In the days before her twin sisters
drowned, she... In the days before her twin sisters
drowned, she was one scared kid, but she was
afraid to say anything, because she felt that the
things going wrong were all her fault
"What things?" It was Jack
863
"I don't know exactly, but there's one picture of
an old-timey Negro lawn jockey standing on his
head, and I think that stands for everythingI
think that for Elizabeth, in those last days,
everything seemed to be standing on its head
There was more than that to the lawn jockey - I
was almost positive - but I didn't know what, and
this probably wasn't the time to chase after it,
anyway"I think in the days before and just after
Tessie and Laura drowned, the family might almost
have been prisoners at Heron's Roost
"And only Elizabeth would have known why?"
tiffany and co bracelets Wireman
asked"Nan Melda might have
known some of itProbably knew some of it
"Who was at that house during the period after the
treasure-find and before the drownings?" Jack
asked"I suppose Maria and Hannah
might have come home from school for a weekend or
two, and Eastlake could have been away on business
for part of March and AprilThe ones who were
surely there that whole time were Elizabeth,
Tessie, Laura, and Nan MeldaAnd Elizabeth tried
864
to draw her new 'friend' out of existence"She did it
with her colored pencils, the ones in the basket
This was just before Tessie and Laura drowned
Maybe the night beforeBecause their drownings
were punishment, right? The way Tom killing Pam
was supposed to be my punishment, for pryingI
mean, you see that?"
"Christ
rolex watches discount almighty," Jack whisperedWireman was
very pale
"Until then, I don't think Elizabeth understood
I thought about this, then shrugged"Hell, I
can't remember how much I understood when I was
fourBut until then probably the worst thing that
had ever happened to her in her life - other than
falling out of that pony-trap, and I'll bet she
didn't even remember that - was getting turned
over her Daddy's knee and paddled or having her
hand slapped for trying to take one of Nan Melda's
jam tarts before they were cooledWhat did she
know about the nature of evil? All she knew was
that Perse was naughty, Perse was a bad doll
instead of a good doll, she was out of control and
getting out-of-controller all the time, she had to
865
be sent awaySo Libbit sat down with her
new louis vuitton handbags pencils
and some drawing paper and told herself, 'I can do
thisIf I go slow and do my best work, I can do
this'" I stopped and passed my hand over my eyes
"I think that's right, but you have to take it
with a grain of saltIt could be mixed up with
what I remember about myselfMy mind playing more
tricksMore stupid fucking pet tricks
"Take it easy, muchacho," Wireman said
She tried to draw Perse out of existenceHow does
one do a thing like that?"
"Draw and then erase
"Perse didn't let her?"
"Perse didn't know, I'm almost sure of itBecause
Elizabeth was able to hide what she meant to do
If you ask me how, I can't tell youIf you ask me
if it was her own idea - something she thought up
by herself at the age of four-"
"Not beyond belief," Wireman said"In a way,
louis vuitton speedy 30 it's
four-year-old thinking
"I don't understand how she could have kept it
from this Perse," Jack saida little
kid?"
"I don't know, either," I said
866
"In any case, it didn't work," Wireman saidI think she made the drawing, and
I'm sure she did it in pencil, and I think when
she was done, she erased the whole thingIt
probably would have killed a human being the way I
killed Candy Brown, but Perse wasn't humanAll it
did was make her angryShe paid Elizabeth back by
taking the twins, whom she idolizedTessie and
Laura didn't go down that path to the Shade Beach
to look for more treasureThey
ended up in the water, and they were lost
"Only not for good," Wireman said, and I knew he
was thinking of certain small footprintsNot to
mention the thing that had been in my
dolce gabbana handbags kitch