I spun around to see Rose standing at the bottom of the steps, her face pale, eyes wide with horror. Her gaze shifted to Levi, then past me to the room. Her face darkened with rage.

“Rose, I—”

“Silence!” She strode for us, yanked Levi away from me, and brushed me aside. “How dare you come near my son!” she snapped at Eli, storming into the room.

I opened my mouth to interject on Eli’s behalf but felt a hand on my shoulder. “Not now, Grace.” Bobbie stood beside me, shaking her head, finger on her lips to silence me. So I kept my mouth shut.

Rose reached down, grabbed a trembling Stephen by his arm, and jerked him to his feet. Flung him at me.

“Upstairs,” she yelled. “Now!”

We responded in unison as if we were all three her children, running for the stairs and rushing back up to the main level. The door to the room below slammed shut and Rose clopped across the concrete basement, hard on our heels.

A high pitch whistled through the house, and it dawned on me that I’d forgotten the teakettle. Before I could move, Rose was rushing past me into the kitchen. She yanked the steaming kettle from the stovetop and clunked it into the sink.

She paused a moment, collecting herself, then swung around and dropped to a knee in front of Stephen, who’d followed us in. “Are you okay?” She ran her arms over him, twisted him either way so she could make sure he hadn’t been hurt.

“Yes.”

Rose stood and glared at me. “How dare you take the children down into the basement! Have you lost your mind?”

Before I could defend myself, Levi set her straight. “Stephen went into the basement.”

Rose glanced at Stephen. “What do you mean? You went down on your own?”

His lips were trembling as he stared up at her, near tears.

“What were you thinking?” she demanded.

Her son opened his mouth, but Rose didn’t actually want a response.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous that boy is? The basement is off-limits!”

Large tears filled Stephen’s little eyes.

“How did you get down there? The door’s locked.”

Stephen reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys.

She snatched them from him. “Where did you get these?”

“In your desk?”

“You are never to touch anything in my office! You know how important it is to follow the rules. They’re for your protection and safety. If you break them, there are consequences!”

“I’m sorry.” Stephen sniffed.

“Sorry’s not good enough. You directly disobeyed me!”

“Mommy, I didn’t—”

“Go to your room,” she snapped, shoving a finger at the hall. “You will spend the afternoon dwelling on your sins until your father gets home to decide on the right correction.”

“I’m sorry,” he cried.