“Maybe Bill’s Amish,” Thomas joked, and Marie laughed so hard that the milk she was drinking snorted out of her nose. I was still afraid that Bill might be someone we actually knew and that I could even have been nice to him, not knowing who he was. Marie said the only possible reason for him to still be secret was that he was married.

“Do you know what happened to his fingers?” I asked Beatrice. I thought how he’d lost them might be a clue about the work he did. Lying next to me in the dark, she coiled her hair and looked up at the ceiling.

I must have fallen asleep, because I didn’t hear them come home. By morning my mother had already left with Thomas for swimming. The others were downstairs—Beatrice and Ellen on the sofa, Ellen stretched out, her feet touching Beatrice, who sat cross-legged, reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. We’d told Beatrice that Ellen had a bad fall when she was walking home in the dark because she’d tried to go through the woods to get here faster. We’d said we didn’t want Mom to know because she’d be mad that Ellen went into the woods. Beatrice had sworn herself to secrecy. We’d told Thomas the same thing. Ellen was wearing a long-sleeved Tweety Bird nightgown that covered up most of her injuries except her face. So far, my mother hadn’t seen Ellen but if she asked about the cuts we had our story straight. Marie was reading a book in the beanbag chair. Ellen was pestering Beatrice.

“How was last night? Did you see Bill?” Her face was chalk white, and the gash under her eye had turned black.

Beatrice kept reading.

“What does he look like? Does he look like you?” Ellen was being mean.

“No. He looks big and wide,” Beatrice said.

“What kind of car does he drive? Do you go anywhere in his car?”

“I told you a thousand times. He’s got a truck.”

“Does he wear a suit like Mr. Walker wears to work, or does he wear clothes like the plumber?”

“He wears shirts with squares all over them.”

“Checked? Like cowboys?” Ellen asked.

Beatrice shrugged.

“Where’d you go last night?”

“You know I’m not supposed to say I saw him. We just sat in the booth with our food, and then we sat in the parking lot.” She tucked her legs in under her.

“Jesus, Ellen, lay off,” I said. “Aren’t you supposed to be resting or something?” Ellen looked like she was about to cry.

Marie looked up from her book. “Ellen, go upstairs. Take two of the baby aspirins out of the bottle in the medicine cabinet. The one with the pink cap.”

Ellen got up and walked slowly up the stairs, taking just one step at a time, using the banister.