Read Online Yesternight by Cat Winters - Free Book Online Page B

I’m imagining a dark cloak made of feathers and beady little bird eyes.”
    â€œWho did teach Janie advanced mathematics, then? How can a child of seven multiply fractions in her head without writing a single number down on paper?”
    Miss Simpkin slid the pencil between her teeth again. “She’s simply been good at numbers for as long as I can remember.”
    â€œShe calculated fractions , Miss Simpkin. You must know how miraculous a feat that is for a child as young as she.”
    â€œI do, and none of us understands it. Her intelligence isn’t the part that concerns me, however—unless Michael parades her around in front of men of science or newspaper journalists because of it.”
    I arched my brows. “ Has he gone to the newspapers?”
    â€œHe once lured reporters to Gordon Bay, not long before he and my sister separated. He claimed he wanted to use the papers to find other parents with children like Janie, but my sister sent the newsmen packing. She doesn’t want any fuss or exposure—that’s why we must be so careful about the way we approach all of this.” Miss Simpkin fumbled to open a lower drawer in her desk.
    I tucked the record booklet into my briefcase. “I would like to speak to the girl’s mother.”
    â€œRebecca won’t speak to you.”
    â€œAre you certain?”
    â€œQuite certain. She’s hoping Janie’s eccentricities simply settle down and disappear.” Miss Simpkin gritted her teeth and continued tugging on the drawer, which sounded to be jammed. “We just want this to all go away, but I’m so frightened that it won’t.”
    â€œNo, it won’t, I’m afraid. If her father . . .” I peeked over my shoulder to ensure that Mr. O’Daire hadn’t entered the schoolroom behind me. “If Mr. O’Daire is feeding the child these Violet Sunday stories, as you suggested yesterday, then there certainly can’t be a resolution until someone speaks to him about his motives. On the other hand, if there’s been a trauma—a near-drowning in Janie’s past, for example—then her fears, I’m sorry to say, will continue to beleaguer her until someone helps her to cope with the tragedy.”
    The drawer burst open, and Miss Simpkin jerked backward with a small cry. She then lunged toward the desk and fished out the box of cigarettes.
    â€œBesides,” I said, clearing my throat, “I should like to speak to Mrs. O’Daire about long-term plans for Janie’s supernormal intelligence. We’ll need to ensure that the child is being challenged. We may even need to arrange for her to attend a special school for advanced children in the near future.”
    Miss Simpkin slid a pure white cigarette between her lips. “Rebecca would never send Janie away.”
    â€œWell, we might be able to establish a school for above-average children in the coastal region, just as we would for the children who struggle to keep up with their peers.”
    With a flick of her lighter, Miss Simpkin set the end of the cigarette aglow. “I think . . .” She paused to take a puff with the cigarette wedged between her teeth, forcing her to speak out of the left side of her mouth. “The first thing you need to do, Miss Lind, is to remove yourself from Michael O’Daire’s hotel.”
    I blinked. “I . . . I beg your pardon?”
    â€œI’m not suggesting that anything untoward would happen between the two of you . . .” She gave me the once-over, prompting me to cross my arms over my chest. “But Rebecca isn’t going to like hearing from Janie that she’s being evaluated by a woman who’s sleeping under Michael’s roof. If you want my sister to trust you, if you want to have any hope of speaking to her”—she took another smoke, her eyes fixed upon me—“then please, immediately, stop letting her ex-husband