Bleeding Kansas by Sara Paretsky Page A

she bought while she was married.”
    â€œAnd then he divorced her because she was sleeping with women, and he didn’t give her any alimony or anything.”
    â€œLara! How can you say such a thing? We don’t know anything about her marriage or why it ended.”
    â€œMelanie Derwint told me. She goes to Full Salvation Bible with the Schapens, and she says Myra told Mrs. Derwint.”
    â€œAnd if Myra Schapen says something, it must be the gospel?” Susan demanded. “Until Gina chooses to confide in us, we won’t make any assumptions about her private life. All Mr. Fremantle told your dad was that she’d gone through a difficult divorce, and we don’t have any right to ask her questions or guess what that means.”
    â€œOh, all right,” Lara agreed sullenly, all the while planning to talk over what she’d seen with Kimberly Ropes at basketball practice.
    Her mother’s mind wandered into a different place. “Did you hear what Gina was saying to Autumn as we were going down the stairs? That she would try to write a novel about the house? It would be wonderful to have that kind of creative gift.”
    Susan’s voice trailed away, trying to imagine the special light that must flood the mind of someone with a poem or a novel coming to life inside them. Different from having a baby, which anyone could do. An artistic vision would sustain you in hard times, the way Abigail Grellier’s vision had sustained her. Susan would have to share some of those old diaries with Gina.
    â€œShe talked in such a funny way,” Lara said. “I don’t think she’s serious about writing a novel—she just likes to say things. Why would she do that, say things like ‘living in a palace,’ when you know she was probably thinking it was the worst dump she ever saw.”
    â€œArtistic irony,” Susan murmured, bathing Gina’s rudeness in an inspirational glow. “If she really has a vision, she may not realize how she sounds to other people.”
    â€œAnd the woman from Between Two Worlds,” Lara went on. “Did you see that bumper sticker? ‘Witches Heal.’ Is she a witch? Do you think Gina might be one, too? She said she went into the shop for ‘supplies.’ I should have gone into some of the other rooms to see if she has a witch’s altar set up. Maybe she can conjure the spirits of the dead—she could set up a séance for you with Great-Great-Grandmother Abigail!”
    â€œLara, no. I’ve seen Autumn Minsky at the farmers’ market in town. I’m sure she doesn’t believe in anything so superstitious.”
    â€œBut, Mom, Ms. Haring said she’d gone into the store for ‘supplies.’ What could that mean, unless it was for some kind of witch ceremony?”
    Susan cast around in her mind. “Incense,” she decided. “To cover up the smell of cat.”
    â€œEven though we didn’t smell any when we walked in? That was lame, Mom!”
    â€œNo one burns incense in the morning,” Susan said firmly. “Not even confirmed witches.”
    They had pulled up in front of the high school. Lara grinned and said, “Good try. Me and Kimberly will be at the library at one, okay?”
    â€œKimberly and I ,” Susan corrected, but Lara was already halfway up the walk.
    When Susan and Lara reported on the visit to Jim that night at supper, he looked narrowly at his daughter. “Your mother is wound up about the mold and the Fremantle house, but it’s hard to believe you are, Lulu. I’d like to know what’s in that bedroom you care about so much.”
    â€œNothing, Dad,” Lara said earnestly. “Mom was telling Gina all the stuff I’ve heard a million times, about the fire extinguishers and the marble in the fireplace and everything. I just wanted to—”
    Her voice trailed off. She couldn’t think of any reason that made