Marigold by Heather Manheim (best books for 8th graders .TXT) 📕

Lombardi Plague. She didn’t understand this scenery, but it’s not what shook her to her core. What did was what lay at the feet of the President. There were all the wives, looking up to him in admiration and adoration. Davis spied Ruby leaning up against his right leg. All the wives were in various states of leaning against his legs or in a side bent sitting position. Regardless of position, they were all staring at him, not just with love but looks of obedience. Cox leaned over and, with a grin, whispered to Davis, “You’re to be added to the portrait. The artist is amazing, he’ll just find a place for you, and you’ll cover up part of the battle background. You won’t even be able to tell!” Davis thought that Cox almost sounded gleeful at this. But Davis wasn’t laughing anymore. Now she just felt sick to her stomach.

~

After they showed Davis where her bed was, she was able to survey her little space. The area was only about ten feet by ten feet. Besides the bed, she had a little brown chair and a small brown bedside table with a drawer at the top of it. A fuzzy, cozy-looking burgundy blanket was draped over the chair back.

“Delilah. Delilah. DELILAH!” Jessica tried to get Davis’s attention, trying several times until Davis finally remembered she was Delilah now.

“Oh, sorry. I forgot my name!”

“It’s okay; it takes a while to get used to the new names. You’ll get it. Tiffany had something to do, so I’m going to put Parker back in the monkey cage. Do you want to see the zoo? I’ll show you our closet and dressing area on the way out so that you can change into a more comfortable outfit.”

“Sure, sounds good, thank you.”

“No problem, by the time we get back, it should be time for dinner. Then we usually sit around and chat for a bit or read before going to bed.”

On the way out, they went through the bathroom. There was a door on the inside of the bathroom to the left of the towel rack. “It’s kind of weird,” Jessica said as they walked through it and into a supply closet. There was another door inside the closet that led to the dressing room. It was somewhat uninteresting; all the walls were white, and all the furniture was brown. A blue tinge from the light above bathed the room in a bluish glow. There were large closet spaces that had all the clothes hanging. Each closet space had a name above it, and Davis spotted a “Delilah” placard already above her area. A closet full of clothes that belonged to her but she had never worn before now hung there. Davis spied her knapsack, hanging there; someone had put it away in the closet for her. Davis wished she could check it for the bee venom vial again.

“Excuse me, but can I look in my knapsack? I want to see if I brought my comb.”

“Oh, we have plenty of those here for you to use.”

“I’d still like to check if it’s okay.”

“Oh, yes! Of course, please do.”

Davis was glad her thin lie didn’t raise suspicions. She quickly looked inside and felt the pocket to make sure her precious cargo was still there. The reassuring little bump comforted and caused her anxiety at the same time. She still couldn’t believe she would have a hand in murdering someone. And the portal to that dark world sat in a secret pocket, hanging from a hook in a closet. Davis felt the location wasn’t very secure, but at the same time, she had nowhere else to put it. She had to push it all out of her mind and carry on. To complete the act she was currently portraying; she confirmed she remembered her comb and then feigned interest in the rest of the room.

When they got into the dressing room, Jessica put Parker down, and the little monkey busied himself swinging from the edge of the bench that ran along the room’s length up to the two privacy walls at the back of the room. Davis, at a loss for conversation, asked about them. Jessica answered, “We usually take turns behind the walls when we’re getting dressed in our jodhpurs or nightclothes. But, when we are in the ball gowns, we need to help each other with corsets, zippers, buttons. Cox is usually here to help us too. Get your casual clothes and put them behind the privacy wall first. Then, I’ll get the zipper at the back of your dress, and you get mine. I think you can manage, but let me know if you need help changing.” Jessica also showed Davis where her jewelry chest was so that she could take off all her accompaniments. Then, Jessica had Davis turn around and hold the top front of her dress up. Jessica unzipped the back and said, “You have a corset, too; I think I can loosen it enough through the unzipped opening. Let me know if you need it loosened more after you go in to change.” It proved to be enough, and Davis was happy to finally be out of the heavy gown and into a comfortable tunic, jodhpurs, and boots. Next, Davis returned the favor and unzipped Jessica’s dress, and then she went to change as well. Once they were both changed, they continued their tour.

They walked through the changing room to yet another door on the other end. Davis had somewhat expected this after her conversation with Namaguchi. “This door leads to our exercise room.” Davis took in the exercise room; it was spotless and very modern looking, especially compared to the luxury of most of the rest of the Palace. A gleaming dancer’s bar sat on a wall covered in mirrors. Jessica pointed out the different aerial apparatuses that were hanging from the ceiling. “We have the gym every day from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. They have aerial