Ten
She died in her sleep. The healers say she didn’t feel any pain, but how can they know that if they don’t even know what caused her death? I know, though … In the back of my mind, the truth of what happened to Victoria is there, crouched and lurking like a hideous, foul beast waiting for me to face it, to acknowledge it.
I refuse to look.
Hours after it happened, in the pale light of morning as family members and close friends begin to arrive, I’m still huddled behind the kitchen door, out of sight and trying to keep the horror at bay. I can still hear Violet’s scream. It’s a sound I’ll never forget, not until the day I die. It raises the hair on my arms every time I think of it. The horrible scene keeps playing over and over in my head: Violet kneeling on the floor of the nursery,
