protest, to tell Drew that " the lady" was no more real than Hooty, but Drew was asleep.
Immy tip-toed into the kitchen to study. Her test on Missing Persons was tomorrow. She'd have to go to the Saltlick Library after work to take the test , unless Mike was out of the office long enough for her to use th e office computer. Maybe she should get a Wymee Falls Library card so she wouldn't have to trek to Saltlick .
She' d been neglecting her studying and was behind, so she read until well after one in the morning. When she finished, she felt she knew the material. And now that she knew so much about Missing Persons, she would look up some information on Mrs. Tompkins, right a fter the pig show. If she was a ghost and if she was haunting this house, maybe Immy could get her to leave. But first she'd have to know more about her.
A finger of cold brushed the side of her neck. Immy didn't turn around . She shivered and sat still and waited. Nothing more happened that night.
***
Mike was called out on surveillance for most of Friday, so Immy was able to log onto the site for Stangford Institute of Higher Learning and take her test. She whizzed through the questions and was even able to catch up on the stack of filing that had been building all week. Mike would like that. He'd return to find the stack gone. N ot shoved in her desk drawer to hide it , as sometimes happened. She left work happy, eager to finish up Marshmallow's costume. Hortense had agreed to make the tail and pick up some finger paint for his camouflage
Hortense had been picking Drew up from school ever since they'd moved to Wymee Falls. The arrangement was working out all right, but it was sort of inconvenient for Immy to drive twenty miles to Saltlick and twenty miles back after a long day in the office. At least she wouldn't have to make the drive tonight. She was meeting her mother and her daughter at the Tompkins--no, at her house in half an hour.
When she got home, Ralph's truck and Hortense's green van were both parked at the curb . Immy was glad they were all here. As soon as she got out of her little Sonata , she heard raised voices coming from the backyard. Now what?
Sadie McMudgeon, her hag of a neighbor, ro unded the corner from the direction of the backyard . The old woman rushed toward Immy, shaking a bony finger at her. Immy staggered and fell against her car.
"You're all crazy," she shrieked. "Alice Tompkins was crazy when she lived here. Then her nephew, Geoff, stayed in the house about a week and he's crazy, too. Now y ' all got a whole family of crazies living here."
"My family is not crazy!" Immy stood up and tower ed over the bent, shriveled woman.
Sadie wasn't intimidated by Immy's superior height. "What do you call dressing a pig to look like a steer? That's crazy."
"Oh, you can tell he's a steer? T hat's good. It 's his costume for the pig show."
"Pig show." The woman almost spat. "This house makes people crazy. Oughta be torn down. Shouldn't be allowed to stand. Making me crazy, too."
Sadie stalked off toward her own house, hidden in the overgrowth down the road. Immy thought maybe Sadie didn't need the help of th is house to make her crazy. Such an angry woman. She must be unhappy about something beside s the house , and Immy wondered what.
Immy thought she heard the woman muttering something about the city council. Surely she wouldn't tell them that the house should be torn down because it was making people crazy? Oh well, if she did, they'd know who was crazy.
When she got to the backyard, Marshmallow was fully decked out in his horns and tail. Drew was applying finger paint in cow- ish splotches, under Ralph's direction.
"How did you get the horns finished?" Immy asked. "I thought they needed two more layers."
"I had some time coming," he said. "I came over early and got 'em done."
"How did you get into the house?"
"You'd left the front door unlocked. I was gonna call you at work to let me in, but I didn't n eed to. You
Immy tip-toed into the kitchen to study. Her test on Missing Persons was tomorrow. She'd have to go to the Saltlick Library after work to take the test , unless Mike was out of the office long enough for her to use th e office computer. Maybe she should get a Wymee Falls Library card so she wouldn't have to trek to Saltlick .
She' d been neglecting her studying and was behind, so she read until well after one in the morning. When she finished, she felt she knew the material. And now that she knew so much about Missing Persons, she would look up some information on Mrs. Tompkins, right a fter the pig show. If she was a ghost and if she was haunting this house, maybe Immy could get her to leave. But first she'd have to know more about her.
A finger of cold brushed the side of her neck. Immy didn't turn around . She shivered and sat still and waited. Nothing more happened that night.
***
Mike was called out on surveillance for most of Friday, so Immy was able to log onto the site for Stangford Institute of Higher Learning and take her test. She whizzed through the questions and was even able to catch up on the stack of filing that had been building all week. Mike would like that. He'd return to find the stack gone. N ot shoved in her desk drawer to hide it , as sometimes happened. She left work happy, eager to finish up Marshmallow's costume. Hortense had agreed to make the tail and pick up some finger paint for his camouflage
Hortense had been picking Drew up from school ever since they'd moved to Wymee Falls. The arrangement was working out all right, but it was sort of inconvenient for Immy to drive twenty miles to Saltlick and twenty miles back after a long day in the office. At least she wouldn't have to make the drive tonight. She was meeting her mother and her daughter at the Tompkins--no, at her house in half an hour.
When she got home, Ralph's truck and Hortense's green van were both parked at the curb . Immy was glad they were all here. As soon as she got out of her little Sonata , she heard raised voices coming from the backyard. Now what?
Sadie McMudgeon, her hag of a neighbor, ro unded the corner from the direction of the backyard . The old woman rushed toward Immy, shaking a bony finger at her. Immy staggered and fell against her car.
"You're all crazy," she shrieked. "Alice Tompkins was crazy when she lived here. Then her nephew, Geoff, stayed in the house about a week and he's crazy, too. Now y ' all got a whole family of crazies living here."
"My family is not crazy!" Immy stood up and tower ed over the bent, shriveled woman.
Sadie wasn't intimidated by Immy's superior height. "What do you call dressing a pig to look like a steer? That's crazy."
"Oh, you can tell he's a steer? T hat's good. It 's his costume for the pig show."
"Pig show." The woman almost spat. "This house makes people crazy. Oughta be torn down. Shouldn't be allowed to stand. Making me crazy, too."
Sadie stalked off toward her own house, hidden in the overgrowth down the road. Immy thought maybe Sadie didn't need the help of th is house to make her crazy. Such an angry woman. She must be unhappy about something beside s the house , and Immy wondered what.
Immy thought she heard the woman muttering something about the city council. Surely she wouldn't tell them that the house should be torn down because it was making people crazy? Oh well, if she did, they'd know who was crazy.
When she got to the backyard, Marshmallow was fully decked out in his horns and tail. Drew was applying finger paint in cow- ish splotches, under Ralph's direction.
"How did you get the horns finished?" Immy asked. "I thought they needed two more layers."
"I had some time coming," he said. "I came over early and got 'em done."
"How did you get into the house?"
"You'd left the front door unlocked. I was gonna call you at work to let me in, but I didn't n eed to. You
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