message passing between them and sensed to her relief that for some reason they’d decided to trust her. Ari giggled, then moved closer to lean against her. “I like Baby Roo. It’s neat the way his mother takes such good care of him.”
Camilla touched the little boy’s rounded cheek, “I like that, too.”
Amy smiled and edged toward them, pressing against Camilla’s other side. Together they finished reading the story, speaking quietly to avoid disturbing the others, and laughed over the whimsical illustrations.
At last she got up, drawing the twins along with her. “Let’s go somewhere to talk, okay?” she said. “I want you kids to help me with something I’m working on.”
Ari began to look anxious again. “We’re not supposed to go anywhere with strangers. Daddy says…”
“It’s all right, dear.” Gwen came back across the room. “Dr. Pritchard is a teacher, too, and you can go anywhere she wants to take you.”
“Does Daddy know we’re going?” Amy asked.
“I told your daddy that Dr. Pritchard will be working with you and he knows we’re all taking very good care of you,” Gwen replied. “Now, Dr. Pritchard wants to take you to her office and play some games with you, that’s all.”
“What kind of games?” Ari asked.
“The kind of games that are your very favorite, dear. Flash cards and films, memory games, things like that.”
Ari brightened and turned to Camilla with a questioning glance.
“That’s right,” she told him. “Lots of games.”
“Better have them back here by four, okay?” Gwen called. “That’s when their housekeeper comes to pick them up.”
“We’ll be back,” Camilla promised.
She walked down the hallway, enjoying the feeling of a little warm hand in each of hers. “What’s your housekeeper’s name?” she asked.
“Sixty-four,” Ari muttered, apparently counting the tiles under his feet. “Amy, what’s the square root? Quick!”
“Eight,” the little girl said absently. “Margaret,” she added with a smile for Camilla.
“The housekeeper’s name is Margaret?” she asked.
Ari nodded. “Eighty-one.”
“Nine,” Amy said.
“Margaret has a boyfriend,” Ari said. “His name’s Eddie. He works way up north on the oil rigs. And Tom has a girlfriend, but Margaret says they’ll never get married.”
“Who’s Tom?” Camilla asked.
“He’s the foreman at the ranch.”
“Your father’s ranch?”
Amy giggled. “Once, Ari put Tom’s brand-new cowboy boots into the rain barrel.”
“They were made out of alligator skin,” Ari said. “I wanted to see if they’d float.”
Camilla laughed. “And did they float?”
Ari shook his head, looking glum. “Tom was real mad at us. He wouldn’t let me ride my pony for a whole week. But after that, he said it didn’t matter because those boots needed to shrink a bit anyhow.”
Something in the child’s voice made Camilla stop and kneel beside him again.
“Do you miss the ranch, dear?”
Ari looked away from her while Amy waited silently nearby.
After a moment, Camilla got to her feet again. “I’ll tell you what,” she said with sudden decision. “Let’s forget about those tests for now, okay? Let’s go down to the cafeteria and get some ice-cream cones.”
They spent a long time in the cafeteria choosing the flavors of their cones. Finally Ari selected pistachio and Amy took raspberry.
“What kind should I get?” Camilla asked.
The twins exchanged a glance. “Butterscotch ripple,” Amy said firmly.
“Why?” Camilla said, intrigued.
“Because you’re all white and gold,” Ari said.
“I see,” she sad, smiling.
“How long has Margaret been your housekeeper?” Camilla asked idly while they were sitting on a rock ledge outside the cafeteria.
“A long time. Since we were babies. Look,” Amy said, pointing to a black bird worrying a scrap of bread on the grass. “That’s a raven.”
“Nevermore,” Ari croaked, then laughed. “It’s not a raven, it’s a crow. Ravens are bigger. Did you know that our daddy goes to this college?” he asked Camilla with one of the lightning changes of subject she was becoming accustomed to.
“I certainly do. He’s in one of my classes, and so is your brother, Steven.”
The twins considered this. Camilla took advantage of their brief silence to return to the topic of Jon Campbell’s household.
“Does Margaret help your mother with the cooking and everything?”
“Our mother lives in Switzerland,” Amy said, “where all the mountains are.”
“There’s mountains here, too,” Ari said. “Look, you can see them from here.” He waved his hand toward the western horizon.
Camilla felt guilty about pumping small children for personal information, but the temptation was too great. “When did your mother go to Switzerland?”
“When we were born.” Ari pulled off some bits of the cone and tossed them toward the crow.
“You mean she took you away to Switzerland?”
“No, she left us here and went by herself because she didn’t love Daddy anymore. She says he’s a selfish pig who only cares about himself, so she went away.”
The child’s tone was flat and unemotional as he stared at the big bird.
Camilla thought about Ari’s words. The accusation against Jon Campbell seemed extreme, especially coming from a woman who’d apparently abandoned her own children. But perhaps Jon Campbell wasn’t the man she’d always thought. Maybe he was actually the kind of person who’d use his wealth and power to separate a woman from her newborn babies.
“When are we going to play games?” Ari was asking, tugging at her arm.
“Right away.” Camilla got to her feet and brushed at her skirt. “Let’s go to my office and see how much fun we can have.”
They went inside the building again. In the crowded hallway, the
