Read Online The Spirit House by William Sleator - Free Book Online Page B

pendant inside the spirit house would put me or Dominic in danger? The real danger to Dominic was that Bia might get him in trouble, by using Dominic’s computer knowledge to fix his transcript here. “Hey, Dom.”
    â€œYeah?” he said, wiping off the counter.
    â€œYou better not say anything about—”
    Bia appeared in the kitchen doorway.
    I shut my mouth and squatted down to put the pot into the cupboard.
    â€œWhat, Julie?” Dominic said.
    â€œNothing. Forget it.” I had been about to warn Dominic not to tell Bia about the computer connection to the high school. I hoped I would have another chance—it was just the kind of thing Dominic liked to brag about, and Bia was always encouraging him to talk about computers.
    â€œHey, Bia, you’ll never guess what I found out today,” Dominic said. “The computers at my school are—”
    â€œDominic!”
    They both turned and looked at me, surprised by my tone of voice.
    I tried to laugh, cursing myself for not warning Dominic earlier. “I bet Bia’s dying for a cigarette, Dom,” I said lightly. “You can talk later. Come on, Bia.” I hurried out of the kitchen before Dominic could say anything else, and Bia came with me.
    Why wasn’t he avoiding me, as he had done all weekend? What if he had seen me by the spirit house, and asked me about it? At least I wouldn’t have to be confronted with the spirit house and Bia together, now that he had developed the habit of smoking on the front porch.
    But Bia walked past me at the front door. “Hey,” I said. “Aren’t you …”
    â€œSomething wrong, Julie?”
    I swallowed. “No. Nothing.” I didn’t want him to think I had any reason to avoid the backyard. I walked with him through the house, out the sliding doors at the back and down the steps into the night, my skin prickling, urging myself to stop being foolish, once and for all.
    What was there to be afraid of? I didn’t seriously believe in the spirit. And even if she did exist—unlikely as that was—I had wished safely. My request wasn’t selfish; it was possible that it could be granted without any benefit to me at all. But unselfishness wasn’t the only reason I had asked her to let Dominic be the one to learn the truth about Bia. I had done that because I knew Dominic would deal with it better than I could. I didn’t want the knowledge in my hands alone. I had already lied to Mom and Dad to keep them from learning about Bia’s room in Bangkok. If I knew more, I might also conceal it—either out of concern for Bia or because he might manipulate me again.
    But Dominic was too young, and too bluntly honest, to play games with truth. Once he learned the truth, whatever it was, his only concern would be to do the fair and decent thing. And I didn’t think I was using Dominic or putting him in danger. I had specified that no harm should come to him.
    Still, I would have preferred to be on the front porch. Especially when I realized, as I walked with Bia across the lawn, what I had left out of the wish: I had forgotten to ask the spirit that no harm should come to me.
    â€œYou angry at me, Julie?” Bia said.
    But he was the one who had been avoiding me all weekend! “What makes you think I’m angry?” I asked him, trying to sound casual.
    â€œYou don’t wear Buddha pendant I give you.”
    That’s why he had been staring at me during supper. A shiver worked its way from my stomach up along my spine. “I … I just took it off.”
    â€œPut where? In bag? In pocket?”
    It was all I could do not to turn and look directly at the spirit house. And because I was scared, Bia’s cross-examination made me angry. “What difference does it make where I put it? It’s mine. You gave it to me. I can do anything I want with it.”
    â€œOnly want you to understand, Julie,”