Cries of the Children(37)
Bear, of course, did not answer.
Tatiana held him tightly, feeling anger beyond her years. It wasn’t fair! It just wasn’t fair! If they’d been in the woods, they’d know Steven was up to something! Then her mommy (her second mommy—not her real mommy, she decided) would know she wasn’t a liar at all.
She began to throw all her things into the center of her bedspread, planning to gather it all up together like a hobo’s bundle. No way was she going to leave one item in here for stupid Steven to mess up!
One by one, each of her belongings went into the pile. Her anger grew until at last she threw a doll with such force that it bounced against the headboard and landed with a flattened nose. At once Tatiana ran around the bed to pick up the injured doll. She hugged it close and began to cry loudly.
“It isn’t fair, Daisy! It isn’t fair!”
Downstairs, Eric had come home from the hardware store. When he walked into the house, he stood at the bottom of the stairs and called up.
“Rachel?”
Instead of his wife, he heard Tatiana’s loud wails. Wondering what had made the child so miserable, he hurried up to her room. Eric found his daughter sitting with her back against the side of her bed, her “Daisy” doll clutched tightly in her arms.
“Tati? What’s wrong, honey?”
Tatiana looked up at him with red, brimming eyes.
“She’s making me give my whole room to Steven,” she complained. “Olivia says Mommy wants me to take everything out of my room and give it to him, forever!”
Eric crouched down.
“Honey, you must have misunderstood,” he said. “Nobody’s going to make you give up your room forever!”
“But . . .”
Eric helped her to her feet.
“Come on,” he said. “We’ll find your mother, and she’ll explain things. Everything will be all right, you’ll see.”
Sniffling, Tatiana wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve. Eric found a box of tissues on her dresser and handed some to her. Then they went downstairs together.
They found Helga ironing in the laundry room.
“Mrs. Freleng went out?” Eric asked.
“She went shopping,” Helga said. She nodded her head toward Tatiana. “She is not supposed to be out of her room.”
Eric frowned at his daughter. “You didn’t tell me that. What happened, exactly?”
Tatiana hung her head. “Something got Ralphie Mercken in the woods, and Steven did it, and when I told Mommy, she didn’t believe me, and now I’m in trouble.”
“What do you mean, “something got Ralph Mencken in the woods’?” Eric repeated.
Tatiana told him what she’d told Rachel. When she finished, Eric looked to Helga for clarification, but the German woman only shrugged.
“Do you believe me?” Tatiana asked hopefully.
Eric sighed. “I know you don’t tell lies, Tatiana. But maybe you were mistaken. If Ralph had bullied Steven, why would he lie about it?”
“Mr. Frelong,” Helga said, “if I may say something? You were a boy once. Would you tell when someone was stronger than you?”
Eric thought about this, then nodded.
“Steven was too embarrassed to admit what happened,” he said. He looked down at Tatiana. “But it’s hard for me to buy that part about the wind.”
“It’s true!”
“If it had really happened,” Eric pointed out, “then there would be leaves and branches down in this whole area.”
He pointed out the window, across the back field.
“But look at the edge of the woods,” he said. “Not a broken branch or fallen leaf to be seen!”
Tatiana’s lower lip began to tremble.
“You don’t believe me either,” she said.
Eric picked her up and hugged her.
“Honey, I don’t think you’re lying,” he said. “I think you have an overactive imagination. And I think that you should respect Steven’s wishes for privacy. If he wants to talk about what Ralphie did, he will.”
They heard the front door open and close.
“Come on, your mother is home,” Eric said as he put his daughter down again. “Let’s talk with her.”
“Daddy, I’m scared . . .”
“Of what?” Eric asked. “She’s your mother, and she loves you. She’d never hurt you!”
But she already did, Tatiana thought. She wanted to tell her father this, but she was just too young to put the concept of emotional hurt into words.
Rachel and Steven were halfway up the stairs, both burdened with packages, when Eric stopped them. Rachel turned around and gave Tatiana a hard look.
“You weren’t supposed to leave your room,” she said. “Eric, did Tatiana tell you she’s been a bad girl? She was sent to her room for lying.”