Like Moses parting the Red Sea, the river was pushed back on both sides, held in place by some kind of invisible wall. A five-foot space separated the two halves of the river, and the rocky path of the riverbed was exposed in between.
I could only make out about twenty feet ahead of me, but I knew the path would go all the way up to the island. This was Hush-a-bye’s work, no doubt. But it didn’t make sense. Why would she make it easier for me to get to her and Antonia?
I came up with two possibilities. One was she’d let me get halfway across before letting the river drop back down and drown me. It was not a comforting thought.
There was a second possibility, though. It wasn’t much better than the second, but somehow it made the most sense. Hush-a-bye made the path because she knew I’d come after Antonia and she was waiting for me on the island. Judging from the humiliating ways she’d punished the lunch lady, Gus, Zoogie, and Maddie, drowning me quietly didn’t seem like her style. Whatever pain she had planned for me, I’m sure she’d want to have a front-row seat to watch it happen.
This was a bad, bad situation. The smart thing would have been to run away as fast as my legs would carry me and let the adults handle this. But the smart thing wasn’t an option for me. Antonia was my little baby sister, no matter what she’d done. I had to find her now, before something terrible happened to her. And so I started running up the path across the riverbed.
I had a lot on my mind then, so it took a minute before I realized the rain wasn’t drenching me anymore. I looked up. The rain was still beating down just as viciously as it had been, but some unseen barrier held it back several feet above my head. If I wasn’t so scared, I might have been grateful. Except I knew Hush-a-bye didn’t do anything out of kindness. Maybe it was to remind me she could do anything she wanted—even control the rain.
The ground dipped as I made my way toward the middle of the river. Pieces of garbage dumped in the water over the years were scattered among the rocks—gas cans, car tires, even a raggedy baby stroller.
The flashlight beam caught something big thrashing on the river floor a few feet ahead. It was long and black and snakelike, except the head looked like it had been squashed. I crept up closer, holding my breath.
I let it out once I saw it was only a mud-devil salamander, somehow left behind when the river slipped to the side. I’d only ever glimpsed the tail of one, and I’d never seen a whole one up close. It was dark green with light brown spots, and it had glassy eyes and a wide mouth that gulped for the vanished water.
I set the flashlight on the ground and scooped my hands under the mud devil. It was even uglier up close, but I knew it was harmless. Its breathing was shallow, and it didn’t squirm too much. I wondered if I was too late to save it.
I carried it to the wall of water and pressed its head against it. For a moment, it just lay there with its head in the river and its body in my hands. But then, with a quick snap, the creature shot through the wall and disappeared into the black water.
I set my palm against the water wall. The current trembled across my skin. For a tiny moment, I thought about pushing my face through the wall. After all, when would I ever get another chance to see the river like that?
But then I pictured myself sucked in by the current and the river carrying me away, then Mom waking up in a hospital, frantically banging on the nurse’s button while calling out for her firecrackers. And Antonia—
I shook the thought out of my head, and I started running.
The ground began to slope upward. I could just make out the low scrub and grassy bank of the Hunter’s Moon Island shore but not the birch trees.
I jogged farther up the island bank and took a breath. Then water splashed against the back of my leg and I turned about. The path I’d just traveled through was gone. The churning river water of the Susquehanna had fallen back in place.
“Well, at least I didn’t get caught in the water,” I said to myself, but it was cold comfort. I trudged up to the top of slope, not sure what would happen next, not sure who or what I’d find there waiting for me. I thought I was ready for anything. But when I finally reached the top of the slope, what I saw there stopped me dead in my tracks.
“Oh my,” I said.
The flashlight dropped out of my hand and rolled back down the slope into the river. It was sucked into the current and disappeared.
It didn’t matter. I wouldn’t need it to find my way around the island any more than I’d need it to find Antonia. I could see where she’d gone, clear as the noonday sun.
With legs like cement, I plodded slowly up the grassy bank. Buttery yellow light spilled across the freshly mowed lawn. The bright glow came from the long, two-storied bank of windows, every single one lit up like the Fourth of July.
Hunter’s Moon Lodge had come back to the island.
27
I’D SEEN A lot of weird things since finding the doll’s head, but this was a whole other level of strangeness, like finding Narnia in the back of the wardrobe or stepping out of a tornado into Munchkinland.
Part of me wondered if I was still trapped under the collapsed trailer, sunk in a deep coma and dream-walking the river while my face was half-buried in the mud. But this was no dream.
It was all there. The long white two-story building dotted with brightly lit windows and sturdy columns. The same jumble of tinny piano music, grown-up voices, and laughter drifting across the grounds.
Off to one side of the lodge was the forked tree where we’d found Hush-a-bye’s body. It looked as dead as ever, its branches still curled over like witch’s fingers. The red rowboat that took Antonia and me over to Hush-a-bye’s body was sitting at its base. I walked over and peeked inside the boat.
On the center bench was a small leather suitcase. With trembling fingers, I undid the latch and opened it. Inside was a block of green foam with two long indents cut out of it. Whatever was in the spaces had been taken out, but it seemed to me two doll legs would have fit in them perfectly. I gripped the plastic bag tighter.
I stepped carefully onto the long porch. It creaked. I placed my palm on one of the columns. The wood felt cool and smooth and very solid.
I approached a large, dark-stained door with frosted windows and a long brass handle. The music sounded louder now, and the voices too, but I couldn’t clearly make out what was being said.
I breathed in slowly and let it out like it was the last breath I’d ever take. Then I opened the door.
The voices and music stopped abruptly, like someone had pressed the mute button. I stepped in the lobby of the hotel, but no one was there. I closed the door and leaned back against it, then reminded myself to start breathing again.
Just like my dream, the hotel had a front lobby desk with a bell on top, a winding staircase with a polished banister, and a chandelier above it all, shining like a thousand brilliant diamonds. The musty, sharp smell, like a mix of damp earth and moldy leaves, was something new. But I never smelled anything in my dream.
“Antonia?” I called out in a small voice. No response. I stepped away from the door and stood in the silence, waiting for something. What that something was, I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out either.
“Antonia,” I called out again, a little louder. Still no answer. I opened the plastic bag to make sure the bottle of rubbing alcohol and safety matches were still there.
I knew they would be. I was stalling. Because I was terrified. Whatever haunted this place was surely waiting for me up the staircase and down the long hallway. Just like in my dream. I swallowed, tucked the bag under my arm, and headed up the stairs. For Antonia.
I held on to the banister as tightly as I could while I climbed. It wasn’t easy. It felt smooth as glass, and my hand kept slipping. Not that I really needed its support. The stairs weren’t too steep, and I wasn’t in any danger of falling if I let go. But it felt good to have s
omething solid to hold on to.
Each step groaned as my foot pressed down on it. The sound echoed throughout the empty lobby. I glanced quickly over my shoulder, imagining someone was following me, but no one was there.
“Get a grip, get a grip,” I whispered to myself, squeezing my nails painfully into my palm.
At the top of staircase where the second-floor hallway began, a rectangle of white light glowed. I kept my eyes glued on it with each step.
“Almost there,” I said. It wasn’t the most comforting thought.
A small shadow moved into the light. I stopped. Then a voice that might have been Antonia’s—or something trying to sound like Antonia—started singing.
Hush-a-bye and good night
Till the bright morning light
Takes the sleep from your eyes
Hush-a-bye, baby bright
“Antonia?” I called out. The shadow drew back into the hallway.
“Antonia! Wait!” I sprinted up the rest of stairs, my heart banging against my chest.
When I reached the top, I turned to the right. The same hallway I’d dreamed about stretched out impossibly long ahead of me. I pinched my earlobe to make sure I was still awake. It hurt, so yep, not a dream. The sound of a door shutting echoed from the far end of it.
“You can do this, you can do this,” I muttered to myself as I pinched my lobe painfully one more time, just to make sure.
My feet made swishing sounds against the carpet as I ran down the hall. I avoided looking at the doors I passed, ashy white with stark black numbers at the top. It felt like they were staring at me as I approached each one, sizing me up. I listened for whispers but heard nothing.
After what seemed like forever, I finally reached the end of the hallway. And there, just like I knew they would be, were the double French doors from my dream. I was here at last. Whoever, or whatever, was waiting for me was behind them.
I couldn’t stop shaking. I was more scared than I’d ever been. But it didn’t matter. I was here to rescue Antonia, even if I had only the faintest idea anymore how to do it. I turned the handle and opened the doors.
The room was dark and cold. The only light was dim and gray and came through a bay window in the back. I could hear the muffled sound of rain beating against the pane. A silhouette blocked the light in the center of the window.
“Antonia?” I whispered. There was no response, but I caught a glint from what looked like her sparkly duckling barrette. My heart raced.
I’ve found her, I thought. Thank God for that ugly barrette. I’d know it anywhere.
“It’s me, Antonia. It’s Lucy.” The silhouette didn’t make a sound.
I stepped inside. The doors clicked shut behind me. I turned my head and considered trying the handles to see if they’d still open, but there didn’t seem to be any point. Either I was trapped or I wasn’t, and there wasn’t much I could do about it right then.
I took another step forward, and the lights clicked on. I blinked and raised my hand to my eyes. A large, globe-shaped chandelier illuminated an empty room with faded blue walls and a parquet floor.
Antonia sat cross-legged on a cushioned ledge under the bay window. The doll sat in her lap. Her long, curly hair was brushed in front of her face. Two bright pink legs with shiny black shoes jutted out from the bottom of her dress—Hush-a-bye’s reward for dropping the trailer on Mom and me, I guessed.
Antonia held a hairbrush in her hand. She was focused on the slow, even brushing motion she made through the doll’s hair. I swallowed hard. “Antonia, are you all right?”
She said nothing but kept on brushing. Her eyes were glazed and unfocused, like she was half-asleep.
A streak of lightning shot through the sky like it was splitting it in half, followed by loud crack of thunder. Antonia didn’t even flinch. “I’ve come here to get you,” I said. “I want you to come home with me.”
Antonia stopped brushing. Her fingers trembled slightly. I reached out my hand to my sister, ready to take hold of hers.
The doll’s head snapped up. Her hair fell to the sides, and two bottomless, bright green eyes stared back at me.
“We are home,” Hush-a-bye said.
28
HUSH-A-BYE’S VOICE WAS thick, like someone trying to talk through a mouthful of mud—the same voice I’d heard through the closet door and in my dream.
I tried to sound calmer than I felt. “Please, Antonia,” I said, tearing my eyes away from the doll and back to my sister. “We’ve got to go. The river’s rising.”
Antonia didn’t answer. She wouldn’t even look in my direction. Thunder rumbled far away, and rain thudded against the roof.
I tried to step forward, but damp, heavy hands pushed down hard on my shoulders. I fell to my knees and let out a yelp. When I looked over my shoulder to see who was holding me down, no one was there. But I knew it was Hush-a-bye’s doing.
“You’ve got your legs,” I said, looking right at Hush-a-bye. “You’re all put together now. Why don’t you let Antonia go? What do you need her for?”
Hush-a-bye grinned. Her teeth were small and pointed and covered with wet green moss. Her face wasn’t a doll’s face anymore. But it wasn’t human either.
A sickly sweet smell came off her, like dead tulips decaying in a vase. A fierce clap of thunder, closer than before, rattled the window. Antonia still hadn’t budged, but a long ribbon of goose bumps popped up along her bare arms.
Something I couldn’t see yanked away the plastic bag with the rubbing alcohol and the box of safety matches. It skittered across the floor and came to a rest at Antonia’s feet.
“Look what she brings us,” Hush-a-bye said. “Fire and destruction. Just as I told you.”
“That’s not true!” I cried out. “Hush-a-bye’s the one who’s a monster. She’s the one who destroyed our trailer. She nearly killed Mom and me. Mom is in the hospital!”
“Lies, lies,” Hush-a-bye said, shaking her head. “Everything she’s ever told us is lies.”
“Antonia, you know I’d never hurt you,” I said. She didn’t answer. “Antonia?” My voice cracked. “You know I wouldn’t, don’t you?”
Her head slumped forward, and she pressed her hands against her seat. The hairbrush clattered to the floor.
I bolted forward. Nothing held me back this time. The invisible hands pressing down on me before were gone. I scrambled on my hands and knees toward the bay window, grabbed Hush-a-bye by the neck, and flung her away as hard as I could. There was a loud crack against the wall, but I didn’t bother to look over. Instead, I took hold of Antonia’s wrists.
“Listen, Antonia,” I pleaded, trying and failing to catch my sister’s eyes. “I came here to save you. I promise I would never do anything to hurt you. Ever. I love you. Please come with me.”
Antonia sat there like a clod of dirt, not responding in any way. A huge aching wave filled my chest.
“Please, Antonia,” I said, tears running down my face. “I know I lied to you. It rips me up how much I hurt you. So here’s the truth, all of it. I don’t have friends. I don’t talk to anyone. No one talks to me. Every day at school I’m scared and lonely and sad, and it hurts so bad I can hardly get through one day to the next.” I sobbed and pressed my cheek against her leg. “All I’ve got is you and Mom. I need you, Antonia. I need you so bad.”
I started to reach out for Antonia’s face, when the clammy, invisible hands jerked me back, sliding me across the floor to where I’d been a moment ago. Antonia’s chin was still pressed against her chest, eyes hidden, her hands now curled between her knees.
“Poor, poor Lucy.” I turned to the familiar mud-filled voice. Hush-a-bye was sitting with her back against the wall, her mossy teeth grinning like a moldy jack-o’-lantern. “All she wants is love, even if it means breaking my head open to get it. But I don’t break that easily.”
I stared at Hush-a-bye. Now I understood why the invisible hands had let me go. She knew I’d try to get her away from Antonia. She wanted Antonia to see it. To turn her against me even more.
I felt as hollowed out as a rotten log. My sister wouldn’t look at me or speak to me. She didn’t believe me. She wanted nothing more to do with me. I’d lost her.
Hush-a-bye leered at me, her green eyes glowing. “You see, Antonia? She’s got nothing but brutality and lies,” she said. “We’re done listening. It is time to go.”
The French doors flew open behind me. And there in the hallway, where there had only been a bare wall when I entered, was the huge iron door from my dream. It was covered with the same fish bones and thick vines I remembered. But this time four rusted bolts were set along the right side of the door.
The top one slid open with a grating sound—skreeee. Dark water leaked from beneath the door. I could almost feel its iciness filling my lungs.
Just outside the window, a streak of lightning shot down and struck a tall birch, lopping off a branch. The lights in the room flickered and went out.
Another bolt scraped open. Skreeee. In the darkness, Hush-a-bye’s mud-filled voice oozed into my head.
“Antonia’s with me now. Forever and ever. Like my dear Rosetta would have been . . . until she betrayed me.” Hush-a-bye let out a low growl like a dog getting ready to pounce. “She was weak and stupid. No better than the rest of the filth who pollute this world. No better than you, who wanted to throw me away the first moment we met.”
Skreeee.
“But Antonia . . .” Hush-a-bye sighed. “I knew she was the one I had been waiting for. She called out to me right away, called out to have me punish the wicked ones. And each time she called for me, I grew stronger. Soon, this very night, I’ll be strong enough to lay waste to every last miserable soul who dares defy us. Then it will be just the two of us. Forever and ever.”
Hush-a-Bye Page 14
