Page 34 of Serenity Falls

But she doesn’t. She shrugs, and says, ‘Fine, let’s go mingle with the dead. This way.’

Okay, first test passed, girl.

They walk up the road, turn a corner and walk down another wide, tree-lined avenue. More grand houses with giant pillars and balconies. Sprinklers drench lush green grass. The smell of exotic flowers and plants fills her nostrils.

‘So, what do you make of Serenity so far?’ Ellis asks. ‘Aside from dead bodies in your pool, obviously.’

‘It’s … okay.’

‘High praise.’

‘I guess I’m still taking it all in.’

‘My dad says you inherited your house here?’

‘Yeah,’ she says carefully. ‘From my grandma. We didn’t even know she owned a house in Florida.’

‘You had no idea?’

‘Nope.’

What the hell did you have going on, Grandma? Sadie thinks again. You used to recycle teabags. And all the time, this?

‘And you just upped and moved?’ Ellis asks.

‘We didn’t have much choice. We either had to live in the house or lose it.’

Ellis nods. ‘Yeah, the rules are really strict. That’s why there are so many ghost houses.’

‘Ghost houses?’

‘It’s what we call the empty houses in Serenity.’

‘Why?’

‘They’re all looked after. Grass cut. Windows cleaned. Curtains opened and closed. Lights go on and off, just like someone is living there, but they’re not. Your house was a ghost house for years.’

Sadie stares at her. ‘That is … kind of weird.’

Ellis shrugs. ‘It’s all about appearances. The Conservators are pretty hot on appearances.’

‘Who the hell are the Conservators?’

Ellis gives her a look. ‘Don’t you know anything about Serenity?’

‘Well, considering we only arrived here yesterday, no.’

‘You didn’t look it up before you moved?’

‘Yeah. A bit—’

Of course she’d googled it. But there was surprisingly little information about the town. Just a lot of pretty pictures and gushing realtors’ descriptions.

‘Okay,’ Ellis continues, a little impatiently. ‘So, the Conservators are the people who run Serenity. They look after the town, make the rules, and so on. “Conserving the serenity” they call it.’

‘Nice. See what they’ve done there.’

They reach the end of the road and turn right. Ahead of them, poking out over the rooftops, Sadie can see a thin spire with a cross on the top which she guesses must be Serenity Falls chapel.