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like she was flying. 0I . . . I followed her, and she disappeared and . . .” She sagged against her mother. “It was freaky.”
    â€œIt’s okay,” Sarah said, her gaze traveling up the stairs to the third floor of the house, an area that she’d avoided most of her life. She understood about freaking out, about fears, and about believing in seeing a ghost on the premises.
    â€œYou don’t believe me.”
    â€œOf course I do, honey. I know you saw something, but I’m not sure what it was. You have nightmares,” she reminded Gracie softly, “and sometimes you sleepwalk.”
    â€œThis was different.”
    â€œThat’s what you always say. Come on, let’s go downstairs.” Sarah helped her daughter to her feet, and Gracie dared to look over her mother’s shoulder to the upper floors.
    â€œShe’s real, Mom,” she said, sounding more like herself. Normally, in broad daylight, Gracie was a kid who had few fears. A tomboy, she played sports ferociously and held her own in arguments, even with some of her teachers. “A bit of a loner,” “definitely an individual,” and “certainly knows her own mind” were some of the comments they had made, along with “stubborn” and even “refuses to take orders.” If Gracie hadn’t been such a good student who devoured books, those same traits would have landed her in trouble in school.
    But at night, Gracie was sometimes plagued with insecurities and anxieties that made her seem younger than her years. Her nightmares seemed to have worsened since Sarah’s divorce from Noel and his moving a continent away to Savannah.
    Using the flashlight’s beam, they made their way back to the living room, where they’d camped out for the night. As Gracie scooted into her sleeping bag, Sarah stoked the fire, adding chunks of oak that she’d found, along with split kindling, in the woodshed located just off the back porch. The firewood had been stored in the shed for years, probably since before Dad had died. Tinder dry, the chunks of oak and fir, dusty and covered in spiderwebs, ignited easily.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” Jade asked, lifting her tousled head and squinting as the fire began to crackle and pop, hungry flames giving off a flickering illumination.
    â€œNothing!” Gracie said.
    â€œI heard you scream.” Jade roused herself into a sitting position.
    â€œI wasn’t screaming. I just wanted Mom.”
    â€œNightmare again?” Jade guessed, yawning.
    â€œNo.” Gracie’s jaw jutted forward.
    â€œGod, what time is it?” She glanced at her phone and then rolled her eyes. “One-thirty? That’s all? I can’t believe I fell asleep. So what happened?”
    â€œGracie got lost on her way to the bathroom,” Sarah said.
    â€œGot lost? How could . . .” Jade frowned. “Oh, God, don’t tell me. Let me guess. You think you saw the ghost again, don’t you?”
    Gracie opened her mouth, then closed it quickly.
    Jade said, “Oh, for the love of God. This place is pretty weird, Gracie, but there are no ghosts. Sure, people may have died here, and maybe there’s a mystery or two, but no damned ghosts.”
    â€œLet’s not talk about it anymore tonight,” Sarah said.
    â€œJust sweep it under the rug,” Jade grumbled. “Pretend it’s not a problem. Great idea, Mom.” Jade cast her sister a final glance. “Don’t be talking about this when you try to make new friends at school cuz they’ll think you’re a freak.”
    â€œJade, enough!” Sarah said. “Go back to sleep.”
    â€œIt’s true,” Jade muttered. She turned her back on her mother and burrowed deeper into her sleeping bag.
    â€œCome on. It’s late, and we need to get up early,” Sarah said.
    â€œWhy?” Grace asked suspiciously.
    â€œLot of work to