“She stood back and did nothing as he drowned.”
“Could your friend see ghosts?” Finley asked. “Or read palms? Anything?”
“No,” Pram said. “He didn’t have any abilities, and he wasn’t going to hurt anyone.”
“She won’t drown you,” Finley said. “Not if you have something she wants. She only kills useless things.”
“Clarence wasn’t useless,” Pram said. “I loved him.”
Saying it aloud was an admission as well. No wonder she’d grown up in a house where nobody said they loved anyone; what a terrible pain that word caused.
Finley patted her shoulder. “I’m sure he was a fine friend.”
Pram could hear a skeleton key rattling in a lock. It blocked a small bit of light that had been shining through the keyhole.
Finley disappeared. Pram looked over both shoulders for him, but he was gone.
The chain holding the cage creaked, and Pram tried to keep still if only to make it stop. She was sure she’d heard something like it in her nightmares.
The door swung open, creating a triangle of light from the hallway that spread out to reveal green wallpaper with silver insects that gleamed and appeared to be almost crawling.
“Awake now, are you?” Lady Savant said. “Good, good. I knew you’d be fresh as a daisy after a little rest.”
Pram saw something move beside the door, where the light thinned and turned the insects black. Two long dark braids swung across the darkness, trailing a girl who chased after a firefly that had come out of the wall. She giggled and disappeared into the shadows.
Lady Savant didn’t notice her. “There’s no electricity, but once the sun comes up, you’ll see that this room is very pretty,” she said. “Would you like to come out and have a better look?”
Pram didn’t answer. Any word she’d ever spoken to that woman had caused her trouble. She would rather talk to the ghosts in the shadows—Finley with his burns, and the little girl chasing insects.
And yet, despite knowing better, there was something within Pram that wanted to like Lady Savant. Her fragrance was intoxicating and sweet. Her eyes were as kind sometimes as they were cruel other times.
“Come on, now,” Lady Savant said. “There’s no reason to be frightened. There’s a staircase just outside your little door, see?”
Despite her bitterness, Pram couldn’t help peering beyond the arched door of her prison. An iron staircase, inlaid with flower shapes, reached down toward the darkness of the floor. She was curious about where the stairs led. Curious, and suddenly very hungry.
“Come out,” a giggling voice said. The girl with the black hair leaned sideways into the light of the doorway. She waved shyly and scurried off again.
Well, Pram thought, she wouldn’t mind having something to eat.
But she wasn’t going to speak.
CHAPTER
18
P ram walked barefoot down a hallway with a cold tile floor. Flames on sconces illuminated ovals of wallpaper on either side of her. She felt as though she were dreaming, and in this dream she wore a green plaid dress and yellow ribbons that streamed from her ponytail to down in front of her shoulders.
She heard the footsteps of the girl with dark hair behind her. The girl was skipping and singing:
Hush-a-bye, don’t you cry
Go to sleepy, little baby
When you wake, you shall have
All the pretty little horses
Way down yonder in the meadow
Lies a poor little lambie
Bees and butterflies, picking out its eyes . . .
“You’ve slept for a day and most of the night,” Lady Savant said. “The sun will be up soon. We’ll have breakfast, and maybe you’ll feel like talking then.”
Somewhere in her haze, Pram knew that she was being deceived.
Felix?
she called, but her mind’s voice was small. Felix was gone. Felix was a lifetime ago. Clarence had drowned a lifetime ago.
Clarence.
Pram thought of his blue eyes and his sad smile, and the tickets to Lady Savant’s Spirit Show in his hand, and then the feel of his hand in hers.
“Could your friend see ghosts?” Finley asked. “Or read palms? Anything?”
“No,” Pram said. “He didn’t have any abilities, and he wasn’t going to hurt anyone.”
“She won’t drown you,” Finley said. “Not if you have something she wants. She only kills useless things.”
“Clarence wasn’t useless,” Pram said. “I loved him.”
Saying it aloud was an admission as well. No wonder she’d grown up in a house where nobody said they loved anyone; what a terrible pain that word caused.
Finley patted her shoulder. “I’m sure he was a fine friend.”
Pram could hear a skeleton key rattling in a lock. It blocked a small bit of light that had been shining through the keyhole.
Finley disappeared. Pram looked over both shoulders for him, but he was gone.
The chain holding the cage creaked, and Pram tried to keep still if only to make it stop. She was sure she’d heard something like it in her nightmares.
The door swung open, creating a triangle of light from the hallway that spread out to reveal green wallpaper with silver insects that gleamed and appeared to be almost crawling.
“Awake now, are you?” Lady Savant said. “Good, good. I knew you’d be fresh as a daisy after a little rest.”
Pram saw something move beside the door, where the light thinned and turned the insects black. Two long dark braids swung across the darkness, trailing a girl who chased after a firefly that had come out of the wall. She giggled and disappeared into the shadows.
Lady Savant didn’t notice her. “There’s no electricity, but once the sun comes up, you’ll see that this room is very pretty,” she said. “Would you like to come out and have a better look?”
Pram didn’t answer. Any word she’d ever spoken to that woman had caused her trouble. She would rather talk to the ghosts in the shadows—Finley with his burns, and the little girl chasing insects.
And yet, despite knowing better, there was something within Pram that wanted to like Lady Savant. Her fragrance was intoxicating and sweet. Her eyes were as kind sometimes as they were cruel other times.
“Come on, now,” Lady Savant said. “There’s no reason to be frightened. There’s a staircase just outside your little door, see?”
Despite her bitterness, Pram couldn’t help peering beyond the arched door of her prison. An iron staircase, inlaid with flower shapes, reached down toward the darkness of the floor. She was curious about where the stairs led. Curious, and suddenly very hungry.
“Come out,” a giggling voice said. The girl with the black hair leaned sideways into the light of the doorway. She waved shyly and scurried off again.
Well, Pram thought, she wouldn’t mind having something to eat.
But she wasn’t going to speak.
CHAPTER
18
P ram walked barefoot down a hallway with a cold tile floor. Flames on sconces illuminated ovals of wallpaper on either side of her. She felt as though she were dreaming, and in this dream she wore a green plaid dress and yellow ribbons that streamed from her ponytail to down in front of her shoulders.
She heard the footsteps of the girl with dark hair behind her. The girl was skipping and singing:
Hush-a-bye, don’t you cry
Go to sleepy, little baby
When you wake, you shall have
All the pretty little horses
Way down yonder in the meadow
Lies a poor little lambie
Bees and butterflies, picking out its eyes . . .
“You’ve slept for a day and most of the night,” Lady Savant said. “The sun will be up soon. We’ll have breakfast, and maybe you’ll feel like talking then.”
Somewhere in her haze, Pram knew that she was being deceived.
Felix?
she called, but her mind’s voice was small. Felix was gone. Felix was a lifetime ago. Clarence had drowned a lifetime ago.
Clarence.
Pram thought of his blue eyes and his sad smile, and the tickets to Lady Savant’s Spirit Show in his hand, and then the feel of his hand in hers.
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