“I thought you were on her side.”
“I have a grandma of my own who lives with my parents. My mom’s mom. Trust me, you donotwant to go into any old lady’s room. That’s totally daughter or daughter-in-law work, not granddaughter.” She looked around the space. “You think we should just…go to sleep?”
“Last time something happened, it was in the middle of the night. The mom and dad—well, they got into an argument. It wasn’t pretty, but it was loud. And that night, Max and I were out on the back porch.”
Her eyes popped wide. “You and Max—wait, what?”
Suddenly, a loud booming sound echoed through the room, like an airplane breaking the sound barrier or a bomb going off. Claire screamed at the top of her lungs which drowned out any response I could have made, but while she curled up on the bed, yanking the covers, I threw them off, racing to the door.
“Where are you going?” she squeaked. “Don’t leave me!”
“What?” I turned around and saw her sitting in the bed, her eyes huge, her face white with fear. “Well, come on then. We have to go.”
“I can’t—” she began, but I waved that off.
“I got stabbed by flying knives already today and I’m still moving. If I can, you can.”
My shoulder screamed as I threw open the door, the half-healed wounds spitting fire. I tasted copper in the back of my throat but ignored it.
We raced into the hallway, and Steve was right there—fully dressed. He never undressed when he slept, and the sight of him brought a strange, reassuring comfort that I completely didn’t deserve. Another boom had rattled the house again, and Max shot up the corridor, rounding the bottom of the stairs. “Delia!”
“What the hell was that?” I demanded.
“Blunderbuss. I think it’s coming from the barn.”
“Blunder—are you insane? What the hell is a?—”
“Stay inside.”
His dad was already halfway across the lawn when we got to the back porch, and Max took off after him. Claire, Steve, and I were right on their heels, though. With the only potentially sane people in the house on the outside of the building, I sure as hell didn’t want to be inside it.
John Bell was coming out of the barn, bounding toward us. He carried an old-fashioned gun low and at his side, but he didn’t look like he was going to shoot it anymore. He looked crazed, his hair standing on end, his jacket half pulled on over his T-shirt and jeans. “Get back, boy!” he yelled, his gaze pitched skyward, and Max skidded to a stop.
“Sam—Sam, no!”
We whirled around. Mrs. Graham was leaning out a window, looking up, up—toward the grandma’s room. And then farther still.
“Holy Shit,” Max breathed. “Sam!”
Walking around the top of the house was the seven-year-old boy. There wasn’t any sort of barrier on the roof, nothing to block someone’s fall, and we all froze—arms out, legs wide, as if we could possibly catch Sam when he eventually fell clean off the roof. “How in the…how’d he even get up there?” Max gasped, his face ashy in the outdoor lights.
“Kate’s room,” Judith shouted. “There’s a door, but it’s always bolted. Always!”
Claire stood clutching her necklace, staring up at the spot where Sam stood. “It’s not like he’s even looking where he’s going. And where’s Grandma Kate?”
“The doors to the third floor are locked. I can’t break them down,” Mrs. Graham wailed. “Frank,dosomething.”
“Shit.” Mr. Graham stood pole-axed, watching his youngest son teeter on the edge of the roof.
“Fire department?” John Bell offered as he pulled his phone from his jeans pocket. “Police?”
“Whoever is closest.” Max broke out of his thrall first, pulling on his dad. “Ladder. We need to get the ladder.”
Claire, Steve, and I gravitated toward each other as Max and his father ran for the barn. Phone to his ear, John Bell kept pace with Sam as he tottered on the top of the roof, as if he would somehow be able to catch the kid if he fell. Something kept nagging at me, though. How was Sam even up there? How in the world had he gotten past the grandmother, who was his staunchest protector?
The men were fast, bringing the ladder from the barn and setting it against the wall. It looked impossibly tall, and Mr. Graham moved to go up it only to have Max shove him aside. “Brace it!” he yelled, as Steve bolted forward to take the other side of the ladder.
I pushed Claire forward, too. “Help them.”
