Read Online From Bad to Cursed by Katie Alender - Free Book Online

on. We made slow progress through the forest and emerged right where Carter had left the car.
    “Where’s Adrienne?” I asked.
    “She wanted to walk,” Carter said. “Said she’d go home if the car wasn’t here when she got back.”
    “Maybe we should look for her,” I said, thinking of that thing in the woods.
    “I called her,” Kasey said. “To tell her we found Barney. She could see Lydia from where she was, so they’re probably at the house by now.”
    We drove to the Streeters’ house, and Kasey rang the doorbell. We heard shuffling inside, and finally, Mrs. Streeter pulled the door open. Her hair was pulled back, and she gave off an air of stylishness that clearly wasn’t hereditary. Her eyes were ringed with worry lines.
    “My Barney!” she cried, wheeling her chair around the door. The dog flew into her lap. “Thank you guys so much .”
    “No problem,” Carter said.
    “You sweet, dirty little dog!” she said, letting Barney lick her nose. “I was so worried about you!”
    It was cute. I smiled at Kasey, but she frowned.
    Mrs. Streeter turned her attention to us. “Hello!” she said. “You must be Alexis. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
    “Yes,” I said. “Hi. And this is Carter.”
    “You guys really saved the day. Can I get you something? Water? Soda?”
    “No, thanks,” I said. “We should probably get going.”
    “Please, just stay till Ay gets back. She’ll want to thank you.” She wheeled backward and closed the door behind me. “How’d your pictures turn out?”
    I froze.
    “That was you, right?” she asked. “I recognize the hair.”
    “Yeah,” I said. “Um…Actually, they’re good.”
    And they were. Mother and daughter, hopeful companions. A little optimistic for my taste, but not bad.
    “I’d love to see them,” she said.
    I nodded, too fast, too apologetic. “I’ll send a print home with Adrienne.”
    She shook her head, her earrings swinging gently from side to side. “Don’t do that,” she said. “I’ll never see it. She hides from cameras these days.”
    “Oh, okay,” I said.
    “Forgive me!” she said. “I didn’t even introduce myself. I’m Courtney.”
    Just as she said it, the front door opened and Adrienne came in.
    “Barney’s home! Now, tell me what happened.” Courtney gave Adrienne a knowing look. “You left the gate open, didn’t you?”
    “I don’t know.” Adrienne sighed. “Not like he ever goes anywhere.”
    “But I keep telling you, dogs don’t think the way we do. If something scared him, he could take off.” She gave the dog a kiss on the head. “He did take off. Poor old stinky guy.”
    “We’d better get going,” I said. “I need to change out of these wet clothes.”
    The front door opened again, and Lydia and the other girl came inside. They hovered behind Adrienne.
    “I—I might go home with my sister. I don’t feel very well,” Kasey said. In the light of the hall, you could see pine needles in her hair and my well-defined shoe print on her shirt.
    The girls tried to cluster around her, but she ducked away and disappeared down the hall.
    I took the bag of cookies from my pocket, and Barney hopped off Mrs. Streeter’s lap and zipped over to me. “You’ve probably had enough for one night,” I told him.
    “I’ll take them.” Adrienne came up to me. As she approached, Barney backed away.
    There was silence.
    “He’s scared of you, Ay,” Courtney said. “Did something happen during your meeting?”
    Adrienne blinked. “No,” she said. “Nothing happened.”
    Meeting?
    The voice came from behind me.
    “Alexis, right?” I turned to see the fourth girl standing with her hand extended. She had beautiful light bronze skin and a mess of golden brown curls. “I’m Tashi.”
    I shook her hand and gave her a quick smile before turning toward the front door. Kasey was coming down the hall, and I was ready to get home.
    In the car, Kasey stared out the window.
    “What’s wrong?” I asked.
    She