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I walked upstairs with the feeling of someone watching me. Once the door was closed, I kicked off my slippers and slipped under the covers. Fern looked at me crazily but did the same.
I grabbed my notepad from my nightstand and began to draw the name MOM with my finger. I didn't want to leave any evidence.
Fern watched me with large eyes. “She told you?” she mouthed.
I nodded.
Fern curled the blanket to her chin and watched with fearful eyes. “Are you afraid of her?” she mouthed.
I’d never been afraid of Mother. She was my mother. I loved and respected her. Part of me wanted to ask her straightforward, but if Jenny was telling the truth, I knew that Mother wouldn’t admit to anything.
If she had stolen Deidamia’s spindle, that meant she knew what it was used for. It meant she knew more about other realms, and it made me wonder if she was even my mother.
***
“Get up.”
My eyes opened heavily to Mother standing over my side of the bed. She was dressed as if it was the middle of the day with her hair twisted on top of her head and her purse over her shoulder.
“What time is it?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.
She walked toward my window and pulled the curtains open. “It’s almost noon, Josephine. If you didn’t run after trespassers in the middle of the night you may not sleep so long.”
She was pissed. I glanced over to Fern’s empty side of the bed and stilled. Where was she? She would have woken me, wouldn’t she?
“She’s down having breakfast. You should go too. Your Father and I are going to our weekly lunch. We won’t be gone long.”
I swung my feet to the ground, suddenly feeling energized to go find this spindle, but Mother hadn’t moved from her spot.
“Is something wrong?” I asked, standing to face her.
The dark circles under her eyes looked heavy. Hadn’t she slept the night before? Had she made sure we slept through the night? Was she afraid we would find something? Was she watching us?
Mother slid her tongue over her teeth. “Jenny said something to you, and I want to know what it is.”
Her eyes felt like snakes on my skin. “I told you she didn’t. She kept saying to let her go. You’re calling me a liar?”
Mother shifted her weight. Her dressy slacks and penny loafers were ironed and shined. She looked ready for a day out as the mayor’s wife. She didn’t answer me as she walked toward the door and over her shoulder said, “We won’t be long.”
I waited as she descended the stairs before slipping into clothing. We didn’t have long to figure out where she’d hidden the spindle.
Fern sat at the kitchen island, eating a plate of pancakes with the happiest smile on her face. “This is amazing,” she said. “Have you ever had them?”
“Pancakes?” I asked while looking over my shoulder. “Of course. Hurry up. We don’t have long.”
Fern began to shovel in her food as the car doors shut outside. Slipping toward the front window, I watched as my parents sped out of the driveway.
I hurried over toward Fern at the island, eating and grabbed a piece of my pancake from my plate. My parents’ door was shut, which wasn’t unusual, but it was locked.
Mother locked it.
I bit my lower lip. “She locked it,” I said to Fern.
“How are we gonna get in?” she asked with a mouthful of food.
Our junk drawer was full of miscellaneous things like screwdrivers and old credit cards. I grabbed one wedged against the side of the drawer and bent down in front of my parents’ door.
Fern moved around behind me and handed me a pancake over my shoulder. I shoved it into my mouth as she bent down beside me. “You don’t think the lady—Jenny—is crazy?”
