“Mother, I won’t allow you to even think of such foolishness! You’re just upset because Father isn’t here.”
“Yes, that must be it,” Mrs. Rhett declared with a heavy sigh. “I have such a headache. I’ll go to my room now and try to sleep.”
Lorinda took her arm and helped her up the stairway. As they came to the step where the burnt matches had been, Mrs. Rhett glanced down and shivered. Then she laughed apologetically.
“It really is silly of me to let a little thing upset me so,” she declared. “I’ll be myself again as soon as I have slept.”
After helping her mother into bed, Lorinda returned to the living room where Penny had waited.
“I do hope you won’t put any of this in the paper,” she began earnestly. “People wouldn’t understand.”
“I’m afraid I don’t myself,” said Penny. “For instance, what did Celeste mean when she spoke of the Zudi drum? And who is she anyhow?”
“Oh, I forgot to tell you! Celeste and her husband Antón, are a couple my stepfather brought to this country after spending a year studying ancient cult practices. Celeste befriended him, I believe, and helped him gain information about the tribesmen. Anyway, Father took a fancy to her, and persuaded the couple to come with him.”
“That was before he married your mother?”
“Oh, yes. After the wedding, my stepfather was unwilling to let Celeste and Antón go, so Mother agreed that they might work here. Antón is a worthless servant. He allows the grounds to run down shamefully, and the only time he ever really works is when someone stands over him!”