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I sat and told her about my waking up, hearing noises, checking it out, and finding the cold wet mud. Her eyes got wider and wider as I spoke. Then she turned and looked toward the backyard.

"Did you go out there this morning to see if...I mean..." "Not yet," I said. "I couldn't get myself to do it."

She nodded, swallowed hard, and then started toward the back door. She looked back at me. I held my breath and then she opened the door and stepped outside. A moment later she returned.

"It's a mess," she said, looking relieved. "However, she's still where we put her."

I released the air I had trapped in my lungs and sighed, but I wasn't sure whether I was sighing with relief or with regret.

8

Sowing the Seeds

Even though Star came by bus and had to make some changes along the way, she got to my house before Jade. For some reason, Star didn't look as tired as we did from the night before. She poured herself a cup of coffee and bit on a Danish pastry as I told her about my difficult night.

"I was afraid it would be like that for you. We have to stay with you for a while," she insisted. She looked at the clock on the wall. "I thought we all agreed about that and the importance of being here. So where is our illustrious president?" she muttered, and sipped some more coffee. "Maybe she went to get her nails repaired," she added.

Minutes later we heard the doorbell and Misty went to let Jade in.

"Sorry it took me so long to get here," Jade sang as she swept through the kitchen doorway. She was dressed in another designer outfit, her hair radiant and shiny, and her nails freshly polished.

Star winked at me. Anyone could see Jade had spent most of the morning at her dressing table, meticulously applying her makeup, turning herself from just another pretty girl into a teenage cover model.

"But I had a whopper of a nightmare last night and the moment I looked at myself this morning, I knew I couldn't leave the house without some major reconstruction," Jade explained.

She paused and looked at me, her face suddenly contorted in a horrid grimace.

"I dreamed your half sister dug herself out and came to my room. She looked like something from the latest Halloween movie. I had to smother my screams when I woke up. My nerves were so frazzled, I felt like they were all wicks on dynamite sticks," she rattled on breathlessly. Then she paused and collapsed on a seat.

"What a whopper of a nightmare," Misty muttered.

Jade knitted her eyebrows together and scowled.

"Tell me about it. Then I started to worry about us all being arrested and I couldn't get back to sleep for hours and hours. When I looked at myself this morning, I nearly passed out again. My eyes actually had bags under them! Can you imagine?"

"You poor thing," Star said.

Jade missed her sarcasm and got up to pour herself a cup of coffee instead.

"I just threw my outfit away," she continued. "No tailor could fix it and I didn't want to have to explain it to my mother."

She turned and looked at us sitting at the table, gazing down at us as if we were her private audience.

"How are you all doing?"

"Well, it's nice of you to ask," Star said. "Actually, I slept very well."

"You did not, you liar. No one could after what we did." She studied me a moment, her eyes suddenly dripping with sympathy. "Cat, I wanted to call you all night, but I was afraid I'd frighten you. Are you okay?"

"No, she's not okay," Star said. "She had a really miserable night, too. Anyone can take one look at her and see that. We have a lot of planning to do, Jade. If you can come down from your cloud of selfpity long enough to listen and think, that is," she added.

"Boy, you're in a good mood. Don't tell me you slept well, cranky head." She plopped back in the chair and sighed. "Okay, okay. Let's plan. Oh," she said before anyone could say anything else, "my parents have a big meeting today with their attorneys. It's all supposed to come to an end, finally. Maybe my mother will have a big party to celebrate. Consider yourselves invited if she does," she said with a sweep of her hand. She was wearing new rings on every finger of her right hand and a beautiful gold charm bracelet.

"I'll put it right at the top of my social calendar," Star said.

"You really think your mother would have a party?" Misty asked.

"I don't know. She's capable of throwing a bash if she feels she won."