“Yes, but Daniel would never bully a frightened child,” Gus said. “The poor little thing is so fragile to start with.”
“Of course he does have a point,” Sid said.
We looked at her sharply.
“Well, if you were in his shoes, you would have to wonder, wouldn’t you? Why was she the only one who showed no signs of having been in the fire?” When we didn’t answer, she continued, “You think she has buried the horror of that night deep in her subconscious, don’t you, Gus? But if she got out before the fire, would she have experienced any horror? She would never have seen her parents burned.”
“Unless something had happened to her parents first,” I said slowly. They both turned to me. “I suppose we have to consider that it’s just possible she did kill her parents, then set their room on fire, exiting down the fire escape outside their window.” I shook my head quickly. “I don’t want to believe that, and I find it hard to believe, but we do need to find out what made her leave the house unscathed by the fire.”
“But she loved her parents,” Gus said. “You could tell from the way she talked about them. Her father called her his Princess Mabel. Her mother braided her hair. She is devastated by their death.”
“What if it was a horrible accident, and she’s dealing with deep-seated guilt?” Sid said. “What if she went into their room and by mistake knocked over a lamp? Then the flames went up between her and the door, so she escaped the only way she could, down the fire escape?”
“Which still doesn’t explain why she didn’t wake her parents and let them escape too,” I said. “If she’d knocked over the lamp she’d have screamed. They’d have awakened. All would have escaped safely, even if the fire couldn’t be extinguished.” I paused, letting them digest this. “No, there’s something not right here. There was a reason her parents burned in their beds. I think it’s possible they were killed first.”
“By Mabel?” Gus asked.
“I hope not, unless she’s got some kind of demonic possession or evil other self, like one reads about in books.”
“Dual personalities are apparently a documented phenomenon,” Gus said.
“So were you able to make anything of her dream, Gus?” Sid asked. “A black snake that filled the room.”
“I’m afraid I’m in the dark about that,” Gus said. “Unless the nameless monster we all have in our dreams takes on the form of a snake for her, and just symbolizes danger.”
“Why did you ask her if the snake was red?” Sid asked.
“Because I thought she might be using it as a symbol for the fire—tongues of red reaching out for her, rising to fill the room. But she was quite definite that it was black. And it had frightening slit eyes that looked down at her.”
“I noticed something interesting,” I interjected. “She said ‘his’ eyes. She talked of the snake as ‘it’ to begin with, but then she made it masculine.”
“That is interesting,” Gus said. “Let’s hope she is able to write down more details of future nightmares. I feel very strongly that they may unlock the mystery for us.”
“Professor Freud would probably say that the snake was a symbol of masculinity,” Sid commented. “That dreaming of a snake was normal at the time of puberty.”
“He probably would say that,” Gus agreed. “But Mabel wouldn’t be terrified by it unless she had reason to fear her awakening sexuality. And we know she’s been sheltered.”
“There is always her father,” Sid said.
There was a sudden silence in the cab, and the rhythmic clip-clop of the horse’s hoofs sounded unnaturally loud.
“You don’t think her father tried to…” I said, not able to finish the sentence.
“It does happen,” Gus replied.
“So he tried to interfere with her and she killed him?” Even as I said the words I dismissed them in my own mind. Mabel had loved her father; that much was evident. There had been no hesitation when she spoke of either of her parents. It struck me that we were looking for an unknown factor, but at this moment I had no idea what it was.
Fourteen
By the time we reached home my ribs were aching from the constant jolting over cobbles. My mother-in-law took one look at me and ordered me up to bed.
“I told you it was too soon for you to be running around,” she said. “The only thing that can heal ribs is rest. Now, you go and lie down and I’ll bring you up some of the soup I’ve just made.”