“But the doctors and nurses said your sister, Maria, brought you to the hospital,” the ranger said.

All the eyes around the bed focused on Maria.

There had been a time when she had wanted to be in the spotlight, wanted to be the center of attention, and now here was her chance. All she had to do was step up and take credit for rescuing her sister.

Who would question it? The doctors and nurses had all seen her carry her sister into the Emergency department and would surely vouch for her. And Angelina had been talking crazy all morning. Who would believe the word of a delirious little girl over the word of her bigger, older sister and the entire medical staff of Redstone Memorial? Even the Brock kids wouldn’t be stepping forward to receive any recognition for Angelina’s rescue. If they did, they’d have to admit to being werewolves, and that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. And even if she did claim to have found her sister and carried her all the way back to the hospital, she’d probably be doing the Brocks a huge favor. In one fell swoop the whole werewolf thing would be old news. And in that light, it would only be right for her to put an end to the issue, since she was the one who’d started it all.

The only trouble was…it wasn’t true.

The Brocks had found Angelina, and the credit was theirs if they wanted it. Maria had to remain neutral. There was only one thing to do here, and that was to tell the truth.

“I only brought her into the hospital,” she said.

Everyone was still staring at Maria, only now there were confused looks on all their faces.

“Then who found Angelina and brought her to the hospital?” Mrs. Abruzzo asked. “What’s this werewolf she’s talking about?”

Maria could feel the sweat beginning to bead on her brow. She’d been telling everyone at school that the Brocks were werewolves, and now her sister—a little girl who always told the truth—was saying the very same thing. She could tell the truth, agree with her sister, and be right, or she could lie about what happened, dismiss what her sister was saying as silly, and stick up for the Brocks.

It would be so easy to tell the truth, so hard to tell a lie. There was no doubt in Maria’s mind that telling the truth was good, and telling a lie was bad, but the question was, now, which one was the right thing to do?

Maria decided to split the difference and go right down the middle.