“You don’t know him one bit.” I squished up my eyes so he’d know I was mad. “Gloria said you’re not supposed to talk to strangers.”

“Some stranger. I’ve been there tons of times.”

“He’s bad and he’s dumb. Giving that dog half the wiener.” I wondered why Girl didn’t run away when her stomach was full. She just curled into the troll. “The big half, too.”

Rowan let out a sigh. He shook his head back and forth. “That’s not dumb, Turtle. That’s just another way he’s being nice.”

I kept walking. After Rowan said that, I didn’t know what to think about the troll—Carl—in my head. Maybe that was being nice. But I still didn’t like him hiding under the bridge. I didn’t like that Rowan and Carl got sparkles in their faces when they saw each other. Even that dog looked at Rowan like it just found a pile of meat bones.

When we got out of the woods the sun was already going down behind the house. Rowan said, “Shit. What the hell is that doing here?” He pointed at the driveway. I looked. A red truck. Not a speck of dust on it. I forgot all about Telly coming back.

That cold snaky feeling rushed right back into my middle. Terrible stuff. Terrible stuff is coming. I touched the metal thing in my hair one more time. Telly was already waiting inside.

MAISY

“Oh, my darlings,” Gloria said when we walked through the happy, happy yellow door. Her eyes were crinkly, and she was wearing a new blue dress. It was tied tight around her middle. I saw the tag up under her arm stuck on with a safety pin.

“Where were you two?” Telly was standing there. His hands were in his pockets. “Off having an adventure?”

“No,” I said. “Me and Rowan. We just went, um…” I saw Rowan’s eyes get small then. He didn’t need to do that. I wasn’t going to say nothing about Carl. “We were looking for butterflies. I like butterflies a lot. Their wings are pretty. But you’re not supposed to touch them because it hurts. That’s what Mrs. Spooner said.”

“Again with Mrs. Spooner, Maisy? What did I tell you?”

“I wasn’t.” I swallowed. My story wasn’t coming out right.

Then Rowan said, “She did a lesson with them. On bugs. That’s all. I was trying to show her some stuff.”

“Isn’t that nice,” Telly said. “You watching after your little sister. Teaching her about all the wildlife around. Respecting it.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever.” Rowan wiggled out of his sneakers and kicked them into a corner.

“It’s true, Row. I wish I had a big brother growing up.”

Then Gloria tugged my hair. But not hard. “You got something snarled up in there?”