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seemed to have forgotten he ever had a crush on Samantha, but I hadn't.
    Poppy and her friend Candy Thompson were hanging out in the family room when I got home. When I appeared, there was that sudden pause that happens when you enter a room where the people in it have been talking about you.
    "If it isn't my little sister, the varsity cheerleader," Poppy's voice was treacle sweet.
    I hadn't said anything about tryouts because I was sure I wouldn't have a chance in Nightshade of making the squad. But I knew Poppy was probably upset that I hadn't said anything. Popularity was her thing, and cheerleading was veering into her territory.
    "How did you find out so quickly?" I blurted out. "I didn't find out until Ryan told me after school just now." And Poppy didn't have a class last period, a privilege only for seniors.
    "Rose is home," she answered. "She overheard the news from some kid walking home. The girl went right by the house. Whoever it was, she wasn't too happy that you made cheerleading and she didn't."
    Poppy's eyes narrowed. "And Ryan told you? You two have been hanging out a lot lately." I could practically see the air quotes in the way she said "hanging out."
    "We're just friends," I said. Lame, I knew, but the truth was. I didn't know what was going on with Ryan and me. If I admitted as much, Poppy would just tell me to ask him, and I couldn't think of anything more terrifying than that.
    "Friends, huh?" Candy said. "That's not what I heard." Candy couldn't keep a secret, so she didn't even bother to try. Another reason for not wanting to talk in front of Poppy's curious friend.
    That's the downside (one of many) of small-town life. Gossip was a recreational sport in Nightshade. I wondered if Samantha had been the one doing the talking. She'd certainly been the culprit back in sixth grade, which was something I'd never forgiven her for.
    Poppy, for once, didn't move in for the kill. "We have more important things to talk about than my little sis's boring love life, Candy," she said, with a sniff.
    Thankfully, Candy took the hint and they moved on to dissecting someone else. I made my escape upstairs. I needed to figure out what to wear. I knew Samantha would appear in something fabulous, but I had no idea what to wear to a club.
    But first, I had to ask Rose something. I knocked on her bedroom door.
    "Come in, Daisy," she called. "Congratulations on making the cheerleading squad," she said without even looking up from her laptop.
    "Thanks," I said. I cleared my throat. "Hey, I need to ask you something."
    "Shoot," she said. Rose was the smartest person I knew. Talking to her was better than a trip to the library.
    "What do you know about the ankh?"
    "Ancient Egyptian symbol?" Rose thought for a moment. "I'm pretty sure it represents immortality." She typed something into her computer. Gotta love that Google. "Here we go. It says here that tomb paintings often show the deities of the afterlife giving the ankh to a mummy. It's like giving them the gift of life."
    My heart jumped. "So you're saying it brings dead people back to life? Like ... vampires?"
    Rose shut her laptop with a loud snap. "Vampires? Daisy, what are you getting at?"
    "Nothing," I said. I was determined to solve the mystery without the benefit of my sisters' psychic powers. Still, I couldn't resist asking Rose how it was going on her end. "So, have you been able to help Mom with that case?"
    Rose shook her head and sighed. "Not much," she said. "Not yet, anyway." She looked eager to change the subject. "It's getting late. I've got to go." She rose from the bed.
    "Where are you off to tonight?"
    "Just the library." After a quick once-over in the mirror, she pulled on a jacket and rushed past me to the stairs.
    "Aren't you forgetting something?" I dangled her backpack in front of her. Rose never went to the library without it.
    "Oh, yeah," she said and rushed back to grab it. "Thanks." She really was absentminded lately.
    After Rose was gone, I went