I couldn’t look at Rowan. Gran said he wanted to be friends, but he had to be angry about what I did. I didn’t let him out. I kept Gloria’s secret while he nearly burned up in the basement. My middle hurt so bad when I thought about it, and I thought about it all the time. That lady, Susan, came to see me at the hospital, and she said I saved his life, but I didn’t believe her. The firemen saved Rowan. I couldn’t even open the lock.

Gran came into Uncle Rick’s room. She had an envelope in her hand.

“It’s from someone named Sharlene? Was she your friend back in Little Sliding?”

I nodded, and Gran gave me the letter. When she closed the door I tore open the envelope. The paper inside was purple with a kitten and string on the bottom.

“Dear Maisy,” it said. “When are you coming back? Your house is all black, but Aunt Erma won’t let me go over. She makes it so boring here. Everyone at school wants to know what happened and what you did. Aunt Erma told Mrs. Murtry the cops caught your mom getting on the bus that night. She was trying to run away. Is that true? Mrs. Murtry’s mad she ever let your mom use her car.” I read as fast as I could. She told me to write her back and “tell her the whole story” so she could explain it to the girls. “They won’t stop asking! They think I should know everything cuz I’m your best friend!”

There was a tiny note on the bottom of the page from Darrell. He said he hoped I was doing okay. He drew a smiley face with two little horns. So that was nice, but I still crumpled up the letter. I liked the one Rowan got from Mrs. Spooner a lot more. He left it on the kitchen counter and I could read almost all the words. She kept saying she was sorry, again and again. She said she knew something was wrong when she saw that sign with THEIF painted on it. “In the pit of my stomach, I knew.” She was “riddled with guilt” because she never did nothing. Never pushed. Then she said she prayed Rowan would never experience another moment of suffering in his entire life. He was a gifted writer, and she hoped he’d always keep his creative spirit. Those were her wishes for him. I read it twice, and even though I didn’t understand everything she meant, I knew for sure she didn’t mention me at all.

“So?” Gran said when I went downstairs. “Do you want some fancy paper to write her back?”

“No,” I said. “No, thank you.”

Then Rowan was next to me, and it was hard to breathe.