Chapter 7

Morning brought rain and wind and fog, pessimistic weather that made it hard to believe the previous day had been anything more than a strange and wonderful dream. I wolfed down my breakfast and told my dad I was going out. He looked at me like I was nuts.

“In this? To do what? ”

“To hang out with—” I started, without thinking. Then, to cover my tracks, I pretended to have a piece of food stuck in my throat. But it was too late; he’d heard me.

“Hang out with who? Not those rapper hoodlums, I hope. ”

The only way out of this hole was to dig deeper. “No. You’ve probably never seen them, they live on the other side of, um, the island, and—”

“Really? I didn’t think anyone lived over there. ”

“Yeah, well, just a few people. Like, sheep-tenders and whatnot. Anyway, they’re cool—they watch my back while I’m at the house. ” Friends and safety: two things my dad couldn’t possibly object to.

“I want to meet them, ” he said, trying to look stern. He often put on this face, an imitation of the sensible, no-nonsense dad I think he aspired to be.

“Sure thing. We’re meeting up over there, though, so another time. ”

He nodded and took another bite of his breakfast.

“Be back by dinner, ” he said.

“Roger Wilco, Dad. ”

I practically raced to the bog. As I picked my way through its shifting muck, trying to remember the route of semi-invisible grass islands Emma had used to cross it, I worried that all I would find on the other side was more rain and a ruined house. So it was with great relief that I emerged from the cairn to find September third, 1940, just as I’d left it: the day warm and sunny and fogless, the sky a dependable blue, clouds forming shapes that seemed comfortingly familiar. Even better, Emma was there waiting for me, sitting on the edge of the mound casting stones into the bog. “About time! ” she cried, jumping to her feet. “Come on, everyone’s waiting for you. ”

“They are? ”

“Ye-es, ” she said with an impatient eye roll, taking my hand and pulling me after her. I sparked with excitement—not only at her touch, but at the thought of the day that lay ahead, full of endless possibility. Though in a million superficial ways it would be identical to the day before—the same breeze would blow and the same tree limbs would fall—my experience of it would be new. So would the peculiar children’s. They were the gods of this strange little heaven, and I was their guest.

We dashed across the bog and through the forest as if late for an appointment. When we reached the house, Emma led me around to the backyard, where a small wooden stage had been erected. Kids were bustling in and out of the house, carrying props, buttoning up suit jackets, and zipping into sequined dresses. Warming up was a little orchestra, made up of just an accordion, a battered trombone, and a musical saw that Horace played with a bow.

“What’s this? ” I asked Emma. “Are you guys putting on a play? ”

“You’ll see, ” she said.

“Who’s in it? ”

“You’ll see. ”

“What’s it about? ”

She pinched me.

A whistle blew and everyone ran to claim seats in a row of folding chairs that faced the stage. Emma and I sat down just as the curtain opened, revealing a straw boater hat floating atop a gaudy red-and-white striped suit. It was only when I heard a voice did I realize that—of course—it was Millard.

“Ladieeees and gentlemen! ” he crowed. “It gives me the utmost pleasure to present to you a performance like no other in history! A show of such unrivaled daring, of such accomplished magicianship, that you simply won’t believe your eyes! Good citizens, I give you Miss Peregrine and her Peculiar Children! ”

The audience burst into uproarious applause. Millard tipped his hat.

“For our first illusion, I will produce Miss Peregrine herself! ” He ducked behind the curtain and emerged a moment later, a folded sheet draped over one arm and a peregrine falcon perched on the other. He nodded to the orchestra, which lurched into a kind of wheezing carnival music.

Emma elbowed me. “Watch this, ” she whispered.

Millard set the falcon down and held the sheet in front, screening the bird from the audience. He began counting backward. “Three, two, one! ”

On “one” I heard the unmistakable flap of wings and then saw Miss Peregrine’s head—her human head—pop up from behind the sheet to even more uproarious applause. Her hair was mussed and I could only see her from the shoulders up; she seemed to be naked behind the sheet. Apparently, when you change into a bird, your clothes don’t go along for the ride. Taking the edges of the sheet, she wrapped it chastely around herself.

“Mr. Portman! ” she said, peering down at me from the stage. “I’m so happy you’ve returned. This is a little exhibition we used to tour around the Continent back in the halcyon days. I thought you might find it instructive. ” And then she swept offstage in a flourish, heading into the house to retrieve her clothes.

One after another, the peculiar children came out of the audience and took the stage, each with an act of their own. Millard removed his tuxedo so that he was completely invisible and juggled glass bottles. Olive removed her leaden shoes and performed a gravity-defying gymnastics routine on a set of parallel bars. Emma made fire, swallowed it, then blew it out again without burning herself. I applauded until I thought my hands would blister.

When Emma returned to her seat, I turned to her and said, “I don’t understand. You performed this for people? ”

“Of course, ” she replied.

“Normal people? ”

“Of course, normal people. Why would peculiars pay to see things they can do themselves? ”

“But wouldn’t this, like, blow your cover? ”

She chuckled. “Nobody suspected a thing, ” she said. “People come to sideshows to see stunts and tricks and what-all, and as far as anybody knew that’s exactly what we showed them. ”

“So you were hiding in plain sight. ”

“Used to be the way most peculiars made a living, ” she said.

“And no one ever caught on? ”

“Once in a while we’d get some knob-head backstage asking nosey questions, which is why there’d always be a strong-arm on hand to toss them out on their bums. Speak of the devil—here she is now! ”

Up on stage, a mannish-looking girl was dragging a boulder the size of a small refrigerator out from behind the curtain. “She may not be the sharpest tool in the woodshed, ” Emma whispered, “but she’s got a massive heart and she’d go to the grave for her mates. We’re thick as thieves, Bronwyn and me. ”

Someone had passed around a stack of promotional cards Miss Peregrine had used to advertise their act. It reached me with Bronwyn’s card on top. In her picture she stood barefoot, challenging the camera with an icy stare. Emblazoned across the back was THE AMAZING STRONG-GIRL OF SWANSEA!

“Why isn’t she lifting a boulder, if that’s what she does on stage? ” I asked.

“She was in a foul mood because the Bird made her ‘dress like a lady’ for the picture. She refused to lift so much as a hatbox. ”

“Looks like she drew the line at wearing shoes, too. ”

“She generally does. ”

Bronwyn finished dragging the rock to the middle of the stage, and for an awkward moment she just stared into the crowd, as if someone had told her to pause for dramatic effect. Then she bent down and gripped the rock between her big hands and slowly lifted it above her head. Everyone clapped and hooted, the kids’ enthusiasm undimmed though they’d probably seen her do this trick a thousand times. It was almost like being at a pep rally for a school I didn’t attend.

Bronwyn yawned and walked off with the boulder tucked under one arm. Then the wild-haired girl took the stage. Her name was Fiona, Emma said. She stood facing the crowd behind a planter filled with dirt, her hands raised above it like a conductor. The orchestra began to play “Flight of the Bumblebee” (as well as they could, anyway), and Fiona pawed the air above the planter, her face contorted in effort and concentration. As the song crescendoed, a row of daisies poked up from the dirt and unfurled toward her hands. It was like one of those fast-motion videos of plants blooming, except she seemed to be reeling the flowers up from their loamy bed by invisible strings. The kids ate it up, jumping out of their seats to cheer her on.

Emma flipped through the stack of postcards to Fiona’s. “Her card’s my favorite, ” she said. “We worked for days on her costume. ”

I looked at it. She was dressed like a beggar girl and stood holding a chicken. “What’s she supposed to be? ” I asked. “A homeless farmer? ”

Emma pinched me. “She’s meant to look natural, like a savage-type person. Jill of the Jungle, we called her. ”

“Is she really from the jungle? ”

“She’s from Ireland. ”

“Are there a lot of chickens in the jungle? ”

She pinched me again. While we’d been whispering, Hugh had joined Fiona on stage. He stood with his mouth open, letting bees fly out to pollinate the flowers that Fiona had grown, like a weird mating ritual.

“What else does Fiona grow besides bushes and flowers? ”

“All these vegetables, ” Emma said, gesturing to the garden beds in the yard. “And trees, sometimes. ”

“Really? Whole trees? ”

She sorted through the postcards again. “Sometimes we’ll play Jill and the Beanstalk. Someone will grab hold of one of the saplings at the edge of the woods and we’ll see how high Fiona can get it to go while we’re riding it. ” She arrived at the photo she’d been hunting for and tapped it with her finger. “That was the record, ” she said proudly. “Twenty meters. ”

“You guys get pretty bored around here, huh? ”

She moved to pinch me again but I blocked her hand. I’m no expert on girls, but when one tries to pinch you four times, I’m pretty sure that’s flirting.

There were a few more acts after Fiona and Hugh left the stage but by then the kids were getting antsy, and soon we dispersed to spend the rest of the day in summery bliss: lazing in the sun sipping limeade; playing croquet; tending to gardens that, thanks to Fiona, hardly needed tending; discussing our options for lunch. I wanted to ask Miss Peregrine more about my grandfather—a subject I avoided with Emma, who turned morose at any mention of his name—but the headmistress had gone to conduct a lesson in the study for the younger kids. It seemed like I had plenty of time, though, and the languid pace and midday heat sapped my will to do anything more taxing than wander the grounds in dreamy amazement.

After a decadent lunch of goose sandwiches and chocolate pudding, Emma began to agitate for the older kids to go swimming. “Out of the question, ” Millard groaned, the top button of his pants popping open. “I’m stuffed like a Christmas turkey. ” We were sprawled on velvet chairs around the sitting room, full to bursting. Bronwyn lay curled with her head between two pillows. “I’d sink straight to the bottom, ” came her muffled reply.

But Emma persisted. After ten minutes of wheedling she’d roused Hugh, Fiona, and Horace from their naps and challenged Bronwyn, who apparently could not forgo a competition of any kind, to a swimming race. Upon seeing us all trooping out of the house, Millard scolded us for trying to leave him behind.

The best spot for swimming was by the harbor, but getting there meant walking straight through town. “What about those crazy drunks who think I’m a German spy? ” I said. “I don’t feel like getting chased with clubs today. ”

“You twit, ” Emma said. “That was yesterday. They won’t remember a thing. ”

“Just hang a towel ’round you so they don’t see your, er, future clothes, ” said Horace. I had on jeans and a T-shirt, my usual outfit, and Horace wore his customary black suit. He seemed to be of the Miss Peregrine school of dress: morbidly ultraformal, no matter the occasion. His photograph was among those I’d found in the smashed trunk, and in an attempt to “dress up” for it he’d gone completely overboard: top hat, cane, monocle—the works.

“You’re right, ” I said, cocking an eyebrow at Horace. “I wouldn’t want anyone to think I was dressed weird. ”

“If it’s my waistcoat you’re referring to, ” he replied haughtily, “yes, I admit I am a follower of fashion. ” The others snickered. “Go ahead, have a laugh at old Horace’s expense! Call me a dandy if you will, but just because the villagers won’t remember what you wear doesn’t give you license to dress like a vagabond! ” And with that he set about straightening his lapels, which only made the kids laugh harder. In a snit, he pointed an accusing finger at my clothes. “As for him, God help us if that’s all our wardrobes have to look forward to! ”

When the laughter had died down, I pulled Emma aside and whispered, “What exactly is it that makes Horace peculiar—aside from his clothes, I mean? ”

“He has prophetic dreams. Gets these great nightmares every so often, which have a disturbing tendency to come true. ”

“How often? A lot? ”

“Ask him yourself. ”

But Horace was in no mood to entertain my questions. So I filed it away for another time.

As we came into town I wrapped a towel around my waist and hung another from my shoulders. Though it wasn’t exactly prophecy, Horace was right about one thing: nobody recognized me. Walking down the main path we got a few odd looks, but no one bothered us. We even passed the fat man who’d made such a stink over me in the bar. He was stuffing a pipe outside the tobacconist’s shop and blathering on about politics to a woman who was barely listening. I couldn’t help staring at him as we passed. He stared back, without even a flicker of recognition.

It was like someone had hit “reset” on the whole town. I kept noticing things I’d seen the day before: the same wagon rushing wildly down the path, its back wheel fishtailing in the gravel; the same women lining up outside the well; a man tarring the bottom of a rowboat, no further along in his task than he’d been twenty-four hours ago. I almost expected to see my doppelgä nger sprinting across town pursued by a mob, but I guess things didn’t work that way.

“You guys must know a lot about what goes on around here, ” I said. “Like yesterday, with the planes and that cart. ”

“It’s Millard who knows everything, ” said Hugh.

“It’s true, ” said Millard. “In fact, I am in the midst of compiling the world’s first complete account of one day in the life of a town, as experienced by everyone in it. Every action, every conversation, every sound made by each of the one hundred fifty-nine human and three hundred thirty-two animal residents of Cairnholm, minute by minute, sunup to sundown. ”

“That’s incredible, ” I said.

“I can’t help but agree, ” he replied. “In just twenty-seven years I’ve already observed half the animals and nearly all the humans. ”

My mouth fell open. “Twenty-seven years? ”

“He spent three years on pigs alone! ” Hugh said. “That’s all day every day for three years taking notes on pigs! Can you imagine? ‘This one dropped a load of arse biscuits! ’ ‘That one said oink-oink and then went to sleep in its own filth! ’ ”

“Notes are absolutely essential to the process, ” Millard explained patiently. “But I can understand your jealousy, Hugh. It promises to be a work unprecedented in the history of academic scholarship. ”

“Oh, don’t cock your nose, ” Emma said. “It’ll also be unprecedented in the history of dull things. It’ll be the dullest thing ever written! ”

Rather than responding, Millard began pointing things out just before they happened. “Mrs. Higgins is about to have a coughing fit, ” he’d say, and then a woman in the street would cough and hack until she was red in the face, or “Presently, a fisherman will lament the difficulty of plying his trade during wartime, ” and then a man leaning on a cart filled with nets would turn to another man and say, “There’s so many damned U-boats in the water now it ain’t even safe for a bloke to go tickle his own lines! ”

I was duly impressed, and told him so. “I’m glad someone appreciates my work, ” he replied.

We walked along the bustling harbor until the docks ran out and then followed the rocky shore toward the headlands to a sandy cove. We boys stripped down to our underwear (all except Horace, who would remove only his shoes and tie) while the girls disappeared to change into modest, old-school bathing suits. Then we all swam. Bronwyn and Emma raced each other while the rest of us paddled around; once we’d exhausted ourselves, we climbed onto the sand and napped. When the sun was too hot we fell back into the water, and when the chilly sea made us shiver we crawled out again, and so it went until our shadows began to lengthen across the cove.

We got to talking. They had a million questions for me, and, far away from Miss Peregrine, I could answer them frankly. What was my world like? What did people eat, drink, wear? When would sickness and death be overcome by science? They lived in splendor but were starving for new faces and new stories. I told them whatever I could, racking my brain for nuggets of twentieth-century history from Mrs. Johnston’s class—the moon landing! the Berlin Wall! Vietnam! —but they were hardly comprehensive.

It was my time’s technology and standard of living that amazed them most. Our houses were air-conditioned. They’d heard of televisions but had never seen one and were shocked to learn that my family had a talking-picture box in almost every room. Air travel was as common and affordable to us as train travel was to them. Our army fought with remote-controlled drones. We carried telephone-computers that fit in our pockets, and even though mine didn’t work here (nothing electronic seemed to), I pulled it out just to show them its sleek, mirrored enclosure.

It was edging toward sunset when we finally started back. Emma stuck to me like glue, the back of her hand brushing mine as we walked. Passing an apple tree on the outskirts of town, she stopped to pick one, but even on tiptoes the lowest fruit was out of reach, so I did what any gentleman would do and gave her a boost, wrapping my arms around her waist and trying not to groan as I lifted, her white arm outstretched, wet hair glinting in the sun. When I let her down she gave me a little kiss on the cheek and handed me the apple.

“Here, ” she said, “you earned it. ”

“The apple or the kiss? ”

She laughed and ran off to catch up with the others. I didn’t know what to call it, what was happening between us, but I liked it. It felt silly and fragile and good. I put the apple in my pocket and ran after her.

When we came to the bog and I said I had to go home, she pretended to pout. “At least let me escort you, ” she said, so we waved goodbye to the others and crossed over to the cairn, me doing my best to memorize the placement of her feet as we went.

When we got there I said, “Come with me to the other side a minute. ”

“I shouldn’t. I’ve got to get back or the Bird will suspect us. ”

“Suspect us of what? ”

She smiled coyly. “Of … something. ”

“Something. ”

“She’s always on the lookout for something, ” she said, laughing.

I changed tactics. “Then why don’t you come see me tomorrow instead? ”

“See you? Over there? ”

“Why not? Miss Peregrine won’t be around to watch us. You could even meet my dad. We won’t tell him who you are, obviously. And then maybe he’ll ease up a little about where I’m going and what I’m doing all the time. Me hanging out with a hot girl? That’s like his fondest dad-dream wish. ”

I thought she might smile at the hot girl thing, but instead she turned serious. “The Bird only allows us to go over for a few minutes at a time, just to keep the loop open, you know. ”

“So tell her that’s what you’re doing! ”

She sighed. “I want to. I do. But it’s a bad idea. ”

“She’s got you on a pretty short leash. ”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, ” she said with a scowl. “And thanks for comparing me to a dog. That was brilliant. ”

I wondered how we’d gone from flirting to fighting so quickly. “I didn’t mean it like that. ”

“It’s not that I wouldn’t like to, ” she said. “I just can’t. ”

“Okay, I’ll make you a deal. Forget coming for the whole day. Just come over for a minute, right now. ”

“One minute? What can we do in one minute? ”

I grinned. “You’d be surprised. ”

“Tell me! ” she said, pushing me.

“Take your picture. ”

Her smile disappeared. “I’m not exactly at my most fetching, ” she said doubtfully.

“No, you’re great. Really. ”

“Just one minute? Promise? ”

I let her go into the cairn first. When we came out again the world was misty and cold, though thankfully the rain had stopped. I pulled out my phone and was happy to see that my theory was right. On this side of the loop, electronic things worked fine.

“Where’s your camera? ” she said, shivering. “Let’s get this over with! ”

I held up the phone and took her picture. She just shook her head, as if nothing about my bizarre world could surprise her anymore. Then she dodged away, and I had to chase her around the cairn, both of us laughing, Emma ducking out of view only to pop up again and vamp for the camera. A minute later I’d taken so many pictures that my phone had nearly run out of memory.

Emma ran to the mouth of the cairn and blew me an air-kiss. “See you tomorrow, future boy! ”

I lifted my hand to wave goodbye, and she ducked into the stone tunnel.

* * *

I skipped back to town freezing and wet and grinning like an idiot. I was still blocks away from the pub when I heard a strange sound rising above the hum of generators—someone calling my name. Following the voice, I found my father standing in the street in a soggy sweater, breath pluming before him like muffler exhaust on a cold morning.

“Jacob! I’ve been looking for you! ”

“You said be back by dinner, so here I am! ”

“Forget dinner. Come with me. ”

My father never skipped dinner. Something was most definitely amiss.

“What’s going on? ”

“I’ll explain on the way, ” he said, marching me toward the pub. Then he got a good look at me. “You’re all wet! ” he exclaimed. “For God’s sake, did you lose your other jacket, too? ”

“I, uh …”

“And why is your face red? You look sunburned. ”

Crap. A whole afternoon at the beach without sunblock. “I’m all hot from running, ” I said, though the skin on my arms was pimpled from cold. “What’s happening? Did someone die, or what? ”

“No, no, no, ” he said. “Well, sort of. Some sheep. ”

“What’s that got to do with us? ”

“They think it was kids who did it. Like a vandalism thing. ”

“They who? The sheep police? ”

“The farmers, ” he said. “They’ve interrogated everyone under the age of twenty. Naturally, they’re pretty interested in where you’ve been all day. ”

My stomach sank. I didn’t exactly have a watertight cover story, and I raced to think of one as we approached the Priest Hole.

Outside the pub, a small crowd was gathered around a quorum of very pissed-off-looking sheep farmers. One wore muddy coveralls and leaned threateningly on a pitchfork. Another had Worm by the collar. Worm was dressed in neon track pants and a shirt that read I LOVE IT WHEN THEY CALL ME BIG POPPA. He’d been crying, snot bubbling on his upper lip.

A third farmer, rail-thin and wearing a knit cap, pointed at me as we approached. “Here he is! ” he called out. “Where you been off to, son? ”

Dad patted me on the back. “Tell them, ” he said confidently.

I tried to sound like I had nothing to hide. “I was exploring the other side of the island. The big house. ”

Knit Cap looked confused. “Which big house? ”

“That wonky old heap in the forest, ” said Pitchfork. “Only a certified idiot would set foot in there. Place is witched, and a deathtrap to boot. ”

Knit Cap squinted at me. “In the big house with who? ”

“Nobody, ” I said, and saw Dad give me a funny look.

“Bollocks! I think you was with this one, ” said the man holding Worm.

“I never killed any sheep! ” cried Worm.

“Shaddap! ” the man roared.

“Jake? ” said my dad. “What about your friends? ”

“Ahh, crap, Dad. ”

Knit Cap turned and spat. “Why you little liar. I oughta belt you right here in fronta God and everybody. ”

“You stay away from him, ” my father said, doing his best Stern Dad voice. Knit Cap swore and took a step toward him, and he and my dad squared off. Before either could throw a punch, a familiar voice said, “Hang on, Dennis, we’ll get this sorted, ” and Martin stepped out of the crowd to wedge himself between them. “Just start by telling us whatever your boy told you, ” he said to my father.

Dad glared at me. “He said he was going to see friends on the other side. ”

“What friends? ” Pitchfork demanded.

I could see this was only going to get uglier unless I did something drastic. Obviously, I couldn’t tell them about the children—not that they’d believe me anyway—so instead I took a calculated risk.

“It wasn’t anybody, ” I said, dropping my eyes in feigned shame. “They’re imaginary. ”

“What’d he say? ”

“He said his friends were imaginary, ” my dad repeated, sounding worried.

The farmers exchanged baffled glances.

“See? ” Worm said, a flicker of hope on his face. “Kid’s a bloody psycho! It had to be him! ”

“I never touched them, ” I said, though no one was really listening.

“It weren’t the American, ” said the farmer who had Worm. He gave Worm’s shirt a wrench. “This one here, he’s got a history. Few years back I watched him kick a lamb down a cliffside. Wouldn’t of believed it if I hadn’t seen it wi’ me own eyes. After he done it I asked him why. To see if it could fly, he says. He’s a sickie, all right. ”

People muttered in disgust. Worm looked uncomfortable but didn’t dispute the story.

“Where’s his fishmongerin’ mate? ” said Pitchfork. “If this one was in on it, you can bet the other one was, too. ” Someone said they’d seen Dylan by the harbor, and a posse was dispatched to collect him.

“What about a wolf—or a wild dog? ” my dad said. “My father was killed by dogs. ”

“Only dogs on Cairnholm are sheepdogs, ” replied Knit Cap. “And it ain’t exactly in a sheepdog’s nature to go about killin’ sheep. ”

I wished my father would give it up and leave while the leaving was good, but he was on the case like Perry Mason. “Just how many sheep are we talking about? ” he asked.

“Five, ” replied the fourth farmer, a short, sour-faced man who hadn’t spoken until then. “All mine. Killed right in their pen. Poor devils never even had a chance to run. ”

“Five sheep. How much blood do you think is in five sheep? ”

“A right tubful, I shouldn’t wonder, ” said Pitchfork.

“So wouldn’t whoever did this be covered in it? ”

The farmers looked at one another. They looked at me, and then at Worm. Then they shrugged and scratched their heads. “Reckon it coulda been foxes, ” said Knit Cap.

“A whole pack of foxes, maybe, ” said Pitchfork doubtfully, “if the island’s even got that many. ”

“I still say the cuts are too clean, ” said the one holding Worm. “Had to have been done with a knife. ”

“I just don’t believe it, ” my dad replied.

“Then come see for yourself, ” said Knit Cap. So as the crowd began to disperse, a small group of us followed the farmers out to the scene of the crime. We trudged over a low rise, through a nearby field, to a little brown shed with a rectangular animal pen beyond it. We approached tentatively and peeked through the fence slats.

The violence inside was almost cartoonish, like the work of some mad impressionist who painted only in red. The tramped grass was bathed in blood, as were the pen’s weathered posts and the stiff white bodies of the sheep themselves, flung about in attitudes of sheepish agony. One had tried to climb the fence and got its spindly legs caught between the slats. It hung before me at an odd angle, clam-shelled open from throat to crotch, as if it had been unzipped.

I had to turn away. Others muttered and shook their heads, and someone let out a low whistle. Worm gagged and began to cry, which was seen as a tacit admission of guilt; the criminal who couldn’t face his own crime. He was led away to be locked in Martin’s museum—in what used to be the sacristy and was now the island’s makeshift jail cell—until he could be remanded to police on the mainland.

We left the farmer to ponder his slain sheep and went back to town, plodding across wet hills in the slate-gray dusk. Back in the room, I knew I was in for a Stern Dad talking-to, so I did my best to disarm him before he could start in on me.

“I lied to you, Dad, and I’m sorry. ”

“Yeah? ” he said sarcastically, trading his wet sweater for a dry one. “That’s big of you. Now which lie are we talking about? I can hardly keep track. ”

“The one about meeting friends. There aren’t any other kids on the island. I made it up because I didn’t want you to worry about me being alone over there. ”

“Well, I do worry, even if your doctor tells me not to. ”

“I know you do. ”

“So what about these imaginary friends? Does Golan know about this? ”

I shook my head. “That was a lie, too. I just had to get those guys off my back. ”

Dad folded his arms, not sure what to believe. “Really. ”

“Better to have them think I’m a little eccentric than a sheep killer, right? ”

I took a seat at the table. Dad looked down at me for a long moment, and I wasn’t sure if he trusted me or not. Then he went to the sink and splashed water on his face. When he’d toweled off and turned around again, he seemed to have decided it was a lot less trouble to trust me.

“You sure we don’t need to call Dr. Golan again? ” he asked. “Have a nice long talk? ”

“If you want to. But I’m okay. ”

“This is exactly why I didn’t want you hanging out with those rapper guys, ” he said, because he needed to close with something sufficiently parental for it to count as a proper talking-to.

“You were right about them, Dad, ” I said, though secretly I couldn’t believe either of them was capable of it. Worm and Dylan talked tough, but that was all.

Dad sat down across from me. He looked tired. “I’d still like to know how someone manages to get a sunburn on a day like this. ”

Right. The sunburn. “Guess I’m pretty sensitive, ” I said.

“You can say that again, ” he said dryly.

He let me go, and I went to take a shower and thought about Emma. Then I brushed my teeth and thought about Emma and washed my face and thought about Emma. After that I went to my room and took the apple she’d given me out of my pocket and set it on the nightstand, and then, as if to reassure myself she still existed, I got out my phone and looked through the pictures of her I’d taken that afternoon. I was still looking when I heard my father go to bed in the next room, and still looking when the gennies kicked off and my lamp went out, and when there was no light anywhere but her face on my little screen, I lay there in the dark, still looking.

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