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“Enough, Cynthia!” her father hissed. Then he sighed, “I may as well tell you. Lenora was hoping that Truly would open up to you and tell you herself, that it would be healing for her to talk about it, but under the circumstances…
“Truly and her father were in Avivia, delivering supplies to needy villages. But there was a mob that attacked their wagon train. Lenora’s husband was killed, and Truly was captured and they tortured her. They nearly burned her to death, from what I gathered. Half of her face and most of her hair was burned before the guards caught up and rescued her. It took her months to heal.”
I was still frozen in place. As Algernon summarized the story to Cynthia, images of the attack flashed in front of my eyes. I could still hear the screams and taunts and feel the torch being placed against my skin. Algernon’s voice brought me back to the present.
“So if she was attacked by a mob, disfigured, then her new stepsister calls her hideous, how do you think she is feeling right now?”
“Dad, you know I never would have said that if I knew it was her or if I knew all of that. It caught me off-guard, okay? She looked scary. I did go back and tell her how sorry I was!”
Algernon sighed. I knew I should move on. I knew it was wrong to be eavesdropping. I didn’t want to hear any more. But my feet seemed to be rooted to the floor. I couldn’t leave.
“Cynthia, some things can’t be fixed by a simple ‘I’m sorry.’ Lenora told me how traumatized Truly has been since all of that happened. She has only recently started leaving the house. You have never had to deal with anything like that before. You will need to be patient and kind. I know you can be both of those things.”
“You are taking her side?” Cynthia’s voice came out strangled in her outrage. “Dad! You aren’t being fair. What about Comfort? Aren’t you going to tell her off for throwing ashes into my face and screaming at me?”
“I think everyone made some mistakes today,” Algernon sounded weary. “You shouldn’t have said what you did, Truly shouldn’t have said what she did, and Comfort shouldn’t have thrown anything at you or said the things she did. Let’s just go to bed. You will feel better in the morning. You and Comfort are best friends. You will make up.”
“We won’t! She and I will never be friends again!”
“Are you hungry? You get cranky when—"
“I am not hungry, Dad!” Cynthia snapped. “I’m not hungry, or tired, or anything like that! I am mad because you are choosing your new stepdaughters over me!”
“That is not true,” Algernon said quietly. “I couldn’t possibly love them more than you because you are my favorite and you always will be. Nothing ever can replace the love a father has for his own child.”
This seemed to momentarily pacify Cynthia.
“I am sure that Lenora and Comfort feel the same way about Truly,” continued Algernon, “She has already been through enough pain as it is and they want to protect her from any more. Let’s go to sleep, and we can talk about it again in the morning, okay?”
“Fine,” grouched Cynthia.
This was my cue to force my feet to move. I hurried away quietly, praying that they wouldn’t know I had been there.
Emotions battled inside of me. On one hand, I wanted to hate Cynthia. For mocking me, for being so superficial, for tattling. But on the other hand, I mostly just pitied her. She hadn’t known, had come soon after to apologize, and I had done nothing but throw back insults. Her best friend turned on her today for saying something she probably didn’t mean. I knew my face could raise some eyebrows, and she had caught me at a particularly bad moment. It really wasn’t superficial to notice other peoples’ faces, especially if they looked very different.
My anger from earlier in the day dissipated completely. I needed to apologize…but not tonight. Things always seemed better in the morning. Maybe this would be something we could all laugh about later on. I couldn’t imagine it would be, but I could hope.
CHAPTER 26
Mother and Algernon must have devised a plan overnight because early the next morning, Mother roused me at daybreak and told me that we would be spending the whole day with Algernon and Cynthia. I groaned.
“Do we have to?”
Mother pursed her lips. “I think maybe we all just got off on the wrong foot. What we need is some family fun.”
Family. Algernon and Cynthia were going to be family. I pulled the covers back over my head, but Mother snatched them back.
“Really, Truly, don’t be so dramatic. We are going to go on a walk around town and have a picnic and then play games later. It will be a wonderful day.”
A walk around town? “But…my face!” I squeaked.
Mother smiled compassionately. “That is why I am getting you up early!” She sounded chipper, but in aa forced way. “I thought maybe I could help you get ready so you are—" she stopped short, then continued, “So you feel as confident as possible.”
I could see the pleading in Mother’s eyes. Without saying anything, she was begging me to have a good attitude, to give my new stepsister and stepfather a chance. Mother had done so much for me. One day wasn’t much to ask.
“You’ll help me get ready?”
Mother nodded eagerly in confirmation. “Yes, you will be beautiful, as you have always been.”
