The Valley and the Flood by Rebecca Mahoney (10 best books of all time TXT) 📗

year? And I guess it was then I started to connect the dots. Started wondering about that archive, what was in those missing pages.”

Theresa grins. “Believe it or not, I had no idea what I was in for when I ran into Jay at Paco’s. I just wanted to know what else you were hiding.”

Cassie starts to shiver. “What’s wrong?” I whisper, as if they can hear us as well as we can hear them.

“She knows exactly what she did.” Her voice is a tight whisper. “Doesn’t she?”

“So you went to the Mockingbird,” Maggie says. “Knowing they were friends.”

“Jeez.” Theresa laughs. “I’m not a mastermind, Maggie. How could I know they knew each other? All I was thinking was I’ve gotten this far. Fish or cut bait. And what better bait than someone who can sound like anyone? It’s not like I started anything that wouldn’t have happened anyway.”

“It might not have happened at all without you,” Christie says.

Theresa smiles blandly. “Good thing I was proactive, then.”

I look to the classroom, then back to Cassie. Her lips are starting to go white. “Cassie,” I hiss. “Are you okay?”

She jerks her head, vaguely, like she changed her mind halfway between a nod and a shake.

Christie’s stare is hard, watching Theresa. And at length, Theresa looks up again. “You know, Chris,” she says. Her smile thins, just a little. “I’ve always wanted to ask you why you tried so hard to hide this. Bet Maggie here would love to know, too, right, Maggie?”

“No,” Maggie says tightly. “I would say I’m starting to understand.”

“Don’t you two get it? This is a good thing,” Theresa says. “Think about all the people in this town with someone they’d like to see again. Your friends? Your staff? Your partners? If you’d given us a choice—asked us which we’d rather have—I think I wouldn’t be the only one willing to start over. You can rebuild a town. How often can you bring back the past?”

“You know I couldn’t do that,” Christie says.

“We don’t know that they’re going to hurt us,” Theresa says. “Even Cassie couldn’t tell you exactly what happens. How do we know this isn’t a gift? Creating a new Lotus Valley with all the things we’ve lost?”

Cassie’s fingers lock tighter into my arm, and I can see the bone of her knuckles. “Cassie,” I say again, more firmly.

“Nothing is wrong,” she says,

“Yeah,” I say, “it looks like it.”

“Who are you to talk?” she snaps. “You haven’t explained a thing since you got here.”

“Yeah.” The word comes out in an exhale. “I haven’t. But you told me yesterday that even if I didn’t tell everyone, I should tell someone.”

“I already did,” she says. The anger is melting back, leaving something pale and unsteady. “It didn’t work out, remember?”

Voices drift from the classroom, though I’ve lost the thread of their conversation now. Cassie told her parents. Cassie’s parents sent her away.

Theresa leans back in her chair, untroubled. “I told you, I don’t have anything that’s going to help you. I don’t know any more than you do.”

“And I should, what,” Christie says, “take your word for that?”

“Take it however you like,” Theresa says. “I’m still waiting for you to answer my question. Why was it so important to keep this from everyone who might disagree with you? Why can’t you trust this town you say you love so much?”

I can see the muscles working in Christie’s jaw. Theresa leans slightly forward, like she’s smelled blood. But Christie’s eyes shift to the hallway as she exhales, long and low, and a little of the tension leaves her shoulders.

“I don’t know.” The admission draws a laugh out of her. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, either. But my kid asked me to stop it, so.”

I hear Cassie breathe in next to me, but I can’t look away just yet.

“She’s not your kid,” Theresa says.

“She is for as long as she’ll have me,” Christie says.

“You’d go this far,” Theresa says, her voice flat and her stare sharp, “just on her word?”

“She made a decision,” Maggie says. “Just as you did. But the difference is, Cassie is still alive. She can tell Christie what she wants. You don’t know what your father would have wanted, Theresa. The only needs you’re looking out for are your own.”

Christie laughs. “Didn’t think I’d be saying this anytime soon. But Maggie’s right, Theresa. Cassie hasn’t told me everything. She doesn’t have to. I trust her.”

There’s another little gasp next to me, and Cassie’s grip falls away from my arm. She’s crying almost silently, her hands at her mouth.

“Cassie?” I ask.

“It’s so stupid.” She laughs wetly. “She’s the smartest person I’ve ever met. I don’t—Why did I think she wouldn’t notice? Of course she noticed.”

“Noticed what?” I say.

I reach out to touch her shoulder. The next thing I know, her arms are around me and her face is in my neck. I can feel her eyes screw shut against another sob, and tentatively, I reach up to run a hand through her hair.

“She m-must’ve seen the look on my face, right?” Her teeth are almost chattering with her shivers. “When I told her we had to stop the Flood. I thought I hid it. But she saw how scared I was.”

“Shh,” I breathe, my sleep-deprived brain shocked into autopilot. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”

“It’s me, Rose.” Cassie’s voice is muffled by my neck, but the words are clear. “I told you my parents had a better reason to hope the Flood never comes. The better reason is me.”

“Cassie—” My fingers stutter, catching between strands of her hair. “I don’t understand.”

“Are you going to arrest me now?” Theresa’s voice drifts down the hall.

“I wouldn’t be opposed,” Maggie says primly.

“Nothing illegal about getting a man drunk, or making a tape. Trust me, I wish there was.” Christie sounds weary now. “It’s time to evacuate, Theresa. And I hope you come with us. I feel for you, I truly do. But your loss isn’t worth dying for.”

There’s a pause