Chapter20 Mary Appeals to Anna

Anna's in her room brushing her doll's hair when Mary visits. "Hi, Anna. Did you miss me?" Mary picks up another doll starts brushing its hair. "Yeah; where were you the past couple of days?" "Oh; around. I had some things I had to do." "Mary," Anna asks, "where are you going to stay now?" "What do you mean?" "The barn collapsed. You use to stay there; so, now where are you going to stay?" Mary's momentarily quiet before answering. "I guess I'll stay at my other place." "What other place?" Anna stops brushing the doll's hair and looks at Mary. Mary stops brushing her doll's hair; but, doesn't look at Anna. "Just another place; it doesn't matter. Anyway; what did your mom tell you happened to the barn?" Anna goes back to brushing the doll's hair. "She said it fell because it was old." "That's it?" Mary starts brushing her doll's hair again. "Yeah." "That's not exactly true, you know; Anna." "What's not true?" "What your mom told you about the barn." Mary puts down the doll and brush, walks over to the window, and gazes out at the pile of wood that once was the barn. Anna puts down her doll and brush, and goes over to Mary. She looks at the fallen barn and asks, "What happened to it?" Mary turns to Anna, who's still looking out the window, and whispers in her ear, "I did it." Anna quickly turns and faces Mary. "What do you mean you did it?" Mary turns and looks out the window. "I made the barn fall." Not even bothering to ask her how she did it; Anna asks, "Why?" "Because I got mad at your mom." Anna, stunned, moves a few steps back. "What? Why did you get mad at my mom?" Mary looks back at Anna. "Because she didn't believe something that I told her. She said I was lying. I'm not a liar, Anna." Anna stands there, silent; looking at Mary. Mary turns back to looking out the window. "I don't think your mom likes me, Anna." "Why not?" "Because of lies Chelsea's telling her about me." Anna steps in closer to Mary. "My mom talks with Chelsea?" "Yes." "What do they talk about?" "You mean besides the lies she's telling your mom about me? She tells your mom she's looking for her brother…Tommy…pretending to be concerned about him; but, she's not." "Then why's she looking for him?" "She wants to hurt him." "Hurt him?" "Yes. And she wants to take him away to a bad place." "What bad place?" "A very bad place." Anna asks, "Does my mom know what Chelsea's trying to do?" Mary…who's been looking out the window this entire time…turns back to look at Anna. "No. Chelsea's lying to her about that, too." She returns to looking out the window. There's silence between the two for a couple of minutes before Mary asks… "Anna; have you and your mom gone to the diner recently?" "We were there a couple of days ago; why?" "Just wondering." She pauses, and then asks, "Does Delilah still work there?" "Yeah." "Really? Are you sure?" "Uh-huh; she was our waitress." Mary becomes flustered and talks aloud to herself. "It can't be! I saw them bury her! What are those bastards up to?" She notices Anna standing there looking at her, frightened by her sudden outburst; and, goes over to try to relax her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, Anna." "Who'd they bury?" "Nobody, I was just babbling nonsense; forget about it. What you need to worry about is what Chelsea's telling your mom. She's trying to turn your mom against me. She wants your mom to stop us from being friends." "Why?" "Because I know the truth about her…about this house. I know what's been going on here; and, she doesn't want your mom to listen to me. Your mom needs to listen to me…to believe me. Your lives are depending on it."