This didn’t surprise Kaylin. If she couldn’t stop Jamal, she wasn’t certain she’d stick around while he was having a tantrum, either. “Were they always here as well?”

“Pardon?”

“Were the ghosts in your house always here, or did some of them drift in later?”

Mrs. Erickson blinked. “I...think they were always here, like Jamal. But they aren’t as forceful.”

“When did you first notice them?” Kaylin backed up. “Sorry, let me start again. How long have you lived in this house? Were you born here?”

Mrs. Erickson nodded. “My family wasn’t wealthy, but we had the house. It’s been my only home. When I married, we lived here.”

Kaylin was a bit surprised that Mrs. Erickson had actually been married; the Hawks had never met Mr. Erickson and many privately believed he had never existed. She was then ashamed at the surprise. “Your husband died here?”

Mrs. Erickson nodded. “Don’t look like that, dear. It was a long time ago, now. Long enough that the good memories aren’t overwhelmed by the sense of loss. As for the ghosts? I always saw them. As far back as I can remember.”

“And your husband?”

She shook her head. “When he died, he didn’t return.”

“Do you know who owned this house before your parents?”

She shook her head. “It never occurred to me to ask. It was home, it had always been here. Is this an interrogation?” Her tone was bright, her smile genuine. Her eyes seemed almost to sparkle with delight.

Kaylin, however, reddened. And her stomach growled.

Jamal immediately pointed at that stomach and burst out laughing, which didn’t help.

“I’ll go downstairs and finish making dinner if you want to talk to Jamal for a bit.”

“So you knew her when she was a little girl?”

Jamal nodded. “When she was a baby.” The emphasis on the word was childlike. He was young, and decades hadn’t changed that essential fact.

“She could see you then?”

He nodded. “I used to play with her. I mean—I’d pick up rattles or toys when she started to cry. The others can’t.”

“There are four of you?” At his nod, she continued. “Were they always here when you...woke up?”

He nodded again.

“Can any of you leave the house?”

“No.”

“Do you know how long you’ve been part of the house?”

The question seemed to confuse him, which is what she’d expected. She tried again. “Did you see Mrs. Erickson’s mother and father?”

He nodded.

“Did you see the mother—or father—when they were babies, too?”