And then, just as she was expecting Tracy to start clawing at her, she heard another voice.
“Beth? Beth, are you all—My God, what’s happening in here?” A second later she felt Tracy’s weight being lifted off her and opened her eyes to see her mother staring down at her.
And beyond her mother, she saw her stepfather, his hand clamped tightly on Tracy’s forearm. Wiping at her face with one hand, she pulled herself together, then got to her feet.
“What on earth were you doing?” she heard her mother demand. “What’s going on?”
Beth glanced at Tracy out of the corner of her eye, then shook her head. “Nothing,” she said. “She … she wanted me to shut off my radio, and I wouldn’t do it.”
Carolyn turned to Tracy. “Well? Is that true?”
Tracy’s chin jutted out, and she glared at Carolyn. “I don’t have to answer you! You’re not my mother!” Then she winced as her father’s hand tightened on her arm.
“You do have to answer Carolyn,” Phillip said, his voice calm but firm. “It’s true that she’s not your mother, but she’s my wife, and you will respect that. Now, is what Beth said the truth?”
Tracy remained silent for another few seconds, her eyes flashing venomously at Beth. “No!” she said at last. “She didn’t even have her dumb radio on! She was threatening to kill me, just like she already killed Jeff Bailey!”
As Beth’s eyes widened, and her skin turned ashen, a silence fell over the room. Both Phillip and Carolyn stared at Tracy in shocked horror.
It was Phillip who finally spoke. “The only threat I heard was yours. Now, go to your room, and stay there until either Carolyn or I tell you to come out. And in the future, stay out of Beth’s room unless she invites you in.”
“It’s not her room—” Tracy protested, but her father let her go no further.
“That’s enough, Tracy!”
Tracy’s eyes glittered angrily, but she said nothing more. She stamped out of the room, slamming the door behind her. When she was gone, Carolyn sat down on the edge of the bed, and motioned Beth to join her.
“Did you threaten to kill Tracy?” she asked.
Beth hesitated, then nodded silently.
“But why?”
Beth’s chin trembled, but she managed to keep herself under control. “B-because she said I killed Jeff Bailey,” she whispered. “She came in, and said she knew what I did, and that she was going to tell Uncle Phillip.”
“But you didn’t do anything,” Phillip interjected. “What did she think she knew?”
“She was listening last night when I was talking to Mom,” Beth explained. “She heard me telling Mom about my dream, and said I was just making it all up.”
Phillip’s eyes darkened. “I see,” he said. Then: “Excuse me, Carolyn. I think it’s time my daughter and I had a private talk.”
Before Carolyn could protest, he was gone. Beth, her eyes damp, looked up at her mother. “I’m sorry, Mom.”
“So am I, darling,” Carolyn replied. “I wish you and Tracy didn’t fight and I’m sorry she’s so mean to you. I guess you’ll just have to do the same thing with Tracy that I do with Abigail. No matter what she says, and how much it hurts, you have to ignore it. After a while, if you don’t react, it won’t be any fun for Tracy anymore, and she’ll stop.”
“But why does she hate me?” Beth asked. “I never did anything to her.”
Carolyn put her arms around her daughter, and drew her close. “It’s not you, honey. That’s what you have to understand. Right now, she’d be just as mean to anybody else who was living here. She’s afraid we’re going to take her father away from her, that’s all.”
“But I don’t want to do that,” Beth replied. “I already have a father. Doesn’t she know that?”
“Of course she does.” Carolyn rose from the bed and started toward the door. “But you have to understand that what Tracy knows doesn’t really matter right now. It’s what she feels. And she’s still very angry that her father married me. So she’s taking it out on you.”
“But … but that’s not fair,” Beth said, unconsciously echoing the words Tracy had used only a few moments before.
“I know it,” Carolyn agreed. “But that’s the way life is. It isn’t always fair, and it doesn’t always make sense. But we still have to do the best we can.” She smiled fondly at the little girl. “So why don’t we forget all this and get