She could feel Jerram’s mind pulling at her. When he was determined, his mind became an octopus, sending out tentacles. He could force her to listen to him when he wanted to. Of course, it used to be stronger, and it used to be worse because when they were little, Jerram always wanted help with his pranks. Some of them were fairly innocent, like sneaking cookies before dinner. Others were gross, like Jerram smearing himself with ketchup and making Rose run screaming to Mom that he’d hurt himself. Now he looked at her with those pale blue eyes that were so like her own. She sighed. “Okay, what is it?”

“You could go see Old Mackey. He’s got the Celtic personality for things like dream messages. He’ll believe you.”

“O’Hara sounds pretty Celtic, too, and she didn’t.”

“Too modern, dependent on technology,” Jerram sneered in spite of the technology littering his room. “You tell Mackey and he’ll make them listen, being he was police chief for so many years.”

“They’ll just think he’s as silly as I am.”

“He’s an institution in this town.”

“But I don’t know him or even where he lives.”

“He’s up on North Hill. Pronounce his name Mac - eye if you want him to talk to you.” Jerram paused and looked sheepish. “He has a nasty temper.”

“Thanks a bunch.”

“Don’t worry, though. He’s an old sweetheart if you get on his good side.”

“And how do I do that?”

“Cookies. He likes peanut butter cookies. They’re his favorite. Bake him some, he won’t eat store-bought.”

She looked at Jerram. “And how do you know all this?”

“Tried a toilet paper mushball on him the Halloween you were in bed with your toes. He hit me back with a snowball. Had a pile of them in his freezer from the winter before. We called it a draw, and he invited me in.”

It came back. “That was why you came home with no treats for me. I never believed that story you told about giving the candy away to the poor starving children you’d met.”

He chuckled, remembering. “Mom’s still convinced I ate it all myself.”

“Jerram, I’m afraid of getting into this.” Jerram considered. “Well, there’s one hope. Mackey won’t believe you, either, and then you can forget it.”

“I’ll think about it.”