“I’m minding my own business. Why don’t you mind yours?”

“Are you the person who’s flashing a light in this house in the middle of the night?”

It’s hard to read expressions in the moonlight, but I thought she looked startled, even afraid, and she said quickly, “I came here on a dare. The other kids thought I was too chicken to go through this big deserted place at night.”

“And they’re lurking on the perimeter to see you make good on your word. Try another story.”

“You don’t have any right to question me. I’m not breaking any law” “That’s true, not yet, anyway, although it looked as though breaking and entering was going to be your next step. Is this where you and your boyfriend come to make out?”

Her eyes squinched shut in disgust. “Are you with the sex police? If I want to fuck my boyfriend, I’ll do it in comfort at home, not squirreling around in some abandoned attic.”

“So you know that the light is coming from the attic. That’s interesting.” She gasped but rallied. “You said it was the attic.”

“No. I said the house. But you and I both know you know what’s going on in here, so let’s not dance that dance.”

Her soft mouth puckered into a scowl. “I’m not breaking any laws, so let me go. Then I won’t sue you for assaulting me.”

“You’re too young to sue me yourself, but I suppose your parents will do it for you. Since you came on foot, you’re probably from one of these mansions. I suppose you’re like all the other rich kids I’ve ever met, so overindulged you never have to take responsibility for anything you do.”

That did rouse her. “I am responsible!” she shouted.

She wriggled out of my slackened grasp and rolled over. I grabbed at her arm, but only got her backpack. A furry wad came loose in my hands as she wrenched herself free. She sprinted through the opening to the gardens. I jumped up after her, stuffing the furry thing into my jeans as I ran.

As I crashed through the garden, she disappeared around the pond, heading for the woods behind the outbuildings. I charged up the path and tripped again on the loose brick. I was going too fast to catch my balance. I flapped my arms desperately, trying to keep upright, but tumbled sideways into the water.

Weeds and leaves clogged the surface. The water was only five feet deep, but I panicked, terrified that I wouldn’t be able to push my head through the tangled roots. When I finally broke through the rotting mass, I was several yards from the edge. I was freezing, my clothes so heavy with the brackish water that they pinned me like an iron shroud. My feet slipped on the clay bottom and I grabbed at the plants to stay upright. Instead my numb fingers closed around clammy flesh. One of the dead carp. I backed away in disgust so fast I fell over again. As I righted myself, I realized it wasn’t a fish I’d seized but a human hand.