They dusted themselves off and kept walking, this time pushing the leaves and branches aside to make sure their feet would land on solid ground. They didn’t have to walk for long when the ruins of the first building appeared like something out of a fairy tale. Or a horror movie. The building was brick and stone, but it was half-swallowed up by the thick green forest. Ivy climbed over the bricks, branches burst from the windows. The front door was long gone, and the house stood open like the mouth of a sleeping beast.

Who was hungrier, the house or the woods?

“Wow,” said Jaime.

“It’s cool, isn’t it?” said Theo.

“That’s not what I meant,” Jaime said.

Tess flicked her braid from her shoulder so it flowed down her back. “I wonder what it is. Was. I mean, who lived here?”

“Ghosts,” said Jaime.

“Let’s take a look,” Theo said. He marched toward the house as if he hadn’t just fallen down a shaft and nearly died.

“You have no sense of self-preservation, you know that? Haven’t you ever watched a scary movie?” Jaime shouted at his back, but Theo was already at the front door.

“He does have a sense of self-preservation,” Tess said. “But it doesn’t always kick in when he’s curious.”

“Great,” said Jaime. “I hope there aren’t any bears in that building.”

“I think Aunt Esther would have told us if there were bears on the island,” said Tess. She imitated Aunt Esther’s no-nonsense tone. “And remember not to pet the bears! I tried once when I was a tour guide at Yosemite and the darn bear bit my arm off!”

“And that’s how I got this metal hand!” Jaime added.

Tess laughed. It was a high, pure sound that echoed through the dense trees. A flock of birds hidden in the leaves shot up and broke through to the sky. Tess slapped a hand over her mouth.

“I hope those weren’t the herons that Aunt Esther was talking about,” Jaime said, and Tess laughed again, the sound muffled against her fingers.

They followed Theo into the house. As soon as they entered, Jaime could easily imagine ghosts lurking in every corner. Sad ones, angry ones, all kinds of ghosts. There were books and papers all over the floor of the front hall. Dust motes danced in the musty air. A crumbling spiral staircase led to . . . well, Jaime had no idea where the stairs led to and he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.

Theo, who had walked ahead, called back to them. “Come here. Take a look at this.”