Read Online Sleeping Helena by Erzebet YellowBoy - Free Book Online

difficult to imagine going against Thekla in any matter, yet Eva did imagine it.
    They knew nothing of Kitty, not really. The more Eva questioned it, the more she realized that they had each formed an opinion of Kitty by way of Thekla. Whoever Thekla loved, they loved. Whoever Thekla despised, they despised. A surge of guilt flooded Eva as these ideas took shape, as though she was already defying her sister just by considering them. She fussed with a button on her sweater. The pearl slipped through her fingers, too small to grasp.
    Eva decided, after a great deal of sighing and mumbling, to visit Kitty herself. She would form her own opinion, once and for all.
    It was treachery. Eva left through the kitchen while Thekla was busy elsewhere. She felt like a thief as she crept through the gardens, hoping to avoid detection. Eva did not remember much of Kitty beyond her appearance at Helena’s christening. She recalled a young face, long hair kept in a neat braid, and heard laughter, but when she tried to get a sense of the person, there was only an empty space. When Kitty left it was as though a piece of the family puzzle went missing beneath the rug. Eva got used to the missing piece, as people will, and filled in the hole with her own ideas about whoever once fit there. Thekla’s ideas, she reminded herself.
    As the years had passed, the legend of Kitty had grown. Demented, cursed, wild: these were the words used to describe their sister, spoken so often their true meanings had become dulled. Was Kitty demented? She had not seemed so at the christening. Indecipherable, yes, but not mad — at least no more so than Thekla, who had brought the mirrors down.
    When Eva reached the door to the coach house, she found it already open. She cursed under her breath. She did not need a reminder of Kitty’s extra gift, not when she was trying to see her sister in a different light. Without warning, Kitty appeared in the doorway. Eva felt a blush darken her cheeks. She put her hand to her face before she realized what she was doing.
    “You were expecting me.”
    “Of course I was.” Kitty smiled and held the door open, ushering Eva inside.
    It was no way to begin the encounter. Eva was flustered, her stomach rumbled and Kitty, her blue eyes as clear as still water, seemed more like a cat intent on a mouse than an old woman in a floral housedress.
    I defied Kitty once , Eva remembered. Kitty might still hold it against her.
    “Make yourself comfortable,” Kitty waved at the cluster of chairs that filled the sitting room at the front of the small, weathered coach house.
    Eva doubted she would find comfort anywhere in Kitty’s presence, but she eased herself into a cushioned armchair and watched her eldest sister do the same. Beneath the wrinkles and the stray white hairs that fell away from her bun, Eva found a familiar echo of Kitty’s youth. Eva was shocked at the bond she felt; it was almost as though they had never been apart. They could easily have embraced, but did not.
    Eva was unsure of how to begin, or even what the conversation should be about. She simply wanted to get a sense of her sister and try to understand how things had come to such a pass.
    “Katza,” Eva used her formal name. “How have you been?”
    “I’ve been well, thank you for asking, though I doubt you came here to check on the state of my health.” Kitty saw no need for pleasantries between them.
    Karl startled Eva when he entered the room, bearing a tray of coffee and marzipan sweets. She blinked, stunned to find a man in her sister’s household. Her surprise quickly faded to gratitude for the distraction. Eva needed a moment to consider Kitty’s blunt words. She watched in horror as Kitty took three of the round candies and popped them into her mouth like a greedy child.
    “Do have one.” She lifted the tray towards Eva. “From München. Very tasty,” she said between bites.
    Eva took one delicately between thumb and forefinger. It was