Girl in the Shadows Page 8

  exercise her ability to fly. Do I dare try to convince Mrs. Westington of this, convince her to put Echo in a real school? Once she entered, there would be no reason for me to stay. It was selfish to think that. but I

  couldn't help it.

  "And as you can see here,' Trevor went on.

  "yeast converts sugar to alcohol and carbon dioxide.

  The clear white is separated from spent yeast cells and

  other solids after fermenting. White wine should be

  fermented at cooler temperatures than red and white

  wines are consumed when they are relatively young

  so they retain fresh and fruity aromas and flavors." He looked at me. I had been watching Echo.

  "I'm giving a test on this later." he said.

  "Oh. I'm sorry. Trevor. I really did hear

  everything you said."

  Here.," he said, walking to a stack of cases and

  pulling a bottle out of the top one. "I'll give you a taste

  of a finished product."

  He uncorked it and then poured a little in a

  glass. He did the same for Echo. I was surprised. "If s all right. Mrs. Westington lets her have a

  little now and then."

  We both tasted it. I hadn't drunk much wine in

  my life, but I thought it tasted very good and told him

  so.

  "Yeah, well, there was a time when pride in all

  this was waving over this property like a flag." he said

  sadly. He glanced at Echo and then turned back to me.

  "Everything all right between you and that tutor

  fellow?"

  "Yes," I said.

  "You just be careful about how much you

  invest in him," he warned.

  "Invest? What do you mean? Invest of what?" "Of yourself," he said. "A good relationship,

  like this wine, needs a hospitable environment and

  time to age properly."

  I smiled. "Okay."

  "I got no right to advise anyone about

  relationships with other people. Been living like a

  hermit too many years, but sometimes, what's true and

  right is as clear as the liquid gold."

  I agreed with him and thanked him for his

  concern. Afterward. I again worked with Echo on

  signing. She had endless energy when it came to her

  need and desire to communicate. I was happy that she

  was distracted and involved so much in our work that

  she didn't ask me any more questions about Destiny,

  boyfriends, or sex. She appeared to have forgotten my

  promise to write it out and I didn't remind her. I didn't want to hear any more about her love for Tyler or

  what she perceived as his love for her.

  Mrs. Westington was sitting in her chair and

  knitting while we worked anyway. She looked very

  pleased with how well Echo and I were getting along.

  Was this a good time to bring up her need to be in a

  real school environment? I was gathering the courage

  to do so when the phone rang.

  "Now, it better not be one of those people

  trying to sell me something," she complained, and

  went to the phone in the kitchen. A little more than

  ten minutes later, she returned, her face ashen, but her

  lips trembling red with anger. I wondered if it had

  been Tyler telling her how his mother wanted him to

  stop tutoring Echo. She gazed at Echo, who was busy

  correcting the way I held my arm and fingers for the

  word day.

  "Something wrong. Mrs. Westington?" I asked. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and

  pulling back her shoulders. "That," she said. "was my

  daughter. After all these years, my daughter." "Rhona? How is she?" I asked.

  "How is she? I'll tell you how she is. She's in a

  Mexican jail because she was caught crossing the

  border with drugs in her car, so they confiscated her car and she's in a pretty kettle of fish. My first reaction is not to give a picayune and let her fry in her

  own fire."

  She settled in her chair, looking stunned. "Of

  course, her father would rant and rave and then make

  sure she was taken care of, and if I did any less, he'd

  probably rise from the grave. She's the way she is

  because he spoiled her spared the rod and spoiled the

  child.

  "Well. I can't very well leave her down there. I

  know what sort of things go on in those places and

  even she doesn't deserve that. Maybe she does," she

  added after a moment. "but I don't have cold enough

  of a heart to let it happen. I called my attorney and got

  him on it. He'll pay off whoever has to be paid off to

  get her out. Where she'll go and what she'll do is

  anyone's guess, but don't be surprised if she shows up

  outside this door finally. The only reason someone

  like her comes home is because no one else will take

  her in,"

  "You took me in," I reminded her.

  "That's a different story. You're a legitimate

  person in need. No matter what I do to help her, she'll

  only go bad again and again. She's the rotten apple

  who spoils the bunch, believe me.

  "Oh well, maybe she won't come here. Maybe

  she'll use what I gave her to go on another fling. It's

  like paying off the devil to keep him from your door. I

  can't imagine what would have happened to that poor

  child if she had not deserted her." she added, nodding

  at Echo, who fortunately wasn't paying any attention

  to what was being discussed. "She'd have dragged her

  through the muck."

  "I'm sorry about all your trouble. Mrs.

  Westington."

  "Yeah, well, grin and bear it, my grandmother

  would say." She sighed. "I'm suddenly very tired

  myself."

  She started to rise and I could see she had

  suffered an emotional shock that added age to her old

  bones instantly. I got up quickly to help her. "Thank you. dear. You two go on to bed. I'll

  just clean up a bit," she said. "It's not good to lay

  down your head when it's so full of agitation. You'll

  spin around like a top for hours. Of course, she said,

  smiling at me. "you already know all that."

  I watched her amble off and then I turned to

  Echo, who was staring up at me, concerned. She

  quickly signed, asking if her grandmother was sick. "Just tired," I signed back. The words and the gestures came like a true second language. I smiled at how quickly I had drawn them out of the well of knowledge I had just acquired over the past few days. Echo smiled as well. She could see how happy I was

  about it.

  I reached out for her. She took my hand and we

  went upstairs together, she to surely dream about

  Tyler. I wouldn't be all that surprised to find him

  wandering about in my night musings as well I

  thought.

  He returned right on time the following day.

  Worried about my test results. I held my breath when

  I saw him drive up. I was finishing up the grape

  harvest with Trevor. Tyler looked my way and waved

  emphatically, beckoning me to meet him.

  "Go on," Trevor said. "You won't be no good to

  me itching to get over there as soon as you can." I handed him my basket of grapes and hurried

  to join Tyler as he approached the house.

  "All right," he said. "I'll confess I thought
you'd

  do very poorly on all this, but you really surprised me.

  You must have been a decent student."

  "Decent but not terrific."

  "Good enough," he insisted. "I think we can get

  you past the high school equivalency all right." He indicated a bag of books. "These are yours. We'll start on it right away. There's a bottle of our chocolate

  wine sauce in there for you to taste as well," "Thanks," I said, taking it all.

  We heard Echo call to him and turned to see

  she had come out on the porch.

  "How is she?" he asked. "Any more talk

  about...?"

  "She hasn't said a word about any of it.

  especially Destiny. I think it's still frightening to her." "Don't worry about it. I have some ideas about

  how to handle all this. For now, let's forget about all

  that and get to work."

  One of the first things he did when he entered

  the house was seek out Mrs. Westington to tell her

  how well I did on the evaluation tests.

  "You don't have to tell me. I knew that girl was

  good material." she told him.

  I was surprised at how much work Tyler had

  already done in regard to my test preparations. He had

  developed a structured series of lessons in every

  subject.

  "We'll work it as close to the actual school

  experience as we can." he explained. "You'll read the

  work, do the exercises, and then we'll go over them

  together to be sure you understand it all."

  Echo watched us, clearly annoyed about the

  time he was devoting to me. She interrupted us

  continually with questions we both knew she didn't

  have to ask. He exchanged a knowing look with me

  and directed himself more to her.

  "I'm glad you're not filling your ears with wax

  today," he whispered. "Although, I'll admit now, it

  wasn't a terrible idea. In fact," he confessed. "we did

  similar things in school to prepare for teaching the

  disabled."

  It felt good to get compliments from him. My

  self-respect was like a crumbled house of cards. It

  would take a lot of patience and glue to build it up

  again. I bore down on the assignments, motivated

  more than ever to do well. Time flew by. Mrs.

  Westington called us to lunch and at lunch Tyler was

  more chatty, directing himself to me now almost as

  much as he did to Echo. He asked me questions about

  Memphis, about my earlier life, and about the shows

  Uncle Palaver and I did on the road. Wisely, he

  included Echo in everything, relating my answers to

  her. I could see she was torn between wanting me as a

  friend and wanting all of Tyler's attention as well. We returned to our work, but halfway through

  the afternoon. Tyler surprised me with a bag. "What's this?" I asked, and looked in to see the

  batteries I would need to install in Destiny.

  "I thought it might be a good idea to visit the

  motor home and show Echo how you get the doll to

  perform."

  "Really?"

  "Sure," he said. "That's the fastest way to get

  her to understand."

  "Shouldn't we tell Mrs. Westington first?" "We'll do it after so she doesn't worry about it,"

  he said. "For now it will be our little secret. I'm

  curious about it myself. I want to see how good you

  are as a performer."

  "I wasn't the performer. It was my uncle." "But you said you were part of the show and

  knew how to do same of the tricks. That will help

  relax Echo. too."

  "Okay." I said, although if there was one thing I

  had already learned in my short lifetime, it was that

  keeping secrets from people you loved and respected

  was a recipe for trouble.

  "Good. Let's go."

  "Now?" I asked.

  "It's as good a time as any and everyone deserves a break from work, especially if you consider

  how intensely we go at it," he said.

  He turned to Echo and signed quickly,

  explaining what he wanted us to do. She looked

  pleased.

  "What did you tell her?" I asked.

  "Just that you were going to put on a show for

  us in the motor home and surprise us."

  This was all happening so fast and seemed too

  good to be true. The three of us getting along so well

  was a hope and a dream. Shell-shocked from one

  disappointment after another. I was still nervous and

  skeptical. How radically Tyler's attitude toward me

  had changed.

  "Are you sure it's all right?" I asked, desperate

  for more and more assurance.

  "Don't worry." he added. "She trusts me." Yes.

  I thought, she does.

  But should 1?

  4 Magic Show

  . Mrs. Westington was asleep in her easy chair when we left the house to a to Uncle Palaver's motor home. Trevor Washington was on the roof of the winery plant doing some repairs. I didn't think he saw us because he was concentrating hard on his work. Echo looked nervous as we approached the vehicle. but Tyler continually reassured her, telling her we were going to have fun.

  When we entered the motor home. Echo stood off to the rear and stared at Destiny, now seated in Uncle Palaver's chair facing the sofa. Turning it over. I lifted the blouse in the back to show her the battery compartment. She drew closer gingerly and watched as I inserted the new ones. She was even more curious now and sat on the sofa to wait for me to complete the installation and preparations.

  Tyler sat beside her. "We're ready for our magic show," he said.

  I wasn't sure what I should do first. Without Uncle Palaver, it felt strange to do anything involving Destiny. It was almost as if I believed she wouldn't perform for me the way she had performed for him. but I thought of the easiest trick I knew using her. I straightened her up on the seat, or at least, that was what it looked like I was doing.

  "Do you have a quarter on you?" I asked Tyler. He dug into his pocket and produced one.

  "Okay," I said. "My uncle would ask Destiny for a quarter and she would shake her head. no. He would then ask someone in the audience and..."

  "Don't tell us about it. Do it just as your uncle did it," Tyler said.

  Echo's eyes were wide, looking from him to me to the Destiny doll.

  "Okay. Destiny, would you have a quarter I can borrow?"

  Tyler signed what I said so Echo would understand. Using the transmitter in my pocket. I triggered her head to shake a no and as rusty as I was, threw my voice through her to say it as well.

  Echo jumped in her seat when Destiny opened her mouth. Tyler took her hand and assured her it was just a trick. She sat back, but she didn't relax. Her eyes were glued to Destiny.

  "That's pretty good." Tyler said. "You made her voice so different. even I was thrown for a moment."

  "Uncle Palaver was so good at that, sometimes he drank a glass of water while throwing his voice. Don't ask me how."

  I took his quarter and then placed it in my palm and showed it to Echo. This part of the trick was easy for me. I had practiced it and practiced it so many times while Uncle Palaver and I rode for hours from one destination to another. I told Echo to put out her hand and open it. Then I put the quarter into her palm and closed her fingers around it.

  "Don't open your hand." I said. I signed "'don't open" to be sure she understood, otherwise the trick would be ruined.

  Then I turned to Destiny. "Are you sure you have no quarter for me?" I asked her, with Tyler signing to
Echo. Destiny shook her head again and I triggered her right arm to come up slowly and then opened her hand. Echo held on to Tyler, but he was just as mesmerized as she was by Destiny's lifelike movements. They both leaned to see that there was a quarter in her hand. The next part was simple. I opened Echo's hand and there was no quarter in hers.

  "Holy smokes, how did you do that?" Tyler asked, very much impressed.

  "A real magician never tells," I said.

  The truth was when I had straightened up Destiny in the chair. I had placed the quarter in her hand and closed it. When I had put it in Echo's hand. I had plucked it out as I closed her fingers. I had that quarter hidden in my own hand.

  "Uncle Palaver would have a finny dialogue with her now, accusing her of hoarding money. She'd deny it and then he would reach under her chin and lo and behold," I said, opening my hand to reveal the other quarter. "he'd find another,'

  Echo laughed and clapped her hands in delight.

  Tyler nodded, looking very impressed. "You're fast," he said. "I'm not going to play cards with you. That's for sure." He looked sincerely impressed with me, which encouraged me to continue.

  "This is a magic quarter," I announced, holding up one of the quarters. Tyler told Echo.

  I was ready to perform the simple straight pin and quarter trick. I had already placed the straight pin in my hand, hidden between my first two fingers. I showed him his quarter again and he turned it over and studied it a moment before handing it back. "Just an ordinary quarter?" I asked,

  "So?"

  I placed the coin over the straight pin and after I pretended to run my other hand magically over the coin. I then raised the coin to a standing position, raising the straight pin along with it. It looked perfectly balanced on its edge. It was simply leaning against the straight pin. Keeping the pressure on the pin balanced the coin and made it seem as if it stood in midair.

  Echo clapped her hands in delight. I told her to wave her hand over the quarter the way I did. She did so hesitantly and, when I released the pressure on the pin, the coin began a slow falling back onto my fingers. I then handed the quarter back to Tyler.

  "Thanks for use of your magical coin. Mr. Monahan." Destiny said, nodding her head. He looked from me to her and laughed.

  "You're terrific."

  "It's all very basic stuff," I said. "My uncle was something to watch. People would swear he performed miracles. He really was on television, too. you know."

  "I bet." He looked around the motor home and then at Destiny. He turned to Echo and signed. "See. I told you it would be fun. April is a very good magician, isn't she?"