This, strangely, made sense to me. Perhaps the evil spirits had the ability to know what I was doing at any given second, which gave them the upper hand in always being one step ahead of me. But I’d been thinking of them as if they had futuristic powers, and in reality, they were probably a lot less sophisticated in terms of formulating complicated plans than I was giving them credit for being.

In the waiting room, Mom was so distraught that she hadn’t seemed to notice that I’d been gone almost forty-five minutes. Glenn’s doctor had met with her and told her that she’d be allowed a brief visit that night in an hour or so when he came out of sedation. They expected he might need a skin graft on his right arm, and two of the fingers on his right hand were in bad shape, but it was too soon to tell.

Mom told me she was going to hang out around the hospital until she was permitted to visit with Glenn, even if it was just for a few minutes. She thanked me for the sandwich and ate a few bites of it while I wondered how in the world I was going to separate myself from her, and where in town I could possibly go. The sad truth was that I had already burned all of my bridges in town. Cheryl was probably still disgusted with me for what I’d dragged her into earlier that day. And even though my mother loved the idea of my spending more time with Henry Richmond, sleeping at his house for even one night was a last resort.

But I didn’t have to think too hard about finding a solution, because one found me. Just as Mom started talking about how she thought we should go to Glenn’s house that night since the bedrooms hadn’t been damaged and the contractors were supposed to start working on the roof the next morning, I got a text from Violet.

VIOLET 6:53 P.M.

R U OK? Just heard about your house.

Violet.

Not too long ago, she would have been the last person on Earth I wanted to ask for help. But now she was in some ways my best option. I wouldn’t have to lie to her about my reason for needing to stay away from my mom at a time when it seemed completely insensitive to leave her on her own. And although I didn’t want to disclose anything about Trey’s presence in town to her, she’d also understand the importance of keeping him hidden just a little while longer. She had seemed genuinely willing to help me over the last few days, and she had nothing at all to gain by doing so. I had to admit that if I were in her position, having been finally freed from the curse, I might not have been as eager to pitch in.

As a plan came together in my mind, I told Mom, “I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to stay at Glenn’s at all. I mean, the damage to the roof may be more complicated than just what we see. There could be electrical issues. And besides, it’s cold.”