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night, Mr. Tremont dug a deep hole back beyond the oak and placed Lucky’s body at the bottom. In the morning, the family gathered to pay their respects. When it was Joey’s turn to speak, he said something that shocked everyone, especially Cassidy. His face red and his voice shaking, he claimed that Ursula Chambers had done this. The old Hermit of Chase Estates had left her house for just long enough to cross her yard and kill his dog. Joey begged his father to go to the police, to file charges, to do something , but Dennis only answered by hugging his son close and whispering, It was an accident, son. It’s over .
    “Crazy,” echoed Cassidy. “Why crazy ?”
    Ping squinted at her. “Haven’t you two spoken since last fall?”
    Cassidy tensed. “Not really. I guess we’ve both been busy this year.” She shrugged, trying to hide her blush by stepping into the shade of the oak.
    “So he never told you that someone stole his dog?”
    Cassidy’s mouth snapped open. “ What? How?”
    “Dug up the body and took it away. Joey flipped out. He insisted Ursula did it. He couldn’t prove it, but he said he knew it was her. The police were involved and everything, but they didn’t have any evidence to get a search warrant for the farmhouse. Not that they would have found Lucky in there anyway, what with all the crud they’ve been pulling out for the past few days.”
    “What kind of person would do such a thing?” Cassidy asked, making a mental note for a Book of Bad Things entry: grave robbing .
    “It doesn’t stop there. Last December, Joey started telling stories about seeing Lucky.”
    “ Seeing the dead dog?”
    Ping nodded. “Joey said that he saw him out here by this tree, wandering through the woods.” Cassidy’s arms erupted with gooseflesh. Ping went on, “He said he sometimes heard the click-clack of the dog’s claws following him through the hallways at school.”
    “That’s awful,” Cassidy whispered, thinking of Joey alone in his room, flipping through his sketches.
    “Supposedly, his parents got tired of all his stories…. Well, tired or scared. My mom says Joey’s seeing some sort of doctor now. He’s been pretty quiet lately.” Cassidy wiped at her eyes. Ping went even paler than she’d been before. She reached out to touch Cassidy’s shoulder. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to —”
    Voices drifted from the Tremonts’ open kitchen window. “I don’t care!” It was Joey. “You can’t make me! Why don’t you go outside and look for her? You’re the one who brought her back again.”
    Ping grabbed Cassidy’s arm and led her behind the oak. “Don’t listen,” she whispered.
    “Is he talking about me?” Cassidy asked.
    “I don’t know,” said Ping, though her expression said the opposite. “He’s never been very nice to me, though, not since I moved in. He keeps to himself. Pretends I don’t exist. The funny thing is, I’m like the one person who wants to hear his ghost-dog stories.”
    Cassidy frowned. You’re the one who brought her back again…. Who else could he have been talking about? It was like a kickball to the stomach. “When I knew him,” she said, “he was always really fun…. He was like my first best guy friend.”
    It suddenly all made sense. The delay in hearing from her social worker about being placed with the Tremonts this year; Joey actually was mad at her for what happened the previous summer. So mad that he hadn’t wanted to see her again. If it hadn’t been for Rose, Cassidy would have remained in Brooklyn, ignored by her mother. Now, she’d be ignored by Joey instead.
    “I have to get out of here,” said Cassidy, turning and walking toward the street.
    “Okay,” said Ping, following. “Where should we go?”
    We?
    Cassidy paused, feeling a momentary sense of relief. She turned and stared at the pale skinny girl standing behind her. Ping tucked a long strand of hair behind her left ear and then pressed her lips in a sad smile.