about me. I’ll be the big joke of the neighborhood!”
“I’ll go talk to his mom this afternoon.”
“Must be nice.” I folded my arms across my chest. “You can go visit with neighbors while I’m stuck in here.”
“As if talking to that woman’s going to be easy!”
Albie’s mom was a society type. More like my grandmother than my mother. But I realized that I had let Mother sidetrack me. “What happens to Deirdre?”
“She—”
The door creaked slowly open and Dr. Keller peeked in. “May I come in?”
“Doctor,” Mother said, obviously relieved to have someone between us. I was becoming quite skilled at making adults feel uncomfortable. “What a long night it’s been for you.”
“I caught a few winks.” Dr. Keller approached my bed. He looked terrifyingly laid back, with a crooked smile that could only be described as smarmy. He patted my calf. I spitefully glared at his hairy knuckles.
“Has your mother explained things to you?”
“How I’m stuck here?”
“We’re just going to wait for the test results. Get you involved in group. You’ll be feeling better in no time.”
“School starts in three and a half weeks,” I whined. Not that I was a stellar student, and I’d always felt like an outsider at the plush all-girls boarding school. But still, I didn’t want to be held back a year.
“We’re not going to worry about that now,” Mother said.
“How can you do this to me?” I hissed.
Dr. Keller looked over his blurry glasses at me with his veiny blue eyes. Stray gray hairs were mingled in his dark eyebrows. “Penny, your mother thinks it’s better if we give you a little break. Let you heal a bit from those injuries.”
“I fell off a fence!”
Dr. Keller looked at the clipboard, avoiding my eyes. “Now it’s a fence.” His fingers trembled slightly as he looked at the sheet. “We just need to get to the bottom of what happened out there in the woods to cause those minor injuries.”
“Conor’s horse took off when a firecracker went off!”
“Yes, the king’s horse.”
He chuckled a little, which really lit a fire under me. He was trying to turn the most exciting night of my life into a joke or, worse, make me seem like a nutcase. My resolve to play it cool and tell them what they wanted to hear vanished into rage. “Yes, the king! Just ask her!” I screamed. Mother rushed over and tried to put her hand over my mouth. “Ask her about Deirdre, about all the Heroines!” I was sick of them both. He wasn’t taking me seriously, and she was trying to shut me up again. I started to climb out of the bed, and my knee caught the tray and knocked it off the counter. The slam of the metal on the floor made Dr. Keller jump as if he’d been shot. I walked toward him. “Madame Bovary! Ophelia!” I truly felt psychotic.
“Another episode!” Keller said.
He wasn’t much taller than I, so I ran and gripped his small shoulders. His eyes grew wide and his clipboard clattered to the floor. Mother rushed to pull me off him, and we both flew backward against the bed curtain. Dr. Keller ran to the door and pushed and yelled out into the hallway, “Mr. Gonzo! Room Sixteen, Mr. Gonzo.”
In seconds, two big men in jeans and T-shirts swept into the room and pinned me to the bed before I could yell, I’m not crazy! They were like a couple of B-52s—high-speed instruments of precision targeting. They bound my wrists and ankles with leather straps, and one of them lifted up my gown and jabbed a needle into my ass.
“I’m terribly sorry,” Mother said. “I don’t know what got into her!”
Keller rubbed his shoulder and shook his head. “Another episode, I’m afraid, Ms. Entwhistle.”
Eleanor marched in and picked the clipboard up from the floor. She pointed to the place on the form where Mother had to sign. I writhed against the restraints and yelled, “I hate you!”
Tears streamed down Mother’s face as she squinted and committed her signature to the
“I’ll go talk to his mom this afternoon.”
“Must be nice.” I folded my arms across my chest. “You can go visit with neighbors while I’m stuck in here.”
“As if talking to that woman’s going to be easy!”
Albie’s mom was a society type. More like my grandmother than my mother. But I realized that I had let Mother sidetrack me. “What happens to Deirdre?”
“She—”
The door creaked slowly open and Dr. Keller peeked in. “May I come in?”
“Doctor,” Mother said, obviously relieved to have someone between us. I was becoming quite skilled at making adults feel uncomfortable. “What a long night it’s been for you.”
“I caught a few winks.” Dr. Keller approached my bed. He looked terrifyingly laid back, with a crooked smile that could only be described as smarmy. He patted my calf. I spitefully glared at his hairy knuckles.
“Has your mother explained things to you?”
“How I’m stuck here?”
“We’re just going to wait for the test results. Get you involved in group. You’ll be feeling better in no time.”
“School starts in three and a half weeks,” I whined. Not that I was a stellar student, and I’d always felt like an outsider at the plush all-girls boarding school. But still, I didn’t want to be held back a year.
“We’re not going to worry about that now,” Mother said.
“How can you do this to me?” I hissed.
Dr. Keller looked over his blurry glasses at me with his veiny blue eyes. Stray gray hairs were mingled in his dark eyebrows. “Penny, your mother thinks it’s better if we give you a little break. Let you heal a bit from those injuries.”
“I fell off a fence!”
Dr. Keller looked at the clipboard, avoiding my eyes. “Now it’s a fence.” His fingers trembled slightly as he looked at the sheet. “We just need to get to the bottom of what happened out there in the woods to cause those minor injuries.”
“Conor’s horse took off when a firecracker went off!”
“Yes, the king’s horse.”
He chuckled a little, which really lit a fire under me. He was trying to turn the most exciting night of my life into a joke or, worse, make me seem like a nutcase. My resolve to play it cool and tell them what they wanted to hear vanished into rage. “Yes, the king! Just ask her!” I screamed. Mother rushed over and tried to put her hand over my mouth. “Ask her about Deirdre, about all the Heroines!” I was sick of them both. He wasn’t taking me seriously, and she was trying to shut me up again. I started to climb out of the bed, and my knee caught the tray and knocked it off the counter. The slam of the metal on the floor made Dr. Keller jump as if he’d been shot. I walked toward him. “Madame Bovary! Ophelia!” I truly felt psychotic.
“Another episode!” Keller said.
He wasn’t much taller than I, so I ran and gripped his small shoulders. His eyes grew wide and his clipboard clattered to the floor. Mother rushed to pull me off him, and we both flew backward against the bed curtain. Dr. Keller ran to the door and pushed and yelled out into the hallway, “Mr. Gonzo! Room Sixteen, Mr. Gonzo.”
In seconds, two big men in jeans and T-shirts swept into the room and pinned me to the bed before I could yell, I’m not crazy! They were like a couple of B-52s—high-speed instruments of precision targeting. They bound my wrists and ankles with leather straps, and one of them lifted up my gown and jabbed a needle into my ass.
“I’m terribly sorry,” Mother said. “I don’t know what got into her!”
Keller rubbed his shoulder and shook his head. “Another episode, I’m afraid, Ms. Entwhistle.”
Eleanor marched in and picked the clipboard up from the floor. She pointed to the place on the form where Mother had to sign. I writhed against the restraints and yelled, “I hate you!”
Tears streamed down Mother’s face as she squinted and committed her signature to the
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