Yesterday it had been noisy, boisterous, excited. But yesterday all had been at loose ends, and this morning the crowd was like a tightly wound spring. When it finally let go, nothing would be able to stop it.
Mrs. Simpson started cooking bacon for Cindy, but she tried hard not to look at anybody at all. Sensing the changed mood, Cindy attempted to rid herself of it and could not.
"Why didn't you wake me, Mother?" she asked.
"There was no need, dear," her mother said. "With all the shouting and screaming last night, you had little enough sleep anyway."
"That's right," Mindy agreed. "I awakened several times, and you hadn't yet gone to sleep."
"Did you sleep?" Cindy asked her twin.
"Well, not very much, but more than you did."
"I slept," Alec boasted. "The last thing I remember, somebody wanted to know about a strayed mule, and somebody else said, 'Here's your mule, Joe!'"
"Then you didn't sleep much either," Cindy said. "Dawn was breaking when that happened!"
Alec said, "Aw, I don't need sleep."