“You take the bed closest to the window,” Hallie told Jenna.
Jenna sat down on the bed. With a yawn, she leaned back against the iron headboard. “Remember how we used to leap like frogs from bed to bed?” she asked.
“Do I ever,” Hallie exclaimed. Her eyes sparkled. “Your mother was so angry the time we broke your bed!”
She sat down across from Jenna. Hallie picked up a brush from the nightstand and began brushing her hair. “Remember our Sister Oath? Let’s do it again!”
“Hallie, we were six years old when we made that up.”
“So what?” Hallie demanded.
Jenna smiled. “Oh, all right.” Crossing her arms she reached out to take Hallie’s right hand in her right, Hallie’s left in her left. “We’re sisters. We stand together, and protect each other. You for me and me for you. Forever.”
“Forever,” Hallie repeated.
They shook hands hard, then recrossed their arms and shook hands again. Jenna laughed. “Now let’s get to bed.”
Hallie blew the candle out. Darkness claimed the room, broken only by the faint moonlight sifting in through the window.
Jenna changed into her nightgown and slid under the covers. She felt exhausted. The long train ride, the scares in the graveyard, girls with no bones, Angelica Fear … Her eyelids drifted closed.
“Jenna?”
“Mmmm?”
“What do you think about the Fears?”
In the darkness behind her closed lids, Jenna called up the memory of Angelica Fear. So beautiful. And so strange. For a moment, the moldy, dead-flower smell of the graveyard wafted on the night air.
Jenna’s breath caught in her throat. Then she shook her head. Her imagination had run away with her already tonight. She refused to let it happen again.
“I thought Mrs. Fear seemed strange,” she said. “But I felt sorry for her, too. After all, she lost both her daughters. And as for that horrible story, well, I can’t believe sisters would kill each other.”
“You’re not tempted, not even a little, to believe—”
“No,” Jenna said firmly.
Hallie fell silent. Jenna felt herself drifting off to sleep.
“Jenna?”
“Yes, Hallie?” she mumbled.
“We’re going to have to go visit the Fears, you know.”
Jenna’s eyes flew open. She sat up in bed. “Why?”
“Well, she invited us, for one thing.”
The curtains belled in the breeze, sending shadows rippling across the ceiling. “I don’t want to visit Angelica Fear,” Jenna told her friend.
“Where’s your spirit of adventure?” Hallie challenged.
“I think I used it all up tonight,” Jenna retorted.
Hallie laughed. “Oh, come on, Jenna. Don’t you want to see inside the Fears’ house? I’ll bet no one from town has been inside there in years.”
“And probably with good reason, Hallie,” Jenna retorted.
“You’re honestly not the least bit curious?” Hallie prodded.
“No, I’m honestly not,” Jenna insisted. Though she secretly knew that she did feel curious. More than a little, actually.
Hallie’s feather mattress rustled as she shifted position. “Jenna, you know I wasn’t exactly truthful when I said I liked it here. I haven’t made a single friend.”
“Oh, Hallie, you will.”
“I’ve tried my best,” Hallie complained. “I’m an outsider here. The girls are polite, but none of them ever come to call. Sometimes I think I’ll never fit in.”
“What has this got to do with the Fears?” Jenna asked.
“Look, I’m not that eager to go there, either,” Hallie confided. “But I have to. You see, no one else in town has ever dared to even walk up to the front door, no less gone inside their house. If we go, then all the other girls will want to hear about it. This is my chance to make friends.”
“Oh, Hallie.”
“Please?” the other girl pleaded.
Jenna wanted to refuse, but she couldn’t. Hallie was her best friend. If going to the Fear house would make it easier for her to make friends here in Shadyside, then Jenna had to help.
“All right,” she muttered. “I’ll go with you. But just this once.”
“You’re the best sister any girl could have,” Hallie vowed. “The very best.”
“Now, please may I go to sleep?” Jenna begged.
Hallie laughed. “I didn’t realize I was keeping you up. Yes, Jenna. Go to sleep.”
With a sigh, Jenna closed her eyes. Slowly, the world began to fade away. She wasn’t asleep, exactly. Yet, hazy dreamlike images filled her mind. Pale shapes flitting through the night sky. Ghostly robes billowing out, drifting with the beat of wings.
A faint noise outside pulled her back to wakefulness. For a moment she lay still, listening. She heard the noise again.
What was that?
She heard it once more. Louder. Closer. The soft rustling sound made Jenna sit bolt upright in bed. Jenna’s skin crawled as she realized what had made the eerie sound.
Wings.
Something big, taking flight. Swooping across the night sky.
Chapter
4
“Hallie!” Jenna whispered. “Hallie, wake up.”
She heard her friend mumble. Then watched as Hallie rolled over and pressed her head deeper into her pillow. Jenna struggled to get up. She tiptoed over to the window. Beneath the sheltering branches, the woods looked dark and shadowy.
Not a single ray of moonlight intruded there.
Jenna stared intently at the woods. Nothing moved. Then a pale shadow darted out of the gloomy shadows beneath the trees.
It rose, flying over the woods. Then swooped straight at Jenna.
Pale, fluttering wings beat at the window. Claws screeched upon the glass. Jenna caught one horrified glimpse of round, staring eyes and a deformed mouth, opening and closing. Opening and closing.
With a cry, she jerked backward. Her knees caught the edge of the bed, sending her down to the floor with a thump.
“What is it?” Hallie cried, surging up in bed.
“The … the window!” Jenna gasped.
Hallie rose and went to the window. “I don’t see anything,” she murmured sleepily. “Oh! Now I see it!” she added in a startled tone. She took a step back from the window and looked over at Jenna.
It took every bit of Jenna’s courage to get up and return to the window. But she had to see. She had to know. Her pulse pounded in her ears as she looked out.
A white shape floated on the breeze. The long feathers of its wings splayed out as it spiraled down in a long glide. Then it swooped up again, something small and limp clutched in its claws. Tufts of feathers stood up like ears.
“That must be the biggest owl I’ve ever seen,” Hallie remarked as she stumbled back to bed. “Looks like it caught a mouse for dinner.”
Jenna’s breath went out in a sigh of relief. A barn owl! Hunting down a field mouse. How silly could she be? She trembled with sheer relief as she climbed back into bed.
After the day she’d had today, a visit to the Fears should be easy as pie.
♦ ♦ ♦
The hulking Fear mansion stood at the top of a low rise. Three stories tall, it rested on a foundation of blackish-green stone. A blanket of thick, dark ivy crawled over the stone, and up and over rows of dark-brown bricks. Curling around the arched windows and doorways, the ivy crept nearly to the second story.
A long, curved stone stairway and two tall turrets on either side of the house reminded Jenna of a castle in a fairy tale. A castle under an evil spell. A peaked gray roof and a tall, spindly chimney added to the unsettling impression.
A huge oak tree in the front yard hung low over the house. It was dying. Its leafless, skeletal limbs stretched towards the slate roof like bony, outstretched arms. Almost as if it wanted to drag the house into death with it.
“This place is creepy,” Hallie breathed.
“I’ll say. Are you sure you want to do this?” Jenna asked.
Her friend shot her a glance with dancing blue eyes. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Jenna’s legs felt rubbery as she climbed up the stone steps to the shadowy porch. A brass knocker hung in the center of the front door. Jenna couldn’t tell what it was supposed to be. An animal of some kind, she thought. A lion or a tiger, maybe?
Then she saw that the tongue was forked like a snake’s. It curled out from between long, pointed fangs. Jenna’s stomach churned with distaste.
“Go ahead and knock,” Hallie whispered.
“You,” Jenna countered.
“You’re closer.”
Jenna took hold of the knocker and tried to lift it. For a moment, it felt as if it resisted her touch. She lifted harder. Then it came loose, so suddenly that she banged her knuckles on the creature’s forehead.
Bongggg. The metallic clatter echoed through the house. Jenna let the knocker fall back into place and rubbed her skinned knuckles.
Suddenly, the door swung open.
Jenna could see nothing but shadows within. Dark. Thick.
She took a deep breath. Her throat had gone tight, and her skin felt cold despite the warm summer air.
Who had opened that door?
A pale oval appeared in the dimness. A face, Jenna realized. A man’s face, hard and sharp. And ugly. Almost grotesquely so, Jenna thought as a wave of revulsion coursed through her body. Two black pits for eyes, jutting cheekbones, a slash of a mouth … She jumped in alarm as Hallie grabbed her by the arm.
“Jenna, who is that?” Hallie whispered.
Jenna could only shake her head. The face came closer. Two smaller patches of paleness seemed to float out of the shadows. His hands, Jenna realized with a shock.
Soon she could make out the vague outline of his body. Her breath went out in a gasp. Oh, so that was it! His dark clothing had blended with the shadows, making his face and hands seem disembodied.
“What are you doing here?” His voice boomed down at them.
A feeling like sharp-clawed mouse feet scampered up Jenna’s spine. She wished she could see the man’s eyes, but they held the darkness like pits of shadow in his face. Terror winged its black way through her heart, and she forgot about Hallie’s painful grip on her arm.
“Answer me,” he commanded in that same deep, dead voice.
“Uh, we’re here to visit Mrs. Fear,” Jenna ventured.
Those dark pits turned to her. “No one visits here.”
“Simon, darling, is that our guests?”
Angelica’s voice came from a doorway at the rear of the foyer. She stepped into view, her cream-colored gown seeming almost to glow with a light of its own. Her hair had been pinned into a crown of raven braids. For a moment she looked like a young girl. Then she tilted her head, flashing that stripe of white hair.
“Guests?” Simon asked, glancing over his shoulder at his wife.
“These are the girls I met last night,” she explained. “Remember? I told you all about them.”
“Ah,” he nodded. His dark brows rose and his eyes widened. “Those girls. I remember.”
Something glinted in the murky, shadowed pools of his eyes. Something chilling, Jenna thought.
“Please forgive me for temporarily forgetting my manners, ladies,” Simon Fear murmured as he pulled the door open wider. “Allow me to welcome you to our home.”
Jenna saw sunlight flood into the foyer, erasing the eerie shadows that had hidden his deep-set eyes. She met his penetrating stare, then looked away.
His eyes chilled her. Close-set and black, they peered out at her from beneath discolored, lizardlike lids.
A black waistcoat and trousers draped his tall, thin figure. Above his stiff white collar, his face looked gaunt and angular, his yellowish skin tinged with an unhealthy pallor. A thin, jagged white scar trailed from the corner of his left eye down to his jawline. His long, hooked nose reminded her of a pointed beak. Combed straight back from his forehead, his black hair appeared slick and greasy. He wore no mustache, but large, bushy sideburns covered his hollow cheeks.
“Do come in,” he invited.
Jenna felt a prickle at the back of her neck. Then she felt Hallie push her across the threshold.
The inside of the house felt cool, and a musty, moldy smell tickled her nose. Dark shadows shrouded every corner, from the deep-green curtains draped over every window to the black marble staircase that curved up to the second floor.
Jenna heard the sound of tiny bells. She looked up. A crystal chandelier, stirred by the breeze, tinkled overhead. Shards of rainbows twirling across the floor and walls as the breeze shook the prisms. Then Simon closed the door, plunging the room back into darkness.
“We’re so glad you came,” Angelica told them. “Come into the drawing room, and we’ll see about getting some tea. And you must forgive the lack of light,” Angelica murmured. “My eyes are very sensitive. The doctor gave me strict instructions just last week to keep the curtains drawn in the daytime. Simon and I know our way around so well that we rarely use the lamps.”
It looked to Jenna as if the curtains hadn’t been opened in years. Not just days.
“It’s been so long since we’ve had visitors,” Angelica told the girls. “I can’t tell you how happy we are to have you. Isn’t that so, Simon?”
“Absolutely, my love,” he replied.
Jenna glanced over her shoulder at him. He seemed taller somehow as he strode along behind them. His face wore no expression. His eyes burned with a secret, dark fire. She could understand how some of those terrible rumors had started.
“Here we are,” Angelica murmured, leading the way into the drawing room.
Jenna had never been in such a luxurious room before. She’d never seen such rich furnishings or thick carpets. Heavy curtains shrouded these windows, too, but a round stained-glass window high up on the south wall filtered a jewel-hued light into the room.
“Simon, dear, will you ring for tea?” Angelica asked as she sat on the sofa. She patted the cushions beside her. “Come, girls.”
Simon tugged at an embroidered cord that hung in the far corner of the room. Then he sat on the chair opposite the sofa and studied his guests. “So, girls, why don’t you tell me about yourselves?” he asked. “Hallie, I understand your family is new here in Shadyside?”
Hallie nodded. “My father is the new schoolteacher.”
“An admirable profession,” Angelica commented. “And how do you like your new town?”
“It’s all right, I suppose,” Hallie replied. Then she surprised Jenna by adding, “I’ve found it a little hard to make friends.”
Simon cocked his head to one side. Jenna saw his thin neck crane out of his collar like a turtle’s. “In time, my dear. In time. Shadyside is a small village, and it takes a while for these townsfolk to accept newcomers.”
“In New Orleans, things would be very different,” Angelica told them. “I could sponsor you girls in a coming-out party. There would be balls and banquets and the opera. Alas, there’s nothing of the sort in Shadyside.”
“New Orleans!” Awe darkened Hallie’s eyes. “I’ve always wanted to go there.”
Angelica sighed. “Ah, New Orleans was such a lovely place. But then we had to come here, and I thought this was a lovely place, too. I’d hoped we would be happy here, but then my girls …” Jenna saw her smile fade. Then she brightened. “Well, it is nice to have visitors for a change.”
Jenna heard a knock on the door. Simon rose and answered it. Jenna tried to catch sight of a maid. But when he opened the door, she saw only a wooden tea cart set with china and plates piled high with scrumptious cakes. The silver teapot gleamed and the starched crowns of the napkins stood like palace guards around the plates.
Simon wheeled the cart into the room and left it in front of Angelica. “Well, what have we here to offer our guests?” Angelica asked. “Anything look temptin
g to you, girls?”
Jenna’s mouth watered as she smelled the delicious aroma of fresh scones. Angelica fixed them each cups of tea and plates of cake. Soon, she and Hallie eagerly sipped sweet tea and nibbled on the most delicious pastries they’d ever tasted.
Jenna tried to remember her manners and eat in a ladylike fashion. But when Angelica offered her seconds, she couldn’t resist.
“You seem to like the scones,” Angelica observed.
“Yes, ma’am,” Jenna agreed.
“They’re delicious,” Hallie added.
Angelica smiled. “I make them myself. I learned the trick from a Scottish maid I once had, years ago.” Her smile faded. “My daughters used to love them. I could never bake enough. Sometimes they even squabbled over the last few crumbs… .”
For a moment, Jenna thought she saw a glimmer of tears in the woman’s eyes. She felt sorry for Angelica. Yes, she might seem a bit strange sometimes. But, after all, she’d lost both her daughters.
Simon leaned forward. “I understand that you’re only visiting here, Jenna.”
“For the summer,” she agreed. “Hallie and I are best friends, and it’s been hard for us to live so far apart.”
“They’re as close as sisters,” Angelica told him.
“Ah,” he replied solemnly. “Like sisters.”
He and his wife shared a look and a smile. Then Angelica turned to Jenna.
“And how do you like Shadyside, Jenna?” she asked.
“I haven’t seen much of it since I arrived last night,” Jenna replied.
Simon chuckled. “I heard you got quite a tour of the cemetery, however.”
Jenna felt her cheeks grow warm. “Well …”
“It’s all right, my dear,” he assured her. “My wife and I know you were only curious, and that sheer high-spiritedness lured you into our daughters’ resting place. We have never begrudged a young person a bit of … high spirits.”
He and Angelica laughed. Jenna didn’t understand the joke, but then, these were grownups.
“I wouldn’t worry about making friends,” Simon told them, still chuckling. “You’re both so pretty … I’m sure the young men will soon be flocking around begging for a moment of your time.”