Ellis presents a morsel – ‘little stones. I collect them. P-p-polish them. Sometimes they’re so clear you can see yourself in ’em.’

This damn place has got her wondering

If you tossed her in the sea,

Would she wash up in that same sweet Kelly green?

That’s a Roxy song. ‘Kelly Green’. I’m struggling to focus, the combination of the strange shadows and the loud chatter weakened by the perpetual roar of the Atlantic making me dazed. ‘Interesting hobby,’ I say.

I’m staring at Ellis too intently now and I don’t even know why. I can tell I am because he doesn’t even shyly avert his gaze, the way he might if I’d just been casually staring at him, but there’s an intensity to this that locks us both in the moment.

His mom was so familiar.

Then – ‘Ellis!’ It’s Sylvia, behind us. She gestures him over to her.

‘Whoops, sorry, I’ll catch up with you g-g-guys in a sec,’ Ellis says and shuffles off. I watch as he goes; Sylvia says something stern to him, a hand on his shoulder.

‘Anyway,’ Liam continues. ‘So, yeah, I’ve had full supernatural experiences where –’

A boy comes up to Liam and smacks him on the back. He turns in surprise but they recognize each other and perform some sort of elaborate dude handshake-hug, pulling away from the two of us.

‘Peyton,’ I say, concerned I’m going to miss my chance to know, ‘what did you say was the weird stuff with Ellis’s family again?’

‘Oh, gosh. I don’t know if we should get into it now. Why are you asking?’

‘I’m just curious.’

‘Well, I guess it starts with: his grandma owned the Willowwood in the first place. I guess it’s been standing for, like, a hundred years, but she got too sick to take care of it and that’s why Ellis and his mom came back from wherever they were living. Right? To take care of her and run the place.’

‘Sure,’ I say, hoping to evoke a curiosity strong enough to justify my asking but casual enough to avoid raising alarm.

‘Grandma just finally passed away. Like, a couple of months ago. April, I think? Super recently. And then some soap-opera developments: on her deathbed, Grandma drops that she’s actually Great-grandma, and the person Ellis’s mom thought was her sister – and didn’t really know anything about – was actually her mom. Apparently the whole town knew but wouldn’t say. Isn’t that the craziest shit you’ve ever heard? They all kept it secret.’

‘Wow,’ I say.

Peyton continues, a conspiratorial air to her tone. ‘Only thing is – Grandma Ellis disappeared. In the seventies, maybe? Eighties? People thought she killed herself but nobody ever found out for sure.’

My gut flips. ‘Do you know her name?’

‘Oh, it was Renee, maybe? Ra – R-something.’

I almost want to laugh. ‘Roxy.’