“Isn’t it wonderful to be outside?” Mrs. Zimmer said.
“Sure is,” Mr. Zimmer said.
“We could never have done this in Brooklyn,” Mrs. Zimmer said.
Hannah sighed at the mention of that other place.
“Just look at all those stars,” Mr. Zimmer said.
“The sky had hardly any stars in Brooklyn,” Mrs. Zimmer said.
“There’s always the same number. Sometimes you just can’t see them,” Hannah said.
She was right. Things really were there, even when they were unable to be seen.
“Such smart girls we have,” Mr. Zimmer said.
“Yes. Too smart to believe silly stories about ghosts,” Mrs. Zimmer said.
“Or green eyes,” Mr. Zimmer said.
“Did you hear about green eyes too?” Hannah said.
“No,” Mrs. Zimmer said firmly.
“A boy on the school bus talked about them,” Hannah said.
“Georgia says don’t believe anything he says. He likes to hear himself talk.”
Just like that Georgia.
Anna spotted the gray cat by the chokeberry bush. “There’s Mr. Muffin. He cleaned himself up. Come on, Hannah.” She skipped across the grass toward it.
Somehow Mr. Murderer had managed to rid his fur of the muck.
All the Zimmers went over to where the cat sat licking his paw. Mr. Zimmer brought a pink bit of fish. He crouched down and held out his offering. Of course, people always worshipped the cruel ones.
The cat sniffed as if considering whether it was worthy. Then he gobbled it up.
“Can we keep him?” Anna said. “It would make Hannah happy.”
“Would it?” Mrs. Zimmer said.
Hannah nodded. She actually thought that the cat would be a friend.
What about the others in the house? What about the innocent critters? Didn’t Hannah care about them anymore?
No. She knelt down and let the cat lick her fingers. “He’s such a pretty kitty.”
A wind came up from nowhere. A wind not on any weatherman’s map. The branches of the hemlock trees whipped from side to side. The paper plates danced around the yard. The purple cloth billowed up as if someone stood under it. If it had been white, would they have thought they were seeing a ghost?
“We should go in,” Mrs. Zimmer said.
“Feels like a storm’s coming,” Mr. Zimmer said.
Oh yes, a storm was coming.
“Poor Mr. Muffin. I better bring him too.” When Anna tried to pick up the cat, something rubbed his fur the wrong way. The cat yowled. He bared his teeth and claws—the weapons cats hid under soft fur. Anna dropped him. He ran back across the property line.
The wind kept blowing. It chased the Zimmers into the house. All except Selena—and that boy who threw rocks. They had yet to return.
When they did, would the boy see the green eyes? Even though the cat was gone, the anger remained.
Someone was behind the front-door window.
It was Hannah, watching the branches of the hemlock tree battle the wind. Then she turned away and went back to the red-shopping-bag book.
Now there was nothing to do except patrol the edge of the road. Back and forth, back and forth. Watching for the boy. Waiting for the chance to have a little fun.
A car came into the driveway. It stopped. The lights went dark. The car was quiet. No one got out. Of course, they would stay inside, with the doors locked, doing what teenagers did in dark cars. The lovebirds paid no attention to the house on Hemlock Road. Marcus didn’t remember throwing rocks. Selena wasn’t thinking about her closet.
Maybe they could forget. But others couldn’t. Others wouldn’t. Ever.
Around and around the car. Dead leaves from last winter rattled against the rear windshield.
“What was that?” Selena said.
“Nothing.” Marcus kept his lips close to her face.
A cold breath blew across her cheek. “That tickles.” Selena thought his kiss made the hairs rise along the back of her neck.
Now someone else was watching the dark car. Someone else paced back and forth, wondering what to do about the pretty girl and the thoughtless boy. That person decided enough was enough. The porch light blinked on and off many times.
“What’s that?” Marcus said nervously.
Selena laughed. This time she knew what made the electricity flicker. “Just my dad. I better go.”
Reluctantly they got out of the car and ambled toward the house. They stopped right at the edge of the darkness. They thought they would be safe as long as they stayed out of the yellow circle of light.
They kissed again. They were just as single-minded as the moths that bumped against the bulb hanging over the front door.
Suddenly all the bats soared out of the attic. It was time for them to hunt. As they flapped after the moths, the bats flew straight at the humans who stood in their way.
Selena screamed as loud and as long as the scream that had started in her closet.
Did her boyfriend comfort her? No. He stumbled back to his car so fast he slipped and fell on the driveway. He scraped his hand on the rocks just like the ones boys had thrown at the green eyes. Ha!
Oh, it was a grand night for feasting. All the critters had their fill. Selena sat on the sofa and wailed about how the bats attacked just as Marcus was about to ask her for another date. Ha! Now that coward wouldn’t dare come back to the house on Hemlock Road. Let Selena learn how it felt to be unloved. Let the pretty one suffer for a change.
Was Hannah enjoying her older sister’s misery? No. She was upstairs lying on Anna’s bed. Hannah held the red-shopping-bag book. Anna held the flashlight. Sometimes they rolled their eyes at a sentence. But they didn’t stop reading until they fell asleep. The book dropped and landed on its back on the floor. No one else wanted to read about clothes. A wind blew the cover shut.
Sunday wasn’t a day of rest. Mrs. Zimmer went on a rampage after she found a ragged hole in the middle of the piece of white silk. What was she so angry about? A mouse had only borrowed a little bit of fabric to make a nest for her babies. Mrs. Zimmer pulled fabric off the shelves until she found a fluffy ball of threads. Inside slept six tiny babies too young to run away. Mrs. Zimmer scooped them onto a dustpan and tossed them out in the backyard.
Where was Hannah? She could save the babies. At least she could put them someplace where the cats wouldn’t get them. Unfortunately she didn’t care about any of the critters. She and Anna were cleaning their room—to get ready for Georgia.
Anna crammed all the books back on the shelves except the red-shopping-bag book. Then she handed Hannah a different top with the name of a store written on it. Anna thought everything would be wonderful if only Georgia liked Hannah.
All this fussing made Hannah nervous. “If you say she actually likes me, then why do I have to change?”
“She does like you. Only she’s tired of your Park Slope shirt.”
Soon a midnight-blue van stopped in the driveway. Georgia got out. She thought the house looked creepier than it did from the bus. That didn’t scare her. Nothing did.
As she ran up the front steps to the porch, Anna peeked out through the glass.
Georgia gasped. “Oh no! I see a ghost!” She pointed a trembling finger at the window and pretended to faint. Of course Anna laughed like this was the funniest thing ever. She even called to Hannah, “Come see what Georgia’s doing.”
Hannah’s face appeared in the window. She chuckled too—even though she knew how horrible it felt to be laughed at.
The moment Georgia saw Hannah, she stood up and came inside. “Come on, Anna. Let’s go to your room to do our homework.”
“Hannah has the same assignment,” Anna said.
“She has to do a character questionnaire?” Georgia said.
“Yes. And I’m having trouble with it,” Hannah said.
“It should be easy for her—she’s such a character,” Georgia said.
Anna and Hannah laughed like Georgia was only teasing. Anyone who could read thoughts knew she wasn’t.
“I can’t write about the character I wanted to. Wilbur from Charlotte’s Web is a pig,” Hannah said.
“So?” Georgia said.
“Miz D won’t let us mention any food because her doctor said she had to lose fifty pounds or else.”
“You could do Charlotte,” Anna said.
“Miz D is so hungry she would probably eat a spider,” Hannah said.
Anna laughed.
Georgia didn’t. She only wanted Anna to enjoy her jokes. “Your sister shouldn’t make fun of her teacher. Let’s get started. Is your room upstairs?”
Georgia led the way. The door to Selena’s room slowly opened. Perhaps Georgia might enjoy spending time in the closet? She took a step toward the door.
Anna grabbed her arm and led her down the hall to the twins’ room.
“Bunk beds?” Georgia clapped her hands against her cheeks in horror.
“What’s wrong with them?” Anna said.
“Aren’t you too old for that?” Georgia said.
“There isn’t much space,” Hannah said.
“You’d have more room if you got rid of those shelves,” Georgia said.
That was a terrible idea. The door banged shut behind her. Everybody jumped.
“Must have been the wind,” Anna said.
Hannah looked around the room and wondered. Had something gone out—or come in?
Georgia sat down at Hannah’s desk. From her book bag, she took a piece of paper with the title “Character Questionnaire.” There were lots of blanks to fill in. Georgia patted the chair next to hers and smiled at Anna. “I brought my nail polish. I’ll give you a manicure when we’re done.”
Anna made Hannah sit closer to Georgia.
Hannah tried to be friendly. “What character did you pick, Georgia?”
“Myself,” Georgia said.
“Don’t you have to do a character from a book?” Hannah said.
“I’m going to be such a famous designer, I’ll be in lots of books.”
“Really?” Hannah said.
“Tell your sister that I’m kidding.” Georgia selected a purple pen and wrote on her paper in beautiful loopy penmanship. Anna wrote too.
Hannah didn’t. Oh, it was horrible to be stuck—especially when others glided along without a care in the world.
Georgia smirked at Hannah’s blank paper. She was glad she and Anna would finish first. Then they could ditch Hannah and put pretty colors on their fingernails.
Hannah put her pencil against the paper, even though she still had no idea what to write. She wanted to remember the character in that red-shopping-bag book. She thought that might make Georgia like her.
Then she noticed the door to her own closet move just an inch. Uninvited thoughts flooded her brain. Why hadn’t anything happened in this closet? What was special about Selena’s closet? What had happened there? Why was the name carved in the door? Whose name was it?
Hannah’s pencil moved across the paper. Her first mark was a slash, like the carving in the door. The second was bent. The third had a mouth. The fourth had legs. The fifth had more slashes. And the sixth was another mouth, only it was twisted into a scream.
“I’m done,” Georgia crowed as she snapped the cap back on her pen. She leaned over to read what Hannah had written. “What kind of character is that?”
Anna stood up to see. She quickly flipped over Hannah’s piece of paper. “Stop kidding around,” she said fiercely.
“I’m not.” Hannah turned the paper over and kept writing.
“Is your sister crazy?” Georgia said.
“No,” Anna said. Anna knew she couldn’t answer any more questions. “Come on, Georgia. Let’s go outside to do our nails.”
Anna and Georgia went downstairs.
“My friend Kyla who’s in your sister’s class says she acts like she’s from another planet. And that planet isn’t even in our solar system.” Georgia’s voice trailed away.
Hannah ignored her and everyone else as she filled in the blanks with what she thought was true.
Name: ILDRED
Book: Murder
Strengths: Viciousness
Flaws: Envy
Favorite food: Torment
Family: None
Place of residence: The house on Hemlock Road
Hangouts: The closet
Hannah was wrong. Ildred didn’t hang out in the closet. Or even the place beyond the house. Ildred didn’t haunt the scenes of its crimes. Ildred had left nearly eighty years ago.
Others were stuck. Others could never leave. No matter what they did or how they tried.
Being stuck wasn’t quite so painful anymore. Hannah was listening now. At least, she was trying to. Maybe one day she really would hear. A girl like Hannah might be able to understand. If Anna would just leave Hannah alone.
Anna was right about one thing: Hannah should give her teacher a different character questionnaire. Miz D didn’t need to read the lies Hannah had written about Ildred.
The twins argued about that until they got on the bus the next morning. Anna sat with Georgia. Hannah sat with the little children in the front, as far away from teasing as possible. The bus drove off and no one could know what happened during the day. One thing was certain. Hannah would be miserable.
Right after the twins returned home, an orange car shaped like a big bug drove into the driveway. It even had big black spots. A large woman got out and stared at the house. She had black frizzy hair. Pink plastic giraffes dangled from her ears. Her blue dress was the size of a tent. She pressed one hand over her heart. The other hand clutched a plastic bag of celery sticks.
“It is the house,” she said.
Hannah was shocked to see Miz D standing in the yard. Hannah didn’t think she was in so much trouble at school that her teacher would come to the house. She bravely opened the front door and came out.
Then the most amazing thing happened. Miz D lurched toward Hannah and smothered her in a hug.
“Oh, Hannah, you poor little cupcake. You’re such a brave girl. I had no idea.”
Miz D released her for a moment, only to hug her again. “I pride myself on being sensitive to my students. But I let you down.”
“That’s okay.” Hannah squirmed out from under her teacher’s armpit. She wasn’t used to being liked by Miz D.
“I should have looked up your address before. It can be helpful to see what the home situation is like—especially when a student can’t get along with the others.”
What was that supposed to mean? Was she blaming Hannah? Unfortunately Hannah wasn’t sticking up for herself. And no one else could.
“I spent many nights thinking about you. What would change your negative thoughts? How could I help you get along with the other children and find your place in our happy classroom?”
A breeze toyed with the bottom of the blue tent dress. It was no match for the hot air coming from Miz D’s mouth.
“As wise as I am, you had me stumped until you turned in that character questionnaire about … Ildred.”
Hannah’s heart pounded when Miz D whispered the name. “What about it?”
“It lived in the house on Hemlock Road. At first I thought, it couldn’t be that house. No one would live in such a horrible house. But you do, don’t you, my poor little cupcake.” Miz D tried to embrace Hannah again.
Hannah stepped aside. “It isn’t so bad.”
Miz D clapped her hands. “You’re taking my advice about improving your attitude. That’s wonderful. Don’t even listen to what people say about this house. It’s been years since anyone has seen the green eyes.”
“The green eyes?”
“If they ever really did. And nobody patrols the property.”
“Patrols?”
“Yes, dear, you know, paces back and forth along the boundary. Like a soldier.”
Miz D turned and pointed to the
hemlock trees. A branch waved gaily at her. She didn’t realize she was being taunted.
“When people see a breeze like that, they think a ghost is pacing. Now it is true that a soldier lived on Hemlock Road.”
“A soldier?” Hannah’s mind seized this information.
“Yes. He was a brave hero in World War One. And then …” Miz D paused dramatically. “Tragedy.”
Did she know? It was difficult to tell. Her thoughts were battling hunger signals from her stomach.
“So many men suffered from shell shock. They became living ghosts.”
“Then there is a ghost,” Hannah said.
“Oh no,” Miz D said.
“You just said there was.” Hannah was puzzled.
“I used a metaphor. There’s no such thing as ghosts. No, they aren’t the problem with the house.”
An ominous rumbling sound seemed to come from the depths of the earth. Miz D belched loudly and thumped her chest. “Pardon me. Celery gives me gas. But I won’t eat anything else until I lose forty-six more pounds.”
“Then what is wrong with the house?”
Miz D gestured toward the house with the bag of celery. “I could tell the first time I saw it. Twenty years ago, my college friend Emily brought me here. I had just started teaching in Helton. Emily thought it would be fun to see where her grandmother used to live. Well, let me tell you, it was not fun.”
“It wasn’t?” Hannah said.
Miz D solemnly shook her head. “As I said, I’m very sensitive to feelings. The moment I saw this house, I knew it was responsible for all the tragedies in Emily’s family.”
Tragedies?
“Alcoholism. Divorce. Families shattered in all sorts of ways.”
Those weren’t tragedies. No no no, the branch waved angrily.
“How could a house cause that?” Hannah said.
“This house is full of hate. Resentment is still rolling off the roof.” Miz D waved her arm in a big circle.
If there was hate, other people started it.
“Envy gushes out from the eaves.”
Hannah smiled at the exaggerated expression.
The Girl Behind the Glass Page 6