Glancing at the clock, Darcy hugged her mother tightly and kissed her cheek. “You’d better run now, Mom. Don’t think about it anymore. It’s over. And stop worrying about me and Jamee. We can handle it. Besides, how bad can life be when we’ve got your apple pie to eat?” Her mother gave her a weak smile. “I’ll try to get Grandma to eat some too,” Darcy continued. “Don’t work too hard tonight, okay?”

“Depends on how many ambulances come screaming up to the ER, baby,” Mom said, finally going out the door. As soon as she was gone, the telephone rang.

Jamee was not home yet. Sometimes she was late doing cheerleader practice, but she was pretty good about calling home when she was going to be very late.

“Hello?” Darcy said. There was no answer, but on the other end of the line there was a long, horrifying scream, the kind you hear in horror movies. Then the caller hung up. For an instant, Darcy was shaken, but then she thought it had to be a prank. Some fool had just played a Halloween soundeffects tape into the phone. Darcy did not think she knew anyone stupid enough to pull a stunt like that. Had she been randomly called by a stranger? Or was someone she knew trying to scare her? The same person who wrote that awful note?

Darcy forced the call out of her mind and went to Grandma’s room. Grandma was very confused today. She thought she was a little girl again, living in her mother’s house in Alabama. Darcy used to try to talk Grandma out of her confused notions, but now she just went along with whatever Grandma was thinking. It made her less agitated.

“Mama won’t like it that I’ve stayed here past supper,” Grandma said. “Mama wants us home by supper. ”

“It’s all right,” Darcy assured her.

“Mama says it’s all right for us kids to have fun, long as we’re home by suppertime,” Grandma insisted.

“Yes,” Darcy replied.

“Mama says the woods are full of bad things, like snakes. I saw one once,” Grandma said, shuddering at the memory.

Darcy gave Grandma a small slice of apple pie. Grandma smiled and smacked her lips. “This is delicious. My Mama makes the best pies. ”

Darcy stayed with Grandma until she fell asleep. Then she headed into the kitchen to do some studying. A few minutes later, Jamee got home. She tried to race unseen to her room, but Darcy saw her. “Jamee!” Darcy cried, jumping up. “What happened?” Jamee’s left eye was almost swollen shut, and her cheek was scratched and bruised.

“We were practicing cheers and we were doing a pyramid, and I was at the top and fell, that’s all,” Jamee said. “It’s no big deal. Why do you have to go and make a big deal out of everything?”