The Sisters Montclair

The Sisters Montclair Read Online Free PDF Page B

Book: The Sisters Montclair Read Online Free PDF
Author: Cathy Holton
Tags: Fiction, General, Historical, Family Life, Retail, Contemporary Women
her Alice said in a querulous voice, “Wait. What are you doing?”
    “You said to hang it on the back of the chair.”
    “Why do you have my sweater? Where did you get that?”
    “You were wearing it. You gave it to me to hang up.”
    “Sweaters belong in that closet over there.”
    “Okay. I’ll hang it in the closet then.”
    “Oh, that’s right. I was wearing it. Put it on the back of that chair.”
    Her tone was different than it had been earlier in the day, impatient, petulant. She was like a stranger sitting there, her eyes fixed suspiciously on Stella. Stella helped her take off her tennis shoes and Alice went into the bathroom and brushed her teeth. Stella pulled down the bed covers the way Janice had showed her. Alice came out of the bathroom, pushing the walker in front of her. She sat on the edge of the bed in her slip and socks with her hair standing up around her head in curly wisps. Stella laid Alice’s nightgown out on the bed beside her and then she began to smooth baby oil on Alice’s arms, shoulders, and legs. Her skin was mottled and purple with bruises and it soaked up the oil like old parchment.
    “Did you ever see such a mess?” Alice said, staring down at her helpless body.
    Stella, embarrassed, said, “Does this help with the dryness?” The old woman seemed to be coming in and out of awareness. Twice she looked at Stella as if she had no idea who she was and once she called her, Martha.
    “Put some of that in my hand,” Alice said, holding out one cupped hand twisted with arthritis. “So I can put it on my face.”
    Stella tried to tap some into her palm but the oil wouldn’t come. Alice sighed. Stella tried again. Alice made a low whistling sound, an obvious expression of disgust, and Stella felt her face warm.
    She gave a more vigorous squeeze and this time the oil spurted out of the bottle into Alice’s palm and ran down onto her slip.
    “Oh, Lord,” Alice said.
    Stella quickly capped the bottle and dabbed at Alice’s slip with a Kleenex. It was embarrassing and yet comical, too. She giggled nervously.
    “Sorry,” she said.
    Alice watched her, gingerly applying the oil to her face. “I don’t know that you’re cut out to be a caregiver,” she said.
    “I’ll get it, Alice. I promise. I’m fairly intelligent.”
    “I’ll be the judge of that,” Alice said serenely.

Three

    T he next morning Stella cornered Elaine in the kitchen before she clocked out.
    “I have to ask you something,” Stella said. “I hope you won’t think I’m crazy.”
    “You didn’t get her to change her dress.”
    “What? Oh, no, I asked her but she said no.”
    Elaine stared, her eyes blue and emotionless.
    Stella hesitated. “Have you ever heard footsteps in the hallway? Or had a strange feeling down in the basement?”
    Elaine gave Stella a long, inscrutable look. “Are you asking me if the house is haunted? Because I’ve been here three years and I’ve never seen or heard anything out of the ordinary.” She crossed her arms over her chest, considering. “There was an evening caregiver a few years ago who woke up in the middle of the night and swore she saw an Indian standing in her room. She left and never came back. And there was another one who said she saw a man wearing plaid pants watching her in the basement. But they’re the only ones I know of.”
    “I heard whispering on the monitor.”
    Elaine’s expression was mildly condescending and Stella wished now she hadn’t said anything. She was a psychology major and she’d taken enough classes to know that ghostly hallucinations are often projections of inner emotional turmoil. Given that definition, it was amazing that she didn’t see phantoms everywhere.
    Elaine gave a slight shrug. “Alice talks in her sleep. I’ve heard her.”
    “But this voice was low and very – husky. It didn’t sound like her.”
    “Her voice is fairly deep.” Elaine smirked suddenly and Stella understood why Alice didn’t like
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