Dark Companion (43 page)

On Saturday morning at breakfast, I said to Jack, “Classes start on Monday, and I won’t be able to study with you here all the time. People are gossiping that we’re doing the dance-with-no-pants.”

He laughed so hard that he choked on his coffee. “I wish! Who’s saying that?”

“Never mind. Don’t forget the regulation against moral turpitude. Mary Violet is already writing poems about my lost innocence.”

“So you’re her muse, too. I thought that if I stayed here, you would let me do the dance-with-no-pants with you.”

Waiting to do more with Jack was exquisitely agonizing. “Don’t go off topic. You need to go back to your house, and maybe you could start looking into colleges.”

His smile vanished. “You’re tired of me already?”

“Never! I want you to look for colleges with a good music program
and
a great chemistry department
and
terrific pizza. A college set in the woods. I want to live where there are trees. I want to be with you.” I fiddled with the silver leaf necklace that Jack had given me. “JFR. What’s your middle name?”

“Forrest,” he said. “It’s my birth name. Jacob Forrest Radcliffe.”

In science and in math, one was always trying to find an elegant solution: an answer that is at once simple and true. Jack was that to me, my elegant solution.

But hark! here comes the sweeping sound over the wood-tops;—now it dies away;—how solemn the stillness that succeeds! Now the breeze swells again. It is like the voice of some supernatural being—the voice of the spirit of the woods, that watches over them by night.

Ann Radcliffe,
The Mysteries of Udolpho
(1794)

Epilogue

Possessing my memories again was both incredible and distressing.

I could be doing something as simple as changing my sheets and I’d remember folding laundry with my mother and how we’d toss sheets in the air and then fall on the bed. Other memories, like the sound of her voice and her scent, wouldn’t come to me no matter how hard I tried to call them up.

Once, flipping through TV channels, a commercial played an old Stones song my stepfather had liked. I listened, frozen, and recalled a time when he’d been friendly and affectionate. I
didn’t
want to think of my mother’s murderer that way. I didn’t want to think of him at all.

I wished I could have enjoyed the good memories and forgotten the bad ones, but each incident was inextricably intertwined with every other. Even when they had existed only in my subconscious, they were part of my life.

I came to accept my past; I didn’t want to limit my experiences to the interior of a snow globe. I wouldn’t forget where I came from, and I wouldn’t stop exploring unknown territories because others feared there might be dragons.

Mrs. Holiday had said that the proper study of mankind is woman. I thought about my mother when I saw the loving way that Mrs. Radcliffe watched her sons, and how Mrs. Holiday cared for her family. Sometimes I talked to Teresa, the Holidays’ housekeeper, about her children and I saw that look in her eyes, too, a mother’s passion.

My teachers occasionally mentioned their families and friends, and I began to see them differently, as women with the complicated emotions and obligations and joys and loyalties that women have. Each one of them was a daughter.

Wilde was someone’s daughter, too. I didn’t know exactly how it happened, because she wouldn’t take my phone calls, but she was forced into a treatment facility somewhere out in the desert. It’s adjacent to a resort/spa, and, after six months clean and completion of a GED program, the salon there would give her a part-time job and sponsor her training at a school of cosmetology.

I had gotten over being mad at Jack, who had only wanted me to be safe, and I hoped that soon Wilde would get over being mad at me.

Hattie didn’t say any more about her plans for the future, but I often saw her staring off into the distance, deep in thought. For most of my life, I’d accepted the old systems where the strongest and most ruthless men maintained power and used others for their purposes. I’d been complicit then, but now I questioned things.

I thought there was another way to live. Or a
million
other ways and a
million
other universes. And I had a feeling that I might find a door into the green world, and the Lady of the Wood could lead me toward some answers.

I was trying to be a better student and a better person, not because I wanted to escape my life, but because I believed that all the things that make up the world and the universe are beautiful and amazing.

I often dreamed about the nights that I died. Sometimes I had nightmares about the fire and Claire’s screams. I saw her mutilated body consumed by violet flames, and I woke in a cold sweat, my heart pounding, and I would reassure myself that she was alive, somewhere.

More often, though, I dreamed that I was in the grove.

*   *   *

The wind is blowing and the birches lift their roots from the soil and begin a lumbering yet graceful dance. They sing their whispery silver song in a language that predates time.

I am very young and playing Ring-Around-the-Rosy with other small girls. We’re singing, “Ashes, ashes, all fall down.”

Somehow I know that my playmates are Claire Mason and BB and Wilde. There are others girls here, too, and many wear Companion rings, the stones glinting like droplets of blood on our small hands. Our skin is yet unmarked by the scars and burns and wounds that will become our maps of pain.

We are the ghosts of childhoods lost and we will always haunt this place.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My thanks to Paulette Jiles, who very kindly allowed me to use “Paper Matches.” I first read this poem in the most unlikely of places—on bus signs as part of a public art project in San Francisco. The poem resonated with me, and I’m so happy to be able to include it in my book.

I’m deeply grateful to Susan Chang, my brilliant editor, who guided me through revisions, letting me find the heart and soul of my story and characters.

I wish I could name all the readers and bloggers who read the manuscript and gave me valuable feedback and support, but please know that I’m very grateful. A special thank-you to designer and reviewer Amanda Wright, who surprised me with wonderful cover art for my online manuscript.

Last, but not least, thanks to my beautiful son and the pack of wild and wonderful young men—Brian, Grayson, James, Roberto, Tyler, Shawn, Nick, Torren, et al—who invaded my house and constantly reminded me of what it is to be a teenager and why I value the company of girls.

TOR TEEN READER’S GUIDE

Dark Companion

by Marta Acosta

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

The information, activities, and discussion questions that follow are intended to enhance your reading of
Dark Companion
. Please feel free to adapt these materials to suit your needs and interests.

WRITING AND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

I. Gothic Novels

A. The chapters of
Dark Companion
begin with quotations from gothic literature. Make a list of all of the novels, stories, and poems cited in the book. Beside each title, note the author, publication date, and a sentence describing the plot or theme relationship between the quote and the chapter it introduces.

B. Research the literary term “gothic novel” and then create an informational poster describing the main elements that make a novel gothic. Or, make a stack of at least six index cards, each featuring the name, biographical information, and notable works of a gothic author, such as Horace Walpole, Mary Shelley, Emily Brontë, or Bram Stoker.

C. Select one of the historical stories or novels from activity I.A above to read in its entirety. Write an essay comparing the main characters, supernatural elements, and/or settings of both stories. Conclude with your thoughts as to how the legacy of your chosen work can be seen in Marta Acosta’s book.

II. Names, Labels, and Families

A. Names and nicknames play an important role in
Dark Companion,
both as clues to the mystery of Jane Williams’s predecessor and as ways to clarify character traits and relationships. Write a short essay discussing the use of names and nicknames, citing at least four examples from the novel.

B. The main character of the novel has a very simple name: Jane Williams. This is also the name of a woman associated with the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Jane is also the protagonist of Charlotte Brontë’s novel
Jane Eyre,
and Jane Austen created many young female characters who had limited options because of their economic status. Research these connections and more, if desired. Then, use your research along with observations from the novel to compose a short essay or poem entitled “The Legacy of
Jane
.”

C. Learn more about gothic novelist Ann Radcliffe. Then, create a short oral report noting at least three reasons Marta Acosta may have chosen to name the Radcliffe family in her novel for this author. Use PowerPoint or other visual aids to enliven your presentation.

D. BB, Claire, and Jane are all orphans. Write an interview with one of these characters in which you, as a reporter or guidance counselor, ask about the impact being parentless has had on her life.

E. In the course of the novel, Jane discovers her sense of “home.” What is home to you? Create a song, poem, painting, or other creative work that represents your sense of home.

III. Vampires

A. The families of Birch Grove seem uncomfortable with the label of “vampire” and claim that the term, as a supernatural notion, is incorrect. Create a three-column chart comparing (column A) the vampirelike citizens of Birch Grove with (column B) the vampires from a contemporary paranormal novel of your choice, and (column C) a research-based description of the physical, psychological, and cultural characteristics of vampires from ancient folklore or Bram Stoker’s character Dracula.

B. With friends or classmates, review the novel to find a list of the nonparanormal explanations the Radcliffe family gives for its vampirelike behaviors. Use this list to create a survey about whether being a vampire is a genetic defect or a supernatural phenomenon. Do people prefer a supernatural explanation or a scientific explanation, and why? Invite others from your school to take the survey, and create a chart summarizing your results.

C. Make a recommended viewing list of at least ten vampire movies, starting with a silent film and ending with a movie made in the last five years. At the top of your list, explain why you chose these movies and what you might learn by watching all of them.

D. Writing in the character of Lucky, create a defense of yourself and your kind entitled “Don’t Call Me a Vampire.”

E. Who is the “Dark Companion” of the novel’s title? Draw, paint, sculpt, or craft your answer to this question.

IV. The Arts, Science, and Math

A. When Jane enters Birch Grove, she has no interest in the arts, yet she has several discussions about the value of literature, music, and painting. Cite these discussions and what they mean to Jane. Does her opinion change during the course of the novel?

B. Jane also discusses her love of science and math with several characters. What draws her to these fields? Write a poem or create a piece of art with a science or math theme.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. The novel’s prologue is also a flashback. What questions do you take from the prologue into your reading of chapter one? Do you think it is important to be uncertain as to whether Jane is really alive or dead? Why or why not?

  2. Describe the life that Jane lives in Helmsdale. What factors make her a very willing candidate for Birch Grove Academy?

  3. Jane’s limited early education leads her to constantly strive to increase her vocabulary. How does this effort give insight into her state of mind and emotions? What important new words does Jane discover in the course of the novel?

  4. Describe the prep-school society into which Jane is inducted at Birch Grove. How is this similar to, or different from, Helmsdale? From your own school?

  5. From “Mousie Girl” to “MV” to “Lucky,” nicknames fill the novel. Do you have a nickname at home or at school? What roles do nicknames play in your social culture?

  6. On page 55, Jack describes Jane as a “changeling.” How does Jane react to this suggestion? What are her feelings toward Jack at this early point in the novel?

  7. Describe how the author uses images of food, such as rare meat, to reflect key themes of the novel.

  8. Jane seeks scientific knowledge as a way to understand life, and there are several references to perception, vision, and experience. What does Jane miss if she only relies upon what she sees?

  9. Jane sees herself as a scientist and, as such, takes a binary approach to ethics. For Jane, there is mostly a right or a wrong. Why is this perspective important to the story?

10. How does Jane weigh her options when she is offered the chance to be Lucky’s Companion? Beyond his good looks, what does Lucky represent to her? Would you have made the choice she made? Why or why not?