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overlooking the backyard. The outdoor spotlight illuminated the swirling flakes. Large evergreens sagged under the weight of the week’s snow. The yard was an expanse of white. Nobody had been out back since the last snowfall.
    Chrissie whispered into her phone. Kelly couldn’t make out all the words, but she sensed that her babysitter was bothered about something. Chrissie remained turned with her shoulders slumped as she whispered somberly. Eyes still focused on the empty yard, she ran her hand along the square-panel window at the top of the back door next to the window. Huge icicles hung from the archway outside the door. “No. No way,” she said into the phone.
    Kelly hesitated, about to speak. Then she changed her mind. Chrissie was obviously involved in a private conversation. It didn’t seem right to bother her now about smelling peppermint. Down here in the warmth of the kitchen, the whole spooky-odor thing seemed silly. She drained her glass of soda, placed the empty glass quietly on the counter, and headed to her room.
    â€œHey, everyone,” she announced into her webcam as she slid into her chair. “I’m back.”
    Paige lifted her head and faced her screen. “Finally! That took forever. We’re totally bored. I’m even polishing my toenails.”
    Kelly laughed. “Wow, you really must be bored.” Paige was much more the blisters-and-bandages-in-cleatstype than the pedicure-ready-for-sandals girl, especially in the middle of winter.
    Paige smirked. She raised one foot to the camera. “Look how I’ve botched it.” She wiggled her toes, the blue polish thick and bumpy.
    Kelly grimaced. “Maybe you need a redo?”
    â€œNice of you to join us.” Spencer’s face appeared in the bottom box on her screen. “We’d almost given up on this whole sleepover thing.”
    â€œIt was your idea,” Gavin pointed out. He squeezed into the frame with Spencer.
    â€œSorry,” she said. “My bad.” She watched Gavin toss pieces of popcorn in the air. Spencer bounced up to catch each kernel in his mouth.
    â€œSee, no hands!” Spencer grinned, then gulped another airborne kernel. “Party games for the sleepover.”
    â€œExcellent. Maybe we should all make popcorn,” she suggested. She then looked closer at her screen. Paige was battling with the goopy polish brush and the tiny surface of her small toenails. Spencer and Gavin were performing like the seals at Sea World. But June . . . she looked closer. . . . June’s frame was empty.
    â€œJune?” she called. “You there?”
    June didn’t respond.
    â€œWhere’s June?” she asked the others.
    Paige lifted her eyes from her botched pedicure. Coloring inside the lines was not her strength. “I don’t know. She was there when I got back from finding the polish. I had to nab it from Chrissie’s room. Don’t tell her.”
    â€œJune was there when we returned from the kitchen to get popcorn,” Spencer added.
    Kelly shrugged. June probably went to get something too.
    As Spencer told a joke, though, her eyes couldn’t stop wandering to the frame where June should have been. Something about it felt wrong. She just didn’t know what.
    Spencer was on a roll. “What did the snowman and the vampire name their baby?”
    â€œWhat?” Paige abandoned the polish, leaving one set of toes in their natural state.
    â€œFrostbite!” Spencer grinned. Everyone else groaned. He’d been telling lame jokes since they were little kids.
    â€œI’ve got one,” Gavin said. “What do ghosts dance to?”
    â€œSoul music.” Spencer rolled his eyes. “That one’s played out.”
    Gavin shoved Spencer. Spencer shoved him back. Kelly ignored them. Her eyes returned to June’s screen. What was it? Then it hit her. She didn’t know why she hadn’t noticed it