Cutler 01 - Dawn

have to show myself around the hotel every once in a while so no one would come looking for me.
    For the first night since I had arrived at Cutler's Cove, I went to sleep easily and looked forward eagerly to the once familiar sunrise.
     
    The next morning Grandmother Cutler made an appearance in the kitchen while the staff was having its breakfast. She greeted everyone as she crossed the room to come toward the table I was at. After she reached us, she paused to be sure I was wearing her precious nameplate. When she saw it pinned on my uniform, she pulled herself up and her eyes twinkled with satisfaction.
    I didn't dare look defiant or upset. If she confined me to my room again, I wouldn't be able to see Jimmy, or if I snuck out against her wishes, I might cause him to be discovered. I went on with Sissy, and we did our assignments. I worked so hard and fast that even Sissy remarked about it. As I came out of my last room, I found Grandmother Cutler waiting. Oh, no, thought, she is going to give me another assignment, and I won't be able to go to Jimmy. I held my breath.
    "Apparently, Mrs. Clairmont's necklace has miraculously turned up," she said, her metallic eyes glued to me.
    "I never took it," I said firmly.
    "I hope nothing is ever taken from here again," she retorted and continued down the corridor, her shoes clicking.
    I didn't return to my room to change out of my uniform. Taking great care, I made my way out the back of the hotel and scurried around to Philip's hideaway.
    It was such a bright warm summer's day, I wished I could take Jimmy out of the dark basement room and walk with him through the gardens with their rainbow colors of flowers and sparkling fountains. He had looked so pale and tired to me the night before. He needed to be in the warm sunlight. Bright sunshine on my face always cheered me, no matter how hard and troubled the day was.
    Just as I reached the cement stairway, I saw some guests standing and talking nearby, so I waited for them to wander off before descending. When I opened the door and slipped in, I found Jimmy well rested and eagerly waiting for me. He was sitting on the bunk bed and beamed a wide, happy smile.
    "Philip was already here with some breakfast, and he gave me twenty dollars for my trip to Georgia," he told me and then sat back and laughed.
    "What?"
    "You look funny in that uniform and bandanna. Your nameplate looks like a medal your grandmother pinned on you."
    "I'm glad you like it," I said. "I hate it," I added and shook my hair loose as soon as I pulled of the bandanna. "Did you sleep all right?"
    "I don't even remember your leaving, and when I woke up this morning, I forgot where I was for a moment. Then I fell asleep again. Why did you sneak away?"
    "You fell asleep pretty quickly, so I decided to let you get your rest."
    "I didn't wake up again this morning until Philip arrived. That's how tired I was. I'd been traveling all day and all night for two days. I slept on the side of the road for a couple of hours night before last," he admitted.
    "Oh, Jimmy, you could have been hurt."
    "I didn't care," he said. "I was determined to get here. So what does a chambermaid do? Tell me about this hotel. I didn't see much of it last night. Is it a nice place?"
    I described my work to him and the layout of the hotel. I went on to tell him about some of the staff, especially Mrs. Boston and Sissy, but he was mostly interested in my mother and father.
    "What's exactly wrong with her?"
    "I don't know for sure, Jimmy. She doesn't look sick. Most of the time she looks beautiful, even when she's in bed with her headaches. My father treats her like a fragile little doll."
    "And so your grandmother really runs the hotel?"
    "Yes. Everyone is afraid of her, but they're afraid to say anything bad about her even to each other. Mrs. Boston says she's tough but fair. I don't think she's been very fair to me," I said sadly. I told him about the memorial stone. He listened wide-eyed as I described what I knew of my symbolic funeral.
    "But how do you know the stone's still there?" he asked.
    "It was as of the time I arrived. No one's told me otherwise."
    "They wouldn't. They'd just remove it, I'm sure." He sat back on the bed with his shoulders against the wall and looked thoughtful.
    "It took a lot of nerve for Daddy to steal a baby right out from under the nurse's eyes," he said.
    "That's what I thought," I said, happy he found trouble believing it, too.
    "Of course, he might have been