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"The search party." she said. "The police will be here, and they will question you and me in great detail, so well talk about it now. I've been thinking about it for a long time, as you can imagine, and I know exactly what you will say.

"Oh, don't you see, my darling boy, how important this all is? Stop dancing like that. I've told you many, many times about these people around us, how they talk about us, think about us. They would never understand us, never believe anything but their own stupid, nasty thoughts.

"We have to do this now. Soon there would be questions. otherwise. I have reports to turn in, and there is always the possibility of a visit from the school, you know. That interfering know-it-all, Dr. Cornfield, would just love to pounce on me, especially now that Taylor is gone and no longer any threat to him.

"But all of that is not important. We have a life to live here, and we don't want people snooping about forever, now do we, my precious?" she asked, running her hand over my hair and down my cheek. I closed my eyes to keep the pleasant loving touch forever and ever locked in my heart. I had longed so for that so many, many times and watched with envy as she caressed Noble and not me.

"Do we?" she repeated.

"No."

"Good. Right. Okay. You and Celeste will go off in the morning to fish. You will decide to separate. You go upstream. She'll go downstream, below that horrible boulder. Midday, you will come running home to tell me you can't find her. She didn't meet you where she was supposed to meet you. Well go look for her. We'll find the fishing rod, and thenwell call the police," she continued.

It sounded like a story I would read in one of the books in our library.

"Why did you split up with your sister?" she asked, pretending to be a policeman.

"What?"

"Why didn't you fish together?"

"She talks too much." I said, and she smiled. "Yes, that's right. That's true. Very good"

I loved when Mommy appreciated me. I went on.

"And she doesn't like to fish all that much. I thought she was just going to go off and find a place and read one of her books, like she has done many times before. and I didn't care. I wanted to fish."

"Excellent. And when she didn't show up, what did you do?"

"I ran about, shouting for her. until I thought she might have gone home without me."

"That's very clever. Noble. Very clever." she said, smiling, with appreciation lighting her eves. I felt good basking in that glow.

"But when I got home..."

"She wasn't here. Exactly. So we both went looking, and--" she encouraged, gesturing for something more.

"We found the rod but not her. Where is she?"

"Where is she?" she mimicked. "Celeste... my Celeste... I hate to think of the horrible possibilities.... Someone... did you see someone?"

"No. but I thought I heard someone once. I even thought I heard a scream. but I couldn't tell. The stream is so noisy these days."

"Yes, it is."

She smiled again and leaned over to kiss my cheek. "And," she said. "we found her shoe, didn't we?"

"Her shoe?"

"Exactly. One shoe, just one shoe." She sat back, a look of contentment on her face, and nodded. "They will never bother us after this," she said. "Never."

That night when I went to sleep, I dreamed the story just as Mommy and I had told it. I saw myself walking into the woods with... with Celeste. It was so strange at first to turn and see her traipsing behind me, her head down, hearing her mumble complaints about the bushes, the effort to get through the forest, the dirty job of putting a worm on a hook.

"You're going to do it for me. Noble." she said. "Or I won't go along. And don't tell me it doesn't hurt them. They bleed, don't they?"

"You're so stupid. Celeste." I told her.

"I am not!" she whined, and I smiled, It was fun to tease her. It had always been fun.