Crandalls' Castle

by Betty Ren Wright

  A couple of weeks later I was standing in front of my school locker when a really scary thing happened. The hall went dark and the walls just seemed to fall away. The darkness only lasted a second or two, but it was enough. That afternoon I took home everything I cared about—the snapshot of my mom and dad, my old blue sweatshirt, the folder of stories I wrote for English class. Some other stuff.

  I said I had a headache that evening and stayed in my bedroom, which was okay with the Wagners. I kept hoping I was wrong this time, but about ten-thirty sirens started screaming. Cars raced by and people yelled. The Wagners ran outside to see what had happened, but I stayed where I was. I knew.

  When I went downstairs the next morning, Linda was practically jumping up and down with excitement.

  “You knew!” she said, sounding so happy. “Sophia knew, Dad! Maybe she didn’t set the fire herself but she knew someone was going to do it. She cleaned out her locker yesterday!”

  Mrs. Wagner said, “Don’t be silly, Linda. That’s a terrible thing to say.” She smacked her coffee cup down on its saucer hard enough to spill.

  Mr. Wagner was real quiet for a moment, and then he said, “Did you bring your things home, Sophia?”

  I said yes, I had just felt like doing that. No special reason.

  It sounded like a lie, even to me. He looked at me and at Linda, and then at me again, as if he was beginning to see lots of problems ahead. Having his daughter suspended for cheating had been bad enough; now he might have a firebug on his hands. A big-time troublemaker! I could tell exactly what he was thinking, and I was pretty sure right then that I wouldn’t be living with the Wagners much longer.

  “Here we are,” Rita said, turning into a parking lot next to the bus station. “Just in time, too. If my watch is right, the bus to Mount Pleasant is due to leave in seven minutes.”

  I came back to the present with a jolt. Bus station? Mount Pleasant? I didn’t even know what she was talking about. I must have looked dazed, because she patted my shoulder.

  “I think your bus is that one over there,” she said, pointing. “You take the suitcases and stand in line, and I’ll run inside and buy your ticket.”

  I nodded and smiled at her, but my heart wasn’t in it. Whenever I think about the Stengels and the Wagners and all the places where I’ve been in between, I feel as if I’m out there in space again, with nothing to hold on to. I’d sort of forgotten about that space thing while I lived with my great-grandmother, but now it was back.

  I saw Rita come out of the station and push through the crowds that were gathering around the buses. She looked tired, and I knew she didn’t want to be there—for other reasons, besides the fact that she still wasn’t sure sending me to Mount Pleasant was the right thing to do.

  “Look,” I said when she handed me the ticket, “you can go home now if you want to. I’ll be okay. Thanks for helping.”

  The line moved forward, but she still stood there, biting her lip. “Thanks again,” I said, and then, wouldn’t you know, the rest just came tumbling out. “You’d better go, or you’ll miss your phone call.”

  The line moved again, and I stepped up into the bus. I heard Rita gasp behind me as I handed my ticket to the driver. I pushed past people to a seat in the very back of the bus. Crouched as far down as I could get, I called myself every name I could think of. Stupid! Big mouth! What if she followed me on the bus and demanded to know what I’d meant about that phone call?

  I didn’t mean anything, Rita, I’d say. It was a mistake. I make mistakes like that sometimes.

  It seemed forever before the doors closed with a shuddering sigh. Then the bus growled and jerked forward, out of the terminal and into the late afternoon sunlight.

  I sat up and looked out the window. We chugged through downtown Madison, gradually picking up speed until we were out on the highway. You can bet I was tired and scared, but most of all I was mad at myself. Maybe Rita was calling Lilly Crandall right then to tell her Sophia Weyer was a weirdo. I was pretty sure she wouldn’t do that, but if she did I wouldn’t blame her.

  KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! I told myself. That’s my Rule Number One, and if I can’t remember it, I’m going to be floating out there in space the rest of my life.

  Chapter Three

  CHARLI

  When the cake was eaten and the paper plates gathered up, the Crandalls went home, trailing noise and laughter behind them. Ray stayed. Well, sure, Charli reminded herself, he lives here now. Still, it felt strange. At five in the afternoon most days her mother would be at the restaurant putting in overtime, but today she and Ray were out in the kitchen, talking. Her mother sounded younger than usual, Charli thought, her voice sort of breathy, even girlish. The cheerleaders at school sounded like that—as if the world were so exciting they could hardly stand it.

  She looked around the living room. Ray had started moving his things into the house a week ago, so she was already accustomed to the pile of Sports Illustrated magazines on the coffee table and the sturdy green recliner that he said he couldn’t leave behind. It was a clunky old chair, with worn spots on the cushions and coffee stains on the armrests, but Charli’s mother hadn’t said a word.

  Charli threw herself into the chair and tugged at the scarred wooden lever that made the back tilt. The lever squeaked, and the voices in the kitchen stopped.

  “Is that you, hon?”

  Charli sat very still, breathing the good smell of the chair and waiting. Her mother and Ray came in from the kitchen.

  “I thought you went across the street with Dan,” her mother said. “Why are you sitting in here all by yourself?”

  “No reason,” Charli said. “This chair squeaks.”

  “I know,” Ray said apologetically. “I guess I’ve just gotten used to it.”

  “And there’s lots of spots on the arms.”

  “Charli!” her mother said. “For goodness’ sake!” She sounded annoyed, but Ray laughed. “I’ve gotten used to those, too,” he said. “Good thing your mom says she knows how to get rid of them. Not tonight, though. Right now we have other things to do—like getting ready for the homecoming dinner.”

  Charli pulled her feet up under her and sank deeper into the chair. Nobody had told her about a homecoming dinner.

  “We’re going to drive into Racine for dinner,” her mother said cheerfully. “At a restaurant that overlooks Lake Michigan. Doesn’t that sound great?”

  “All of us?” Charli uncoiled her legs and sat up.

  “Well, of course, you, too,” her mother said.

  “Does Aunt Lilly know?” Charli asked. “She’ll think the twins and Mickey are too little to go.”

  “And she’d be right,” Ray said. “This is just for us, Charli. The three of us. Our first dinner as a family.”

  Charli pulled the lever hard, and the old chair catapulted her onto her feet. Her mother and Ray burst out laughing. “Our first dinner as a family … she likes the way that sounds as much as I do,” her mother said. “Change into something besides shorts, Charli. This is special.”

  Charli nodded and ran down the hall to her bedroom. Her face was hot and her stomach was too full of wedding cake, but she hardly noticed. She pulled her blue pants and the matching top from a dresser drawer. Then she hurried to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face until she gasped for breath. As she buried her face in a towel she could almost hear Dan laughing at her.

  “What’s the big deal?” he’d want to know. “Ray’s had dinner with you and your mom lots of times.”

  That was true, but as Charli put on the blue outfit and brushed her damp hair, she felt a surge of relief. Ray had said the words himself: Our first dinner as a family. He was reminding her that he hadn’t just married her mom, he’d married her kid, too. She stared at herself in the mirror over her dresser and straightened her glasses.

  Through the open window she could hear Ray out in the driveway, emptying the last of the luggage from the car so there would be room for three people to
ride. She tiptoed down the hall, past the open door to her mother’s bedroom and back to the living room. Across the street the Crandalls’ house was quiet.

  “Let’s go,” she called to her mother. “Let’s go right now.”

  “Oh, Charli,” her mother called back, “calm down. The restaurant will wait for us.”

  Charli kept her eyes on the house across the street while Ray backed the car out of the driveway and she and her mother climbed in. There was only one thing that could spoil this moment and it didn’t happen. Not a single Crandall appeared to see them leave. Charli was glad. She didn’t want Uncle Will and Aunt Lilly and the cousins to know they weren’t invited to the family dinner.

  Three hours later, a taxi made a U-turn and stopped in front of the Crandalls’ house just as Charli and her parents turned onto Lincoln Street.

  “The new kid!” Charli exclaimed. In the excitement of the beautiful restaurant, the lake with the yachts skimming by, the cloth napkins as big as hand towels, too many forks, too much chicken and not enough shrimp, and the perfect slice of chocolate peanut butter pie, she had forgotten about the girl who was coming to live with the Crandalls. Now she watched curiously as a dark figure stepped out of the cab, dragging a big suitcase and then a smaller one behind her.

  The girl stood uncertainly at the curb until the taxi pulled away. Then she started up the walk, wobbling a little under the weight of her bags.

  “Poor child,” Charli’s mother said. “Lilly didn’t know whether she was coming tonight or tomorrow. She was supposed to call as soon as she got in, so they could pick her up downtown.”

  Ray swung into the driveway just as the Crandalls’ front door opened and Aunt Lilly came out onto the porch. Charli unfastened her seatbelt and opened the car door before Ray turned off the motor.

  “I’m going over there,” she said excitedly. “I want to see what she’s like.”

  “Oh, Charli,” her mother protested. “It’s so late. Why don’t you wait until morning? The girl must be tired and you’re tired—”

  “I’m not tired,” Charli said.

  She was halfway back to the street when Ray said, “Hey!” in a way that made her skid to a stop. “Think about what it must be like to come to a strange house all by yourself, not knowing anybody, Charli. She doesn’t need another stranger staring at her, checking out whether she’s pretty and fun.” His voice softened. “Your mother’s right. There’ll be plenty of time tomorrow to get to know her.”

  Charli’s cheeks burned. He was bossing her! And how had he guessed exactly what she’d wanted to find out? Slowly she walked back down the driveway and followed the grown-ups into the house. I was just going to say hi, she thought angrily. The new girl couldn’t be too tired for that.

  Later, when she was in bed, she heard Ray’s low voice and then her mother’s down the hall.

  “—don’t see why Will and Lilly would do it,” Ray said. “They have more kids than they can handle without taking on another one.”

  “It’ll work out,” Charli’s mother said. “Will may be a little impulsive and Lilly may be a little disorganized but—”

  “A little?” Ray chuckled. “A little! I feel sorry for the new arrival. She has a lot to get used to over there.”

  Charli punched her pillow and dived farther under the sheet, covering her ears. It was just what she’d dreaded—Ray didn’t understand the Crandalls at all.

  I don’t feel one bit sorry for the new girl, she thought furiously. Anyone who lives with Uncle Will and Aunt Lilly is lucky!

  Chapter Four

  SOPHIA’S JOURNAL

  Tonight when I stepped off the bus in Mount Pleasant, I felt as if I was landing on the moon. I wished I could stay on the bus, if you can believe that.

  “Over there,” the driver called after me. He pointed across the street. “That’s the only cab in town, and you’d better grab it. This is his last stop before he goes home.”

  I had a telephone number I was supposed to call, but I carried my suitcases over to the cab instead. I guess I wanted to put off meeting Lilly Crandall as long as possible. When I gave the old driver the address, he said, “Yup, the Crandalls,” and grinned. I wondered if he knew the address of everyone in town.

  The Crandalls’ house is old, with a wide front porch big enough for chairs and a swing. A tall blond woman in jeans and a man’s shirt opened the screen door almost the moment I knocked.

  “Oh, Sophia, for goodness’ sake!” she said, as if we’d known each other forever. “Why didn’t you call when you got in? We would have come to pick you up. Well, never mind, you’re here now, and that’s all that matters. I’m Lilly Crandall and this is our son Dan.”

  “Hi,” the boy said. He’s tall and thin, and he sort of unfolded from the couch where he’d been lying with his head on a paunchy gorilla’s stomach. Lilly swept some blocks off a chair so I could sit down.

  I never saw a room as messy as that one. I don’t mean it was dirty, just a mess. There were toy trucks and cars everywhere, and parts of puzzles and some torn coloring books. Broken crayons were scattered across the carpet.

  I started to say “Thanks for letting me come,” but Lilly was talking again a mile a minute.

  “We’ve got a bed ready for you in the catchall room upstairs, Sophia. It’s kind of cluttered now, but we’ll clean it out, and then you can fix it up the way you like it. Our baby Mickey has been sleeping in there, but I’ve moved him into the twins’ room. You’ll meet them tomorrow—after you’ve had a good night’s sleep.” She chuckled as if a good night’s sleep was important before meeting the twins.

  I said, quickly, before she started talking again, “Thanks for saying it was all right for me to come.” It sounded stiff and standoffish, but it was the best I could do.

  Lilly said, “Well, of course it’s all right. Your great-grandpa was one of my favorite people when I was a little girl. I miss him! I never did get to know your great-grandma very well, but I’m glad she remembered me.”

  I sat still and let her words flow around me. They warmed up that numb place inside of me.

  “I’ll take your stuff upstairs,” Dan offered. But before he could move, a tall gray-haired man appeared, clutching a cardboard box stacked high with papers. When he saw me, he set the box on the floor and hurried across the room to shake hands. “Welcome aboard, Susie.”

  Lilly said, “It’s not Susie. Sophia Weyer, this is my husband, Will. He’s the one who makes things happen around here.” When she said that, the overflowing stack of papers in the box slid sideways and spread across the floor, adding to the mess.

  “That’s my filing system, Su-Sophia,” Will said. He gathered the papers into a pile and dropped them on top of the other papers that remained in the box. By the time he stood up again, his hair was standing up straight and his horn-rimmed glasses were at an angle on his nose.

  “Don’t look so concerned, Sophia,” he said. “Lilly and Dan will tell you, we don’t let little things bother us in this family.”

  “Will teaches history at the high school,” Lilly told me proudly. “You might have him for a teacher this fall.”

  “I doubt it,” Will said. “How old are you, Sophia?”

  I said, “Fourteen.”

  “Well, then, no,” he said. “I teach juniors and seniors, and by the time you’re that old …”

  What was he going to say? By the time I’m a junior I won’t be living in Mount Pleasant? Probably. It doesn’t really matter, because the moment I saw him I wanted to run out the door and never come back.

  Will Crandall means trouble. Don’t ask me how I know, I just do. I know it, as sure as I know his glasses were on crooked and he needs a haircut. He’s a dangerous person, not cruel or wicked, but dangerous just the same.

  I felt as if I should warn somebody right then, maybe warn him, but of course I didn’t. I just stood there looking stupid and wondering where I can go when the Crandalls find out how weird I am. Where else is there?


  Chapter Five

  CHARLI

  “What’s she like?” Charli demanded. She had rushed through breakfast so she could be outside when Dan left for his shift at The Best Yet Burger. Now she was running to keep up with his long strides. His expression, closed off and grim, was so different from his usual look that she guessed the new girl must be awful.

  “Tell me,” she repeated. “I won’t tell anyone what you say. I just want to know.”

  Dan walked faster. “She’s okay,” he said gruffly. “Her name is Sophia Weyer and she doesn’t talk much. She went to bed almost as soon as she got here. That’s all.”

  “No, it isn’t,” Charli insisted. “I can tell by your face. Something’s wrong!”

  They had reached the corner when, unexpectedly, Dan stopped. “Okay, so something’s wrong,” he admitted. “You’ll hear about it soon enough. My dad’s heading to your house as soon as he finishes breakfast. And believe me, it has nothing to do with Sophia the Silent.” With that, he strode off down the street.

  “What’s ‘it’?” she called after him forlornly, but he didn’t answer.

  When she turned back, Uncle Will and Aunt Lilly were climbing the front steps of her house. Without the kids, Charli marveled. That was odd. Aunt Lilly never went anywhere without the twins and Mickey if Dan wasn’t there to look after them. Sophia Weyer must be the baby-sitter this morning. She walked faster at the thought that whatever the Crandalls wanted to talk about was important enough to make them leave the children with an almost-stranger.

  “You’re just in time, Charli!” Uncle Will called from the kitchen when she opened the front door. “You know, I told you yesterday I couldn’t talk about my big surprise for a while? Well, I got it all straightened out in my head last night and set up the paperwork. We’re ready to go.” He smiled at Aunt Lilly, who smiled back. “I told the boys about it at breakfast this morning.”