So, my sister. She's about a year younger than me, turned eighteen last April. She also happens to be the most beautiful, sweet, innocent young woman I've ever met.
Except. The other day while she was out, the roof leaked -- nothing serious, a slipped tile, but while Dad was up the ladder fixing it, he asked me to go into Beth's room and see if any water was getting in there. A damp patch on the ceiling and dripping onto the bed made that a Yes, so I dragged the bed out from under it, putting the bucket I'd brought to catch the drips.
Obviously the bed would need to dry out, and everything would need washing anyway, so I tugged the duvet onto the floor, then the pillows, and started to pull off the sheet. What I wasn't expecting was to find something plasticky pushed under the mattress, and I wondered what on earth my sister could possibly want to hide. I pulled it out, and blinked. Hard. Innocent, naΓ―ve Beth -- well, she was obviously better at keeping secrets than I could have imagined.
I heard Dad's footsteps on the stairs, then "How's it looking?"
I wrapped my find hastily in the sheet. "The water's stopped now, but this all needs to go in the machine."
"OK."
He disappeared downstairs again, putting away tools, and I quickly walked across to my bedroom, putting Beth's -- well, toy, to be frank -- in the bottom drawer of my bedside table. I finished loading the washer, setting it running, and went back to my room, wondering how this was going to play out.
After a few minutes I heard the front door open, and Beth's cheery voice. "I'm home."
I hastily got up and went to the top of the stairs. "Heya, Beth. We've had a bit of drama this afternoon."
"How come?" she queried, standing at the bottom looking up at me.
"Roof leaked into your room -- not much, but your bed needs to dry out a bit."
If I hadn't already known, I would definitely have missed the slight widening of her eyes. "You might have to sleep in the spare room tonight," I offered.
"OK. I need to grab some things, then."
I stepped aside to let her pass as she came up the stairs, and she closed the door of her room behind her. After a few minutes the door opened again, and Beth reappeared with a small pile of clothes in her hand and -- again, barely detectable -- an anxious expression on her face. "Did Dad sort my room out?"
I shook my head. "He was on the roof. I rescued your Disney Princess bed stuff, it's in the washing machine."
"Thanks, Tim."
Beth's next move was to go down to the utility room and empty the machine -- the spin cycle had just finished, and she took the bedding out to the garden to hang on the line. Obviously this didn't provide her any resolution to the mystery, but before she could try another avenue, Mum had called us for our evening meal. When we'd finished eating, I excused myself and went upstairs to read, and it wasn't long before I heard Beth's footsteps on the landing, then a hesitant tap on the door. "Can I come in?"
"Sure."
Beth closed the door behind her and stood by my desk, fingers betraying her nervousness. "Tim -- when you were sorting my bed out, did you... Did you happen to find anything?"
I decided not to prolong her ordeal. "Um, sort of, yes."
Her look was one of genuine relief. "Thank goodness for that -- I thought maybe Mum --"
A distinct flush crept up her face. "Or Dad..."
I gave a slight shrug. "They're married -- they've got you and me -- they must know about stuff, right?"
Beth swallowed. "But not about my stuff."