“D’accord. All our problèmes started when we got here. Maybe we should partir and find a better-suited maison.” Lizette mock-polishes her fingernails. She has a point. I’m not the only one thinking of leaving and looking for another place as a valid alternative. Not that I don’t like the place. Believe me, I do. But we’ve just arrived and already we are in crisis mode.
“It would make things easier in the short term. I believe we ended up here for a reason. The Bible with the deed, Helen’s eagerness to have us committed, the familiar house, and the doll, are all signs we shouldn’t ignore. I vote for staying and using our time here to find out as much as we can about how we ended up in this mess.”
Sky looks at each of us and must notice that her speech fails to convince us. “I agree it would have been better to have more time to settle. But I’d rather have us being triggered here, where we can learn to live together without the danger of outside interference, than being among people that don’t understand what we need. Horace’s doctors weren’t all charlatans paid off by the NGPD to lock us up. Some truly believed in their diagnosis. We’ll come across that wherever we go.”
I hate it when she does that—being sensible and saying all the right things. It takes the wind out of my sails. How can someone always be good, do the right thing, say the right thing, and never ever fly off the handle? It’s so irritating, especially when there’s no chance to even come close to that kind of noblesse or think of an awesome comeback.
For a moment, Sky looked taken aback. Reading my mind is not fair. “It’s not so unusual if all you can do is watch and think. Every waking moment thinking and then thinking some more. I admire—and yes even envy sometimes—your ability to take action and get in the middle of things.” In all those years together, I’ve never heard her expressing something even remotely like regret. My heart is melting, and I feel awful for being such a pest.
Sky looks at me with a faint movement of her head from side to side as the flicker of a smile passes her lips. “You are not a pest.” Then she looks everyone straight in the eye.
“Think about it: Why did Horace marry Elise? They never consummated the marriage. He never showed her more than common courtesy. Something is not right. Horace was a friend of Elizabeth’s father. I want to find out once and for all how he ended up being Elise’s guardian. We need time to process the trauma without having to move from town to town and look over our shoulder all the time. If a dark force came with Maddie, it would follow us wherever we go. It’s there for a reason. Once we understand what that reason is, it will make perfect sense. I want us to stop running from ghosts we can’t name. We deserve to live peacefully and without fear. I want us to be free.”
I’ve never heard Sky speak with such passion. Holy smoke. She had us all at free. Yes, we want to be free of fear. More than anything we want to be free from worries about our safety.
Ama throws in a word of caution. “I can see problems with staying here. The kids could be difficult to handle if they are reminded of all the bad stuff that happened. See how little was needed today for Maddie to end up slipping into the past again. I don’t know if I can keep everyone safe. Then there is getting Elise on board. It might not take much for her to try to take her life again.”
“Elise? Good riddance. I’m tired of her theatrics.”
“Amadeus!”
“What? You disagree? She, who doesn’t even remember all the bad stuff? She’s not been there. Maddie has, Elizabeth has, others have. They don’t run around like her, the back of their hand on their forehead, stumbling about like a star in a silent movie, oh-ing, and ah-ing and collapsing to the ground. How many suicide attempts did she make? How many? All the time getting us in trouble, and she wasn’t even there when shit happened. I’m sick and tired of that silly woman. Sick and tired.”
Amadeus gets up and mimics Elise, stumbling around the room and stuttering in her high-pitched voice, “I can’t bear it anymore, I feel so bad, I can’t sleep, where are my pills so I can end it.”
I fight back a smile. He’s got a point. Sometimes it’s hilarious to watch Elise going on. But Sky will not tolerate us fighting her. How does she do it? She always sees the good in people.
“Elise is doing the best she can. If she could do any better, she would. Nobody is waking up in the morning thinking, today I’ll mess up my life.”
Amadeus shrugs. “That’s my opinion. She’s a wet blanket and a bloody nuisance. We’re better off without her.”
Luke throws a small pillow at Amadeus. “Didn’t you listen when Miss Marple said when one part commits suicide, we all die?”
Amadeus put the pillow aside. “Don’t do that again. It’s rubbish. What did that lady know? Nobody died when Elizabeth was murdered. I don’t believe her. She only wanted to scare us.”
Ama sits silently on her pillow and listens to the arguments flying around the room. Then she pushes off the floor with her massive arms. She looks like a sumo wrestler rising off the ground, fleshy bits wobbling back and forth as she straightens herself. “We agreed that, as we sit in the same boat, we would all row in the same direction. Haven’t we made great progress since we decided that at the beginning of this year?”
“Yes, we have, Ama. And nobody is getting rid of Elise. Let’s not fight about things we can’t prove right now. We
