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Chapter Three

Nancy quickly knelt down and grabbed Nila's limp arm to feel for a pulse. Fortunately, there was one, although it seemed a little erratic. Nancy touched the damp red stain on the carpet and was relieved that it wasn't blood but whatever had been in Nila's glass instead, which lay on the carpet next to her.

"What happened ?" Nancy asked the hysterical, sobbing woman, who was also holding an empty glass. "Don't worry, she's not dead."

"Are you sure ?" The woman asked, grabbing Nancy's arm with her free hand.

"Yes, I'm sure," Nancy said. "Now, please, it's important."

"I was just walking down the hall, when I saw her lying here. I swear I didn't do anything ! Please ---- you've got to believe me !"

Nancy thought it odd that the woman would be protesting her innocence, when as far as she could tell, Nila had simply fainted.

Just then Nila began to stir. She groaned, her face contorted in agony. "My stomach . . ." She said. "Oh, it hurts so much."

At that moment an elderly woman dressed in a uniform rounded the corner of the hallway. "Miss Nila !" The woman cried. "Oh, Miss Eleanor, is she all right ?"

"You'd better see if there's a doctor at the party," Nancy told her. "And while you're at it, call an ambulance. I don't know what's wrong with Nila, but we'd better not take any chances."

The servant went off to carry out Nancy's instructions. Nancy glanced briefly at Eleanor, who was sobbing more softly now, then turned her attention to Nila, who was still in considerable pain.

"Can you tell me what happened ?" Nancy asked, cradling Nila's head in her arms.

"The cranberry juice . . ." Nila moaned. "I was fine until I drank it, then suddenly ---- ooohhh ! The pain. It's horrible. Help me, please !"

"You think there was something wrong with your juice ?" Nancy asked.

Nila nodded, wincing. "It tasted horrible ---- bitter. Suddenly my stomach hurt so badly . . . like a knife going into it. I think I fainted from the pain. Please ---- please help me. Someone's ---- trying to kill me . . ."

By this time a crowd of worried guests had begun gathering in the hallway. One woman, whom Nancy had noticed earlier, said, "I'm a doctor. Let me see her." She knelt down beside Nancy and took Nila's pulse.

The guests murmured in anxious tones at the ominous turn the party had suddenly taken.

Nancy grabbed the empty glass off the carpet and smelled it. "Cranberry juice," she murmured. Feeling something wet on her leg, she realized to her annoyance that she'd gotten some of the spilled juice on the hem of her brand-new dress.

This was no time to worry about whether the stain would come out, though. Sirens grew louder. The ambulance was on its way. Now Nancy could hear Pierce's voice from behind the crowd, shouting, "Get the fuck out of my way ! Let me see her."

The crowd parted, and Pierce, his face ashen, wheeled close to where Nila lay. "Is she all right ?" He asked the doctor.

"Her vital signs seem to be stable, as far as I can tell," she told him. "Probably food poisoning of some kind. But let's see what they say at the hospital."

"I ---- I thought she was dead," Eleanor Pierce said in a breathy voice. A girl about Nancy's age, with short brown hair and intense gray eyes, came up and embraced the shaken older woman. Nancy figured that this must be her daughter, Cecilia.

"What happened, Mother ?" The young woman asked, stealing a glance at Nila, who was still moaning in pain.

"She ---- she must have fainted, dear," Eleanor said, stroking her daughter's hair. "I'm sure Nila will be fine. There's nothing to worry about."