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I sighed and shook my head.

"You're impossible, Gisselle. I told you everything. I heard the music, looked into the room, and spoke to him for a few minutes. That was all."

"Did he tell you how his parents died?"

"No."

"Well, what do you think happened?" she asked.

"I don't know, but it must have been something horrible." Abby agreed.

"Well now," Gisselle said, smiling from ear to ear, "at least we have something to find out and something to hold over Mrs. Penny if she ever so much as threatens us with a demerit."

"Stop it, Gisselle. And don't start anything with your fan club either," I said, but I might as well have been talking to myself. The moment the other girls set eyes on us, Gisselle was ready to tell all, from Buck to Mrs. Clairborne's grandson.

Alone back in our room, after we had taken off our nice clothes and put on jeans and sweatshirts, I did tell Abby more about Louis. We lay on our stomachs, side by side on my bed.

"He doesn't think much of Greenwood girls," I explained. "He thinks Mrs. Ironwood and his grandmother turn us all into puppets."

"He might not be too far off thinking that. You heard Mrs. Clairborne's speech about the traditions we must uphold and how we must behave."

"Did you notice that all the clocks were stopped, even the watch around her neck?"

"No," Abby said. "Were they?"

"All at the same hour and minute: at five after two."

"How strange."

"I was going to ask Mrs. Penny about it, but when she became so agitated over my side trip and my meeting Louis, I decided not to add anymore pepper to the gumbo."

Abby laughed.

"What?"

"Every once in a while your Cajun background sneaks back," she said.

"I know. Louis could detect my accent and knew I was from the bayou. He was surprised I was permitted to enroll, considering I wasn't a true blueblood."

"What do you suppose would happen to me if they found out the truth about my past?" Abby said.

"And what truth is that?" Gisselle demanded.

We both spun around and gasped at the sight of her in our doorway. We were so engrossed in our conversation that we hadn't heard her open the door-- or else, knowing her, she had opened it softly just so she could spy on us. She wheeled herself into the room, and I sat up in my bed.

"Having a heart to heart, girls?" she teased.

"You should knock before coming in here, Gisselle. You want your privacy, I'm sure."

"I thought you'd be happy to have me come by. I happen to have found out the story of poor Louis," she said, smiling her Cheshire cat smile. Actually, she reminded me more of the sort of muskrat Grandpere Jack trapped.

"And how did you do that?"

"Jacki knew. Seems it isn't all as big a secret as Mrs. Penny pretended. There are skeletons in Mrs. Clairborne's closets," she sang gleefully.

"What sort of skeletons?" Abby asked.

"What's your secret first?"