After a pair of folk singers play a couple of sad songs, the principal gives a talk in praise of Ms. Sullivan and reads a poem by Robert Frost. Teachers, friends, and relatives step forward and share their memories—long hikes in the mountains, bike rides, visits to the ocean, art galleries and museums, train rides to New York. Her family talks about her childhood and how she’d always wanted to be an artist. They laugh about her sense of humor and cry about how much they miss her.

Behind the speakers is a display of Ms. Sullivan’s artwork. Among the pictures is the barn I saw her paint. It’s so beautiful. I wish it hung on my bedroom wall where I could see it every day.

At the end, we all hold hands and sing “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” one of Ms. Sullivan’s favorite songs. Everybody cries. I glimpse Mr. Boyce walking away alone, his head down.

On the way to the truck, Greg hugs me. “What a nice way to remember your teacher.”

“It was beautiful,” I say.

“Perfect,” Mom adds.

We walk together, me in the middle, holding hands again. I think of Mr. Boyce getting into his car and driving away from Evansburg. I think of Ms. Sullivan standing at an easel painting that barn. I think of Skylar and me and the strange distance that’s opened between us. I touch the silver studs in my ears and wonder what eighth grade will be like.

About the Author

Photo by James Ferry

MARY DOWNING HAHN’s many acclaimed novels include such beloved ghost stories as Wait Till Helen Comes, Deep and Dark and Dangerous, and Took. A former librarian, she has received more than fifty childvoted state awards for her work. She lives in Columbia, Maryland, with a cat named Nixi.

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Books by Mary Downing Hahn

The Thirteenth Cat

The Puppet’s Payback and Other Chilling Tales

Guest

The Girl in the Locked Room

One for Sorrow

Took

Where I Belong

Mister Death’s Blue-Eyed Girls

The Doll in the Garden

Closed for the Season

The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall

Deep and Dark and Dangerous

Witch Catcher

The Old Willis Place

Hear the Wind Blow

Anna on the Farm

Promises to the Dead

Anna All Year Round

As Ever, Gordy

Following My Own Footsteps

The Gentleman Outlaw and Me—Eli

Look for Me by Moonlight

Time for Andrew

The Wind Blows Backward

Stepping on the Cracks

The Spanish Kidnapping Disaster

The Dead Man in Indian Creek

December Stillness

Following the Mystery Man

Tallahassee Higgins

Wait Till Helen Comes

The Jellyfish Season

Daphne’s Book

The Time of the Witch

The Sara Summer

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