“What’re you on about?” Thom growled behind Charles as
they followed Cora through the main floor of the house and
out the back door to a veranda completely boxed in by an ivy-
covered trellis.
Charles whispered over his shoulder, “Oh, I’m sorry, did you
want to spend the whole summer watching me struggle for breath?
Because I think Cora is much prettier to look at than I am.”
Charles sat on a cushioned bench, pleased with himself. Things
were shaping up nicely.
A girl’s voice above them let out a muffled curse, followed by
a thump overhead that made them all jump. Charles looked up
but couldn’t see anything through the leafy green filter of the ivy.
“Minnie Johnson, you get down here right this instant,” Cora
hissed, hands on her hips.
The trellis roof above them shook, and then a face hung upside
down from atop the arched exit to the garden. “Boys!” Minnie
gasped, her upside-down smile brighter than the veranda lamps
casting golden highlights on her dark curls. Her head disappeared.
The trellis shook again, like the girl was crawling across the top of
it. Then there was a falling sound and a scream. Thom stood and
rushed toward the veranda’s exit, but the scream was cut short by
a laugh.
Arthur melted free of the shadows, Minnie caught in his arms.
Charles had forgotten about him, hadn’t even noticed him follow
them out. Or had he gone a different way? Arthur set Minnie
down on the ground, then leaned against the arch just out of reach
of the lamplight.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” Minnie asked, and Charles
was delighted to note that Thom was no longer playing Beethoven.
Even his fingers had been stunned into silence when presented