The Other Child (7 page)

Leslie supposed she should run, too, but she couldn’t seem to move her feet. Somehow she knew that the hornets weren’t after her. They buzzed all around her, but not one of them stung. A small smile of satisfaction crept across her face as her guests fled, screaming from the swarm.

“Leslie,
move
! Run for the house!” her mother was shouting to her, but Leslie knew she was safe. She stood in the cloud of hornets, unharmed, as the other children scattered and raced away. Mom had been right and Leslie shivered slightly. Birthday wishes always came true and her party was definitely, finally, over for good.

Leslie stood, transfixed, in front of her melting birthday cake. The frosting ran down in bright rivulets of color and a lake of strawberry ice cream was growing on the silver platter. She lifted blank eyes as the hornets darted down in a straggling line to chase after the screaming children.

They followed only to the perimeter of the yard, humming and whining angrily. Then they turned and formed a dark cloud above Leslie’s head as Mike and Karen watched, horrified. The hornets were suspended there for a full minute while Leslie stared up at the ominous black shadow. Then they quivered and were gone, streaking off in a ragged line toward the river.

“Help me, Mike! Get her, quickly!” Karen was almost hysterical as they rushed to Leslie. She was still standing there, shaking, staring blankly at the spot where the hornets had disappeared.

“In the house, Leslie—move!” Mike grabbed his stepdaughter and helped her across the lawn and into the safety of the house.

“He’s gone,” Leslie said, sighing, the blank look still on her face. “He was here, but now he’s gone.”

“Are you hurt, honey?” Mike dropped to his knees so that his face was level with hers. “Did you get stung?”

“No.” Leslie gave a strange and mirthless smile. “He’s my friend. He wouldn’t let the hornets sting me.”

“What’s she talking about?” Mike turned to Karen with alarm. Leslie was smiling a peculiar, lopsided smile and her whole body trembled violently.

“She’s in shock!” Karen whispered. “Oh, God, Mike! We’d better check her to make sure she’s all right.”

Leslie stood woodenly as her mother and Mike made a fuss over her, checking her arms and legs for stings. There weren’t any.

“Are you sure you’re not hurt, kitten?” Karen asked again, amazement showing in her face. “I’ve never seen anything like it! They swarmed all around her but none of them stung.”

“Maybe the other children didn’t get stung, either. I don’t know about any species of hornet that doesn’t sting, but perhaps this bunch was some kind of weird mutation.”

“The others got stung.” Leslie’s voice was slow and measured. She couldn’t seem to think clearly and she felt strange, as if she’d been awakened in the middle of a nightmare. “I know they got stung. I heard them screaming.”

“Well . . . I hope not.” Karen brushed a strand of hair from Leslie’s face. “They might have been screaming because they were frightened.”

“Maybe,” Leslie admitted, staring up at her mother with wide, unfocused eyes.

Just then the telephone rang. While Mike went to answer it, Karen watched Leslie closely. She was worried. Leslie’s eyes were dilated, black and huge in her white face. It had been a nasty shock, and on her birthday, too!

“That was Mrs. Wilson.” Mike came back to place his hand on Karen’s shoulder. “It looks as though Leslie was right after all. Gary has stings all over him and he thinks most of the other kids were stung, too. Mrs. Wilson said she’d contact the other parents and call us again tonight. She doesn’t think there’ll be any trouble. After all, it was an accident. Leslie was really lucky she didn’t get stung.”

“Maybe it was because she was standing so still and not running,” Karen suggested. “I bet that was it, Mike. When hornets are angry, they attack any moving object, don’t they? I think I remember reading that somewhere.”

Mike shrugged. Karen could be right. Now that they were sure Leslie was unharmed, there was a lot of cleaning up to do.

“Leslie? I think you’d better sit right here for a while,” Karen guided her daughter to a chair. “Mike and I will clean up the party things and take care of the caterers. You just rest right here at the table. And try not to feel too bad, honey. You were a wonderful hostess today, and nobody can blame you for that awful accident with the hornets.”

“Just stay here until we bet back inside,” Mike added. “We’ll hurry as fast as we can. And if you need anything, just come to the door and holler. We’ll be listening for you.”

Leslie closed her eyes for a moment. She was still dizzy and confused. She remembered holding the key and wishing the party would be over. That was when she had first heard the voice. Then the hornets’ nest had fallen and the rest was a blurry montage of images.

Carefully Leslie drew the key out of her pocket and looked at it. Why had she found it? Had she heard a voice or had she just willed herself to hear it? Could it possibly belong to a boy named Christopher? Had he made the hornets’ nest fall, and could he make all her wishes come true?

She dropped it back into her pocket and shuddered. It couldn’t have happened that way. She was making up stories again. The key was just any old key and the voice was only her imagination. The hornets had been an awful accident, just as her mother had said.

She sat quietly for a long time and finally raised her head. She felt better now. She blinked and stared out the window. Her eyes hurt a bit, but that was all. Now that her mind was starting to clear she felt silly for having imagined things.

She could see Mike and her mother working in the yard. He was taking down the decorations and Mom was gathering up the plates. The caterers were making trips back and forth to their trucks, and two men were dismantling the soda-pop fountain. Leslie sighed in disappointment. She hadn’t even had a cup of strawberry soda and it was her favorite.

At last the job was finished. The caterers drove off and Karen and Mike came back into the house. Mike flopped into a chair, and Karen sighed as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

“You look much better, honey—I bet you can’t wait to open up all those presents. I know it won’t be as much fun without the rest of the kids, but the three of us will have our own little party right here.”

“Presents!” Mike snapped his fingers. “We forgot all about Leslie’s present from us!”

“Let’s give her that one first,” Karen said, cheerful again. “I think this would be a good time, don’t you?”

“Come on, Leslie—up to your tower room.” Mike pulled her to her feet. He could hardly wait to see what Leslie would do when she saw the telescope.

They let her open the door and step in alone as they stood on the landing and watched expectantly. Leslie took one look inside the cupola and stopped in the doorway, her eyes wide with surprise. Then she wheeled around and hugged both of them hard.

“Oh, Mom! Mike! What a super present! Is it really mine? Is it really just for me?”

“You bet it is!” Mike nodded. Leslie’s reaction was worth every cent he’d spent on the telescope. There was no doubt he’d have to win on Sunday if he wanted to pay it all off, but that shouldn’t be a problem. He was on a lucky streak now and it was going to last. He might even bet a little heavier on this Sunday’s score and really clean up. In any event, the money he’d spent on Leslie’s birthday had been worth it. He could tell she was absolutely delighted.

“And that’s just half of it.” Mike’s smile widened as Leslie caught her breath. “I got your Leica all cleaned up last night. The case has a couple of bad scratches, but otherwise it’s in fine shape. You really lucked out, Leslie. You’re going to need your camera more than ever now that you have the telescope.”

Leslie looked puzzled and Mike chuckled. “I think, if we do a little jury-rigging, we can hook it up to the telescope lens so you can take pictures of the moon and stars.”

“Oh, super!” Leslie’s smile was rapturous. She’d been completely wrong about Mike before. He really was on her side. The kids from Cold Spring had just gotten her confused, that was all. Mike must be on her side to have bought her such a wonderful birthday present.

Leslie gazed at the new telescope with love in her eyes. Then she turned a pleading expression to her mother.

“Can I come up here during the day, too?” she begged, watching Karen anxiously. “I could learn about the clouds then and I could take pictures of the town from up here. I could see all sorts of interesting things in the daytime. Please?”

Karen hesitated. It was exactly what she had feared. Leslie would be up here every minute and she’d never go out and socialize.

“Mom? I won’t come up here very often if you don’t want me to.” Leslie’s voice was small and disappointed.

Karen was caught in a bind. She didn’t want to put a damper on Leslie’s spirits, and her daughter looked crestfallen.

“Yes, you can use your telescope during the day, too,” she conceded. “But you have to promise to tell me first. I don’t want to be looking all over the house for you when I need you.”

“I promise!” Leslie ran over to her mother and hugged her. “You’re wonderful, Mom! And you’re wonderful, too, Mike! Will you show me how to use my new telescope now?”

Karen stood in the doorway as Mike and Leslie huddled over the telescope, Leslie’s blond hair touching Mike’s dark. They were talking about light refraction and powers now. Karen wasn’t particularly interested in hearing Mike’s instructions, so she slipped out quietly and made her way down the narrow staircase. She had other, more practical matters on her mind; for one thing, there was still cleaning up to be done. Karen stopped for a minute at the third-floor landing and gazed around longingly. She wished that she could start uncovering things right away, but it would have to wait. She’d come up here first thing in the morning, right after her regular housework was done.

The ghostly covered shapes drew Karen like a magnet, and she ran her hand over several of the more intriguing pieces. She had taken a peek at the large items when they first moved in. The lovely spinet piano in the living room was waiting for repairs and she’d found beds for most of the rooms on the second floor. That was as far as she’d gotten. There were still crates and trunks to be explored, and Karen was anxious to begin. Now that the rest of the house was somewhat in order, she could reward herself by spending some time up here, just cataloging the useful items.

It was still and quiet here in the ballroom. Karen heard Mike’s deep laugh and Leslie’s excited voice from above. A feeling of peace and the rightness of things came over her. They were at home in this huge old house. Living here made her feel she had roots with the past. Her own parents had died when she was young and she had lived with a succession of aunts and uncles, shipped from one family to the next. There had never been a family home like this. Now, in this lovely house, she felt steeped in tradition. It would be home to her and her children. It was the kind of house that would welcome generations of Houstons.

Karen smiled. She felt better now. While she tried not to make much of it, the hornets had upset her dreadfully. She had thought of them as a bad omen, a warning of worse things to come. Now she could laugh at her foolishness. Perhaps her condition was to blame for these morbid thoughts. Or, more likely, Janet Wilson’s harebrained story about this house being haunted. Whatever the cause, she wouldn’t mention any of it to Mike. He scoffed at any hint of the supernatural. He’d laugh his head off if she told him Janet’s haunted-house story. Karen usually agreed with him, but it was strange that the hornets had only stung the Cold Spring children and not Leslie, who was standing in the middle of them.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” He caught her by surprise and Karen whirled around, a guilty expression on her face.

Mike grinned and flipped the dust cover back over the antique trunk she’d been about to open. “You promised there’d be no work on the house today; it’s a birthday, and we’re supposed to be having a party.”

For a moment Karen was irritated. She wasn’t working. She had just been amusing herself while he was busy with the telescope.

“Right.” She nodded, putting on a smile. “Let’s get Leslie and have a piece of the birthday cake. It melted a little, but I stuck it in the freezer.”

“Sounds good to me. Then we can watch Leslie open her presents. I’ll wait until she goes to bed before I finish up in the darkroom.”

Karen’s mouth tightened as she went down the stairs. Mike didn’t want her to work today, but he’d be stuck in the darkroom for hours again tonight. He really wasn’t being fair. Her decorating was just as important as his photography, but she wouldn’t get upset about it now. It was an old argument and it shouldn’t spoil Leslie’s big day. She had to lighten up and make the rest of the day a success for Leslie.

“Mike?” She turned at the bottom of the stairs and looked back. Mike was looking down at her questioningly.

“You want pickles on your ice cream, too?”

Karen sighed as she approached the green two-story house. She didn’t want to be here, but Mike had insisted. Marilyn Comstock had invited her for coffee to meet some of the “girls,” and Karen just knew she wouldn’t enjoy herself. They probably wanted to talk about Leslie’s party the previous weekend and rehash the hornet incident.

She straightened her shoulders and gave a final pat to her hair. She wore it loose, tied back with a beige ribbon that matched her two-piece suit. She’d added a touch of lipstick and faint eye shadow for the occasion. She was a bit nervous as she crossed the open porch and rang the doorbell.

“How’s Leslie?” Marilyn asked, just as soon as the introductions were made. “That was a real shame about her birthday party!”

“Leslie’s fine.” Karen sat down in a rose-colored chair and crossed her legs properly at the ankles. “I hope Taffy’s recovered from her stings.”

“Her arm’s still swollen, but it’s healing.” Marilyn passed the plate of cookies. “Taffy says Leslie was right in the middle of those awful hornets. Was she stung badly?”

“Well . . . no.” Karen drew a deep breath. “Actually, Leslie wasn’t stung at all. We think the hornets only attacked the children who were running. Leslie stood still and they left her alone.”

“How odd!” Janet Wilson raised her eyebrows. “My Gary had stings all over him. That means all the children were stung, except Leslie.”

“It is odd, but odd things always happen at the Appleton Mansion.” Sylvia Ness laughed dryly. “I’ve heard enough stories about that house to write a book!”

Janet cleared her throat. “Let’s not get started on that old haunted-house business. I must have heard it all a hundred times. I’d much rather talk about the church bazaar. Has Reverend Mason set a date yet?”

Karen balanced the glass snack tray on her lap and tried to look interested as the women discussed the bazaar. Just sitting in Marilyn’s living room gave her a headache. The room was done in lime green and pink, and Karen had a hard time keeping a pleasant smile on her face as she gazed around her. She didn’t mean to be snobbish or cruel, but the house really was decorated badly.

“You’re going to bring knitted slippers again this year, aren’t you, Roberta?”

Karen tuned into the conversation again and shifted her attention to Roberta Allen. She was an overweight brunette, hair done in a fifties upsweep, so heavily sprayed that it resembled a plastic sculpture.

“I made some darling pot holders from an article in
House and Home
magazine,” Sylvia Ness volunteered. “You know those little loops you can buy at Woolworth’s? I made one in every color, so they’re bound to sell.”

Alice Marshal sighed and smiled hesitantly at Karen. “I just don’t know what to bring,” she confessed. “I’ve started four or five projects, but I don’t seem to have the time to finish anything.”

She was older than the other women, and her voice was timid. Alice looked harried and disorganized. Wisps of gray hair escaped from the bun on top of her head and she wore no makeup. She reminded Karen of a small gray dove, quick mannered and easily startled. Karen tried hard to imagine them becoming good friends, but it didn’t seem likely.

“We haven’t seen you in church, Karen,” Marilyn commented. “Are you and your husband Protestant?”

Karen swallowed hard. “Actually, Mike and I aren’t big on organized religion. And we haven’t had a chance to bring Leslie regularly to any particular church.” Karen knew she was hedging. Religion just wasn’t an important part in either Mike’s or her life.

The women exchanged glances. “We’d love to have you visit our church,” Alice said. “Reverend Mason’s very progressive and Leslie would love our Sunday school.”

“I’ll tell Mike.” But she thought,
Wait until Mike hears about this!

“My, that’s a pretty outfit.” Roberta Allen stared at Karen’s raw-silk suit. She took a bite of a cookie and smiled weakly. “You’re so lucky you’re thin. I could never wear anything that formfitting.”

“She won’t be thin for too much longer,” Janet observed, laughing gaily. “Karen’s pregnant, didn’t you know? She’s expecting in December. You don’t think there’ll be a problem with Leslie, do you, Karen? I mean, with the new baby, and you just married to Mike?”

“Oh! No . . . I . . . I don’t think so.” Karen was furious. Her fingers tightened around her coffee cup. She regretted having slipped up that first day in the grocery store, but she didn’t see why everyone in town had to know Mike wasn’t Leslie’s father. And to hint at “problems” with her Leslie, as if their own children were so well adjusted.

“Remember Mavis Barber?” Roberta chewed and swallowed quickly. “She had the same situation, except she was widowed, not divorced. She married Paul and got p.g. right away. There was all sorts of trouble with the new baby and her other kids. One of them tried to push over the baby’s crib. I remember that plain as day.”

“Well, I’m sure we won’t have
that
problem.” Karen was shocked, but she tried to smile. “Leslie’s very excited about the new baby.”

There was a long silence as the women shifted uncomfortably on Marilyn’s slipcovered chairs.

Marilyn started the conversation again. “You’re not going back to work once the baby’s born, are you, Karen?”

“Well . . . Mike doesn’t approve of working mothers,” Karen hedged.

“Neither do I!” Janet agreed vehemently. “I didn’t go back to the store until Gary was in school. I believe a woman’s place is with her child.”

“You worked when Leslie was small, though, didn’t you, Karen?” Marilyn waited for Karen’s nod. “Do you think it had an effect on Leslie?”

“It might have.” Karen tried to be fair as she answered. “I had a very good babysitter, though, and I spent every evening and weekend with Leslie.”

“It still makes a difference,” Sylvia contended. “You can always tell the child of a working mother. They’re moody and they keep to themselves a lot. I never wanted to work when Mary Ellen was small and I wouldn’t work now. Careers are for single women. You shouldn’t have children if you aren’t responsible.”

Karen sighed as the other women entered the discussion. She’d have to be careful not to alienate these women completely. Their attitudes could make Leslie’s adjustment even harder.

“Are there any dance teachers in town?” Karen asked politely when there was a break in the conversation. “Leslie had two years of ballet in the Cities and I’d like to find another teacher for her here.”

“Ballet?” Sylvia laughed. “A ballet teacher wouldn’t do much business here. Why, naturally, the boys think ballet’s sissy, and our girls are more interested in practical things. I’d get Leslie involved in 4-H, if I were you. Now, that’s a worthwhile organization. It teaches skills you can use all your life and prepares the girls to be good wives and mothers.”

“You’ll never guess what I heard in the store this morning.” Janet leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Peggy Miller is leaving Bill. She caught him out at the Dew Drop Inn with Jessie Blair. And they weren’t just dancing, either!”

“I knew that one wouldn’t last.” Marilyn shook her head. “Once a girl-chaser, always a girl-chaser, I say.”

“I’m glad I never had a problem like that.” Roberta plucked another cookie off the plate and popped it into her mouth. “Delbert has his faults, but he’s never cheated on me.”

“I don’t know what I’d do if Harry ran around.” Janet sighed and tightened her lips. “I wouldn’t divorce him . . . that’s for sure! I think divorce is wrong!”

She looked at Karen and had the grace to blush. “At least it’s wrong ninety-nine percent of the time,” she amended.

Karen gave her a bewildered look for a moment and then she remembered. She had told Janet that she had been married before. If these women were so shocked at divorce, it was a good thing they didn’t know the true circumstances of Leslie’s birth. Karen could imagine what they’d say if they knew she had been an unmarried mother.

“Did you hear about the Pfeffers?” Marilyn stepped in to cover the awkward moment. She looked smug as the other women leaned forward eagerly.

“I heard this from Donna Weisner. She just started work in the insurance-claims department at the hospital. Donna told me she came across a claim for George Pfeffer. He had a vasectomy last April. And just yesterday Sharon told me she could hardly wait to have another baby. Doesn’t that beat all? George must have had it done without telling her!”

“If Sharon turns up pregnant, we’ll know something’s rotten in Denmark.” Janet giggled.

“George is Catholic.” Alice sounded shocked. “I wonder if he confessed to Father Miller? They can’t use any birth control, you know. It’s a mortal sin.”

“Well . . . if you ask me, birth control is the same as abortion!” Roberta sniffed. “There were times when I wished I didn’t have five, but the Good Lord saw fit.”

Karen took a gulp of her coffee and coughed. She just couldn’t believe the conversation going on around her. These women were so narrow-minded, so provincial—it was almost a crime. They preached morality and God’s will, but they weren’t exactly practicing brotherly love or Christian forgiveness, either. In fact, it appeared to Karen that engaging in vicious gossip was the most popular pastime among her neighbors in Cold Spring.

She looked up to find all eyes on her as she set down her cup. Karen drew a deep breath and plunged in.

“Actually, I think birth control is an individual decision. And abortion is, too. Surely you have to consider the circumstances.”

Karen knew she had said too much as the women fell silent. Marilyn frowned and cleared her throat.

“You have a point, of course.” Marilyn didn’t sound convinced. “But circumstances change and the easiest way out isn’t necessarily the right way.” There was another long silence as the women avoided Karen’s eyes.

“Well . . . I must be getting on home now.” Karen set her snack tray down on the plastic Parsons table and stood up. “Thank you so much for inviting me. I’ll return the hospitality just as soon as we get the house organized.”

The good-byes were friendly and polite, but Karen noticed that none of the other women made a move to leave. She was sure they couldn’t wait to begin to talk about her the moment she was gone.

What a relief it was to be outside. Karen took a deep breath of the warm summer air and sighed deeply. If the children were anything like their mothers, no wonder Leslie had failed to make friends in Cold Spring.