“I’ve got a bone to pick with you,” she said, levelling her dark brown eyes at Evie until they became a squint.
Whenever Paulina said that, Evie imagined her taking a pickaxe to a dog bone. She tried not to smile. “I’m sorry.”
Paulina snapped. “Don’t say you’re sorry before you know what to be sorry about.”
Evie nodded and stopped herself before she could apologize again. “Is it about Beebee’s recital? I really —”
“Wanted to come?” Paulina finished her sentence. “If you’d wanted to come, you would’ve been here when we left at eight.” She stroked Tick and Tock’s soft, hairless bellies. “But you weren’t here, were you?”
Evie shook her head.
“Where were you? What was so important that you missed Beatrice’s synchronized swimming recital?”
“Riding,” Evie answered truthfully.
“Riding?” Paulina cocked an eyebrow knowingly. “And which horse were you riding, may I ask?”
Evie felt trapped. Paulina knew that her father had forbidden her to ride Kazzam. She didn’t answer.
“It was No Justice, wasn’t it?”
Evie nodded. She couldn’t lie.
Paulina’s mouth was smiling, but her eyes were not. “So now you’ve succeeded in making everybody in this family unhappy. I hope you’re proud of yourself.”
Evie was honestly puzzled. “How’ve I done that?”
“Well, I’m upset that you missed Beatrice’s recital. Your father will be upset that you rode No Justice. Jordie is upset when people are upset, and Beebee is upset that you stole her bagel.”
Evie shook her head, astonished. “Her bagel? She gave me her bagel!”
“That’s a lie!” Beatrice appeared in the doorway. “Evie stole it right out of my hands. She’s so much bigger than me!” The girl’s bottom lip trembled and she threw herself into her mother’s arms.
“There, there, sweetie,” Paulina comforted Beatrice. “Sella will make you another.”
This was crazy. Evie knew it was useless, but she had to defend herself. “But I —”
“But nothing.” Paulina checked her manicured fingernails. “Stealing food. Shame.”
Jordie jumped up. “Mom, Evie doesn’t steal food!” He ran to Evie, on the verge of tears.
Evie put an arm around him and whispered, “It’s okay, Jordie.”
Paulina sat up straight, knocking the small dogs to the floor. She spoke loudly over the yapping of her chihuahuas. “Leave my son out of this!”
Grayson Gibb stalked into the room, smiling coldly. “What’s going on here?”
Paulina gave a melodic little laugh and shrugged apologetically. Her face changed in front of Evie’s eyes. Gone was the shrew. In its place was the model with a heart of gold. Was it possible that Paulina was afraid of Grayson, too? It had never occurred to Evie until that moment.
“Nothing important, dear,” purred Paulina. “Your daughter, Evangeline, rode No Justice today instead of coming to our Beebee’s recital. And then she stole her lunch.” She smoothed back her glossy dark hair from her face. “We’re just sorting it out.”
Grayson assessed Evie carefully. His eyes narrowed and his nose wrinkled like he’d sniffed something putrid. “Never go near that horse again, if you know what’s good for you.” His voice got quiet and he growled, “And you must not steal food. You’ll end up like your mother.”
Escape
Evie was banished to her room for the rest of the day without dinner. She sat down on her bed, completely worn out from her early morning and the adrenalin rush of the horse race, and demoralized by the scene that had unfolded downstairs. Her eyes closed and she flopped back. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was asleep.
Her growling stomach woke her at six o’clock that evening. But she couldn’t go downstairs to get food. She was being punished.
Beatrice had set out to get her in trouble. Miserable brat. She’d lied about what happened and then called her a liar. Over a bagel? In her sister’s never-ending quest to be the favourite she never balked at making Evie look bad, but this was ridiculous. What was going on with her?
And what had her father meant about her mother stealing food? Was her mother a thief, as well as all the other rotten things he’d called her?
Evie thought of the long night ahead with nothing to do. She wished she had a television in her room like Jordie and Beebee. If she hadn’t thrown out her cellphone, she could’ve called Aunt Mary to set up a time and place to meet.
She still couldn’t believe she’d tossed her phone into the river. Why, why, why had she done that? She longed to share today’s triumph with Cassie and laugh off her hurt about being sent to her room with Rebecca. Evie wondered again what her friends had been up to lately. Phoneless, she was simply not in that world. Who am I kidding? I’m not in that world anyway. It hurt every time she thought about how they’d all turned against her.
She did have a book that she loved, Horse Play, written by Elizabeth Elliot. She read it once a year, at Christmas, to treat herself and to imagine what a nice family might be like. It was about a girl and a horse, and all the adventures they went through together. Like me and Kazzam, she thought. But she didn’t want to read it now and spoil her December ritual. Evie made a mental note to buy all the books that Elizabeth Elliot had written with her newly won money, if there was anything left after finding her mother.
There was a light tap at the door. Evie rolled off her bed and turned the handle. She peeked into the hall. Nobody was there. She saw something lumpy in a white napkin on the floor by the door and picked it up. An enormous sandwich and an apple!
Evie looked down the staircase. Jordie’s head popped around the corner. He winked — an improvement on his earlier effort. He put his forefinger up to his mouth and disappeared.
The sandwich tasted better than anything she’d ever eaten in her life. Her sweet little brother had stuffed big hunks of tender chicken with mayonnaise and a huge wedge of crisp lettuce between thick slices of whole-wheat bread and peppered it liberally. She got a big glass of water from the bathroom to drink with it and ate every crumb. It was a complete meal. Even an apple for dessert.
Evie hesitated before biting into the apple. After winning the race, Kazzam deserved it, not her.
That gave her an idea. Her worry about a night of boredom disappeared. He would get the apple. Time for a practice escape.
Without another thought, Evie went to work. She packed a small knapsack with three spare shirts, socks, underwear, toothpaste and brush, deodorant, a hairbrush, and a light windbreaker. She dressed in jeans, socks and runners, a T-shirt, a sweatshirt, and a baseball cap. All dark colours.
She took the sheets off her bed, tied them together, and twisted them with knots. She looped one end and tied a lead shank she’d borrowed from the barn through it. She attached that to the sturdy hook she’d screwed tightly into the wooden baseboard a few days earlier, in preparation for her escape.
Evie opened the window as far as it could go and looked down to the veranda roof. She’d have to be careful not to slip off.
To make this a true dress rehearsal, she put Aunt Mary’s phone number in the front pocket of her knapsack and slid the envelope