Free A Coming Evil by Vivian Vande Velde Page A

the hill, and Lisette knew better than to ask if she could go out to play. Still, the perfect opportunity presented itself after lunch, when Aunt Josephine announced that she had a headache and was going to take a nap.
    Before Aunt Josephine had made it to the top of the stairs, Cecile sidled up to Lisette. "I know what you're planning," she whispered. "And you better not, or I'll tell."
    Lisette forced an I-couldn't-begin-to-imagine-what-you're-talking-about smile. "I was just going to suggest a nice game of hide and seek. I'll be it."
    "Oh no you don't," Cecile said. "Hide and seek gets played
in
side."
    "Well, I'm going
outside,
for a few minutes," Lisette hissed. There was no telling how long Aunt Josephine's nap would last. Lisette fought the impulse to push Cecile out of the way.
    Cecile took a step toward the stairs, and Lisette clamped her hand over Cecile's mouth. Just then Emma came around the corner from the living room.
    "What are you doing?" Emma asked as Cecile tried to bite and Lisette tried not to yell.
    "Go away," Lisette told her. Then, to Cecile she offered, "I'll brush your hair."
    Cecile kept struggling.
    Lisette took a deep breath and said, "I'll let you brush my hair."
    Emma shook her head. "Don't let her brush your hair," she warned with a shiver.
    But Cecile had stopped struggling.
    "All right?" Lisette asked. "You let me go out for a little while and you don't tell your mother, then we'll brush each other's hair?"
    Cecile nodded and Lisette removed her hand from her mouth. Cecile said, "Except that we'll brush first, and
then
you'll go out."
    "No," Lisette said. "If your mother decides to get
up after only fifteen minutes or so, we can still brush while she's up, but I can't go out. That's the whole point. And I'll brush for as long as I was out. You can time me."
    "I'll time you," Emma volunteered, as though she could tell time.
    "Go away," Cecile told her. Then, to Lisette she said, "Brush first."
    "Why do we always have to do everything your way?" Lisette asked.
    "Because this is my house."
    "Yes," Lisette said, "but whenever you stay at my house, you say we have to do what you want because you're my guest."
    "You're not my guest," Cecile said. "You're a refugee."
    "You little beast." Lisette grabbed for Cecile's hair.
    "Fight! Fight!" Emma cried.
    "Shhh!" Both Lisette and Cecile hovered over the little girl.
    "Lisette!" Aunt Josephine called down from her room. "Get the children to play more quietly."
    "Yes, Aunt Josephine," Lisette said at the same time Cecile said, "Yes, Maman." To Emma—and to Louis Jerome and Anne who had come running in from the living room—Lisette said, "We're not going to fight." She glowered at Cecile. "Five minutes," she said.
    "You said for as long as—"
    "That's only if I go out first."
    "Brush first, and however long you brush, if you're gone longer than that, I'm going straight upstairs and telling."
    "Fine," Lisette said. "Beast."
    Ten minutes of brushing was all Lisette dared—five minutes of her brushing Cecile's hair, and five long minutes of Cecile brushing hers. Louis Jerome timed.
    "Where are you going?" Etienne asked as she put on her boots afterwards.
    "To check on the rabbits," Lisette told him.
    "I fed them already this morning."
    "I'm not feeding them, I'm checking them."
    Emma asked, "Are you going to eat one?"
    Lisette sighed. "No, I'm not going to eat one. I'm checking them."
    "Checking for what?" Louis Jerome asked. "Is there something wrong with them? If they get sick—"
    "Louis Jerome," Lisette said, "the rabbits are fine, I'm fine, everything is fine. Please keep the children from disturbing Aunt Josephine, all right?"
    She could tell that he was certain she was keeping dire news from him, but he nodded.
    "You're wasting time," Cecile said as Lisette tied on a kerchief to cover the dozen or so barrettes Cecile had fastened in her hair. Cecile was leaning on the doorway, making a show of looking at the clock.
    "You can't start timing until I