The Unwanted by John Saul Read Free Book Online Page B

The child in those pictures, the little girl with the large—almost haunted—dark brown eyes which had stared out from beneath thick bangs, was gone. The girl who stood before Rosemary was now almost grown up. Nearly as tall as Rosemary herself, Cassie held herself erect, her long chestnut hair drawn back to expose a pale face that seemed more mature than her fifteen years. But the girl’s eyes still seemed to have the same haunted look that Rosemary remembered so vividly from the last set of snapshots.
    “I’m Rosemary,” she said, offering Cassie a smile and stepping forward, ready to hug the girl. “I’m so very sorry about what’s happened. If there’s anything I can do …”
    Cassie hesitated—Rosemary could almost feel the girl shrinking away from her. Then she offered Rosemary her hand. “I’m Cassie,” she said softly. “It … it was good of you to take me in.”
    Good of us? Rosemary repeated in her own mind. What a strange thing to say—what else could she have thought might happen?
    “I’ve been wanting to meet you for so long,” Rosemary said out loud. “I even tried to convince your father to take Jennifer and me along the last time he went to visit you, butJennifer was only three, and in the end it just didn’t seem like it would be fair.” She turned and glanced up the stairs. “Jen? Don’t you want to come down and meet your sister?”
    Jennifer suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs, looking shyly down at Cassie. Very slowly she started down the steps. “My name’s Jennifer Elizabeth,” she said, offering her hand to Cassie. “But you can call me Jen, or Jenny. Just don’t call me Punkin. Daddy calls me that, and I hate it. Did he call you by a dumb name when you were little?”
    Cassie stared at the little girl, who was a tiny feminine version of her father. Her reddish curls seemed to go in every direction, and her sparkling green eyes peered out of a square face with a jaw that gave her a stubborn look. But though her voice had been serious when she spoke, Cassie still saw a happy gleam in Jennifer’s eyes.
    “I don’t remember what he called me,” she said. “I was only a baby when he went away.” She turned to her father. “Did you have a nickname for me?”
    Keith spoke without thinking. “Same as Jen’s. Punkin.” Then, seeing the hurt in both his daughters’ eyes, he wished he could take the words back. “I guess I don’t have any imagination, do I?” he offered, trying to ease the moment.
    “Jenny, why don’t you take Cassie upstairs and show her her room?” Rosemary said hurriedly, then turned to Cassie. “Did you really manage to get everything into that one little bag, or are there some suitcases in the car?”
    Cassie shook her head. “This is all I brought. Daddy said I shouldn’t bring anything else—”
    “And you paid attention to him?” Rosemary replied with an exaggerated gasp. “I told him no girl your age could put everything in one bag, and that he shouldn’t have asked you to.”
    “It’s all right,” Cassie replied. “I don’t really have much anyway. All I needed was a few extra clothes.”
    “Well, all right,” Rosemary said doubtfully. “But if you find out you forgot anything, just let me know, and we’ll go do some shopping.”
    Jennifer, who was already halfway up the stairs, whirled around. “Come on,” she urged. “Don’t you even want to see the room?”
    Cassie hurried up the stairs after Jennifer, then followedher down the hall to a large room in the southeast corner of the house. As she stepped through the door, she stopped short. The room had obviously just been done over, but whoever had planned it must have thought she was still ten years old. The walls were papered with what looked like characters out of
Alice in Wonderland
, and the curtains were made out of material that matched the paper. Against one wall there was an ornate brass bed, covered with a blue quilt with white ruffles. In addition