Cutler - Midnight Whipsers Part 30

"I guess so. For a while anyway," he added.

"I know what," Charlotte said and clapped her hands again, "as soon as you're finished eating, you can try the piano."

"They're tired, Charlotte. They should go to sleep," Luther said.

"Oh just a little," she whined like a child. "You can play just a little, can't you, dear?"

"Yes," I said and when we finished our tea and jelly rolls, which were quite good, Charlotte led the way to the living room, holding Jefferson's hand. I was happy to see how quickly he had taken to her and how he wasn't shy or frightened anymore.

The living room was the most shocking room of all. Charlotte had repainted the walls, making one wall yellow, one blue, one green and one bright pink.

Instead of paintings and portraits, she had hung up old clothes with shoes and boots dangling from the bottoms of pants and skirts. In one corner she had a display of costume jewelry. She had painted the legs of chairs and tables, each of them having four different-colored legs to match the walls. Here and there paint was splattered on the hardwood floor and even some paint had dripped over the window panes.

Gavin and I just stood there, our mouths open, gaping.

"Charlotte wanted to make this room her Happy Room," Luther explained.

"Emily never used to let us come in here much," Charlotte said. "She didn't want us messing things up," she added and then followed it with a short laugh that sounded like a hiccup. Jefferson spun around and around, his face broken into a wide, excited smile.

"Can I do this to my room?" he asked.

"You surely can," Charlotte said. "Tomorrow we'll pick out your room and then you'll pick our paints."

"I don't know if he should do that, Aunt Charlotte," I said.

"Of course he should, dear. He's a little boy and little boys need to do little boy things. Right, Luther?"

"It's all right with me," he said. "If Emily was here, she'd die all over again." How much he had hated her, I thought.

"Now let's all sit and listen to Christie play the piano," Charlotte said. She took Jefferson's hand and led him to the sofa.

Gavin smiled at me.

"Earn your supper," he whispered and sat down beside Jefferson and Charlotte. Luther stood in the doorway.

I went to the grand piano. Charlotte had spared it, leaving the wood the color it was and not touching the piano stool either. It was dusty, but when I tapped on the keys, I was surprised at how in tune it still was.

"Can you play 'Happy Birthday'?" Charlotte asked. "No one's played 'Happy Birthday' for me for a long time."

"Yes," I said and did so. To my surprise, Luther began to sing along and when I reached the place for a name, he bellowed "Dear Charlotte, happy birthday to you." She laughed and clapped her hands and I caught the way Luther gave her a loving glance.

I played some of Brahms' Lullaby and as I played, Jefferson's eyes began to close. Charlotte had her arm around him and he had laid his head against her soft shoulder. By the time I finished, he was fast asleep. I nodded at him and Charlotte widened her eyes and said, "Shh."

Gavin scooped Jefferson up in his arms and carried him from the room to the stairway. Charlotte followed us upstairs.

"I'll get one of Luther's clean nights.h.i.+rts for him," she said and hurried out. I took off Jefferson's shoes and socks and Gavin helped undress him. He was so tired that his eyelids barely fluttered as we moved him around to get his clothing off. Charlotte returned with a flannel nights.h.i.+rt. It was way too big for Jefferson, but I thought it would keep him warm and comfortable anyway. We slipped it over his head and then tucked him into bed.

"I can give you one of my nightgowns,"

Charlotte told me. I told her I would be all right sleeping in my underwear.

"Well then, I'm going to sleep myself. We have a big day tomorrow. So much to do and so little time to do it, as Emily used to say. She was right about that. Sometimes, Emily was right, even though Luther hates to hear me say that," she whispered. "Good night, dears. Sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs bite," she added and laughed. We watched her scurry off.

I went into the bathroom first and then crawled into my bed and turned off the kerosene lamp. The room was pitch dark, but the overcast sky had broken and the light of stars poured a gentle, soft glow through the window. I listened for Gavin and heard him return to his and Jefferson's room. Moments later there was a gentle knock on the adjoining door.

"Yes?"

"You all right?"

"Uh huh."

"Can I come in and say good night?"

"Of course you can, Gavin," I said. He opened the door farther. The lamp was still on in his and Jefferson's room, so I could see him clearly. He was wearing only his underwear. He moved to the side of my bed quickly and knelt down so he was right beside my face.

"It's funny here, isn't it? I mean, Charlotte's sweet and all, but it's like we're in another world."

"Yes, but I'm glad. I hate the world we were in before," I said. Gavin nodded, understanding.

"We can't stay here forever, you know."

"I know, 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!

Through the Looking-Gla.s.s .

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 nights.h.i.+rt 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 nights.h.i.+rt 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 rus.h.i.+ng 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 finis.h.i.+ng 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 b.u.t.tons. She had sewn a large pink bow on each shoulder.

"Good morning, everyone. Did everyone have a nice sleep?" she asked. "Mr. Sandman was here last night. I heard him walking through the house, didn't you?"

"Oh, so that's who that was," Gavin said, smiling, his eyes twinkling impishly. He waited to see if I was going to tell them about the face in the window.

"I didn't hear Mr. Sandman," Jefferson said.

"That's because you were already asleep so he didn't have to put sand in your eyes," Charlotte explained. "Now sit down, everyone. We've got to have a good breakfast first and then we can do our ch.o.r.es, right Luther?" Luther grunted and gulped down his coffee as he rose from his seat.

"I'll be out back," he said and then looked at Gavin and added, "in the barn."

"I'll be there right after breakfast," Gavin promised. Luther nodded and left.

"Does everyone want eggs and bacon?" Charlotte asked. "I make them sunny-side-up because they look like little smiling faces that way."

"It smells wonderful, Aunt Charlotte," I said.

"Can I help?"

"Everything's done. Just sit down and I'll serve you just the way I used to serve my daddy and Emily years-and years ago," she said. She served the food and then sat down and talked as we all ate, describing what life used to be like when she was a young girl.

"After Daddy died and Emily became Miss Bossy Mouth, everything changed," she concluded sadly. "We didn't have breakfasts like this anymore.

Emily made us sell most of our eggs to the grocery in Upland Station."

"What about Grandmother Cutler?" I inquired.

"Grandmother Cutler?"

"Your other sister, Lillian?"

"Oh," she said, taking on a strange, pensive look. "She was off and married when I was just a little girl," she said quickly, "and I hardly saw her, but Emily always complained about her." She leaned toward us. "Emily always complained about everyone," she whispered as if Emily were in the other room, listening. Then she clapped her hands together and smiled.

"First, show Jefferson the paints and the brushes and let him play and then later we'll go up to the attic and you can find clothes and shoes to wear, okay? Won't that be nice?"

"Yes, Aunt Charlotte," I said. I looked around the kitchen. There were dishes caked with food from previous meals on the counter and the floor looked as though it hadn't been washed in weeks, if not months.

The windows were spotted with dust and grime on both the insides and out. "I'll do what I can to help you clean up the house, too."

"Goody, goody, goody," she said and laughed.

"We'll have wonderful times, just like we used to when everyone was little and we had a golden retriever dog named Kasey Lady who poked her nose in my face every morning to wake me."

Gavin looked at me and smiled. Aunt Charlotte was just a little girl at heart, but I didn't mind. I felt safe here, as safe and secure as I would be in a magic bubble. It was as if I finally had been able to escape the curse on the Cutlers.