The boy frightened Lew with his furtive but determined approach. He had awful teeth, black and yellow. Lew had noticed him in the dining hall, wincing as he ate. The boy hesitated and seemed to be making a signal toward the sycamore. Lew wondered if he might become like this. Digging out a piece of the dried gum with his nail, he smelled it. Was he himself mad? If he was, he wouldn’t know. He didn’t understand most of what Dr. Walthrop said, but one time he did say it was a good thing he had made up that story about Mr. Celli and believed it. It meant some part of him was good and couldn’t stand the part that had killed his brother. But this idea of dreaming while you were still awake scared him. His nightmares were becoming increasingly real, as if he didn’t know which world to believe. Last night, Annie and Roh had been swimming in the sinkhole, the water all ablaze with sunlight. He was standing high above, on the rock face, and they were calling for him to join them. Roh could speak like a normal boy. He went to jump in, but something snagged his shoulder. It was a long gnarled branch that came out of the stump of a tree beside him. He freed himself, but as he went to jump again he saw darkness seeping up from the bottom of the pool, as if ink had been released. In a moment the glittering pool turned black. Screaming, Annie and his brother were drawn down into the dark waters. He turned around and the tree had become Mr. Celli. Sal Celli had saved him. Sal was all gnarly like the tree, and his right arm—the arm that had held—no, hadn’t-hadn’t-hadn’t held his brother—was huge and muscular. It fell all the way to the ground with veins like roots growing through it. But it seemed as if Sal couldn’t move this arm, like the arm Linus got polio in.

That strange boy stood close now, though he was still facing the sycamore.

Dear Lew,

I wanted to rite you sooner but I was upset. Papa said you was trying to shoot him but Frankie says you was just shooting up the store. A man who said he was going to make you beter talked to me he seemed to know what I was going to say before I said it. It felt bad like I said things I shouldn’t have said but he said it would make you beter he I went to see your dad but he didn’t seem to want to see me I did help him rite you that letter though. A skunk sprayed Alvin. His mom washed him with tomato juice so we call him tomato head. The Waggoner boys took over our fort next to Medow Branch. I told them to get out but Henry In Vernon a boy had a farm scale fall on him. I miss you and I want you beter and I will come see you when it is alowed. We can meet at the litning tree. I wish Get beter.