did you sleep well?'
'I heard that sound again - like somebody crying,' I said. 'And Max was barking - didn't you hear him?'
'You know me,' Mom said. 'They could drop an atomic bomb next door and it wouldn't disturb me.'
'That's because you stay up so late working,' I said. 'You should go to bed earlier.'
Mom shook her head. 'The sooner I finish my dissertation, the sooner I'll get a job,' she reminded me.
I chewed my English muffin and watched Mom pour cream into her coffee. It only Daddy were here, I said without thinking. As soon as the words slipped out I felt my eyes fill up with tears, and I pressed my hand against my mouth, too late to take back what I'd said.
Mom reached across the table to pat my arm. I wish he were here, too, Ashley she said softly. 'Don't feel bad for saying you miss him. I miss him too. It's okay to talk about him.'
But I couldn't talk about Daddy. Not to Mom, not to anybody. He'd left such a big hole in my life, I knew nothing could ever fill it up. Just saying his name made the hole bigger, so it was better to say nothing.
Pulling away from the comfort Mom was offering me, I went back to my bedroom and took a book from the shelf under the window. I didn't want to see Kristi, not now that Anna Maria lay hidden in my dresser drawer.
***
It wasn't long, though, before I heard Kristi calling me. When I didn't answer, she came to the back door and knocked. Mom let her in and sent her down the hall to my room.
'Ashley, something awful has happened,' Kristi said. 'Anna Maria's gone!'
I stared at her, trying my best to look surprised. 'What do you mean?'
'I went to the garden first thing this morning, and all I found was the empty box.' Kristi's eyes glistened with tears, and I struggled to keep myself from feeling sorry for her.
'I thought you weren't ever going there again,' I said, reminding her of what she'd told me yesterday.
'I was worried all night about Anna Maria,' Kristi explained. 'I could hardly sleep for thinking about her lying there by herself in the dark. And I kept hearing that crying and I got to imagining it was her, Anna Maria, crying for me to get her and bring her inside. So the minute I woke up, I went out and looked for her, but she was gone!'
'She must be there,' I said, hoping Kristi wouldn't guess I had Anna Maria hidden in a drawer two feet from where she was standing.
'I think the white cat took her,' Kristi said sadly. 'Or else Max got her and tore her to bits. I heard him outside barking.'
Too ashamed to look at Kristi, I just shook my head as if I didn't believe her.
'Come on, Ash, I'll show you.' Kristi ran down the hall to the kitchen door, and I followed her reluctantly.
As we slipped through a hole in the hedge at the back of Kristi's yard, I told myself I had every right to keep Anna Maria. Wasn't I the one who opened the box? If I'd listened to Kristi, we would've reburied poor Anna Maria without even seeing her face.
'See?' Kristi dived into the brambles and pulled out the empty box. 'All that's left is the note.'
I frowned at the little scrap of paper, and, while Kristi was examining the box, I slipped the note into my pocket.
'What should we do?' Kristi stared at me, her eyebrows drawn down over her eyes.
I shrugged and turned away from her to watch a butterfly on a cluster of Queen Anne's lace. It was an orangc-and-black monarch, so close I could have touched it with a fingertip.
