Heavenstone 01 - The Heavenstone Secrets

her cheek, and turned away, comforted to know I would soon be back up there and taking care of her. Maybe we would have a good talk without Cassie around to interrupt.
    “Enjoy the day,” Mother called to us. I started to turn back, but Cassie nudged me to keep walking, and I did.
    “I’ll get the sandwich made quickly. You wait in the living room,” she ordered.
    “She’s not eating, Cassie. She looks worse to me.”
    “We’ll call the doctor. Just concentrate on what we have to do today,” she insisted.
    I went to the living room and sat on the sofa to wait. About twenty minutes later, she came in. I thought she suddenly looked very agitated. She began to pace, as she often did when she was giving me some lecture or instruction.
    “What’s wrong?” I asked her.
    She shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong. Now,you listen carefully. You’ll only make things worse for Mother and yourself if you don’t do exactly what I’m telling you to do.”
    She looked at her watch.
    “It’s a little after nine. Don’t dare go up there until two. By then, it will be too late for her to make a stink about your not going to the gala. If you go up earlier, she’ll be very upset and try to get Daddy on the phone or something, and that will cause great problems for him right in the middle of everything. Do you understand me?”
    “Yes, Cassie, but what if she calls out or something?”
    “She won’t. She thinks no one’s here. Don’t imagine anything, either, Semantha. You’re making me very nervous. Are you going to do this right or not? If I have to take you with me, Daddy will be very upset thinking no one’s here with her.”
    “I’m doing it,” I said. “I’ll do what you say.”
    “All right. You can call me on my cell phone, but be sure you call from down here, so she can’t hear you if you call before two, okay?”
    “Yes.”
    “And make sure you’re as quiet as a ghost. If she hears you moving about or talking to someone or watching television, she’ll get frightened. Here’s the program Daddy and I designed for the gala,” she said, handing me a copy. “We should keep to the schedule, so you can imagine what’s happening by looking at the clock. Just sit and read it quietly. Understand?”
    “I understand, Cassie.”

    “Good. Good. We’re going to be all right. Everything is going to be all right, even better,” she added.
    “Better? How could it be better if Mother doesn’t improve?” I asked, but she didn’t reply. Her mind had already taken her to the gala.
    “Wish us luck,” she said instead, and left. When the front door closed, the house seemed to grow ominously quiet. I looked up at the family portraits and imagined an expression of concern on all of their faces. No one smiled in any of those portraits, anyway. Back then, they didn’t believe smiling was dignified or something. At least, that was what Cassie had told me, but right now, I desperately needed a smile.
    Instead, I had only these somber faces. I sat there sinking deeper and deeper into my own troubled thoughts and staring at the grandfather clock. Mother always said, “A watched pot never boils.” Well, that seemed true for time, too. Hours seemed more like days. I dozed off once or twice and rose on tiptoe to the windows to look out. Fortunately for us, we were having a beautiful Kentucky day. There were only a few scattered clouds, and the breeze looked as gentle as could be.
    I looked at the program Cassie had given me and tried to pretend I was there at the gala. I heard the music when it was scheduled to begin. I imagined the crowds, checked off the list of speakers as the hour passed, and envisioned Daddy standing there looking like a president. I could easily see Cassie at his side, making sure every little thing was done correctly. And then I thought about Uncle Perry and imagined his disappointment in my not being there. Maybewhen he complained, Cassie said something nasty to him.
    I got a little hungry just after one and went to the kitchen to eat some cheese and crackers. I hoped Mother had already eaten the sandwich Cassie had brought her. When I went up in about an hour, I would make sure she ate it if she hadn’t. I would insist and ask her to do it for me.
    The last hour seemed to take the longest. I thought about calling Cassie and even Daddy but decided not to interrupt anything, and besides, they probably wouldn’t hear their cell phones ringing. When the grandfather clock bonged two,