Gloria turned off the light and went away, but I wouldn’t close my eyes. I kept thinking about Pearl. I had a feeling she was hanging around in the dark. I bet she followed me home. She went through the walls and came into my bedroom. She could be floating right over my bed. I reached up my hands but there was nothing in the air.

I read a ghost book once. Some ghosts said stupid ghost stuff. Some ghosts were mean. But some were nice. Rowan would be a nice ghost. I knew that for sure. But I was afraid to talk to him. A cold shiver went up my back. I pulled up my blanket. My mind was full of strings. There were lots of ends sticking out. I didn’t want to pull at nothing. My head wanted to think, but I wouldn’t let it. I stopped it. I stopped it hard.

Soon the green cough vitamin medicine sneaked up into my head. It made me feel warm and heavy and good. The egg didn’t hurt no more and I had to close my eyes.

MAISY

“I haven’t the faintest what this is about!”

Gloria’s yelling woke me up. I went to the top of the stairs and peeked over. The door was open and sunshine was coming in and a policeman was standing there. It was not the man with the funny ties but the man with the blue pants and blue shirt. The one with the gun on his belt.

“Now, Officer Cooper, this can’t be another complaint. Not with all I’m going through.”

“I’m just doing my job, ma’am.”

“What’s he saying?”

The man opened up his notebook. “Mr. Janes states he and his wife saw—”

“His wife?”

He put his notebook closer to his face. “Sorry, ma’am. He and his girlfriend saw you trespassing on their property yesterday evening, and Ms. Jenkins states she saw you outside the bedroom window of their bungalow, watching her undress.”

“What? That’s the last thing I’d want to see. That witch undress.”

“And when Mr. Janes went to investigate he discovered damage to the vinyl siding of his home.”

“Damage. There was no damage.”

“Cut marks, he said. He claims you made stab holes in the siding with a sharp instrument like a screwdriver or a knife.”

“So a raccoon scratches up his house and frightens that—that thing, and you come see me?”

“Vinyl siding’s pretty tough, ma’am. I had it installed on my own house two years ago.”

“Telly thinks this is funny, I bet. This is all some kind of joke.”

“No, ma’am. He doesn’t see it as a joke. He sees it as escalating behavior, and we’re taking it seriously.”