Chapter 6: Our Unwelcome Home Party
"ANDI!" I heard as I opened the door. My mother followed me in. We heard some quick footsteps and then saw Katrina walk into the kitchen where we were now located. She seemed to be hiding something behind her back.
"Miranda!" she screamed to me again. I began to clench my fists. No one and I mean no one, calls me by my full name other than mother. I decided that I probably shouldn't hit her since Baltus was in the room.
I looked at her with a very bored look on my face. "What is it Katrina?" I said dully. I could tell that whatever it was, she was furious, and I had a good idea what was bothering her.
She glared at me harder. "Look what I found in my room!" It was then that everyone found out what she had behind her back. She pulled her hand out in front of her and showed all of us.
A bat head. Not just any bat head, though. One that I put in her room.
I tried my hardest not to laugh.
"Whatever are you talking about, Katrina?" I asked politely.
"You put this mouse's head in my room to scare me and my friends!" she said. It wasn't until then that I noticed two girls Katrina's age on the stairs, Elizabeth and Polly. They were our neighbors and Katrina's closest friends. Polly looked like she'd been crying. I of course have no friends other than my mother. Katrina tells rotten stories about me so that everyone in town thinks that I'm a freak.
"For your information," I said sarcastically, "It's a bat's head, not a mouse's. Of course, I wouldn't expect you to know this."
I knew as I was saying this that I went too far. Well, at least for her. I could've gone thousands of miles further than that, but with both Katrina and Baltus in the room, I was doomed. I quickly glanced at mother, who had turned away to hide her smile.
Katrina was fuming. She screamed and looked to her father. "There will be some punishment issued, won't there father?" she asked Baltus impatiently.
Baltus was frowning. "Miranda," he said to me furiously. I cringed since nobody but my mother calls me by my full name if they want to live to tell the tale.
"Miranda," he said again, more furious than before, "What have we told you about leaving things like, like," he pointed to the bat head disgustedly, "that out of the house? This is gone too far. You've left something like this in Katrina's room five times now. I believe that now some punishment should be issued." He turned to his wife. "Mary," he said to her, "She's your daughter, so I think you should be the one to punish her, not me."
My mother nodded her head. "Of course Baltus," she said. She turned to me and winked, not letting the Van Tassels see this. "Come along, Miranda," she said, leading me out to the backyard. It wasn't until we got back there and saw that no one was around that we started laughing. We just couldn't stop!
"Did you…did you…" I tried to say, fighting through the laughter, "Did you see the look on that ninny's face! And her friends!"
My mother was laughing twice as hard as I was. "Yes!" she said, "And the look on Baltus's face when Katrina lifted that head up!" She continued to laugh. "I thought he was going to faint right then and there!"
We continued to laugh together for a few more minutes until my mother embraced me in a hug. "I couldn't have had a better daughter than you, Andi," she said to me proudly. I pulled back from her and smiled. She looked around quickly. "Come along," she said, the moment lost, "I'm sure Baltus thinks I'm murdering you out here. He may come to investigate soon." And with that we began our walk back up front.
"Remember, Andi," my mother said, "Look terrified and hurt." She led me briskly up to the front door.
As we approached our house, the Widow Winship began walking to us. I usually try to avoid contact with other people in town so that they don't talk to me and find out that I really am a freak, so I kept walking. Mother had slowed down, watching the widow approach us. When I thought she was going to actually speak to us, she suddenly turned and walked into our house. My mother and I looked at each other and shrugged. We weren't expecting company today, just Katrina's friends.
As the Widow was about to knock on our door, my mother hurried ahead and got the door for her. "Hello, Emily," she said to her, "What brings you here?"
Emily looked nervous. She couldn't make eye contact with mother. "I must speak to you and your husband about something," she said quietly.
My mother's eyes widened. She quickly put on her normal face so as not to scare the widow. "Really?" she asked, "Alright, come in then please." My mother walked in, followed by the widow, and then finally me. Emily kept her gaze on me as we walked along. She finally turned to my mother.
"I need to speak to the two of you," she said, glancing at me, "alone."
My mother caught what she meant and gestured for me to get out. "I'm sorry, Emily," she said, "I didn't realize she was following us." She looked at me and winked, a signal meaning for me to go to my listening spot. I had a feeling that the widow Emily Winship would be the next to go.
I nodded. "My apologies," I said, leaving the room. Once I had closed the door, I walked upstairs to my room. I could hear my mother calling for Baltus and his footsteps hurrying across the wooden floorboards. I quickly moved my bed out of the way and lifted a few of the floorboards that were loose. I was just small enough to fit down in the crevice and crawl silently to almost wherever I wanted in the house without being noticed.
I began my crawling to get above the kitchen. I heard girly giggles coming from Katrina's room and heard some nasty things said about me. I scowled. Oh well, I thought, I'll just have to get her back later.
I hurried along, hoping that I hadn't missed much. At the rate Baltus moved, I would probably beat him there. I finally heard chatter below me, my mother and the widow talking. I groaned, for Baltus still had not yet arrived. My mother and Emily spoke for a short while before Baltus finally arrived. My mother quickly looked up at exactly where I was and smiled. She looked back at our company.
Baltus spoke first. "What seems to be the matter, Emily? My wife tells me you were worried earlier," he said, his eyes shifting around the room.
Emily stood up slowly and paced around the room a bit. This was most unlike her, for she usually is like a chattering sparrow when it comes to chit-chat. After a long wait, she finally spoke up.
"Please don't tell anyone," she said to them, "I came to you because other than the Notary and the Magistrate, you are the only people I can trust."
Baltus frowned. "Is something wrong?" he asked, worried about one of his townspeople.
Emily shook her head. "No," she said. Then she thought for a minute. "Well, I guess, yes, there is something wrong." She turned to look out the window.
I could tell my mother was getting impatient. "Well? What's wrong, Emily?" she asked politely but firmly.
Just then a spider crawled across the parts of my legs that my dress wasn't covering at the moment. I let out a little yelp then covered my mouth with my hands.
Baltus and Emily looked up. "What was that?" Baltus asked.
My mother simply rolled her eyes. "Oh, it was probably just a mouse," she said, "They are very common this time of year." This was a lie, but of course Baltus and Emily fell for it. She looked back at the widow. "Well, what were you going to say before we were so rudely interrupted by that mouse?" She just had to put emphasis on rudely and mouse, all the while looking up at where I was. I cringed.
Emily nodded. "Yes, well, you see…" she started, "I went to the Notary with Peter Van Garrett before he was…" she couldn't say it, "murdered. You see, I'm pregnant. With his child."
My mother let out a small gasp then an even smaller smile. I let out the biggest smile I could, for it seemed that we had found our next victim.
Baltus looked horrified. "Oh my!" he said, "But why did you go to the Notary?"
Emily began weeping. "Because we had the will changed," she said cautiously, "I needed to tell you since you were a part of it. I'm so sorry." Now she was really sobbing.
"It's alright Emily," my mother said to comfort her, "Thank you for telling us." She ushered her towards the door.
Emily wiped her tears. I could tell that this conversation was over, so I got out of my hiding place and began walking briskly down the hall to the stairs. I could hear them saying their farewells to each other when I heard the front door close. I knew that now was the time to come out. I walked down the stairs. When my mother spotted me, she semi-smiled. "Andi," she said, "Won't you come here for a minute? I need to finish your punishment. Please follow me into the kitchen." She began walking into the kitchen while Baltus smiled smugly, probably enjoying the fact that I was getting punished and not his little angel. I opened the door to the kitchen and shut it behind me.
My mother paced around quickly. "You heard what the widow said, didn't you?" she whispered to me.
I grinned. "Yes," I answered, "Is she next?"
My mother smiled. "You must have read my mind," she said happily. She began walking out the door to fetch the horses for us to leave when she suddenly turned around. I had been following her closely, so I bumped into her when she stopped.
"Miranda," she said to me nicely, "The next time a 'mouse' makes a noise during a secret conversation, I'm not covering for it."
My head drooped. "Yes, mother, I'm sorry," I replied quietly.
"Good," she said, beginning her walk towards our stables again, "Let's go!"
And with that we prepared our horses for our journey to the old hearth to get the Horseman's skull.