“If you’re right, this isn’t some small thing. It takes a lot to keep multiple people alive, and hidden, for years.”
“I know. But it’s better than the alternative, isn’t it?”
“Finn would do it for me,” Nora says. “So I’m in. Even if it is you and me against a twenty-year-old town conspiracy.”
I can’t help but smile. “It’s not just you and me,” I say.
—
“No offense, but I was expecting a little more than a fifteen-year-old as our cavalry,” Nora says.
In her defense, she doesn’t see the other two members of our sad little rescue squad. Aisha and Sloane stand on Margot’s right side.
“It’s like we’re not even here,” Sloane says, monotone.
Margot snorts. Since the incident at the creek, Margot and Sloane have become fast friends.
“Hilarious,” Aisha replies.
The five of us, or three, if you have Nora’s eyes, are gathered around the living room. My aunt dragged my mom out of the house earlier for grocery shopping. Really, I think she wanted to get her off the couch she’s been waiting on since Jasper disappeared.
“Two of the other girls who were taken are here.” I gesture to them, respectively. “Aisha Davies. And Sloane Hart.”
Nora looks in their general direction, skepticism in her tense expression.
“Can you guys…” I pause, not sure what I’m asking. Of the trio, Finn was the best at physical contact with inanimate objects. Sloane is a close second, though she can’t carry anything far. Aisha is really good with electricity.
A moment later, the lights shut off. Turn back on. Off, then on again.
“Aisha,” I say. It’s as much of a hello as she can give.
Sloane moves to the coffee table, staring down at the large books no one ever reads. Then she reaches down, her lips pursed in concentration, and swats one of the books onto the floor.
“Sloane,” I say.
“Ta-da,” adds Margot, before she drops onto the love seat.
Aisha sits beside her, and Sloane perches on the arm of the couch.
Nora’s eyes are wide, darting between the fallen book and the lights above our heads. “I want to believe this, Jo. But it’s—” She stops, gesturing at nothing.
“Can you tell her something for me?” Sloane asks.
To Nora, I say, “Sloane wants to say something. If that’s cool.”
“The ghost has a message for me. Super normal.” Nora nods a few times, but she hasn’t run out the door yet, so it’s progress.
I look at Sloane. And when she speaks, I relay the message.
“She wants you to know that Finn was like a brother to her and Aisha. She knows you worried about him, but the three of them took care of each other.” Tears well in my eyes as I speak, and my throat constricts. “He made an unbearable situation feel a little bit like home, and she loves him for that.”
Sloane mouthsThank youto me, and I nod back.
“Was?” Nora says, and I realize my mistake. The past tense. “Where is he?”
“They come in and out,” Margot says, and I shoot her agrateful look. “The longer they’re…stuck, the more they fade. So he’s not here right now.”
Nora softens, assuaged for the moment. I’m hoping there isn’t time for further inquiry on the subject.
