Pizza is good for the soul, Rose thought, as she bit into her second slice. It made you feel normal. Witches and dead bodies didn’t seem real when you were eating a sausage and anchovy pizza and slugging it down with Coke. She kept one eye on the number of slices Jerram was consuming, keeping a fair count, and she felt better than she had since the morning.

They had all relaxed by the time the box was empty and the table was a wreck of crumbs, ends and empty glasses. They went back into the living room to work on the tree, feeling more like a family than they had in days, Rose thought. Mom’s face had softened, the worried lines had faded away.

When the phone rang later, Dad answered. “For you, Rose,” he said, and she hoped it was Daniel.

“Heard there was a wee spot of trouble at church today,” Old Mackey’s voice said. “Are you all right?”

“Sure, I guess so,” Rose replied.

“I don’t like to be the voice of doom, but this kind of thing could continue,” Mackey said. “Forewarned is forearmed. It may help you to get to know yourself, Rose, the better to stand up to such antics. You must face your enemy.”

“What enemy?” Rose asked.

“Ah, but don’t you already know that?” Mackey said.

When Rose didn’t answer, he added softly. “When you want the help, it’s waiting in the form of my sister, Miss Mackey. She knows more about this sort of thing than I do. She can guide you through these dangerous waters. Consider it, Rose.”

The enemy? Rose thought when she’d hung up. Was Mackey telling her it was herself?

Nineteen

When Rose went up to get ready for bed, Nancy was staring into her bedroom window. White face, eyes like black coals, Nancy had changed. No more piglet roundness. Her face was angular, the cheeks sunken, the skin taut. It was easy to see the skull beneath the skin.

Rose stared back at her, heart thundering. A bawling howl started deep inside her throat.

This was not as easy as a dream. This was a waking nightmare. She ran to the window and pulled the curtains shut.

She shoved a tape into her player and turned up the volume. Nancy’s voice broke into the room and shook her by the shoulders.

“Listen to me, Rose,” it said. “Like you did before.”

“I’m listening,” Rose said weakly. This is what Chief Henning and Jerram wanted her to do. This is what Mrs. Emerson didn’t want. Mom called up the stairs, “Will someone please turn that music down?”

“It’s hard for me, Rose,” Nancy said.

“Hard for you! What about me?” Rose cried.

“Shut up and listen, Rose.”