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caught, and she stumbled over the desk chair beside the doorway. With a low cry of surprise, she caught her balance on the doorframe. “You wouldn’t believe!” she repeated, her green eyes burning into Cally’s. “I had to make you believe!” “Believe what?” Cally demanded shrilly. “Believe that there’s something evil in this house,” Kody shot back in a hushed, angry whisper. “You laughed at me. You said I was a jerk. But I know I’m right, Cally. All the horrible accidents—Dad and the knife, my ladder falling over—they weren’t accidents! I know there’s something haunting this house, something evil.” Cally rolled her eyes and let out an angry groan. “So you tapped on my door every night to make me think you were a ghost? That makes a lot of sense, Kody!” “I thought it would convince you,” Kody replied, lowering her eyes. She nervously tossed her hair back with one hand. “I was desperate. I wanted you to believe. I wanted you to be on my side. So I—I haunted you.” Cally shook her head. “I don’t believe it. My own sister,” she muttered. “And did you pull all my clothes out of the closet too?” Kody nodded. “Yeah. And I smeared the red paint all over the porch and painted the number ninety-nine,” she confessed. “You what?” Cally shrieked in disbelief. “I figured it was no big deal. I knew we had to paint a top coat on the porch anyway,” Kody explained with a shrug. “I was desperate, Cally. Don’t you understand? I was desperate to get you on my side. A little red paint didn’t matter.” “Didn’t matter?” Cally cried furiously. “Didn’t matter? You nearly gave Dad a heart attack!” “Don’t exaggerate!” Kody cried. “I’m not exaggerating,” Cally replied heatedly. “Did you see how stressed out Dad was tonight because of James and the puppy? Did you see
    how worried he looked? Know what? I heard him talking to himself tonight.” “Huh?” Kody’s face revealed her surprise. “In the den,” Cally continued, starting to pace back and forth in front of her sister. “He didn’t know I was there. He was talking to himself, Kody. Muttering about Cubby and about the house. It—it was really scary.” “Poor Dad,” Kody murmured, shaking her head. She dropped down onto Cally’s bed. “Stop pacing like that. Please,” she begged. “I can’t believe you tried to frighten me,” Cally said, ignoring the plea. “Why didn’t you just come in and talk to me?” “Talk to you?” Kody let out a bitter laugh. “Every time I started talking about the evil in this house, you just made fun of me. There was no way I could talk to you.” Cally glared furiously at her sister. “But trying to make me believe that a ghost—” “There is a ghost!” Kody insisted, jumping up from the bed and grabbing Cally by both shoulders. “You’ve got to believe me. There is something horrible in this house. You heard Anthony’s story. You heard what he said.” Cally sighed. “Yes, I heard it,” she replied wearily. “But you know how stories get handed down. You know how people try to make them more frightening than they are.” Cally gently removed her sister’s hands from her shoulders. “So far, Kody, the only ghost I’ve seen in this house is you.” Kody let out an angry cry. “I explained to you—” “I’ll make you a deal,” Cally said, suddenly feeling very tired. “Deal? What kind of deal?” Kody asked suspiciously. “I won’t tell Mom and Dad what you’ve been doing,” Cally offered. “I won’t tell them that you were the one who painted the porch if—” “If what?” Kody interrupted. “If you just drop this ghost stuff for a little while,” Cally continued. “Just give it a rest. For a week. Let things settle down. That’s all.” Kody frowned and avoided Cally’s hard stare. “Can you do it?” Cally asked. “Can you?” “Do I have a choice?” her sister replied grudgingly. But then she added, “Okay,