“And is that something that could be dangerous to Rose?”

“Well, yes, I must be truthful. It could be. But we’ll take every precaution.”

“I don’t know about that — ” Jerram said. “Stop it, both of you!” Rose cried. “How dare you talk about me like I’m some kind of …

thing? I’ll decide what I want to do. In the meantime you’d better remember that I’m alive, and I have a brain. I’m not some laboratory rat you can experiment with.”

Two spots of color appeared on Miss Mackey’s pale cheeks. “My dear, I never intended — ” “Rose is right,” Jerram said. He helped Rose out of the chair. “Come on, we’ve had enough mumbo jumbo for one day.”

“Take some time,” Miss Mackey said, seeing them to the door. “Think about it, and come to see me again.”

“That’s up to Rose,” Jerram told her. Rose said nothing. She just wanted to get out of there.

But Miss Mackey’s voice reached them as they were going over the footbridge. “Find out who you are, Rose,” she called. The words hung in the air.

Rose felt loathsome. She felt contaminated. But not just with the dead. There was something else. Something evil. It had touched her, embraced her. She had been inside it. What she wanted now was a bath. She would scrub herself raw because she could still smell the breath of the worm on her skin, she could taste his saliva. She had been inside somebody’s mind.

Twenty-three

Muriel phoned,” mom said when they arrived home. “She left a message. ‘It’s on again.’ She said you’d know what it was about.”

The man from New York, it had to be, Rose thought; he was coming after all. Muriel had gone to New York for a few days, to go to the theatrical costumers and settle the problem with the tap costumes in person. The hats were too heavy for the little kids to dance in, and the batons were so flimsy, they bent after one rehearsal. Maybe she saw him when she was there, and persuaded him to change his mind.

Rose started for the phone but Mom stopped her. “One moment, young lady. And you, too, Jerram. Don’t try to slink away. Just where have you been?”

Rose and Jerram looked at each other. “Why?” Jerram asked.

“Don’t ask me why!” Mom said. Her voice was shrill.

“But it’s broad daylight, and it’s Christmas vacation, and Rose and I have just been out. What’s the big deal all of a sudden?”

Mom tapped her foot. “You have not just been out. You’ve been up to something.”

“We’re not babies anymore,’’Jerram said, opening the refrigerator. Mom pushed it closed again. “Mom, what’s this about?” Rose asked. “Honesty is what it’s about. Telling the truth, sharing the problem. Family rules.”