Nina nodded. Venetia seemed to have recovered from her earlier trauma, and smiled excitedly.
“All right, I’m closing my eyes.” Cassie placed a hand over her eyes to show they were really closed. “And now I’m counting down.”
She finished her count and shouted, “Coming, ready or not!”
Pacing through the tiled house, Cassie said aloud, “I wonder where these girls are hiding. My goodness, they have hidden well. I can’t find them anywhere. Perhaps they’ve managed to make themselves invisible. I really thought I would have found Nina by now, after all, she’s taller.”
She checked under the dining room table and walked into the lounge. Her eye was immediately drawn to the large velvet ottoman at the far end. It was a brilliant hiding place and she was sure she’d find one of the children there.
Cassie paced toward it, drawing out the tension of the moment.
“I think I’m about to give up. These clever girls have hidden so well. But wait, there’s one last place I think I might look!”
She grasped the ottoman’s lid and opened it.
Inside, curled into the tiniest of balls, was Nina.
She uncurled herself, squealing with excitement, as Venetia jumped out from behind one of the elegant dark blue curtains.
“You were found! You were found!” Venetia shouted.
Both of them were laughing. Cassie realized it was the first time she had heard them laugh.
“Your turn, Nina. Count us down!”
As soon as Nina started counting, both Cassie and Venetia scurried upstairs. Venetia was giggling breathlessly, chattering nonstop as she scouted out her next hiding place. Cassie felt delighted to hear the sound of happy voices.
She crawled under Nina’s bed, guessing that she might be found first, but in the end, Nina spotted Venetia, who’d hidden behind the laundry basket in the bathroom, amid screams of laughter.
Cassie was ready to stop at the first sign of boredom, but the girls didn’t seem to be getting bored at all. Rather, they appeared captivated by the game. Laughter and shrieks echoed through the house whenever anyone was found, and as they played round after round, Cassie was convinced that this was the most fun either of them had had in a long while.
Checking the time on the phone in her jacket pocket, she saw that they’d been playing for nearly two hours. Time had flown, and in the process she’d gotten to see a lot more of the house. The only places which, by unspoken rule, had been out of bounds were Ms. Rossi’s office and her bedroom.
Cassie had hidden in the other spare bedrooms, and in the upstairs lounge, and in the small second kitchen that she found downstairs, and in the covered entertainment area with its big glass doors overlooking the courtyard. She’d even hidden in the downstairs wine cellar, accessible via the dining room, which was another place she hadn’t known about.
This time around, she opened a door in the passage that led into a store cupboard with shelves packed with linen and bedding. There was just enough room for her to press herself inside and hold the door closed. It wasn’t properly shut but maybe Nina, whose turn it was to look, wouldn’t notice.
She thought that Venetia had probably stayed downstairs. At any rate, upstairs was very quiet.
Cassie held her breath, waiting for the shrieks that would mean Venetia was discovered, or else the sound of footsteps that meant she was likely to be found.
In the end, it was the footsteps. She heard the clicking of shoes on tiles and tried to stay as quiet as possible, hoping Nina might go past.
But when she heard the footsteps stop outside the cupboard, she knew the game was up.
Cassie pushed open the door, laughing.
“Well done! I was holding my breath in there, hoping you wouldn’t—”
Her laughter and words cut short as she realized who she was speaking to.
Nina was nowhere to be seen.
Ms. Rossi was standing outside the cupboard. Her arms were folded across her chest and she was frowning slightly.
Cassie felt cold, because although the woman appeared calm, she could sense a quiet, but intense anger emanating from her.
CHAPTER TEN
“H-hello,” Cassie stammered out to the tall businesswoman. Her face was flooding with guilt, even though she didn’t know why, because they’d only been playing a game. “I didn’t hear you come home.”
Ms. Rossi regarded her wordlessly for a little more time, during which Cassie grew increasingly uncomfortable. She had wanted to explain what fun they’d been having, that the children had blown off some steam despite the rain, that they’d been good girls and had kept the house tidy with nothing broken or even moved.
The expression on Ms. Rossi’s face silenced her before the words were spoken.
Cassie lowered her head so she was staring at the floor. She felt ashamed, in spite of having no idea of the reason for her misdemeanor.
Eventually, Ms. Rossi said, “Please go to your room. You can stay there this evening, and the cook will bring you your dinner.”
She strode away, her colorful cerise heels clipping along the tiles as she left.
Cassie stood where she was until Ms. Rossi had left, trying to process what had just happened.
She felt mortified. How had she managed to make such a terrible mistake just by playing an innocent game? Why was this not allowed? She’d been given no rules that said activities in the house were forbidden.
As she trailed back to her own room, she wondered if perhaps Ms. Rossi sometimes brought business associates to the house during working hours, and didn’t want a noisy environment or children running wild. It was the only reason she could think of, and hoped the children wouldn’t get
