but I don’t think you should keep all this to yourself. It sounds to me like secrets have done enough damage on that island without you keeping another one. A big secret, and maybe a dangerous one, if the so-called ghost you’ve seen twice now—is it just twice?—turns out to be an ax murderer.
Don’t keep it inside. That was always a problem of yours, keeping things bottled up. I remember how glad I was when you finally began to open up to me, because to tell the truth, you’d always scared me a little. Even though you talked a lot, you were so inward and intense, I was half afraid to find out who you really were. And then the person you turned out to be was so much kinder and sweeter than anyone I could have imagined. Tell someone, Jack. Please. Tell someone about the man you saw at the window and later on the tower.
I’d write more, but I’ve got to get ready. There’s a party tonight on the beach, and even though I know it’s going to be lonely without you, I’ve decided to go anyway, just to make myself get out of the house.
Write soon. Hugs,
Sophie
DEAR SOPHIE,
I was so glad to get your letter. I’m glad you’re okay, and to tell you the truth, I’m glad that you miss me. And since I’m being honest, I have to tell you that it made me feel a little uncomfortable, your seeing Josh again. And your going to the beach party without me. But I believe you when you say he’s just an old friend, and after all, you were the one who broke up with him, so there must have been a reason. Like you said.
I also decided to take your advice and tell Linda about this guy I’d been seeing hanging around the library and up on the tower. I’ve decided to tell her tonight, and all morning I’ve been thinking exactly how to put it so she won’t think I’m crazy. Maybe the island does have a ghost. I can live with that. Especially if it turns out that I’m not the only person who’s seen it. So what if I don’t believe in ghosts? So what if you don’t believe in ghosts? It happens that way all the time. Someone doesn’t believe in ghosts, and then that person sees a ghost and starts to believe in ghosts.
Or maybe there was some perfectly reasonable explanation for my … hallucination. Once when I was little my dad took me to this place called Mystery Hill. You drive up a hill, but the funny thing is, you feel like you’re driving down a hill. Maybe this was something like that. Or maybe you’re right, maybe it was an actual person, in which case Linda and I and the kids ought to leave the island on the next ferry and send the police back to find him.
Anyway, like I said, I was thinking how to tell Linda. I was going to tell her last night after dinner when she and I sat on the porch.
But in the meantime, yesterday, before I could say anything, another strange thing happened.
It was just after lunch. Miles was reading a book about the first organized expedition to the South Pole. He said he couldn’t put it down and he wanted to spend the afternoon in his room reading. Linda and I looked at each other. I could tell we were both thinking the same thing: What a good reader Miles was, a good kid, and probably a good student. So what had he done to get himself expelled?
Honestly, I can’t believe it’s taking Linda so long to deal with this. Because sooner or later she has to tell Miles and the children’s uncle, and something will have to be worked out about school. They’ll have to face what Miles did or what the school says he did. But I guess Linda has been through enough rough patches with the kids, so I can understand her wanting to keep things calm and peaceful—which they are, Sophie!—for as long as she can. Also it makes me even more reluctant to bother her with the crazy idea that I might have seen a ghost. Linda has enough problems. I told myself I should probably solve this mystery on my own.
Since Miles was busy reading, I asked Flora what she wanted to do, and she said she wanted to
Don’t keep it inside. That was always a problem of yours, keeping things bottled up. I remember how glad I was when you finally began to open up to me, because to tell the truth, you’d always scared me a little. Even though you talked a lot, you were so inward and intense, I was half afraid to find out who you really were. And then the person you turned out to be was so much kinder and sweeter than anyone I could have imagined. Tell someone, Jack. Please. Tell someone about the man you saw at the window and later on the tower.
I’d write more, but I’ve got to get ready. There’s a party tonight on the beach, and even though I know it’s going to be lonely without you, I’ve decided to go anyway, just to make myself get out of the house.
Write soon. Hugs,
Sophie
DEAR SOPHIE,
I was so glad to get your letter. I’m glad you’re okay, and to tell you the truth, I’m glad that you miss me. And since I’m being honest, I have to tell you that it made me feel a little uncomfortable, your seeing Josh again. And your going to the beach party without me. But I believe you when you say he’s just an old friend, and after all, you were the one who broke up with him, so there must have been a reason. Like you said.
I also decided to take your advice and tell Linda about this guy I’d been seeing hanging around the library and up on the tower. I’ve decided to tell her tonight, and all morning I’ve been thinking exactly how to put it so she won’t think I’m crazy. Maybe the island does have a ghost. I can live with that. Especially if it turns out that I’m not the only person who’s seen it. So what if I don’t believe in ghosts? So what if you don’t believe in ghosts? It happens that way all the time. Someone doesn’t believe in ghosts, and then that person sees a ghost and starts to believe in ghosts.
Or maybe there was some perfectly reasonable explanation for my … hallucination. Once when I was little my dad took me to this place called Mystery Hill. You drive up a hill, but the funny thing is, you feel like you’re driving down a hill. Maybe this was something like that. Or maybe you’re right, maybe it was an actual person, in which case Linda and I and the kids ought to leave the island on the next ferry and send the police back to find him.
Anyway, like I said, I was thinking how to tell Linda. I was going to tell her last night after dinner when she and I sat on the porch.
But in the meantime, yesterday, before I could say anything, another strange thing happened.
It was just after lunch. Miles was reading a book about the first organized expedition to the South Pole. He said he couldn’t put it down and he wanted to spend the afternoon in his room reading. Linda and I looked at each other. I could tell we were both thinking the same thing: What a good reader Miles was, a good kid, and probably a good student. So what had he done to get himself expelled?
Honestly, I can’t believe it’s taking Linda so long to deal with this. Because sooner or later she has to tell Miles and the children’s uncle, and something will have to be worked out about school. They’ll have to face what Miles did or what the school says he did. But I guess Linda has been through enough rough patches with the kids, so I can understand her wanting to keep things calm and peaceful—which they are, Sophie!—for as long as she can. Also it makes me even more reluctant to bother her with the crazy idea that I might have seen a ghost. Linda has enough problems. I told myself I should probably solve this mystery on my own.
Since Miles was busy reading, I asked Flora what she wanted to do, and she said she wanted to
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