Joey, she imagined, had fallen asleep. Oh, they should never have sent him home from that school, she thought, lashing out, for Joey’s hurt, for the fear he must have suffered. They were in the consultation room now. “Pa keeps some good bourbon in his desk. What do you say we have a drink?” Virgie said sharply, “Of course not. Where is Joey?” “Well, I need one.” She fumbled in a desk drawer and then she had a gun, too. Virgie called, “Joey! Joey!” “Shut your trap, dumbo! He was here just like the mick said but Pa took him up before he took me to the hospital. Come on, move. When I get the ring you can go up and then the Marines can land. Move!” Her own silent scream awoke her and she found she had ripped off the covers Nanny had so carefully tucked in and was sitting upright, gasping with her nightmare. No wonder a nightmare with the evening I’ve had! To compose herself, she put on the light and faked a yawn, yawned again and picked up Jane and found her place in Persuasion.
