Heavenstone 01 - The Heavenstone Secrets

she mimicked. “I swear, you’re going backward in age. If he knew you were standing there like that, waiting all night, how do you think he would feel? Will you just get yourself to bed? I promise, if he comes home or calls soon, I’ll come tell you.”
    “It’s not that late, Cassie.”
    “Are we going to stand here and argue about something so stupid? I have enough on my mind. Go to bed, Semantha. Or do you want me to come in here and read you a story?”
    “Stop it.”
    “Because I will, you know.”
    “Stop it, Cassie.”
    “Then go to bed,” she said. She backed out and closed my door.
    She did succeed in making me feel immature, so I prepared for bed. Before I got into bed, I looked out the window again. Daddy had been gone for a little more than four hours now. Something wasn’t right. Or maybe he just hated to leave Mother there by herself and was staying as long as he could. I told myself I would just doze and keep one ear alert for the sounds of his arrival.
    But sleep overtook me, crawling in, over, and around me. It had a good grip on me, too. The emotional roller coaster I had ridden all day was far more exhausting than I had imagined. My fatigue sank me deeper and deeper into the darkness, into a place where even dreams didn’t dwell.

    When I heard the scream and the sound of crying, I thought some nightmare had worked its way through a tunnel to reach the place in which I slumbered. A second scream woke me, however. It stunned me, too, and for a long moment, I didn’t move. I listened. I heard the sobbing clearly now and reached over to turn on the lamp on my beside table. I sat up and listened again. The sobbing was softer, and there were some muffled voices. I threw off my blanket, slipped into my robe and slippers, and went to the door.
    The hallway lights were bright.
    At the top of the stairway, Cassie sat with her hands over her face.
    I shouted her name.
    She turned and looked at me, her face streaked with tears.
    My heart stopped and started.
    “What?” I asked, and even before she replied, I began to cry myself.
    “Daddy lost his Asa,” she said.

A Loss
    “W HERE IS D ADDY ?”
    She didn’t reply.
    I hurried to her.
    When I reached the top of the stairway, I looked down and saw Daddy sitting on the small, decorative bench in the entryway. He had his hands clasped in his lap and was staring ahead. I thought he looked stunned.
    “What happened? Is Mother all right?”
    Cassie shook her head. Then she rose like a woman four times her age and started down the stairs. I followed slowly. My heart was racing so fast and hard I thought I would lose my breath and tumble down after her. When she reached Daddy, Cassie fell to her knees and embraced his legs, laying her head on his lap. He seemed to snap out of his melancholy and stroked her hair. Then he began to speak in a slow mumble.
    “They blame the anemia … weakened her … a miscarriage … she needed a transfusion … hemorrhaging … we nearly lost her, too. It all happened so quickly … I wasn’t there five minutes … rushing her out to the operating room. Dr. Moffet did allhe could. I stayed with her … held her hand, but she didn’t speak, barely opened her eyes … emotional … traumatic … state of shock.”
    He lowered his head.
    “Will she be all right?” I cried.
    He didn’t reply. Cassie lifted her head and glared angrily at me, her eyes so full of heat and fury that I stepped back. Then she rose and sat beside him, putting her arm around him, pressing her cheek to his shoulder.
    “I know you’re both terribly disappointed,” Daddy said.
    “Only for you, Daddy,” Cassie quickly told him. “We’re worried about you more.”
    “And Mother,” I said.
    Finally, he looked at me and smiled. Then he lifted his arms, and I rushed into his embrace. He held me tightly. I had my eyes closed, but when I opened them, I saw Cassie had turned away. Daddy kissed the tears streaming down my cheek, and I stood up, wiping the rest of them away.
    “She’ll be fine after she rests,” he said. “But she’ll be … very fragile.”
    I looked at Cassie. Fragile? That was what she always called me.
    “We’ll take care of her,” Cassie told him. “Don’t you worry, Daddy. You have so much to worry about. Don’t you get yourself sick over this.”
    He smiled at her and sighed deeply, so deeply I thought his heart had slipped down into his stomach and he would keel over. Then he pressed down on his knees and