"Of course, now that I was once again convinced Bella was up to something sinister, I had to tell Gwen," Cassie said.
-----------------------
Ophelia Villa, Willow Creek, 2000
The next time she came over after school, I pulled her into the kitchen and filled her in.
"... and I thought she was being nice!" I ranted. "Really, she's totally up to something. And now she's getting Mrs. Brown to help her... I mean, you need to be careful. Who knows what she might convince the Browns to do."
"I don't think Doug and Lilian would do anything bad to me," Gwen said soothingly. "They're both really nice."
"Well, I thought Bella was being nice," I put in bitterly.
"Lilian makes brownies," Gwen said serenely but firmly, "and she's teaching me about Postmodernist painting."
That seemed to settle the matter of the Browns in Gwen's mind.
"Alright, fine," I said irritably. "As long as you're sure... but I still don't trust Bella. She not just asking all these questions and hanging out around us for no reason. I'm sure she's checking up on you. I don't know why but it can't be for anything good."
Gwen did start to look concerned about that.
I know it's horrible to say, but I hadn't really noticed that Edwards was in the kitchen with us. I mean, I did really think of him as an important person in my life, a trusted friend and confidant. At the same time, he's the one who told me once that it's the sign of a good butler that you don't really notice them when they're doing their thing. Yeah, I know... horrible.
"Excuse me," Edwards put in, joining us at the table. "I don't want to be out of line here, cher, but it is almost Halloween, and you know you can get emotional at this time of year."
"I am not emotional," I huffed. "I'm angry at Bella."
"I don't understand," Gwen said, puzzled.
"Every year, near Halloween, when the walls between us and the Netherworld are thinnest, Mr. Mortimer and Cas have a big seance," Edwards explained. "They reach out to the spirit of Cas's mother, Victoria... trying to get some message from her."
"It never works," I grumbled. "And this isn't about that."
"It upsets you," Edwards said.
"I'm fine," I lied.
"Oh, but you know what else?" I continued on my rant. "It's almost Halloween and Bella is still insisting on my stupid curfew. Who has a sunset curfew on Halloween!? I tried to tell her that she has to change it, but she won't listen."
"You mean you yelled at her about it," Edwards said.
"She was being totally unreasonable!" I insisted.
"You'll catch more flies with honey than you will with vinegar, cher," Edwards suggested.
"Why would you want to catch flies?" Gwen asked. "Unless you had a frog and you wanted to feed it fresh flies. Oh, we could turn Elly into a frog and feed her the flies you catch... with the honey."
"It's a saying." Edwards wasn't used to Gwen's odd tangents. "It means you're more likely to get what you want by being nice than by being angry."
"But... why flies?" Gwen asked.
I couldn't help but smile. Unfortunately, it didn't last.
"Anyway," I tried to continue. "She has all these lame reasons about not wanting me to be out too late... and how I needed to show her I could be responsible and polite and all that garbage. Like I'm not polite and responsible!"
"Well, you were yelling at her, I guess," Gwen said.
"She's totally unreasonable," I said firmly. "And she thinks it's like dangerous for me to be out at night. What does she think... that I'm going to get attacked by some crazed trick-or-treater or something!"
"Your mother cares about you, cher," Edwards said.
"Stepmother," I snapped.
"Stepmother, then," Edwards allowed, beginning to sound irritated with me. "She has still been a good one to you, cher, and she's a good partner to your father."
"Oh, oh, I didn't tell you!" I said suddenly. "I think she might be cheating on him!"
"Cassandra Goth," Edwards said, a hint of anger in his voice. "I will not hear this from you."
"When I was waiting to talk to her about the curfew," I pressed on, missing his warning. "I saw her on the veranda talking to some strange guy."
"Shame on you, cher," Edwards said firmly. "A woman may talk to a man without doing anything that would shame her! I make allowances for your feelings, girl, but Bella is never anything but a good wife to your father and a good mother to you and Alexander."
"Stepmother," I said, but softly because I knew in my heart, he was right.
"Stepmother, then," Edwards repeated, making it clear what he thought. "She cares about you, regardless... and you do not honor your mother by being angry with the woman she trusted to look after you."
"She ought to be here looking after me herself," I said. Being angry meant I wasn't going to cry, damn it. "She ought to be here! Why isn't she here?"
"I don't know, cher," Edwards said gently. "I don't know."
