"You don't mean she puts things in here, do you?" "What do you think?"
"That's crazy. That's... we could be killed or something."
"Hello. Welcome to your nightmare," Gia said. smiling.
She seemed to take such pleasure in telling me all these horrible things.
"Yeah, well, if it can happen to me, it can happen to you," I threw back at her.
She shrugged. "It's already happened to me."
"What? What's that supposed to mean? What are you saying. Gia?"
She ignored me. Robin gat into bed without speaking and Teal continued to stare up at the ceiling.
"Well, it hasn't happened to me!" I screamed.
The door opened. M'Lady Three was standing there. "What's going on in here?"
My heart was pounding. I half expected either Mindy or Gia would point a finger at me to earn more of those precious positive merit points, but this time no one spoke.
"You had better get some rest, my little princesses." M'Lady Three said. "You'll need it. Tomorrow, we're whitewashing the cow barn and it will take all day."
She closed the door and the lights went out. All I could think of now was something creepy crawling over me. I felt as if I were back in my Atlanta apartment, waiting to feel a rat scurry over my feet.
"They can't do this to us," I muttered. I was thinking aloud. "If we die, they'll be responsible. They'll get into trouble."
"No, they won't. They'll just make up a good story," I heard Mindy mumble. "I'm sure she's done it before. I'm sure she's made up a whopper about Posy."
"Who? What did you say?"
"Shut up and go to sleep." Gia commanded sharply. "Keep your mouth shut, Mindy."
"What did she say? Who's Posy? Gia?"
"If you don't shut up, we'll all get into trouble and it's going to be hard enough tomorrow. You heard her. Believe me, we know what it's like when they pile it on," Gia said.
"I won't let her cut my hair like that," I vowed.
"Of course not," Mindy said, laughter in her voice. "Teal didn't let her either. You heard her. Her hair ran off."
"Maybe that's what happens when you get bitten by a scorpion. Your hair falls off." Robin offered, and the two of them laughed.
"I'll give you a maybe." Mindy said, propping herself up on her elbows. "Maybe Teal wasn't stung by accident.'
"What?"
"Maybe someone followed Teal and when she lay down to rest..."
"I'm warning you. Mindy," Gia said.
"Okay, okay. Good night, ladies." Mindy sang.
That couldn't be true. I thought, could it? Dr. Foreman had her stung by a scorpion to teach her a lesson?
I lay there with my eyes open. listening. Was it possible to hear something crawling aver the strawcovered floor? After a few moments, I could hear Teal's breathing get low and regular. Robin
whimpered and then went silent. Maybe it was my imagination. but I thought I heard someone crying just as I had when I was with Dr Foreman in the house.