it.â Jesse pushed Karen away playfully.
Everyone started teasing her. Sheâd made a mistake in sharing her dream. Telling hadnât made it go away. It made it come back, more vividly than ever. She wanted to scream at them to forget it, stop talking about it. Finally, she tried to laugh with them. Laughing kept her from crying.
âI donât know why we rented a movie, Sis.â Kerr was laughing harder than anyone. âYou could go on Entertainment Tonight with that little hummer. You and Gordon AndersonâI love it. Here you guys were thinking Karen and I could communicate, and it was her and Anderson all along. Iâve been edged out.â
Karen kept trying to laugh, but she knew she was going to lose control any minute. âIâm ready to go home, Jesse. Will you take me?â
âSure.â Jesse hurried to find their coats, while Karen thanked Mr. and Mrs. Cole for having them there.
Jesse helped her with her coat. As she pulled on her boots, she took a vow of silence. This was the last time she would go spilling her guts to this crowd. Sharing the dream only brought back the horror of it and made her understand the why of it even less.
Maybe she was losing her mind, like that psychic thought she was in the novel Lucy had read. She hoped she wasnât going to start seeing people die on a regular basis.
Chapter 6
As usual, the next morning Karen couldnât remember any dreams, but she woke feeling vaguely uncomfortable, as if she hadnât gotten enough sleep. When she was awake enough, she reached for the phone on her bedside table and punched in Alysiaâs number. She knew Alysia would be awake. Her whole family had this awful habit of getting up at dawn.
âAlysia, hi. Have any plans for today? I was hoping we could go to Denver, but I guess the roads are too bad.â
âIâm writing a paper for English, but Iâm nearly finished. We could mess around in town, get some lunch somewhere. Are you all right?â
âSure. Why shouldnât I be all right?â
âI mean, after last night. Obviously you never should have shared that dream with that bunch of nerds we run around with.â
âIt was my fault. I should have known that. I guess I needed to talk about it. It was bugging me.â
âForget it, Karen,â Alysia advised. âWrite it off to some kind of freaky Friday thing.â
âYeah. Pick me up in, say two hours. Will that be long enough?â
âPlenty of time. I wanted to get this assignment off my mind.â
Karen found her old fuzzy red robe, off its hanger and on the floor of her closet. She pulled it on and went down to the kitchen. Kerr was sitting in the breakfast nook, reading the newspaper. He lowered the sheet and glanced at Karen.
âI made a new pot of coffee.â
âThanks.â She poured herself a cup and a glass of orange juice, and slid onto the bench opposite Kerr.
âStorm over?â
âThis one. Anotherâs behind it. But Iâm not reading about the weather.â
Karen waited for Kerr to tell her what he was reading. He lowered the paper and grinned at her.
âDid you really dream about Anderson?â He shook his head as if he couldnât believe it, laughing all the while.
âI told you I did, twice now.â She studied the cream swirling in her coffee, turning it the color of caramel. âIt was awful. I never should have told everyone last night. Why would I remember that dream, Kerr, when I havenât remembered any others?â
Kerr shrugged. âYou wanted to remember it.â
âNo, I didnât. I want to forget it.â She massaged her forehead and ran her fingers through her hair, as if she could erase the memory from her mind.
âThe police have gone over the Anderson house and Gordonâs room. They canât find any evidence of a break-in. They figure someone came in the open window. And thereâs no