Rita patted my shoulder and asked how I was, but she didn’t fool me. It was Lilly she’d come to see. She said, “You girls must be tired of sitting—why don’t you take a little walk while we chat?” As if we were Gene and Terry’s age.
I wanted to stay right there to hear every word they said, but Lilly looked so worried and sad, I didn’t argue. Her cheerful chatter on the way to Madison had been a big cover-up for the bad news she knew was coming.
The heat was fierce when we stepped out onto the wide front porch of the funeral home. I started down the steps but Charli stopped me.
“It’s too hot,” she said. She pointed to a swing at the far end of the porch. “Let’s sit. I have to ask you something.”
Well, here it comes, I thought. And then I realized it didn’t matter now—let her ask. Rita was in there telling Lilly what was what, and nothing Charli told them about me was going to make any difference.
“I knew my great-grandmother was dead because I saw her,” I said flat out, hoping to shock her. “I saw her in her hospital room and I looked at her and I knew. It happens to me that way sometimes, like a dream, only I’m awake and what I see is real.”
She stared at me. “Is that the truth?”
“Of course it’s the truth,” I said. “How else could I have known?”
She said, “You might have guessed. That’s what I thought. I thought you were worried about your great-grandmother, and so you just guessed. Anyway,” she went on, “that isn’t what I want to ask. Tell me what you saw in the Castle Friday morning—just before I went home.”
Went home? I thought. Ha! That was a pretty funny way to describe how she’d dashed out of the house.
“The living room got dark,” I said. “It was dark outside, too. I thought a storm was coming, but it never happened. Period.”
She looked disappointed. “Is that all? Didn’t you see anything—a person—reflected in the glass?”
I shook my head. “No ghost, if that’s what you mean. People only see ghosts if they want to believe they are there. You believe so—”
“Then I suppose you think the Castle’s a really neat place,” she said angrily. “I suppose you think millions of people are going to want to stay there.”
I tried to find a way to answer without saying too much. “Well, I wouldn’t stay there myself,” I said. “I think there’s something wrong, but I don’t know what.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Do you think it the way you thought your great-grandmother was dead?”
“Sort of.”
Her anger melted. “Okay then,” she said. “That’s good. You can tell Uncle Will and my folks that we shouldn’t work there anymore. Tell them William Herndon’s aunt went crazy in the Castle when he was a baby and tried to suffocate him! She’s still hanging around there, and we can prove it. Dan and I heard a woman singing and a baby crying upstairs even though now he won’t admit it happened. And before that I saw the shadow of a cradle in the living room. And you were there this week when everything went dark, even if you didn’t see the—see Jennifer—in the window. Tell them it’s a horrible house with an awful ghost wandering around looking for the baby she tried to kill!”
She had it all figured out, and if everything she said was true, she might even be right. Still, I didn’t want any part in it.
“Let’s tell Uncle Will together,” she coaxed. “I’ll be there, but you talk. He thinks you’re really smart. So does Ray—they think I’m faking and being silly, but they’ll believe you.”
I said, “They won’t believe me, because I’m not going to tell them any of that. I’ve never seen a ghost, so just leave me out of it, okay?”
I felt like such a rat. I knew how scared she was. She’d hoped I would help, and instead I was making her feel worse—more alone—than ever.
It was a relief when the door of the funeral home opened and Lilly and Rita came out onto the porch—a relief, except that they both looked grim.
Chapter Nineteen
CHARLI
“Nobody can tell him anything,” Ray said. “Once the guy gets an idea in his head he’s stubborn as a mule. Now he thinks the bank will lend him enough money to replace all the plumbing in that old wreck.”
Charli followed the voice to the kitchen. Uncle Will again, she thought tiredly. She’d been thinking a lot about Uncle Will on the way back from Madison and had begun to realize something painful. Even though she loved him a lot, there were times when she didn’t like him much. Right now, for instance, she didn’t mind Ray saying he was as stubborn as a mule.
“Charli!” Her mother’s smile was as warm as a hug. “How did the day go? How is Sophia? I’ve been thinking about you and Aunt Lilly all day. Was the funeral very sad?”
“Sort of.” Charli pictured the dreary room in the funeral home with its rows of empty folding chairs. “Aunt Lilly cried.”
“Your Aunt Lilly is a rare bird,” Ray said. “She feels sorry for everyone but herself. How about Sophia?”
Charli shrugged. “She’s all right, I guess. Nobody talked on the way home.”
Her mother and Ray looked at each other. “Was anyone else at the funeral?” Rona asked.
“A lady,” Charli said. “She and Aunt Lilly talked for a while.”
Another meaningful glance.
Her mother set the salad bowl and a basket of rolls on the table. Then she sat down and reached for Charli’s hand and Ray’s. “This is so nice,” she said, “the three of us together. It’s good to be able to talk things over at the end of the day.” She squeezed Charli’s hand and Charli squeezed back.
“I just hope your appetite has come back,” Rona said. “You still look pretty pale, hon.”
“I’m okay,” Charli said. “Aunt Lilly bought ice-cream cones on the way home so …”
She let the words trail off, aware that Ray was watching her as he buttered a roll. “Dan and the kids were here a while ago,” he said with a grin. “He had some news that’s going to make you feel better, I think. The water’s been turned off at the Castle, so you and Sophia won’t be able to work there for a few days. Too bad, huh?”
Charli took a deep breath. With each passing mile of the trip home she had become more confused about what she would do next. Sophia had been her only hope, and she’d refused to help. That meant Charli had three choices, all bad. She could go on pretending to be too sick to work. She could tell her mother and Ray about the ghost and hope they would believe her. Or—and this was the worst—she could go back to work in the Castle.
Now she wouldn’t have to do any of those things. How long would it take for a plumber to fix what was wrong at the Castle? A long time, she hoped. A long, long time!
“Well, come on,” Ray teased, “how does it feel to know you can spend the day lying under a tree reading again?”
“You think I’m lazy,” Charli said, but she was much too relieved to be angry. “I can do chores around here,” she said. “And I can go swimming.”
“Both good ideas,” Ray said. “Only you don’t go swimming alone. It’s not safe.”
“Ask Sophia,” Rona suggested. “She’ll be looking for things to do, too—for a while anyway.”
Charli nodded, but she knew she wouldn’t ask Sophia. She wouldn’t ask her for anything ever again. Sophia tried to be mysterious with her talk about knowing things before they happened, but the truth was, Sophia was a snob. She definitely didn’t want to be Charli’s friend.
“How about some salad?” Ray asked, pushing the bowl across the table. “Your mom’s a terrific salad-maker.”
Charli speared two slices of ham from the platter and took a big helping of salad.
“Well, thank goodness,” Rona said, and she and Ray looked at each other again.
They were laughing at her full plate, but Charli didn’t mind. Tomorrow she would clean the whole house to show Ray she wasn’t lazy, but all she could think about now was how good the food tasted. “What’s for dessert?” she asked, so she could look
forward to it. “I’m starving.”
It was going to be a neat day. No Castle, nothing to be afraid of, just hours and hours to use however she pleased. Charli stretched, yawned, and pressed her cheek into her pillow where the morning sun had warmed it. Uncle Will had crossed the street last night to tell her himself that he wouldn’t need her and Sophia for a while. A plumber was coming to the Castle today to decide what needed to be done. It would be at least a week before he could get started.
“We’ll just have ourselves a little vacation,” Uncle Will said. “You kids won’t mind that, I bet. And it’ll give me some time to talk to the bank—maybe round up a few folks around town who know a good investment when they see one.”
Charli tried not to look pleased. “Mom and Ray are in the backyard if you want to talk to them,” she said, but Uncle Will just tousled her hair.
“Not right now,” he said. “I’ve got some paperwork to do.”
There was something different about his walk, Charli thought as she watched him cross the street. His thin shoulders were hunched, and he walked more slowly than usual. She was glad Ray hadn’t been there to laugh at what he’d said about rounding up folks who knew a good investment when they saw one.
So what should she do with this lovely, empty day? The library first, she decided. As soon as her mother and Ray left for work, she got her bike from the garage and swung out onto Lincoln. From across the street came the sound of Aunt Lilly’s laughter and the twins squabbling. The familiar voices made her feel lonely and left out, but only for a moment. Then she pushed the feelings away and pedaled faster.
When she returned an hour and a half later, her bike basket was stacked with three mysteries, a collection of short stories for teens, and a true tale of dogsled racing in Alaska. Enough for a week, she thought contentedly, as she parked her bike and headed for her favorite spot under the crab apple tree.
The first mystery was so exciting that she almost, but not quite, forgot about lunch. Still reading, she ambled into the house to make a sandwich and check the cookie jar. Have to do some chores, she reminded herself. Just a few more pages …
It was after three when she finished the last chapter. Ray would be home in a few minutes—not enough time even to wash the kitchen floor or clean the bathroom. There had to be something else she could do, something he would surely notice.
The living room was a mess, with his favorite magazines scattered around his chair and even behind it. She scooped them up and arranged them in two neat piles on the coffee table. Then she straightened the towels in the bathroom, put her lunch dishes in the dishwasher, and was giving the counter a quick wipe when the front door opened. Just in time, she thought, but it was Dan, not Ray, who appeared in the hallway.
“Hey,” he exclaimed in mock surprise. “Do you still live here? Could have fooled me.”
“I was sick,” Charli said, not quite meeting his eyes. “And I went to Madison. Why aren’t you at work?”
“Early shift,” Dan said. “Right now I’m working at home—monster-sitting.” He glanced over his shoulder, and Charli heard the twins making engine noises across the street. “Mom’s at the dentist and Dad’s off trying to raise money”—he scowled—“and Sophia’s on one of her long-distance runs. So that leaves me. There’s a pan of fudge in our kitchen. Interested?” He grinned as Charli dropped the dishcloth.
The sky had turned gray and a breeze sifted through the trees that lined the street. Make-believe motors roaring, Terry and Gene pushed toy cars across the lawn in front of their house while Mickey cheered from his stroller.
“Give the fudge a few more minutes to cool,” Dan said when they reached the porch steps. “Sophia made it before she took off. Why can’t you make great stuff like that?”
“I could,” Charli retorted. “If I wanted to!” She knew she should ignore his teasing, but she couldn’t resist letting him know she was good at something, too. “I’m the only one who’s figured out who the ghost in the Castle is. Not Sophia. Just me.”
Dan groaned. “Don’t start that again.”
“I’m not starting anything!” Charli raised her voice above the zoom zoom of the twins’ cars. “I’m just telling you.” Quickly, before he could interrupt, she explained what she’d learned from William Herndon’s autobiography. “And besides that, I saw the ghost myself. In a window,” she finished. “It—she was horrible!”
She stopped, out of breath, and waited for Dan to tell her she was crazy.
“Okay, so you have it all figured out,” he said. “Big deal! What difference does it make? Nobody’s going to take you seriously, except maybe my dad, because he’d like there to be a ghost.”
“My mom and Ray might believe it if you told them what we heard upstairs—that singing and the baby crying. Then they wouldn’t make me work there anymore.” She looked at Dan hopefully, but, as she’d feared, he shook his head.
“Someone was playing a trick on us that day, kid. I don’t know who or why, but it had to be a trick. So don’t ask me to get mixed up in your scary daydreams. Ray would think I was nuts, and I wouldn’t blame him. Get a life, Charli. Find something else to think about. How are the swimming lessons?”
“Good,” Charli said shortly. Her face burned. He was treating her like a baby again. Why wouldn’t anyone listen?
“Here comes Mom.” Dan stood up, looking relieved. “That means I’m off duty as a sitter. Want to go in and check that fudge?”
Charli waved at Aunt Lilly, who had just appeared at the end of the block, and followed Dan inside. The Crandalls’ kitchen, once her favorite place in the world, looked unfamiliar. It had been a long time since she’d stopped in to sample whatever had just come out of the oven.
“Help yourself,” Dan said. “I’m going to check the voice mail.” He sprawled at the table with the phone clamped to his ear and a faraway look in his eyes.
Charli searched a drawer for a knife and reached for the pan of fudge. It looked delicious. It was delicious. Perfect Sophia had done it again! She was finishing a second piece and considering a third when Dan finally put down the phone and grabbed a pencil and notepad. He wrote busily for a moment, then took the piece of fudge she passed him.
“I cut some for the twins,” Charli said, so he wouldn’t notice how much she’d eaten herself. “Can Mickey have a little piece, too?”
“Ask Mom,” Dan said absentmindedly. He was staring at the note he’d just written, as if it puzzled him. Then he gave Charli a startled look. “Hey, it’s awfully quiet out there,” he said. “I wonder—”
Abruptly, he pushed back his chair, almost knocking it over in his rush to the front door. Charli hurried after him, licking crumbs from her fingers.
“They’re gone!” Dan exclaimed. “All three of them. Now where in the heck!” He dashed out into the street.
Charli stared at the bright-colored cars scattered like flowers on the grass. “Maybe they’re in the backyard,” she suggested, but she knew they couldn’t be. The kitchen windows were open. She would have heard the boys if they were playing back there.
“They can’t be far,” she hurried on, because the look on Dan’s face was painful to see. “Maybe they took Mickey down the block to meet Aunt Lilly and she stopped at somebody’s house and—they’re okay.”
“Yeah, sure,” Dan said in a tight voice. “They’re okay.” He started to run.
Chapter Twenty
SOPHIA’S JOURNAL
It’s five-thirty, but Lilly said forget about dinner till Will comes home, and she said it in such a sad, un-Lilly-like voice that I wanted to be somewhere else. So here I am, talking to you, because if ever I needed to talk it’s now. When I tell you about today, you’re going to think, oh, that never happened. But it did.
Breakfast this morning was pretty grim, mostly because Lilly was so quiet. Usually she rattles on like a kid, but not today. At first I thought she was just tired after the drive to Madison, but then I caught her looking at me a couple of times and turn
ing away, fast, when I looked back. Boy, do I know that expression! Good old Rita must have given her the job of telling me I have to go back to Sacramento.
I wondered if I should bring up the subject myself, so she could stop worrying, but I couldn’t make myself do it. Instead, I took Mickey for a long ride in his stroller. I wanted to get out of the house, and besides, it might be my last chance to spend some time alone with him. He calls me So-ee now, and he listens when I tell him things. Today I promised I’d never forget him, and I might return someday to see what kind of man he turns out to be.
When we got back to the house, I made peanut-butter-and-pickle sandwiches for lunch. Lilly was getting ready to go to the dentist. She said Dan would be home early to take care of the boys, so I could do whatever I wanted to this afternoon.
“We take advantage of you, Sophia,” she said. “I’m sorry.” I suppose she was trying to convince both of us that I’d be happier someplace else.
As soon as Dan came home, I put on my running shoes and left. There were fat puffy clouds piling up in the west, some of them pretty dark, but I didn’t care. The way I felt, I wanted a storm, with me in the middle of it.
By the time I reached the beach road the wind had picked up, and the lake was streaked with white-caps. People were gathering up their towels and their kids, and one little girl cried because she didn’t want to leave. Farther along, I saw what was left of Gene and Terry’s sand city. Another few hours and it would be gone, as if it had never been there.
I passed the breakwater, the place where I’d learned my great-grandmother was dead. Beyond, the summer cottages were strung along the shore like toy houses, each with its own plot of trees and straggly lawn. A few kids spilled out onto the road, and some of them ran beside me for a minute or two. I slowed down so they could keep up.
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