Into the Garden by V. C. Andrews Page A

hair and then the back of her neck. "No one hit her," she concluded. She looked up at me. "From what you told Jade about her being weak lately, I bet it was a heart attack."
"You have to have a heart to have a heart attack," Jade muttered.
"This is like a movie scene," Misty said. Her eyes were so wide that I thought her pupils might just pop out on tiny springs. "There'll be an investigation, the police, newspaper reporters, all of it!"
"Scare her some more why don't you," Star muttered, her ebony eyes brightening like hot coals. She stood up and looked at me. "How do you feel?"
I shook my head and embraced myself.
"The lamp was knocked over, but it's not broken. It's back where it belongs."
"What?" She looked at Jade who shook her head. "Cat, are you all right?" She reached out to touch my arm.
I shook my head.
"I feel numb," I said. "I don't even feel the pain in my ankle anymore."
Misty asked how I had broken my ankle and I repeated the story for them.
"What a mean thing to do to you," Misty said.
"I've got to - go back in two days for another Xray to be sure it's all healing right," I said, and laughed a thin, nervous laugh. "She thought they were just trying to run up a big medical bill. She didn't want to go back. Now, she doesn't have to."
I laughed again and that laugh became brittle, shattered, and turned into a sob. The sob ran on until I felt tears emerging. My whole body started to shake. Star put her arm around me quickly and helped me to the sofa. They all gathered around.
"Get her a glass of water," Star ordered Misty. She hurried out of the room. "You're going to be all right, Cat. Don't worry."
"I've been thinking a lot while I was waiting for you. Maybe... maybe it's my fault she's dead," I said, trying to swallow down a lump in my throat. Misty brought me the glass of water and I drank some quickly. "She got so angry at me. She was raging for the last couple of days. If she did have a heart attack, it's my fault," I insisted.
"No, no," Jade said, shaking her head. "She shouldn't have gotten angry at those things anyway. It's her fault. She probably ate her own heart out."
"Jade's right," Misty said. "My mother's always talking about stress making you sick and giving you wrinkles. That's what happened to your sister. She stressed herself to the point of breaking."
"She was meant to die," Star added. "It was her time. You can't blame yourself for that."
"I couldn't help with any of the housework and she hated that I made her relive the past. I kept asking questions she didn't want to answer. Telling me about the past was painful for her, too," I told them. Although they didn't look like they believed it or cared, they nodded as I spoke. It just felt good to keep talking so I related all the facts Geraldine had given me about our mother and her so-called assignations with different men. As long as I talked, I didn't cry.
"She should have told you everything years ago. You're not a child," Star said. "Granny says secrets can be like rats living in the closets of your heart, gnawing at you until you get sick."
"She got sick all right," Jade said, nodding at Geraldine's body.
"Who do we call?" Misty asked. "I mean, do we call the police first or an ambulance or what? Anybody know?"
"You call the police first," Jade said. "They have to investigate before they remove the body. It's an unattended death. Don't you watch any television?"
"You know I do," Misty said.
"They'll surely blame me," I said. "Maybe they'll want to put me in jail."
"That's silly, Cat. Stay cool," Star said.
She looked at Jade and Jade looked at Misty. Then they were all staring at me.
"More importantly, what's going to happen to Cat?" Star wondered aloud.
"Does your mother have any nearby relatives?" Jade asked.
I shook my head.
"There are some cousins, but they live on the East Coast I think. I don't even know their names."
"They won't care about her," Star said. "She's no more than a stranger to them."
"She can't call her adoptive father's