“Huh? Ignore it?”
“Yeah. Don’t mention it to anyone. Pretend you never got it. That’s what I’d do.”
Josie tossed the card down on the table. “I suppose you’re right,” she said, sighing. “You’re so sensible, Steve.”
“That’s me,” he replied brightly. “Sensible Steve.”
She leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Now let’s get out of here,” he said, smiling. “And no more talk about that stupid valentine.”
Josie started to reply. But before she could get a word out, pale white hands reached out from behind her, wrapped themselves around her throat, and started to choke her.
Chapter 3
RESENTMENT
Josie gasped and spun away, breaking loose from her attacker. “Rachel!” she cried. “Don’t do that!”
Rachel laughed, her hands still outstretched as if prepared to strangle Josie. Her olive eyes sparkled gleefully.
“Rachel, that wasn’t funny. Stop laughing,” Josie said firmly.
Obediently, Rachel cut off her laugh, as if a switch had been flipped. Still staring at Josie, she lowered her hands, then shoved them deep into the pockets of the loose-fitting brown corduroy jumper she wore over a pale yellow, long-sleeved T-shirt.
“Erica, where are you?” Josie called angrily. “I thought you were watching Rachel.” She rubbed her neck where Rachel had grabbed it.
“Hi, Rachel,” Steve said timidly.
Rachel didn’t respond.
Erica ran down the stairs, a troubled expression on her face. She was followed by Luke Hoskins. “Here you are,” Erica said softly to Rachel. “You got away from us, didn’t you?”
“You were supposed to be watching her,” Josie said crossly, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at Luke.
Luke was tall and lanky. His shoulders were always stooped, as if he were trying to make himself shorter. He had short, light brown hair, neatly parted on the left and brushed to the side. His slender, nervous face was framed by silver-rimmed glasses. A tiny gold ball glistened in his right earlobe.
He and Rachel had been going together for more than two years before her accident. Since that terrible day, Luke had been a constant visitor in the McClain house. He seemed as devoted to Rachel as before, even though she seldom responded to him in any normal way.
“It’s my fault,” he admitted to Josie. “Erica and I were talking about something, and we didn’t see Rachel leave the bedroom.”
“Well, you know she can’t be out of your sight,” Josie scolded shrilly. She rubbed her neck. “She nearly strangled me.”
Rachel laughed, tossing her head, her long, red hair catching the light from the ceiling.
“She was just playing with you, Josie,” Erica replied heatedly. “You could give her a little attention, you know.” Erica’s voice revealed her bitterness.
Rachel picked up the stack of mail from the table and stared at it as if trying to figure out what it was.
“Put that down,” Erica said gently, taking the envelopes from Rachel’s hands. “No mail for you today.” She tenderly placed a hand on Rachel’s shoulder.
“No mail for me?” Rachel repeated, her voice nearly a whisper. She turned to Josie. “Brush my hair,” she said.
“No, Rachel,” Erica replied before Josie could speak. “I just brushed your hair. Upstairs. Remember?”
“Steve and I are going to the mall,” Josie interrupted impatiently. “I’ll be back in time for dinner.”
“But you promised—” Erica wailed angrily.
“If Mom gets home, tell her I’m going to look for that pattern she wanted,” Josie said, ignoring Erica’s protests.
“Hold on, Josie,” Erica insisted, still holding on to Rachel’s shoulder. “You promised you’d watch Rachel this afternoon. I told you I had to study for my social studies exam.”
“Sorry. Some other time,” Josie said coldly.
“You said that the last time!” Erica complained.
“Brush my hair,” Rachel said insistently, seemingly unaware of the argument taking place.
“We just brushed your hair, dear,” Erica said softly. Then her expression returned to one of anger as she glared at Josie. “You’re always running out and leaving me with Rachel. You and I are supposed to take turns. You know we can’t afford help for her during the week.”
“I’ll take my turn. Don’t worry about it,” Josie said with a sneer.
“When?” Erica demanded shrilly.
“Brush my hair,” Rachel said, her hands jammed back in the pockets of her jumper.
“If you want, we could go to the mall tomorrow,” Steve suggested to Josie.
“Shut up,” Josie snapped. “We’re going now.” She pushed past Rachel and Erica to get to the hall closet. “Out of my way. I’m getting my coat.”
“This isn’t fair!” Erica cried. “You stick me with her every day. I have no life, Josie!”
Josie swung back angrily, her eyes aflame, raising a finger to her lips. “Sshhh. Rachel can hear, you know, Erica. Watch what you say. You’ll hurt her feelings.”
Erica uttered a loud shriek of disgust. “Don’t tell me about Rachel’s feelings!” she screamed. “Since when do you care about Rachel’s feelings? You haven’t spent ten minutes with her since . . . since . . .”
“That’s not true,” Josie snapped back, her voice trembling.
“Erica’s right,” Luke said quietly, stepping up beside Erica. “You really haven’t done your share, Josie.”
“You keep out of it,” Josie replied angrily. “You’re not in this family.”
“I know that, but I can see what’s happening here,” Luke said, his expression troubled. “I can see that—”
Muggy interrupted, yapping in his high-pitched squeaky voice, his toenails clicking across the floorboards as he ran up to them.
Josie scooped him up and pressed his black nose against hers. “It’s okay, Muggy,” she said, holding the dog close to her face. “Did all this shouting upset you? It’s okay, doggie.”
The dog licked Josie’s nose.
Josie glared at Erica. “Look how you upset Muggy.”
Erica uttered another cry of disgust. “Josie, you care more about that dumb dog than you do your own sister,” she accused.
“That’s not true! Take that back!” Josie demanded, holding the terrier against her chest.
“Look!” Rachel said, holding up the stack of envelopes, which she had picked up again. “Mail for me?”
Steve appeared in the doorway behind her. He had gone into the den with Rachel when the yelling began. “She seems fascinated by the mail,” he said.
“Mail for me?” Rachel repeated. She held the envelopes high in one hand, showing them to everyone.
“Rachel doesn’t get mail anymore,” Erica whispered sadly. “Maybe she misses it.”
Some of the envelopes fell from Rachel’s hand and fluttered to the floor.
Erica dropped to her knees and began to scoop them up. She stopped when the satiny red heart of the valentine caught her eye. “What’s this?” she asked Josie, holding it up. “You’re getting a valentine five days before the day?”
“Read it,” Josie told her sister. “Maybe you can figure out who sent it to me.”
“Huh?” Erica’s expression was confused. Still on her knees, she opened the card and read the verse aloud:
“Violets are blue
Roses are Red.
On Valentine’s Day
Josie will be dead.”
Erica glanced up at Josie, even more bewildered now.
To everyone’s surprise, Rachel began to laugh uproariously. She laughed so hard she started to cough.
“Rachel, that isn’t funny,” Erica said softly, staring at the card as she climbed to her feet.
Rachel immediately became silent, but her eyes continued to reveal her merriment. After a few seconds she burst out in high-pitched giggles, covering her mouth as a little gi
rl would.
“This is really gross,” Erica told Josie, waving the card in Josie’s direction.
“Tell me about it,” Josie replied, rolling her eyes.
“Who would send such a horrible thing?” Erica demanded.
“Just one of my many admirers, I guess,” Josie said dryly. She pulled her coat from the closet, then grabbed Steve’s jacket and tossed it to him. “Let’s go,” she said, avoiding Erica’s stare.
Erica was still holding the valentine open in her hand. She raised her eyes from the card to her sister. “I really don’t believe this,” she said, shaking her head.
“See you later,” Josie said, pulling her coat over her shoulders. Steve followed her down the hall, and a few seconds later the front door closed behind them.
Erica heard Muggy whining and whimpering by the door. He always did that whenever Josie went away. A few seconds later he gave up. She heard his tiny paws click away in the direction of the living room.
“Brush my hair,” Rachel insisted, a strange, unreadable smile on her face. An eerie, ghostlike smile. “Brush my hair.”
She looks so pretty in the dim hall light, Erica thought, staring at her older sister. With that beautiful hair and those big, olive eyes and that pale, pale skin. She looks like an angel. She really does.
With her innocent, childlike eyes. And that sad, haunting smile . . .
Erica uttered a loud sob, quickly muffling it with her hand.
No, she thought. I promised myself. I promised myself no more tears. No more crying. No more.
“Brush my hair?” Rachel asked as if she had never made the request before.
“Okay,” Erica told her. “Let’s just put down this mail and then we’ll go back up to your room.”
“I don’t believe Josie,” Luke muttered angrily.
His voice startled Erica. She had nearly forgotten he was still there.
He stepped toward her from the shadows of the dim hallway, and she was startled by the bitter expression that twisted his normally placid features.
“I don’t believe her,” he repeated, his eyes wide with anger behind his silver-rimmed glasses. “She should help out.”
“I know,” Erica said, dropping the mail onto a table in the den, then taking Rachel by the hand.
“She should do her share,” Luke continued. “She was responsible, after all, for Rachel’s accident.”
Erica stopped short. She was shocked by Luke’s words. She had never heard him talk like this. So angry. So frighteningly angry.
Just then a burst of laughter escaped from Rachel. She pointed at Luke. “You look funny,” she told him.
Luke forced a weak smile, but Erica could see that he was still seething.
“Funny,” Rachel said, laughing.
Luke forced himself to laugh too, but when he started to laugh, Rachel stopped.
Taking Rachel by the hand, Erica began to lead her to the stairway. Luke followed close behind. In a glance, Erica saw that his bitter expression had returned.
“Why do you say it was Josie’s fault?” Erica asked.
“You know,” he snapped. “The saddle. Josie fastened Rachel’s saddle. She could’ve killed Rachel. She nearly did. And now Josie doesn’t care at all.”
They climbed the stairs in silence, Erica too shocked by Luke’s words to respond to them.
I had no idea he resented Josie so much, she thought, as she led Rachel to her bedroom. No idea.
No idea that he carries around so much anger.
Of course, he did lose his girlfriend because of the accident. He did lose Rachel.
And he blames Josie for it.
So why does he still come around all the time? Why hasn’t he found a new girlfriend? Why does he spend so much time visiting Rachel? Erica wondered.
Sometimes Rachel seems glad to see him, Erica observed. But most of the time she doesn’t even remember who he is.
Erica led the way into Rachel’s dark bedroom and clicked on the bedside lamp. Rachel took her usual place, sitting on the edge of her double bed, her pale hands pressed against the dark green bedspread. She closed her eyes and waited patiently for Erica to begin brushing out her long, straight hair.
Luke sat down at the chair by Rachel’s desk, folding his slender arms over his chest.
Why does he come? Erica asked herself, picking up the hairbrush. If he’s so bitter and angry, why does he come?
Then, glancing across the room at Luke, Erica had a chilling thought. He’s here for revenge against Josie. Luke is the one who sent the valentine.
Chapter 4
SURPRISE IN THE SNOW
“Is it ever going to stop snowing?” Josie asked herself.
It was Wednesday afternoon. The snow had come down all day, a blizzard of large white flakes adding to the white piles already on the ground.
Josie hitched her backpack up on the shoulder of her blue down jacket and stepped out of the school building. The sky was charcoal gray even though it was only three o’clock. Heavy gray clouds hovered menacingly low.
The front walk hadn’t been shoveled, and Josie’s boots sank deep into the fresh snow as she made her way toward Park Drive. Swirling wind sent powdery snow flying around her as she walked.
She swung her maroon wool scarf around her neck and pulled it up over her chin. The big trees near the street shook in the breeze, sending down a silent shower of fresh snow.
“Hey, Josie! Wait!”
Recognizing her sister’s voice, Josie turned back toward the school.
She watched Erica trying to run, stumbling over the slippery walk, her coat unfastened and flapping out behind her.
She looks like a big clumsy bird trying to take off, Josie thought cruelly. Erica isn’t as pretty as Rachel and me, Josie realized, with a bit of sympathy. Her face is too round. Her hair is that mousy light brown. She could lose some weight too.
“Josie, where are you going?” Erica cried breathlessly as she caught up to her sister. Breathing hard, she wrapped her coat more tightly around her without zipping it.
“Erica, what’s your problem?” Josie asked. “Why are you screaming like a lunatic? I’m going to meet Steve.”
“You can’t!” Erica cried. She tried to stamp the snow off her boots, but it was useless.
“Sure, I can,” Josie said softly, glancing at the street where several Shadyside High kids were blocking traffic with a spontaneous snowball fight. “I’m meeting him at The Corner.” She motioned with her head toward her favorite hangout, a few blocks away.
“But you can’t!” Erica insisted shrilly. She started to say more, but someone behind Josie caught her attention. “Look. There’s Jenkman,” Erica said, lowering her voice. “Over by the side of the school. Trying to get your attention.”
“Who cares?” Josie snapped.
“He’s coming this way,” Erica reported. “He’s waving at us.”
“Thrills and chills,” Josie said sarcastically.
“Hi, Josie!” Jenkman called from a few yards behind her on the walk.
Josie pretended not to hear.
Jenkman came closer. “Josie, how’s it going?”
She continued to ignore him.
Erica saw the hurt on Jenkman’s face.
“Josie, I just want to talk!” Jenkman said, stepping up beside her.
Josie turned her back on him.
Erica saw Jenkman’s face turn bright red. He uttered a loud curse and hurried past them to the street.
“Wow,” Erica said, following him with her eyes. “Wow. Was he mad!”
“He’s a creep. What do you want?” Josie demanded impatiently. “I’m late.”
“You have to take care of Rachel this afternoon,” Erica said, grabbing the sleeve of Josie’s coat. “I told you this morning I have Brigadoon tryouts. You know. For the drama club.”
“You’ll have to try out some other time,” Josie said brusquely. She started to pull away from Erica, but Erica held on.
“No way,”
Erica said angrily.
A gust of wind made the powdery snow swirl all around them. Josie closed her eyes and tried to slip her face down into her wool scarf.
Go away, she thought. Please. Just go away, Erica.
“You’re supposed to help take care of Rachel when she gets home from her school,” Erica scolded. “You know that, Josie. It’s not supposed to be my full-time job.”
“I know. Give me a break,” Josie said, starting to walk toward the street. “I’ll take care of her tomorrow. Promise.”
“No. Today!” Erica insisted, following her. “I don’t want to miss the tryouts. It’s just not fair. This is my first year in high school. It’s supposed to be such a big, exciting year for me. And instead—”
“Tomorrow,” Josie told her, picking up her pace. “I can’t leave Steve waiting there.”
“Yes, you can,” Erica told her. “You can call and leave a message for him.”
“I don’t want to,” Josie said nastily. She began to jog across the snow.
Erica caught up to her. “I don’t believe you, Josie,” she cried breathlessly. “I can’t believe you don’t take more responsibility for Rachel. After all, it was your fault—”
Erica stopped herself.
Uttering a silent gasp, she raised her hands to her face, as if trying to hide behind them.
She realized she had gone too far.
She had no right to say that.
She could feel her face grow hot. She knew she was blushing.
She should never have said that. It had just slipped out. Slowly she lowered her hands. Josie was glaring at her.
“I’m—I’m sorry,” Erica stammered. “I—I didn’t mean . . .”
She waited for Josie to say something.
A loud thud startled her.
To Erica’s horror, Josie let out a painful squeal. She watched Josie’s eyes go wide, her mouth drop open. Then she crumbled to the snow.
Chapter 5
ANGER
Erica stood frozen for a long moment. The world went white, as white as the snow that surrounded her. When the colors returned, she bent to help Josie.