“Who the heck is they?’ Jerram asked belligerently, making Mom frown.

Barney looked ruffled. “People in charge, of course.”

Mom seemed to like this theory. “Maybe you’re right. Nancy’s friend could have been terribly upset.”

“Oh, yes, it happens all the time,” Barney said. “More than likely. There’s only a one-in-a-million chance for another murder happening here, so soon after the other.”

“That’s what I think,” Mom agreed. She was warming to the subject.

Rose had to get out of the kitchen. “I’m sick of all this,” she said ungraciously.

She could hear their voices behind her, whispery and full of concern. “It must be upsetting for her; they were girls from school,” Mom was saying.

“She needs therapy,” Barney advised.

“Give her a break, can’t you?” Jerram said.

She locked herself in her room and wouldn’t answer even when Jerram knocked. He called to her, then she heard him muttering as he went away.

But the room wasn’t much of a haven now; it felt contaminated with the dreams, yet it was the only place she had to be alone.

She thought for a long time, until the sun went twinking down and night fell. Would the police find Nancy’s friend in Danville junkyard? Did it matter, since she was dead, anyway? But it wasn’t fair for people to start believing she had committed suicide. She deserved to be found, if only for that.

“Do something!” Nancy had said.

Rose knew she had to.

Ten

She had no time to make peanut butter cookies. But she packed a slab of the chocolate cake Mom had made that afternoon and sneaked out of the house. Only Jerram knew where she was going, and he had eagerly agreed to cover for her by pretending they were working together in his room. “I’m glad you’re doing this,” he said. “And that you’re trusting me.”

“Why wouldn’t I trust you?”

“I mean, we’re doing this together, aren’t we? Just the two of us. Like our old secrets. No outsiders.”

“No outsiders,” Rose agreed and wondered if Jerram knew she had considered calling Daniel to ask him to go with her. She’d actually looked up his telephone number but hadn’t been able to bring herself to dial it. She wasn’t ready to tell Daniel about these things yet.

She got on her bike and started toward North Hill. It was more of a mountain than a hill. Halfway there she had to stop and walk the bike.

The wind was cold and pushy, blowing down from the top. It started to sleet, and she could hardly see where she was going. She thought of that crazy music, Night on Bald Mountain. Not something you could hum, but it fit the bill. She felt like the only one alive in the world.