Paperquake by Kathryn Reiss Read Free Book Online Page B

initial:
V.
    Violet sat back on her heels, turning the envelope over in her hands. She stood up to show her sisters what she'd found, but they were heading back toward the kitchen to refill the pail with clean water. Violet hesitated, then opened the envelope and removed the folded sheet. It was a short note written in the same brown ink, in a strange, hard-to-read handwriting, all unfamiliar angles and curlicues. The salutation read:
Poor Baby V.
    Violet's heart thumped hard.
That's me,
she thought in astonishment. But how could it be? Then she heard Rose's and Jazzy's laughter from the kitchen and sighed. She sank onto the floor and read the letter.
    Â 
Poor Baby V,
I look at the flowers in the garden and think how wrong it is that they soak up the sun and rain while you are kept indoors. You must pull yourself together and prove to your parents that you will be well and
can work as hard as anyone. Ah, wild V! Remember the quarrel in the restaurant? You were most wonderfully vibrant. Tour response to those abominable twins proved to me—if I ever needed proof!—that you are as strong and capable as anyone. One day you will make an excellent mother—though, of course, our children will never test your patience to such a degree! I think about you all the time and long to save you from your family. Though they say they want to keep you safe, they are only stifling you. My darling, for now you remain their hothouse flower, but someday soon, dear girl, we shall be together in a real garden, in a house we share, and you shall be strong and fresh and free. I am working on a plan.
Your Hal
    Â 
    Violet read the letter again, then folded it, and inserted it back in the envelope. She stood up and dusted off her jeans. Rose and Jasmine came sloshing down the hall with the pail of water. "Ha-ha, you guys," Violet said, flapping the envelope at them. "Getting me back for the hair?"
    "Nothing funny about spilling water all over the floor," said Jasmine. "Be a good sister and wipe it up, will you, Vi? Here's a towel." Jasmine threw her a cloth.
    "What hair?" asked Rose.
    Violet figured they'd probably written the note at the hardware store and hidden it when they returned while she was still out back dumping the old newspapers. It really wasn't very funny at all. She frowned, watching Rose dip the mop into the pail and sluice a path of fresh water across the floorboards. Jasmine followed behind on hands and knees, rubbing with a towel. Violet dropped the cloth on the sales counter and walked over. "I don't like it—and I want to know what it's supposed to mean."
    "Mean what?" asked Rose, depositing another spray of water on the floor.
    "Not so much, Rosy!" cautioned Jasmine. She looked up at Violet. "Don't walk there. It's still damp and you might slip."
    "And break your leg or something," muttered Rose. "And we'd be to blame, of course."
    Violet held out the envelope. "Are you trying to say you didn't write this?"
    Now Jasmine stood up, looking intrigued. "Write what? What is it?"
    "This letter—to me. To 'Poor Baby V.' It's not funny. So what's the point?"
    Rosy leaned the mop against the wall and came to look. "We didn't write that. At least
I
didn't. Look, you can see it's ancient. Did
you
write it, Jazzy?"
    "What's it say? Let me see?" Jasmine held out her hand.
    But Violet stuck her hands behind her back, shielding the letter. She looked around the room as if seeing it for the first time. She felt stiff and chilled, as if the dirty water in the pail ran through her veins. How could this letter be waiting here for her if her sisters hadn't hidden it? And even more important to know, who in the world was Hal?

Chapter 5
    "Look, I'm starving." Violet wedged the letter into her back pocket. "Mom said there was a café on this street. I'm going to go get a sandwich or something." As much as she'd earlier wanted her sisters close by, now she wanted privacy. She wanted to sit and read her letter again, all