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what was wrong. Ashley put a hand over the phone. “Leigh backed The Creep’s car into a post and bent his fender.”
    “She’s had her first accident,” I said. “How romantic.”
    Ashley went back to her conversation.
    I wished Sam would return, but I didn’t want to call him on the walkie-talkie. I don’t care how scared you are—there are just some things guys don’t do.
    Then I had an idea. I pushed the Transmit button. “Sam, it’s Bryce. Mom’s on the phone if you want to talk to her.”
    I waited, then heard a click. “Gotcha.” Sam sounded out of breath. “We’ll be there in a couple minutes. Out.”

Chapter 22

    Dylan’s eyes drooped so I knew he was ready for bed. I carried him upstairs to the loft, put him on the chaise, and covered him up. He started to get up, so I sang his favorite songs—“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” “Hush, Little Baby,” and “The Wabash Cannonball,” which he calls “the train song.”
    When I got back downstairs, Sam was making popcorn and Bryce had found some board games. The three of us decided on Sorry. Bryce and I ganged up on Sam, and he made a big deal about being sent back to his circle. As we played and drank sodas, Bryce and I had a burping contest, and Sam gave us points for the loudest and longest. Mom wouldn’t have appreciated that as much as we did, and to be honest it was kind of gross, but it felt good to laugh. It was something our real dad would have done with us.
    Finally, Sam said he had to go to bed. “But there’s one thing I have to say before I go.”
    “What?” Bryce said.
    Sam stood, spread his arms dramatically, then opened his mouth and won the contest. It was the deepest, longest burp in the history of burpdom. It sounded like a minute-long growl of a wounded lion.
    Bryce and I looked at each other, dazzled, then laughed till I thought I’d never breathe again.
    “No fair!” I said. “You were holding that all this time!”
    At the top of the stairs, Sam turned. Bryce and I held up two signs that said 10 and he smiled. “Get some sleep. I have some fun stuff planned for tomorrow.”

Chapter 23

    My sides still hurt from laughing when Ashley and I went downstairs to watch more TV before going to bed. We found a classic movie channel showing The African Queen . Our real dad had shown it to us when we were little, and it brought back memories of snuggling with him and closing our eyes when Humphrey Bogart came out of the water with leeches all over his body.
    “Remember watching this with Dad?” Ashley said.
    I nodded. “I feel kind of bad for having such a good time with Sam. It’s almost like we’re betraying Dad.”
    “I was thinking the same thing.” Ashley sat up and looked out the window. The room was dark, and the television reflected in the window.
    “What is it?”
    “Someone’s out there,” she whispered.
    “You’re trying to scare me—”
    “No, seriously. I thought I saw somebody.”
    I turned the TV off. The lower floor was only slightly underground, so we could easily see outside. Sam had left the outside light on, and it was snowing softly. A couple of inches had fallen already. The light shone a few feet from the house, but the rest was pitch-black.
    “If somebody’s out there,” I said, “they could go right over the side of the cliff.”
    “There!” Ashley pointed out the side window. “See that orange glow?”
    I couldn’t see anything.
    “Now I know what I heard on the phone!” she said. “Remember I said I heard a clicking sound during the phone call?”
    “Yeah?”
    “It was a cigarette lighter. You know, the big metal kind Uncle Terry used?”
    Uncle Terry had lived back in Indiana and was a chain smoker. He had died the year before we moved to Colorado. Every time we visited, we had to sit outside so we could breathe. He was a wonderful uncle, always inviting us to the farm to pick pumpkins or corn or whatever was in season, but hugging him was like embracing an ashtray.