Chapter 12

Patrick sat and watched Justine expertly twirl the spaghetti on her fork. It had been a couple of months since she started seeing Mrs. Balanteen and she had a confidence that Patrick hadn't realized she'd lacked. Not so much doing anything different, but she didn't stop and check everything with him anymore.

"So how many reports did the boss give you today?" Justine asked.

"Just two, but they are really big ones," Patrick said. "Sometimes I wish I was back in school and could do something different every day."

"Nice one," Justine said. "OK, I'll work on the science project, but bugs are gross."

"Gross, but important."

"Yeah, I guess." She finished her plate and looked at him. "What's a drasil?"

"I don't know. A kind of bug?"

"No, it's not a bug, and it's not a riddle."

"Well, why don't you look on the web?"

"I already did, and I didn't find anything."

"Strange, I'll keep my ears open."

"OK." Justine gathered up the dishes and put them in the sink. "I have some bug research to do on the computer."

"Sure," Patrick didn't mind washing the dishes. He'd always washed them for Ingrid and it seemed a logical thing to wash them for Justine too.

When he'd finished, he went into the living room and Justine hit a couple of keys to switch the screen to a web site that had assorted pictures of large insects.

"What were you looking at?"

"Noth..." Justine looked at him. "Dad, can I ask you to just trust me?"

"You can, but I have a job as your Dad. I need to make sure you're safe."

"It's for a surprise, but I can't tell you yet. Please?

"OK," Patrick said. "I'll trust you."

"Thanks." Justine heaved a big sigh. "You won't be sorry."

Saturday morning, Ms Palenz came and collected Justine for a quick shopping trip. They came home laughing and joking. Justine took a bag up to her room. While Lee carried some other bags into the kitchen.

"I told Justine it was time she made a pie for you."

"Ah, pie..."

"Apple or peach?" Justine came back in.

"I have to choose?"

"What did I tell you?" Justine said. "It's a good thing we bought enough for both."

Lee brought out bowls from the cupboards and lifted a rolling pin from her bag. Soon they were mixing pastry and Justine was rolling it out carefully. She lifted the pastry and dropped it in a tin pie plate. She rolled out a second crust and put it in another plate. They peeled and chopped the apples and peaches and filled the pie shells heaping full. A mysterious mix of spices, flour and sugar went on next and was covered up with more pastry. Justine trimmed the edges and poked holes it the pie crust. As she slipped them into the oven she asked Ms. Palenz to watch them while she did something upstairs.

Lee put on coffee and sat down.

"She is an extraordinary girl."

"She is indeed," Patrick said, "but I still feel like I'm being softened up for something."

"You are, but you can trust her."

"I know, but it still scares me sometimes. Whenever I think I know what I'm doing she changes and I have to learn the rules all over again."

"I think it's supposed to work like that."

"You know a lot about children. Do you have any of your own?"

Lee sighed and got up to pour coffee.

"That's a story meant to be told over wine, not coffee."

"I'm sorry I intruded."

"It's not an intrusion, but it's also not a story you need to hear right now."

They sat in silence for a while drinking their coffee. Patrick could smell the pies.

"How long do they need to cook?" he asked.

"Until they're done," Lee said.

Patrick laughed.

"That sounds like something I would say."

"Usually half an hour or so."

They were on their second cup of coffee when Lee peered into the oven and pronounced the pies done. She pulled them out and put them on racks to cool.

"That's my cue," Justine said from the door. "Come with me." She led Patrick to the computer and had him sit in front of it. "This is your room," she said. "It's nice, because Mom did it, but I think you could use a change. So here are some ideas." With a click of a button she started a slide show. With each slide the furniture was arranged slightly differently and the colours of the wall and the curtains changed.

"We can't afford to do the floor and it's pretty neutral. Which one do you like?" Justine said.

"We?" asked Patrick.

"I've been saving my allowance and helping Ms. Palenz with some stuff."

"I've got no sense of colour at all," Lee said "Justine has been a great help with some decorating at my place."

"You're ten years old and you're a professional decorator?" He tried to return his eyebrows to their proper level.

Justine turned deep red. "I'm almost eleven."

"You're even more amazing than I thought." Patrick looked at his daughter and shook his head. "Well, let's see this again." He finally chose a green wall colour with curtains that were almost bronze. The furniture was turned around so it looked completely different.

After Lee left and Justine had gone to bed, he went back to the computer and went through the slide show again.

"Ingrid, you would be so proud of her."

***