The Bad Seed Page #4

And he was aware that the pavilion

had not been there in the daylight...

...but had been created...

...out of darkness...

"... by magic."

Rhoda.

- May I come in, Mrs. Penmark?

- Oh. Yes, of course, Miss Fern.

I was going to come and see you.

I got your note.

We're in such distress,

all of us at the school.

We've suffered such a blow,

losing one of the children that way...

- Yes, I know...

- I'm sure you'll forgive us...

- ...for going over and over things.

- Oh. I think everyone has been worried...

...and puzzled and saddened.

I don't think I've ever known

any happening to puzzle...

...so many people in so many ways...

...and I can help so few of them.

- I've just come from seeing Mrs. Daigle.

- Oh, dear.

Of course, our first thought was of her.

The rest of us are touched

only lightly by this tragedy.

- She'll have to live with it.

- I know.

I've seen her several times...

...and each time she's asked me

to find out from you...

...if you had any possible clue

to where the penmanship medal might be.

It was lost?

Yes, it wasn't found with the body,

and has completely disappeared.

Well, I didn't know about this. I...

- Good morning, Miss Fern.

- Good morning, Rhoda.

Mother, could I sit under the scuppernong

arbor for a while and read my book?

- Of course, Rhoda.

- It's so shady there...

...and I can see your window

and you can watch me from the window...

...and I'd like to be

where you can see me.

- Is it a new book?

- Mm-hm.

It's Elsie Dinsmore, the one I got

for a prize at Sunday school.

- Well, I'll be here.

- I'll be right there all the time.

Goodbye, Miss Fern.

It occurred to me that Rhoda

might've told you a detail or two...

...that she hadn't remembered

when she talked with me.

You see, she was the last to see

the little Daigle boy alive.

Are you...?

- Are you sure of this?

- Yes.

Well, I hadn't realized...

You see,

several times during the morning...

...Rhoda had to be stopped

from following Claude around...

...and trying to take the medal

away from him.

She kept snatching at it and he finally

became very upset and started to cry.

Oh, I'm terribly sorry to hear this.

When you say that Rhoda

might've been the last one...

- ...to see the little Daigle boy alive, how...?

- Yes.

Shortly before Claude's body

was discovered...

...the beach guard saw Rhoda

coming off the wharf.

He shouted a warning,

but by then she was on the beach...

...and walking back

to join the main activity...

...so he decided to forget the matter.

The guard didn't

identify the girl by name...

...but she had blond pigtails

and was wearing a red dress, he said.

And Rhoda was the only girl

who wore a dress that day.

At 1:
00, the lunch bell rang and...

...Claude was missing

when the roll was called.

- You know the rest of it.

- Well, yes, but this is very serious.

- If Rhoda was on that wharf...

- Not serious, really.

Children conceal things from adults.

Suppose... Suppose Rhoda did follow

the Daigle child onto the wharf.

So many things could've happened,

quite innocently.

He may have concealed himself

in the old boathouse...

...and then when discovered,

may have backed away from Rhoda...

- ...and fallen in the water.

- Yes, that could've happened, but I don't...

Later on, when it was too late

to do anything...

...she was afraid to admit

what had happened.

Oh, well, then you do think that Rhoda

knows something that she isn't admitting.

Yes, I think that like many a frightened

soldier, she deserted under fire.

- Well, then...

- This is not a serious charge.

- Few of us are courageous when tested.

- Oh, yes, but she has lied, though.

Is there any adult who hasn't lied?

Smooth the lines from your brow, my dear.

You're prettier when smiling.

Well, I'll question Rhoda.

I wish you would, though I doubt

you'll learn more than you know.

Oh. Miss Fern, there's something

I've been wanting to ask you.

There was a floral tribute at the funeral

sent by the children of the Fern School.

I assume that the children helped

share the expenses...

- ...but I haven't been asked to pay my part.

- I know, my dear.

We thought perhaps you'd like to send

flowers individually.

Why should I want to send

flowers individually?

Rhoda wasn't friendly with the boy...

...and my husband and I

haven't even met the Daigles.

Well, I don't know, my dear. I really...

There are three of us.

- In the hurry of making decisions...

- You make excuses for Rhoda...

...yet at the same time, you admit to me

that you didn't ask me to pay my share.

And the reasons that you give me

for not asking are obviously specious.

Does this mean that in your mind

and in the minds of your sisters...

...there's some connection

between the Daigle boy's death...

- ...and Rhoda on the wharf?

- I refuse to believe there is any connection.

- But you've acted as if there were.

- Yes, perhaps we have.

Perhaps you...

Miss Fern, this has been

a terrible tragedy for Mrs. Daigle.

As you say, she's lost her only child...

...but if there's any shadow over Rhoda

because of what has happened...

...then I have to live under it.

And my husband does too.

And as for Rhoda, she would not be happy

in your school next year.

No, she would not.

Since she would not, it'd be as well to make

up our minds now that she will not be there.

Well, then there is some shadow over her.

You've already decided

not to invite her back.

- Yes, we have made that decision.

- You can't tell me why?

I think her behavior in the matter of

the medal would be sufficient explanation.

She has no sense of fair play.

She's a poor loser. She doesn't like to...

Surely you're not saying

that Rhoda had anything...

...to do with the Daigle boy's death?

Well, of course not.

Such a possibility

never entered our minds.

I'll have to answer that.

Of course, my dear.

- Yes?

- Thanks, we're Mrs. Daigle and Mr. Daigle.

You didn't have to let us in.

You realize we followed you.

We shouldn't have done it.

I'm a little drunk.

I guess you never get a little drunk.

You're very welcome, both of you.

Don't pay no attention to him.

He's all for good breeding.

He was trying to stop me.

How are you, Mrs. Penmark?

You've always had plenty.

You're a superior person...

- Oh, no, I'm not.

- Oh, yes.

Father's rich. Rich Richard Bravo. Heh.

I know. Famous.

Me, I worked in a beauty parlor.

Miss Fern used to come there.

She looks down on me.

- Please, Mrs. Daigle...

- I was that frumpy blond.

Now I've lost my boy and I'm a lush.

Everybody knows it.

We're worried about Mrs. Daigle.

She's under a doctor's care.

She's not herself.

But I know what I'm about just the same.

Just the same.

May I call you Christine?

Oh, I'm quite aware you come

from a higher level of society. Heh.

You probably made a debut, all that.

I always considered Christine

a gentle name.

Hortense sounds fat. Heh.

That's me. Hortense.

"My girl Hortense,"

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