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your
grandmother's recovery back a decade if I described
all this to her." He tightened his face and straightened
his shoulders. "I'll handle it myself.
"Damn," I heard him mutter as he turned and
walked out.
I stood alone, feeling as if I had been deposited in someone else's nightmare. Felix wanted me to see what else I needed? I needed my family back. I needed to go home. For a moment I debated whether or not I should just run out after him and cry for him to take me home, but what would that do to
Grandmother Emma? And to Daddy? I'd be the cause of so much more trouble. And then, of course. Ian
would be disappointed in me.
"Open your suitcases, unpack and settle down,"
I could hear him whisper.
I put the bag of his letters on the small desk.
then I went to the dresser, but when I opened the
drawers to put in my things. I found they were full of
socks, underwear, and blouses. Actually, nothing had
been removed to make room for me. When had Greataunt Frances learned I was coming? Hadn't she had
any time to prepare? What was I supposed to do? I
took out a blouse and held it up. It was small enough
to fit someone like me. I thought, I probably could fit
into some of her old clothes. This had definitely been
her room when she was a little girl, and from the
looks of it, no one had been in it since. I wondered
where she slept now
I condensed her things to make room for my
own things in the drawers. How fortunate it was that I hadn't brought all my clothing. There would simply be no room. When I finished unpacking. I realized Greataunt Frances had not shown me where the bathroom I was to use was located. There was none in the room, as there was in my room back at the mansion. I had to put away my bathroom things. Where do I go? It can't
be far, I thought and went out searching.
The first door on my right opened on another
bedroom. There was a similar-size bed, but this one
wasn't even poorly made. The blanket was tossed
back and dangled off the side, and the four pillows
were all over the bed. It looked like the bed a person
having a terrible nightmare had just slept in or had
tried to sleep in.
I gazed around. This room had an oval area rug
under and around the bed. It was a light shade of ruby,
but splotched and stained, with a few rips along the
edges. I saw that a dish had been put there for Miss
Puss to lick out the remains of something,
Clothing was strewn about everywhere, as if
someone had gone mad and torn everything out of the
closets and drawers and flung them in the air. Just as
in the living room. I saw dishes and glasses with
caked, old food. They were on the vanity table, the
vanity table chair and the bedside tables. The windows in this room had shades, but one was inoperative and hung on a slant. On the dresser to my left. I saw a picture I recognized. It was similar to a picture I had seen in one of Grandmother Emma's old albums, a picture of her and Great- aunt Frances when they were both young women. Great-aunt Frances was
by far the prettier one back then. I thought.
I turned to a door across the hall and found the
bathroom. When I looked at it. I hoped there was
another. It was barely bigger than the powder room on
the first floor of Grandmother Emma's mansion. The
right sink faucet had a slow but continuous drip that
had long ago discolored the basin with streaks of rust.
Over the counter beside it were an open tube of
toothpaste with toothpaste dripped around it, a
toothbrush, a hairbrush fill of hair, pieces of soap and
an open bottle of antacid. There were articles of
clothing, panties, slips and socks scattered on the floor
and over the sides of the tub. A blouse hung from the
shower curtain and looked like it had been soaked in
water and soap and then just left there dripping. Whoever had done it hadn't noticed it would
drip on the floor and not into the tub.
The cabinet over the sink was open. Inside, the
shelves were crowded with all sorts of over-thecounter medicines, loose Band-Aids and another