[15: the hallway table]

Jessie hurried in from the shed, covered in dust and slipped into the hall
of the farmhouse. She closed the door as quietly as she could, trying not to
alert her aunt nor mother that she was home yet, wanting to clean up and not
look like she'd been pawing through someone else's secrets, but she nudged
the old table sitting in the hall, and the collection of objects it had
amassed went crashing to the floor. Keys and a bottle, a wrench that hadn't
quite fit the bolt on the tractor. Enough clatter to get instant attention.

"Jessie? You okay in there?" Aunt Helen called as she rounded the corner
from the kitchen, and her mother's voice followed quickly after, a rare
thing that she was awake and alert enough to speak, and now calling in
concern. "Jessie? Helen? I heard a noise" came the muffled voice from
the upstairs bedroom.

Helen stood in the doorway, her usual disapproving glance deeper than usual
as she looked Jessie up and down. "You been poking about in things that
don't belong to you again?"

Jessie weighed her chances of passing a lie, and decided she wasn't likely
to win this one. It was easier to hide dust when you'd been working on the
tractor or digging in the garden, but today the grey dust stood out on her
dark pants, and the lines looked like boxes had been held to her chest and
hips to move them. 

"I ... Yeah."

"I told you to stay out of that old shed. Those things are there for a
reason and that reason don't include you. Now go get washed up. Fetch your
cousins and be down for dinner."

No threats or punishment doled out on the spot was never a good sign with
Aunt Helen. If she had to think about what she was going to do to you, it
wasn't something you were going to appreciate. Normally, she'd dole out a
whack with her wooden spoon, or she'd let you weed the garden alone for a
week, but this wasn't likely to be that simple.

Jessie called out to the twins, busy playing in grass behind the house.
"Dinner in ten. Wash up."

She splashed water on her face, not bothering to let the water run warm,
even though the chill of autumn was well settled. She settled quietly into
her seat at the dining table, hoping that she was off the hook and no
punishment would be meted out.

"Take this up to your mother." Aunt Helen's tone made it obvious that she
wasn't so lucky. Jessie took the tray up the stairs, and could feel Helen's
eyes on the back of her.