connecting hall to her dad’s office.
In his office, she left the light off. She knew where she was going.
She ran to the shelf with the carpet piece. She grabbed the edge of the
shelf at chest height, and she tugged on it. It didn’t move. She bent over and
tugged on the one below. No movement. The one above. Stuck. Stretching,
she reached for the one above that. Still nothing.
It has to be!
In her frustration, she kicked the shelf right next to the little
carpet piece.
And the shelving unit popped free of the wall, opening out into the room.
Susie had been right. A hidden room had been here all along.
Samantha didn’t wait for the shelf-door to open all the way. She
shouldered through the opening and groped for a light switch. She found
one just inside the opening.
Flipping the switch, she held still and listened.
She could hear Chica’s footsteps in the kitchen. Good. It worked.
She looked around. The room was filled with all sorts of bizarre things—
dried leaves, rocks, broken glass, old toys, stacks of papers and books.
Samantha didn’t know if she was looking at Susie’s stash of treasures or her
dad’s. It didn’t matter. It only mattered that Gretchen, her curly hair thick
with dust but her polka-dot dress as bright as it was the day she
disappeared, was sitting on top of one of the leaning book towers.
Samantha grabbed the doll and darted back through her dad’s office.
When she reached the doorway, she looked to her right. Chica was coming
down
the hall; she was only a few feet away.
Samantha fled through the living room and out through the front door.
Panting, she looked out at the yard.
It was empty, of course. She knew where Susie was, and she knew where
Chica was. Only Oliver stood in the yard—Oliver and his last pale-yellow
leaf. Samantha ran to him, and hid behind his huge, solid trunk.
Susie watched Samantha hide behind Oliver, then she turned and waited for
Chica to reach the entryway. What would Chica do? How could Susie keep
Chica away from Samantha?
It turned out she didn’t have to. When Chica reached Susie, Chica
paused.
Chica held out a hand. Susie’s hand raised and reached for Chica’s even
though that was the last thing she wanted it to do. She felt the animatronic
metal touch her fingertips.
“But I’m not ready!” Susie told Chica.
Chica looked down, and her teeth gleamed in the moonlight. Susie shied
back. Chica’s fingers gripped Susie’s tightly, and Susie couldn’t pull them
away. When Chica turned, Susie felt herself being dragged from her home.
She knew she had to stop resisting. She had to go along.
So
she stopped struggling, and she began calmly walking next to Chica.
Samantha watched Chica take her sister’s hand, and she watched her sister
and Chica cross the porch, come down the steps, and walk toward Oliver.
Samantha tensed. What should she do? What
could
she do?
Before she could decide, Chica and Susie disappeared.
Not thinking, Samantha screamed, “Wait!”
Susie heard her sister’s scream. Chica didn’t pause, but Susie did. However
much Chica was willing her to keep walking, something equally strong was
willing her to go back.
Caught in the middle, Susie, once again, couldn’t
move.
“Susie!” Samantha wailed her sister’s name.
“I have to go back,” Susie said. “I have to.”
She waited, holding her breath. Then she felt something shift in the air
around her.
Chica let go of her hand.
Samantha stepped out from behind Oliver and stood next to him, Gretchen
dangling from her right hand. Tears filled her eyes.
She was too late.
No. What was that?
The leaves near Oliver’s trunk swirled up from the ground and then out
away from Oliver. The night was breezy, but the wind wasn’t going in
circles. It
also was blowing toward Oliver, not away from him.
Samantha looked up at his sole surviving leaf again.
And that’s when Susie suddenly appeared in front of Oliver.
She looked the same way she’d looked the day she was abducted. She
even wore the same clothes—her magenta-and-pink striped sweater and the
jeans Jeanie had studded with rhinestones.
Samantha stared at her sister. Then she held out Gretchen.
Susie opened her mouth like she wanted to say something. But then she
just took the pudgy doll and clutched it to her chest.
“I’ve missed you so much,” Samantha said.
Susie nodded. She reached out, and Samantha didn’t even hesitate. She
stepped into the offered hug.
Susie felt as solid as she had when she was alive. Maybe even more so.
Samantha was never a hugger. She usually only half hugged Susie when
Susie insisted on a hug. Now she hugged Susie with all of her strength. “I
love you,” she whispered.
She felt a wave of emotion flow over her, like the one she’d felt in the
car. But this one wasn’t dark and oily. This one was light, and it was warm
and fizzy. Samantha was pretty sure this wave was a wave of love.
Susie let go, and Samantha brushed at the tears that ran down her cheeks.
Susie smiled and then turned to Chica. Samantha watched Chica take her
sister’s hand. Then
she watched Chica lead Susie, and Gretchen, away.
They disappeared just as Oliver dropped his last leaf.
“Goodbye,” Samantha whispered.
Samantha felt the letting go. And she felt the promise of something new.
Susie was leaving, yes. But this wasn’t an end. Samantha knew it was a
beginning. Just like the happy ghost in the story, Susie was going where she
could be with her family forever.
