Dollanganger 5: Garden of Shadows by V. C. Andrews

Author:V. C. Andrews [Andrews, V. C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Horror
Published: 2011-06-12T17:22:53+00:00

12 The Prisoner and the Warden

.

THAT SAME NIGHT, AFTER ALL THE SERVANTS HAD LEFT, Alicia returned.

The cab drove up in the darkness. Clouds still

hung over the sky, blocking out the moon and the

stars. It was as if there were no light left in all the

world.

Malcolm and I were waiting in a front salon,

just the way we had been waiting for his father to

arrive the day he had brought Alicia here. The boys

had cried themselves to sleep, all three of them

cuddled together against the loneliness of Alicia's

departure. Truly, I wanted to comfort them, to be a

mother to little Chris, to be a comfort to my own sons.

I wanted them all to love me the way they loved

Alicia. Oh, I knew I couldn't be lighthearted and gay

as she was; I didn't know how to romp and jump and

play silly rhyming games. But I loved them well, in

my own way, and I would bring them up to be strong,

moral young men. When they grew older, they would

appreciate the values I had bequeathed them. "What time is it?" Malcolm asked.

I pointed across the room, not saying a word.

The house was quiet, still, except for the sound of the

ticking grandfather clock and the evening winds winding their way in and out of the shutters, threading

through the cracks between windows. Malcolm

snapped his paper, folding it neatly to check the stock

market columns.

We had been sitting there for two hours,

drowning in our own silence. If either of us took a

deep breath, the other would look up, surprised. In

fact, Malcolm's only comment during the last half

hour concerned one of his stocks that had appreciated

ten points. I imagined he was making the comment to

emphasize how much better he could do with my

money than I was doing.

Then I saw the headlights of the cab tear an

opening in the darkness and pull up in front of the

house. Malcolm didn't move.

"She's back," I said. He grunted. "You'll take

her trunk upstairs." He looked up, surprised. "Well,

who did you think would do it? Lucas is gone, or did

you forget we dismissed the servants today and there

won't be a new driver until tomorrow."

I got up and went to the front door. Alicia

emerged from the cab slowly, reluctantly, anticipating what awaited her in Foxworth Hall. I could see that she was exhausted from the traveling and the tension.

The driver took her trunk and suitcases out.

"Leave them," I said to the driver quickly. It

was impossible to remain outside long. "My husband

will take them in."

Malcolm had appeared behind me on the steps.

I took Alicia's smaller suitcase.

"How is my Christopher?" she asked the minute

she stepped from the car. "Does he miss me?" "Christopher is my responsibility now," I said

curtly. "He's in bed, where he belongs." I took her arm

and led her up the front stairs. "Go directly to the

north wing," I told her, "and move as quietly as

possible. You must not wake the boys."

She didn't respond. She walked like a

condemned criminal, pausing only when she passed

close to Malcolm, who was on his way to get her

trunk and larger suitcase.

Stepping softly, we both floated like ghosts

through the silent, dimly lit foyer.

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