I held a hand to my heart. “Scout’s honor.”
They disappeared. Sadie shifted around to our side of the bench and tightened her grip on her afghan. She’d been less on edge this morning, but still tense, and I hadn’t realized why until I remembered that the ghosts had all come back.
“Was it better quiet?” I asked.
“Not really,” she replied. “I’ve heard them my whole life. Without them, it felt wrong.”
“It felt wrong not seeing them, too.”
“So, let me get this straight.” She spoke quietly enough thatno one nearby would hear. “You had to...” She mimed cutting her neck. “Does that bother you? I know you needed therapy before, but at least before it was something you could actually talk about.”
There were a lot of things that bothered me, and severing a human head was probably top of that list. It hadn’t been the same as the swift slice to sever a firestarter’s natural head. It bothered me that I could still remember the feel of the axe in my hands and the warm blood misting my face. But that I had beheaded Ludwig didn’t bother me, probably because he’d kept talking, but also because I knew cutting his head off hadn’t killed him. He was still alive out there, wherevertherewas, and if he could find his way back to Addamsville to search for Hildegard, he would.
“Nah,” I said. “But you’re right, I gotta get some kind of therapy for... everything. You should probably come with me.”
“Why? You’re old enough to take yourself.”
“I meant you shouldalsogo to therapy. She was your mom, too. And thanks to Dad, you’ve basically been a single parent for most of your twenties.”
Sadie cooled. “Oh. Well... yeah.”
“And we can work on the ghosts, too. Maybe together we can become two halves of a whole functioning psychic. Or”—I glanced at Artemis—“three halves.”
Artemis turned long enough to say, “Three-thirds.”
“Whatever.”
Sadie rolled her eyes. “Oh. Yay. Just the glamorous, high-paying job I’ve always wanted.”
I punched her. She kicked me with a combat boot.
Mads and Lorelei found their way over to us, causing Artemis to freeze halfway through applying fresh lip balm. Lorelei was beaming; Mads looked solemn.
“Lorelei, shouldn’t you be more upset?” I said. “Your dad got dragged off in front of the whole crowd.”
“It’s his fault anyway.” She practically radiated joy. “And Gavin told me about the will! He’s getting his house back!”
“Don’t be too optimistic,” Sadie said. “They could still say the will isn’t legitimate. Or that Forester still owns the place.Orthe town will keep it as another tourist attraction.”
“Yeah, but we’ve got Aunt Greta on our side now.” It felt nice to say. “And I don’t think she’s going to need it for the tourists.”
I wasn’t entirely happy about that point—tourists would never leave Addamsville now—but if tourism was how we kept Addamsville alive, then so be it. Keeping them from destroying our buildings and our homes would be a constant, slow, grinding struggle, but it was better than facing a firestarter.
The only person who still didn’t look happy about this was Mads.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked her.
“Midterms,” she said. “They’re next week.”
“Oh,eff.”
Artemis snorted. Mads nudged her with a leg and said, “Do you want to study for AP chem together?”
Artemis looked up at Mads. “Me? Uh—sure. Uh—when?” She fumbled for her phone. “Uh—I have tomorrow free, the next day, all weekend—”
As they compared schedules, Hal joined us. He was healing, slowly but surely. I hoped the lasting effects of the firestarters—on him and on the rest of Addamsville—wouldn’t be too bad. Or, if they were, that my friends would talk to me about it. Hal started poking around Mads and Artemis, making Artemis flush again and Mads step in to her rescue.
Sadie and I watched Pastor Keller in silence. He was preaching about how Hermit Forester and Bach would suffer retribution for what they’d done. Tourists,DMWfans, and newspeople passed him by. Only the locals stopped to listen.
