reaching to remember something, then went on. “I’m afraid we don’t really spend as much time with Elizabeth as we should. But Sarah takes up so much of our time. Well, Elizabeth doesn’t seem to resent it.”
“You’re very lucky,” Dr. Belter said. “Many parents find that they have more trouble with their so-called normal child than with their disturbed one. It’s only to be expected, really. All children need attention, and when one is disturbed, the other often feels he needs to compete for his parents’ attention. It sounds as if Elizabeth is a very exceptional child.” He smiled and stood up. “Thank you for coming today. We’ll be going over Sarah’s case in our staff meeting tomorrow, and we may make some minor changes in her medication. Other than that, for the moment it’s just a matter of keeping our eyes open and trying to spot a trend.”
“Then that’s it?” Jack said, getting to his feet.
“That’s it,” Dr. Belter said. “For the moment I don’t want you to feel alarmed. You should, however, be aware that if Sarah’s condition deteriorates too far, we won’t be able to keep her here. White Oaks is a school, not an institution.” Seeing the anxiety in both their faces, Dr. Belter hurried to reassure them. “It’s only an eventuality,” he said. “For the moment, we aren’t having any more problems with Sarah than with any of the others. And some of them are a lot worse than she is. For the foreseeable future, I look forward to having Sarah here.”
“Can we take her home with us,” Rose asked, “or has she already gone in the van?”
“She’s waiting in my room,” Mrs. Montgomery said. “One of the aides is with her. I’m sure she’ll be glad to see you.”
But Sarah wasn’t waiting in Marie Montgomery’s room.
In the house on Conger’s Point, Elizabeth poured the last of a glass of milk into the cat’s dish, and watched as Cecil lapped it up. Then she picked up the animal and listened to him purr.
“Come on,” she said to the cat. “Let’s go outside.”
Scratching Cecil’s ears, Elizabeth carried him from the house.
As she crossed the field, Elizabeth pulled the rubber band out of her ponytail and shook her head. The blond hair cascaded over her shoulders. Her step quickened.
No one saw her disappear into the woods.
7
The room was a shambles: desks and chairs were overturned; the items that were normally arranged across the top of Marie Montgomery’s desk had been swept from it and now lay scattered and broken across the floor to the left of the desk.
“Jesus,” Jack breathed. Before anyone could say more, they heard the sounds from the cloakroom—scuffling noises, as though whatever struggle had taken place in the classroom was now continuing in the small room behind the blackboard. The sounds were muted but somehow desperate. There were no cries, none of the shouts that should accompany the sort of battle that must have taken place. Led by Mrs. Montgomery, the three of them raced through the room.
In the back corner of the cloakroom the aide struggled with Sarah. The battle had come to a stalemate.
When she spoke, Mrs. Montgomery’s voice was very low and completely controlled, but it held a note of authority that Rose Conger was sure had cut through worse confusion than confronted her now.
“Philip,” she said, “what’s happened here?”
Immediately the struggle stopped. The aide, who couldn’t have been more than twenty, straightened and stepped away from Sarah.
The child was a mess. Her shirt was torn in several places, and she was covered with some sort of yellow substance. As soon as the aide let her go, Sarah’s hand moved to her mouth, and she began chewing. Rose stared at her, and it was a few seconds before she realized what her daughter was doing. The yellow substance was chalk, and Sarah was chewing on a piece of it. Philip watched her for a second before turning to the small group that hovered in the doorway. Rose started to move toward her daughter, but Marie Montgomery’s hand held her back.
“It’s all right,” she said quietly. “A little chalk isn’t going to hurt her.”
“It’s not a little,” Philip said. “She’s been at it ever since you left. She must have eaten almost a full box by now.”
“And you tried to stop her?” Marie asked.
The young man nodded. He looked miserable. “I couldn’t do it, though. I was afraid of hurting her.”
“You probably scared her half to death,” Marie said. “If you’d