“Yeah. And then when I opened my eyes Mr. Schumann was there, with his fat wiggly hands all moving in front of me—and I don’t know. I don’t know why I did it. I’m really really sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt him. He’s a big dumb dork, but I didn’t mean to hurt him.”

“Come here.” She picked me up and sat on the couch, wrapping her strong arms around me, letting my head sink against her breasts like one of the most popular pictures of us together. She leaned her mouth close to my ear and whispered the rest.

“You see so much you shouldn’t, poor baby. Just know this: know that the sisters would not hurt you, and they would help you if they could. They’re looking for something they lost, years and years ago, they’re not looking to harm you at all. They would never harm you, even if they could—and I figure that they probably can’t.”

“But there’s this book, Lu. Are they looking for the book?”

“Good Lord, no, or at least I don’t think so. Don’t you think any more about that book. Maybe one day you’ll outgrow the sight, and you won’t see them anymore, but this is our blood, baby. Someday I’ll tell you who the women are, and why they follow you with their pleading eyes and reaching hands. You should think of them as your guardian angels, and don’t be so afraid. They love you, and so do I. But don’t you ever expect anyone else to understand it.

“Tomorrow the police will come and a social worker will want to see you, but that’s all right. You tell them you’re sorry about Mr. Schumann’s hand, and that it was an accident. You tell them that you closed your eyes, you fell asleep, and you had a nightmare. That’s close enough to true for now.”

Something awful occurred to me—something more awful than the thought of any school suspension. I sniffled and wiped my nose on her blouse, not even sure how I should broach my fear. “And they won’t send me to the pine trees?”

“To the what?”

“To the pine trees?”

She continued to stroke my hair, but didn’t respond right away. “What do you mean about the pine trees, darling? Where’d you hear that?” she asked quietly.