I wondered what kind of painkillers Father Dom was on.

I said, ‘Well, OK, Father. All I know is, wherever Heather’s going, it ain’t heaven. If there is a heaven.’

He smiled at me sadly. ‘I wish,’ he said, ‘you had half as much faith in the good Lord, Susannah, as you have courage. Listen to me now for a moment. You mustn’t – you must not – attempt to stop Heather on your own. It is extremely clear that she very nearly killed you last night. I could not believe my eyes when I walked out and saw the damage she caused. You were lucky to escape with your life. And it is clear from what happened this morning that, like you say, she is only growing stronger. It would be stupid – criminally stupid – of you to try to do anything on your own again.’

I knew he was right. What’s more, if I really did go through with the exorcism thing, I couldn’t let Jesse help me . . . the exorcism might send him back to his maker, right along with Heather.

‘Besides,’ Father Dominic said, ‘there isn’t any reason to hurry, is there? Now that she’s managed to hospitalize Bryce, she won’t be up to any more mischief – at least not until he comes back to school. He seems to be the only person she entertains murderous feelings towards—’

I didn’t say anything. How could I? I mean, the poor guy looked so pathetic lying there. I didn’t want to give him more to worry about. But the truth was, I couldn’t possibly wait for Father Dom to get out of the hospital. Heather meant business. With every day that passed, she would only get stronger and nastier, and more filled with hate. I had to get rid of her, and I had to get rid of her soon.

So I committed what I’m sure must be some kind of mortal sin. I lied to a priest.

Good thing I’m not Catholic.

‘Don’t worry, Father Dom,’ I said. ‘I’ll wait till you’re feeling better.’

Father Dominic was no dummy, though. He went, ‘Promise me, Susannah.’

I said, ‘I promise.’

I had my fingers crossed, of course. I hoped that, if there was a god, this would cancel out the sin of lying to one of his most deserving servants.

‘Let me see,’ Father Dominic was murmuring. ‘We’ll need holy water, of course. That’s no problem. And of course a crucifix.’

As he was muttering over his exorcism grocery list, Adam and Cee Cee came into the room.

‘Hey, Father Dom,’ Adam said. ‘Boy do you look terrible.’

Cee Cee elbowed him. ‘Adam,’ she hissed. Then, to the father, she said brightly, ‘Don’t listen to him, Father Dom. I think you look great. Well, for a guy with a bunch of broken bones, I mean.’

‘Children.’ Father Dominic looked really happy to see them. ‘What a delight! But why are you wasting a beautiful afternoon like this one visiting an old man in a hospital? You ought to be down at the beach enjoying the nice weather.’