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than a minute. Long enough for us to see that his hand showed absolutely no reaction from the silver candelabra.
    â€œListen,” he finally said to Marissa. “I came here to drive you home, but if you want to walk in the rain, I got no problem with that.”
    â€œGo wait in the car, Marvin,” she said. “I’ve got to close out the register and lock up.”
    Marvin threw me a suspicious look, then left, letting in the loud patter of rain before the door closed behind him.
    Marissa crossed her arms triumphantly. “There. Happy now? That proves he’s not a werewolf.”
    â€œHow come you didn’t test
me
like that?” I asked. “Me, you had to hit over the head and tie up.”
    â€œDon’t be such a baby,” she said.
    â€œAnd anyway, just because he passed the silver test, it still doesn’t explain what he’s doing hanging around with Cedric.”
    â€œMaybe he’s just a pledge, like you. Maybe he’s pretending, all the while hoping to bring the Wolves down, just like you.”
    â€œOr maybe he’s pledging for real.”
    Marissa shook her head. “My brother does
not
want to be a werewolf. He’s got something else up his sleeve. I’m sure of it.”
    I threw up my hands. “Fine, whatever you say. But until we know what
he’s
up to, let’s not tell him what
we’re
up to.”
    I thought she’d put up an argument, but instead she agreed. Across the street, Marvin honked the horn impatiently.
    â€œYou’d better go so I can lock up,” Marissa said.
    â€œI still need the skull.”
    She pulled it out again and handed it to me. I put it in the empty chip bag, which I tucked under my arm.
    â€œWhen will I get it back?” she asked.
    â€œI don’t know. But if you’re lucky, you’ll end up with a few more for your collection.”
    It turns out that the Wolves had more than one hangout. They kept themselves mobile so no one would know exactly where they were at any given time. The manager of the Cave was of no help. He didn’t know a thing, but I knew someone who would.
    As I had predicted, Cedric’s sister, Tina, was playing yet another game on the sidewalk of their apartment building. The rain had let up by dusk, and she was out there with a big red ball, bouncing it in puddles, getting her white socks spotted with mud.
    â€œWhere’s your brother?” I asked her.
    â€œAin’t gonna tell.”
    â€œBut I’m a friend now.”
    â€œYou might be a friend, or you might be a fool. So which is it?”
    â€œA little bit of both,” I told her.
    She looked at the bag in my hands. “That looks too heavy to be a bag of chips,” she said. She was way too smart for a seven-year-old.If she ever joined a gang, we were all in for trouble. When I didn’t say anything, she bounced her ball up and down, splattering me with puddle water. She bounced it under her leg, then back again, and said in a singsong voice: “Little Red, Little Red, what’s in the chip bag, Little Red?”
    And in the same singsong voice I answered, “Nothing at all, nothing at all, nothing at all but your grandpa’s head.”
    That made her miss the ball, and it went bouncing across the street, almost getting nailed by a passing car.
    â€œYou’re not funny,” she said. “Now go get my ball.”
    â€œTell me where Cedric is, and I’ll get your ball,” I told her. “Unless, of course, you want me to tell Cedric you showed disrespect to a Wolf.”
    She looked at me, a little afraid to tell me, and a little bit afraid not to. “He’s in the Troll Bridge Hollow,” she said. “Now go get my ball before I tell my mama you been teasing me.”

9

Troll Bridge Hollow
    N ightshade Boulevard ran into Bleakwood, and Bleakwood ran into Troll. Troll Street went over the river. The Troll Street Bridge was an old gray