The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog Read Online Free PDF Page B

human beings.) When she replied I was relieved to hear that her voice was perfectly normal and when I entered, to find her sitting quietly with a book on her lap, I saw no trace of tears on her smooth cheeks. Then I realized that the book was upside down, and I saw the crumpled ruin on the floor near the bed. It had once been her best hat, a confection of fine straw and satin ribbons, its wide brim heaped with pink silk flowers. No accident could have reduced it to such a state. She must have stamped on it.

She had forgotten about the hat. When I looked back at her, her lips had tightened and her frame had stiffened, as if in expectation of a reprimand or a blow.

"Pink is not your color," I said. "I should never have persuaded you to wear that absurd object."

I thought for a moment she would break down. Her lips trembled,then they curved in a smile.

"I jumped on it," she said.

"I thought you must have."

"I am sorry. I know it cost a great deal of money."

"You have a great deal of money. You can stamp on as many hats as you like." I seated myself at the foot of the chaise longue "However, there are probably more effective ways of dealing with the matter that troubles you. What happened? Was someone rude to you?"

"Rude?" She considered the question with an unnervingly adult detachment. "I don't know what that means. Is it rude to say things that make another person feel small and ugly and stupid?"

"Very rude," I said. "But how could you possibly believe such taunts? You have the use of a mirror, you must know you outshine those plain, malicious little creatures as the moon dims the stars. Dear me, I believe I was on the verge of losing my temper. How unusual. What did they say?"

She studied me seriously. "Will you promise you will not hurry to the school and beat them with your parasol?"

It took me a moment to realize that the light in her blue eyes was that of laughter. She hardly ever made jokes, at least not with me.

"Oh, very well," I replied, smiling. "They were jealous, Nefret— the nasty little toads."

"Perhaps." Her delicate lips curled. "There was a young man there, Aunt Amelia."

"Oh, good heavens!" I exclaimed. "Had I but known— "

"Miss Mclntosh did not know he was coming either. He was looking for a school for his sister, for whom he is guardian, and expressed a wish to meet some of the other young ladies in order to see if they would be suitable associates for her. He must be very rich, because Miss Mclntosh was extremely polite to him. He was also very handsome. One of the girls, Winifred, desired him." She saw my expression and her smile faded. "I have said something wrong."

"Er—not wrong. That is not quite the way Winifred would put it . . ."

"You see?" She spread her hands wide in a gesture as graceful as it was somehow alien. "I cannot speak without making such mistakes. I have not read the books they have read or heard the music I cannot
play on the piano or sing as they sing or speak languages— "

"Nor can they," I said with a snort. "A few words of French and German— "

"Enough to say things I do not understand, and then look at one another and laugh. They have always acted so, but today, when Sir Henry sat beside me and looked at me instead of looking at Winifred, every word was a veiled insult. They talked only of things of which I am ignorant, and asked me questions—
oh, so sweetly!— to which I did not know the answers. Winifred asked me to sing. I had already told her I could not."

"What did you do?"

Nefret's expression was particularly demure "I sang I sang the Invocation to Isis."

"The ..." I paused to swallow. "The chant you sang in the temple of the Holy Mountain? Did you . . . dance, as you did then?"

"Oh, yes, it is part of the ritual. Sir Henry said I was enchanting. But I do not think Miss Mclntosh will ask me to come to tea again."

I could not help it. I laughed till the tears flowed from my eyes. "Well, never mind," I said, wiping them away. "You will not have