I nodded. “It’s been abandoned for years. No one wants to live where someone died. It’s bad luck.”
She didn’t look convinced, but her eyes drifted to the wall surrounding the property. “Isn’t there a gate?”
“There is,” I said. “But it’s rusted shut. It’s easier to climb.”
She bit her lip. “I don’t think I can do that.”
I frowned. That wasn’t true. I’d seen her scale trees taller than this wall without a second thought. Why lie about it? The story about Laban wasn’tthatscary. Maybe something else had her spooked.
“Fine,” I said, turning toward the wall. “I’ll go by myself.”
The old stone rose in front of me, draped in vines and slick moss. My fingers found the cracks between the stones, gripping tight. I set a foot on a jutting rock and hauled myself upward, muscles pulling as I moved over the wall, nimble as a cat.
I perched atop the wall, lit faintly by the midnight sun. Below me, Kera’s upturned face glowed softly, worry clear in her eyes. I swung my legs over the edge, gripping the rough stone, then took a deep breath and jumped. I landed softly on the grass, breath catching in the quiet.
The darkness surprised me. The sun had slipped behind the wall, covering the yard in shadow. I’d never been there at night before, but my eyes adjusted quickly. I moved through the shadows, gathering as many flowers as I could carry in one hand. I didn’t want to linger any longer than necessary.
“I found some beautiful ones!” I called quietly as I hurried back toward the wall. I reached up, trying to find a stone to grip onto. “I’m coming back now.”
“Wait,” Kera whispered. “There’s someone coming.”
I just assumed it was someone from the village out for an evening walk, so I started climbing, curious to see who it might be. But then I hesitated. My mother had forbidden me from going there, maybe it was for a reason.
“Someone you know?” I asked, gripping the stones tightly.
“No,” Kera replied with a shaky voice. “We don’t know them.”
Thoughts raced through my mind. If Kera didn’t know them, it wasn’t our parents. Or our neighbours. It couldn’t be anyone from the village. If it was, Kera would have recognized them. I didn’t know everyone in town personally, but I’d seen all their faces at least once.
Strangers in our village were rare, it wasn’t a place you’d pass by on the road, it was a detour. Most people had no reason to ever visit Novil.
Everyone here was familiar.
If Kera didn’t know these people, they were truly strangers, and from the sound of it, more than one.
Suddenly, I didn’t want to climb back over to the other side anymore. It felt safer among the flowers and the ghosts.
Guilt twisted in my chest. It had all been my idea. I had good intentions, I just wanted to fix what Selma had ruined. I just wanted to help. To be a good friend. I’d seen Kera around before, usually with her family, always close to her brother. I envied that bond, I had no siblings of my own, and instead, I was stuck with girls like Selma and Nora, who were friendly one minute and cruel the next. We weren’t real friends, we just tolerated each other. But Kera genuinely seemed kind, and I wanted to be friends with someone like her.
“You need to climb,” I said. “We’ll hide here until they leave.”
“I can’t,” she said. “They’ve already seen me.”
My stomach twisted in dread.
“Come on, Kera, climb,” I urged through the wall, pressing my palms flat against the stone.
“They haven’t seenyou.” she peeped, “They’re coming closer, Licia. I’m scared.”
I swallowed hard, blood roaring in my ears.
“If you can’t hide,run.”
For a heartbeat I heard her, the sharp slap of her shoes against the ground, then silence. I pressed myself against the wall, the stone cold against my back as I sank. She’d get away, I told myself. Kera was fast. She could climb a tree, or hide in the dark. What I couldn’t understand waswhy.
Why were there strangers in the woods? And by the old mill house? There was nothing out there, just algae-choked lakewater, abandoned buildings, and forest. That’s why I liked it.
“Kera?” I called out as soon as I dared.
