"Shirley Damsgaard - Witch Hunt" - читать интересную книгу автора (Damsgaard Shirley)

Tink gave a heavy sigh. тАЬThat stuffтАЩs stupid.тАЭ

тАЬOkay, then what did you do?тАЭ

тАЬThe usual.тАЭ

I tried again to get her talking. тАЬThings have obviously changed since I was thirteen, so whatтАЩs usual these
days?тАЭ

Tink shifted in her seat and turned her head toward the window. тАЬLook, IтАЩm tired and I donтАЩt want to
talk right now.тАЭ

The rest of the short drive home was silent. How do you force a reluctant thirteen-year-old to talk? The
answerтАФyou donтАЩt. I would just have to wait until Tink was ready to open up.

My Victorian cottage sat on the edge of town. Its fading yellow siding with white shutters was a welcome
sight after the stone-silent ride from NellтАЩs. Maybe once Tink was home sheтАЩd open up and tell me what
happened at the party.

IтАЩd barely stopped the car when she jumped out, grabbed her stuff out of the back, and hurried up the
front walk. By the time I caught up with her, her sleeping bag and backpack lay carelessly tossed by the
front door. Tink knelt on the floor with her arms wrapped tightly around my dog, LadyтАЩs, neck. Her face
was buried in LadyтАЩs thick white fur.

Lady cocked her head, and two eyes, one brown, one blue, shot a look at me that seemed to say, What
do I do now?

тАЬGot me,тАЭ I muttered to myself.

I walked over and reached out tentatively toward Tink. тАЬSweetie, donтАЩt you want to tell me what
happened?тАЭ I asked gently.
Violet eyes, shimmering with tears, stared up at me. тАЬNo.тАЭ She popped up like a jack-in-the box,
wheeled away, and fled up the stairs before I could utter a word.

Lady scrambled after her.

Moments later I heard the door to her bedroom slam shut.

I stood in the hallway and looked around while my brain scrambled for a way to help Tink.

This motherhood gig was harder than it looked, I thought. And тАЬjust love themтАЭ wasnтАЩt going to solve this
problem.

Two
тАЬSomething happened with Tink this weekend.тАЭ I stood behind the counter at the library, pulling the
library cards out of the file. My assistant, Darci, lounged two feet away.

Blue eyes, big blond hair, and a very curvy figure were the first things one noticed about her. In the past
sheтАЩd always played up those attributes, but lately things had changed. The bloodred fingernails were