Cutler 04 - Midnight Whispers

but I'd like to stay here as long as we can. It won't be so bad. We'll help them fix the place up. It will be fun. We can pretend it's our plantation, too."
    "You mean like the lord and lady of the manor?" he asked.
    "Yes," I said. He laughed.
    "Jefferson seems happy. All right," he said. "We'll give it a go. I'd better say good night," he whispered.
    "Good night, Gavin. I'm so happy you came to help us and you're with us."
    "I couldn't help but come," he said and then he leaned forward and kissed my cheek. "Good night, Christie," he said again, but he didn't move away. I turned my head toward him so he could return with his lips and put them softly on mine. He brushed my hair with his palm and then stood up.
    As he turned to go to his and Jefferson's room, I caught the movement of a shadow in the window to my left and spun around.
    "Gavin!" I cried and he turned back.
    "What?"
    "Someone was looking in the window just now," I said, sitting up quickly.
    "What?" He moved to the window and looked out. "I don't see anyone." He opened the window more and stuck his head out.
    "Gavin?"
    "Shh," he said and listened. Then he brought his head back in.
    "What?"
    "I thought I heard footsteps on the roof, but I guess it was just the wind. I'm sure it was nothing," he said. "Just a shadow."
    "There's no moon tonight to make shadows, Gavin."
    "Then it must have been your imagination . all those stories about Emily on a broom. Are you frightened? Will you be all right?"
    I looked at the window. I was sure I had seen something, but I didn't want to ruin our first night here.
    "Yes, I'll be okay."
    "Good night again." He started away.
    "Gavin."
    "Yes?"
    "Leave the door open just a little," I said. "Sure."
    After he left I lay there with my eyes open, turning every once in a while to look at the window. I didn't see any more shadows or heads and my eyelids grew so heavy, I had to close them and fall asleep.
    But sometime during the night, I woke up feeling certain someone had been watching me, that someone had even been in the room!

 
    12

THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS
     
    EVEN THOUGH WE WERE ALL SO EXHAUSTED BY THE TIME we went to sleep, we woke up when we heard Aunt Charlotte in the hallway singing, "Get up, get up, you sleepy heads, come on get up, get out of your beds!" Her laughter followed, and moments later when I opened my eyes, I saw Jefferson peering at me through the partially opened adjoining door. The hem of Luther's nightshirt trailed behind and around him as he scampered into my room and hopped onto my bed.
    "Wake up, Christie. Wake up," he said, shaking my arm. "Gavin's moaning and groaning. He won't get up," Jefferson complained. I moaned myself. Then I rubbed my eyes and propped myself up on my elbows. Sunlight came streaming through the windows, illuminating the particles of dust that danced in its rays, making them look like tiny floating jewels.
    "We had a long day yesterday, Jefferson," I explained in defense. "We're still tired."
    "I'm not tired," he declared. "I wanna have breakfast and paint pictures with Aunt Charlotte. She's calling us. Come on," he said, shaking my arm again.
    "Okay, okay." I took a deep breath and gazed at the window, recalling my sense of another presence. "Go get washed up and I'll help you put on your clothes," I said. He lifted Luther's nightshirt up over his ankles so he could hurry out to the bathroom, his bare feet dancing over the hardwood floors. Just after I put on my skirt and blouse, I heard a gentle knock and turned to see Gavin, who had risen and gotten dressed.
    "You know it's only six-thirty in the morning," he complained, his eyelids drooping. He yawned. "Are you all right? Any more nightmares?"
    "They weren't nightmares, Gavin. Someone was looking through that window last night," I said. He smiled. "Someone was here. I think he even came back after we went to sleep!"
    "Okay, okay." He rubbed his stomach. "You know, I'm hungry. I wonder what they eat for breakfast."
    Jefferson came rushing back in. He was brightly awake and had even tried to brush back his hair neatly. I helped him dress while Gavin washed up and then I washed my face and did what I could with my hair, absent a brush or comb. The scent of bacon drew us all down the corridor and stairway quickly. When we entered the kitchen, we found Luther finishing up a platter of bacon and eggs. Charlotte was wearing another of her personally designed potato sacks, this one covered with different colors and different sized