The Circle Girls by Anya Novikov

Author:Anya Novikov [Novikov, Anya]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: christian Fiction - Young Adult
ISBN: 978-1-61116-257-8
Publisher: Pelican Ventures Book Group
Published: 2013-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

11

The phone was ringing off the hook, right into my ear. MTV was blaring. My neck had a crick in it for lying against the sofa arm. In my stomach, a load of canned spaghetti lay like a lump of Mattie’s moist clay.

I’d had to pass on Mattie’s parsnip stew, begging to eat with my nieces instead. But I hadn’t been ready to eat anything red just yet. So I had rinsed off the tomato sauce when Mattie wasn’t looking and eaten just the round noodles.

God will give you blood to drink.

I shivered.

Even with the wad of soggy pasta deep in my gut, I felt a little bit of relief. Another dream. That’s all. Just when I thought it was safe to go into the water, or whatever that dumb expression was.

But this one made sense, at least. I had wanted Gabe to kiss me and he’d stopped, and the same thing had happened to Deliverance.

The phone rang again, and I grabbed it. I didn’t even know what time it was.

“Can’t somebody get that?” My dad yelled; something he rarely did.

“Got it, Dad.” I yelled back.

“Delli? Aren’t you in bed yet? It’s almost ten.” Mattie’s voice chided from somewhere far off in the cavernous house. “Remember, you’ve been a bit sickly.”

I ignored her. The phone was old fashioned and wired to the wall with a long curly cord. Gabe had called this number last night. My heart pounded. “Hello?”

“It’s me.” Abby chirped, not sounding tired at all.

“Hey.” Hopes dashed.

“Why aren’t you answering? I’ve called about a million times,” she complained.

“I’m downstairs.” I shrugged even though she couldn’t see.

“Well, I just have to tell you the craziest thing.”

I groaned. That wouldn’t be anything unusual, coming from Abby, but I wasn’t in the mood for much of her right now.

“Well, Daddy thinks I’m not responsible enough around here.”

I didn’t wonder. Since Abby’s mom left and her sister went off to college, her dad had hired a whole militia of servants to take care of everything imaginable.

“So I’m gonna dog sit my neighbor’s little rat dog while she goes on a cruise. I even get paid. Thing is, wanna help?”

I laughed out loud, the funny feelings and weird dream vanishing, at least for now. “I thought this was supposed to make you responsible. No, thanks.”

I could practically hear Abby pouting over the wires.

“Come on, Abby. Get real,” I ordered. “I mean, you never help me babysit McKenna and Gracey. Or when Mattie needed some extra help stocking shelves for her craft show last summer? Betsy helped. You stayed home.”

“Sorry.” Abby sniffed. “But your mom’s little shop can be weird. No offense.”

“None taken.” I sniffed back. Not true, though. Our whole family had gone pretty ballistic a few years ago when an anonymous letter in the weekly newspaper had criticized Mattie for stocking Aztec calendars.

But unease flashed through me at Abby’s comment. It might not have, two days ago, before this Salem stuff. But it flashed bright and slimy right now. I didn’t say anything else for a long minute.

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