Page 54 of They Say a Girl Died Here

“Everyone in town knew them, even if it was just by name,” he said wearily. “That’s the way of things around here. Everyone knows everyone. It’s why people don’t take kindly to these wounds being opened up again. Because they haven’t really healed.”

“Are you telling me to stop asking questions and shut up?” Anger flared, hot as the baking afternoon.

“I’m simply explaining, Anna.” He turned away from the grave to face her. “I understand why you’re fired up about this. You found a dead body and you want meaning for it. No one gets over something like that quickly. Not even me.” He paused, looking across to where Bonnie had been laid to rest. “Seeing those two girls’ bodies out in those fields as naked as when I’d brought them into this world, that was hard. I’d attended car crashes and farm accidents. And there was Gene Ardale. I got to that house only moments after he’d murdered his family and shot himself. I’d been meaning to check in and see how his new meds were working out for a while. I was busy and then I was too late.” He paused, paler. “Their ruined bodies were still warm. That poor little boy. And Emily’s beautiful face destroyed.” He trembled, leaning harder on his stick. “But this was different. Those deaths were all awful, but I understood them. Accidents. A bad reaction to medication. Lila’s and Bonnie’s deaths were so clinical. That’s not a feeling you can wash away. Not when you’re going home to an empty house with only your thoughts and the memory of their mothers’ tears for company. So I understand how you feel. Especially after everything you’ve been through. Your own trauma. PTSD. It can affect people in a lot of different ways.”

So the doc knew about the thing too. It had been a tightly wound spool of secrecy and now someone had pulled the thread free and she couldn’t stop it getting away. She felt sick, and took a step backward, wanting distance between them. “This has got nothing to do with that. You don’t know anything about that. Or me.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” He raised one hand in supplication. “I was only suggesting that perhaps this maudlin interest isn’t doing you any good.”

“If I want a doctor’s appointment, I’ll book one.” She glared at him, chewing the inside of her cheek, needing the pain to stop any chance of tears. “And you should get going. School will be out in a minute.”

“I guess I should.” He put his hat back on over his wispy gray hair and turned toward the gates. “And once again, I’m sorry.”

She said nothing but watched as his slow walk led him back to his dusty truck. He raised a hand in goodbye and got in, then started the engine. There was a rough cough and sputter before it chugged and growled loudly as he drove away. She watched him go, dust kicking up behind his tires before he turned onto the road. She didn’t move until he’d completely disappeared into the distance, and then she turned to look back at Lila’s smiling face.

“What are you trying to tell Grandma?” she asked softly. “Were you killed in our house? Who killed you?”

63

“She’s getting a party foam pit on Saturday night.” Caroline was almost bouncing in her chair as she ate. “Honestly. A huge one. It’s going to be amaze.” Whatever Dr. Burdett had said to her on their shopping trip had worked, because her sunshine was back, all good energy returned, and she was her usual bright and bubbly self.

“Totes amaze,” Anna teased. “You guys are so retro.” She stuck her tongue out at her little sister to let her know she was joking and then wrapped another fajita she didn’t really want to eat and took a big bite, sour cream and salsa dripping onto her hands.

“Everyone’s coming,” Caroline continued. She was glowing. Excited. Beautiful. “Even some of the ninth graders. Holly’s so cool. Everyone loves her.”

“I’m sure everyone loves you as well.” Grandma smiled at her. “Johnny said what a clever, kind girl you are. He said you two have had some good conversations.” She nibbled the chicken and vegetables but left the tortillas and toppings alone. Too messy for Grandma, who had barely spoken to Anna. This grandma clearly had no recollection of the distraught and desperate one who wrote in her notebook and was obsessed with Anna and dead girls.

“Yeah, he’s really nice.”

“What else is going on at this party?” Anna asked, light.

“DJ till midnight. Some kind of cookout Holly’s dad’s organizing. Her parents are staying in the house, though. Like, they’ll check on us, but they trust us.”

“Your first teen party. You’ll love it. How many of you are going to be there?”

“Not sure.” Caroline shrugged, one shoulder only, almost flirtatious. Not like Callie. A new move learned from the hot girls at school. “Only us five for the camping Friday. Then Saturday we’re having a spa day as the party sets up. I think maybe forty or fifty for that? Holly knows kids from all around.”

Forty or fifty. That wouldn’t be all girls. And no one could keep track of forty or fifty teenagers. A terrible thought struck her. What if the Greenboughs knew about what happened with Anna? The thing. What if Todd told them?

I’ve found out why Anna Maybourne has been so crazy. If Holly overheard him talking to their parents, then she’d tell the other kids, and then it would be all around town. That’s what kids did. Another thought barreled into the first. What if the video of the thing was still floating around on the internet somewhere? Maybe they’d all see. The horrifying thoughts were coming fast, colliding into each other like a car crash.

They’d think Callie was the same. Tainted by her slutty big sister. Wanting it.

“Hey, how about we have a sisters’ evening tonight?” Anna leaned on the table, grinning. “You can show me your new clothes and we can decide on a best outfit.”

Caroline’s face lit up, angelic, beautiful, too beautiful. “That would be—”

“Amaze!” Anna joined her in the last word, shouting it in unison, and for the first time in a long time, they seemed almost like sisters.

64

There were a lot of outfits to choose from, some less concerning than others, but the new jean shorts Caroline had bought were basically hot pants, and while the new dress for the Saturday-night party was pretty and not as full-on adult sexy as Anna had dreaded, it stopped mid-thigh in a way that made Anna’s chest compress. Jed’s words in the diner throbbed in her ears. You seen the things girls these days wear in bars, like men have no red blood in them? Then it’s our fault if it turns out they ain’t even legal.

Seeing her little sister, not so long ago a tomboy, excited about getting dressed up and dancing and parties brought back too many memories. Frannie and her in their own barely there clothes. Mixing sodas with liquor stolen from Andrea’s dad’s cabinet. Getting themselves in the mood. Never coming home when they said they would and driving their moms crazy. Wild girls. Party animals on their own terms and proud of it. The brightness of those memories, all that confidence shone so hard it hurt.

“Ben’s coming. And Andy. Holly likes Andy. He likes her too.” Caroline giggled, her eyes sparkling as she turned this way and that in front of the mirror, playing at adulthood. The hairs on Anna’s arms prickled, antennae for danger. They were children. They were too young for boys. Caroline especially was too innocent. Mom had protected her from the details of the thing. Anna had been attacked and she didn’t know by who; that was all Caroline knew. Everyone protected Caroline. Even Dad, in his own way, had protected her by leaving before she could feel his loss.

“Who’s Ben?”