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Back The Mother Next Door Save as PDF
Chapters (84)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. Dedication
  4. About the Author
  5. HALLOWEEN
  6. Seven Weeks Before Halloween
  7. ONE
  8. TWO
  9. THREE
  10. HALLOWEEN
  11. Six Weeks Before Halloween
  12. FOUR
  13. FIVE
  14. SIX
  15. HALLOWEEN
  16. Five Weeks Before Halloween
  17. SEVEN
  18. EIGHT
  19. HALLOWEEN
  20. NINE
  21. TEN
  22. HALLOWEEN
  23. ELEVEN
  24. TWELVE
  25. Twenty-Five Days Until Halloween
  26. THIRTEEN
  27. FOURTEEN
  28. HALLOWEEN
  29. FIFTEEN
  30. SIXTEEN
  31. SEVENTEEN
  32. EIGHTEEN
  33. NINETEEN
  34. TWENTY
  35. HALLOWEEN
  36. Eighteen Days Until Halloween
  37. TWENTY-ONE
  38. TWENTY-TWO
  39. HALLOWEEN
  40. TWENTY-THREE
  41. TWENTY-FOUR
  42. Eleven Days Until Halloween
  43. TWENTY-FIVE
  44. TWENTY-SIX
  45. Eight Days Until Halloween
  46. TWENTY-SEVEN
  47. TWENTY-EIGHT
  48. TWENTY-NINE
  49. HALLOWEEN
  50. THIRTY
  51. Four Days Until Halloween
  52. THIRTY-ONE
  53. HALLOWEEN
  54. THIRTY-TWO
  55. Two Days Until Halloween
  56. THIRTY-THREE
  57. The Night Before Halloween
  58. THIRTY-FOUR
  59. HALLOWEEN
  60. THIRTY-FIVE
  61. Halloween, Present Day
  62. THIRTY-SIX
  63. THIRTY-SEVEN
  64. HALLOWEEN
  65. THIRTY-EIGHT
  66. HALLOWEEN
  67. THIRTY-NINE
  68. HALLOWEEN
  69. FORTY
  70. HALLOWEEN
  71. FORTY-ONE
  72. FORTY-TWO
  73. FORTY-THREE
  74. FORTY-FOUR
  75. HALLOWEEN... NOW
  76. FORTY-FIVE
  77. Seven Months Later
  78. FORTY-SIX
  79. FORTY-SEVEN
  80. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  81. ALICE SWANSON’S
  82. Reader's Guide
  83. Questions for Discussion
  84. Booklist

TWENTY-NINE

Theresa

All the kids were there, sitting in a circle on the floor. They were in their Halloween costumes—a vampire, a Disney princess, a police officer, a robot. Half of them were falling asleep. It was late.

So late.

They were looking up, eyes wide. What now? their faces asked.

Their babysitter glided around the room like an ice skater, in a long wedding dress costume, her hair pulled up in a soft bun.

Shh, she said, pressing her finger to her lips. We’re going to play a game. I’m going to leave for just a little while, and you all are going to have to help each other. Okay? She kissed the tops of their heads, telling them good night, good night, good night.

Then she slipped away, down the stairs, her train bouncing behind her. The last thing they saw was her hand, so pale, so white, waving, before it, too, disappeared.

I shook my head, and the scene evaporated as quickly as it had come, leaving only the messy remains of Lily’s bedroom. But the chilling air lingered. I lifted Lily’s cashmere sweater to my face, inhaling the strawberry scent of her shampoo.

Ever since Maggie told me about Daphne a couple of days ago, I’d felt strange being in the house alone. As if every corner I turned, I might catch her hovering in the next room. As if every creak and groan of the house was a sign. Maggie had gotten to me. She’d transformed Lily’s vague, silly legend into reality and dropped it into my lap. My house. My life.

No one else in my family seemed bothered by it. “Duh, yeah. Urban legends are almost always based on some sort of truth, Mom,” Lily had said.

“Don’t you remember our real estate agent telling us about that? That the previous owners had a teenager who died?” Adam had asked me.

I hadn’t.

I’d wanted us to come here so Lily had opportunities. So she could grow and be happy and become her own person. I’d brought her back to our past so she could have a future. Not so she could go chasing ghosts with Ellen.

I couldn’t wait for Halloween to be over.

I walked over to the big round window and looked out. A few people were milling about the cul-de-sac. A young couple, holding hands, wandered the path behind Kendra’s house toward the Full Moon festival. Lily was already there with Ellen and a few other girls from school and had texted me to bring the sweater.