‘Don’t worry, Father Dom,’ I said. ‘No one’s on the other extension. It’s only me.’

‘What,’ he said, in a completely different tone of voice, ‘could you have been thinking? You promised me! You promised me you wouldn’t go back to the school grounds alone!’

‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘But she was threatening to hurt David, and I—’

‘I don’t care if she was threatening your mother, young lady. Next time, you are to wait for me. Do you understand? Never again are you to attempt something so foolhardy and dangerous as an exorcism without a soul to help you!’

I said, ‘Well, OK. But I was kind of hoping there wasn’t going to be a next time.’

‘Not be a next time? Are you daft? We’re mediators, remember. So long as there are spirits, there will be a next time for us, young lady, and don’t you forget it.’

As if I could. All I had to do was look around my bedroom just about any time of day, and there was my very own reminder, in the form of a murdered cowboy.

But I didn’t see any point in telling Father Dominic this. Instead, I said, ‘Sorry about your breezeway, Father Dominic. Your poor birds.’

‘Never mind my birds. You’re all right, and that’s all that matters. When I get out of this hospital, you and I are going to sit down and have a very long chat, Susannah, about proper mediation techniques. I don’t know about this habit of yours of just walking up and punching the poor souls in the face.’

I said, laughing, ‘OK. I guess your ribs must be hurting you, huh?’

He said, in a gentler tone, ‘They are, some. How did you know?’

‘Because you’re so pleasant.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Father Dominic actually sounded it, too. ‘I – yes, my ribs are hurting me. Oh, Susannah, did you hear the news?’

‘Which? That I was voted sophomore class vice president, or that I wrecked the school last night?’

‘Neither. A space has been found at Robert Louis Stevenson High School for Bryce. He’ll be transferring there just as soon as he can walk again.’

‘But—’ It was ridiculous, I know, but I actually felt dismayed. ‘But Heather’s gone, now. He doesn’t have to transfer.’

‘Heather may be gone,’ Father Dominic said gently, ‘but her memory still exists very much in the minds of those who were . . . affected by her death. Surely you can’t blame the boy for wanting a chance to start over at a new school where people won’t be whispering about him?’

I said, not very graciously, thinking of Bryce’s soft blond hair, ‘I guess.’

‘They say I should be well enough to return to work Monday. Shall I see you in my office then?’

‘I guess,’ I said, just as enthusiastically as before. Father Dominic didn’t appear to notice. He said, ‘I shall see you then.’ Right before I hung up, I heard him say, ‘Oh, and Susannah, do try, in the interim, not to destroy what’s left of the school.’