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her T-shirt sleeve. “Just hold the ladder,” Kody instructed. “Hold it against the porch. Real steady.” “No problem,” Cally told her sister. She grabbed the sides of the aluminum ladder with both hands. Kody doesn’t have much respect for my abilities, she told herself, watching her sister climb to the roof. So whenever we work together, I’m the one who holds the ladder. Kody is so confident when it comes to this kind of work, Cally thought, gripping the ladder tightly as her sister continued to climb. Why can’t she have the same confidence in everything else? “Wow,” Kody called down. “The shingles are rotted. They all have to go.” “Be careful,” Cally said.
    “Hold the ladder steady. I’m going to see if I can stand on the roof.” Kody let go of the ladder and reached for the roof edge. As Kody reached out, Cally felt the ladder start to shake. A gentle trembling at first, then harder, until the aluminum hummed and vibrated. “Hey—what’s your problem?” Kody called sharply. “Hold it steady. I— ” Cally gripped the side pieces tightly. But the ladder began pulling away from the porch. “Hey—stop!” Kody yelled, alarmed. “Stop doing that!” “I’m not doing it!” Cally cried. “Hold it steady!” Kody screamed. Cally pressed all her weight against it. But the ladder continued to swing away from the house. Kody’s hands flailed at the air. “Help me!” The ladder was standing straight up now. Cally struggled to push it back against the roof. But it resisted with more force than Cally had. “Cally—help! Stop!” Kody’s frantic screams pierced the air. Cally raised her eyes to her sister’s frightened face. Saw her hands squeeze the sides of the ladder. Saw her knees bend. Saw the ladder topple back. Back. And then Cally could hold it no more. She let go and jumped out of the way as the ladder fell. Kody screamed all the way down. She landed flat on her back. Her arms and legs bounced once. Twice. Her breath seemed to explode from her body in a whoosh. The ladder clanged as it bounced hard and luckily landed beside her in the tall grass. “Noooo!” A silent protest escaped Cally’s lips. How could this happen? She ran to Kody and bent over her. “Kody?” How could this happen? How? “Kody? Are you okay?” Cally let out a horrified gasp when she saw that her sister wasn’t breathing.

Chapter 8
    Dear Diary,. You can imagine how relieved I felt when Kody opened her eyes. The fall had knocked the wind out of her and she had passed out. We finally got her on her feet. She was really groggy. Her back and neck were sore, but she was lucky she didn’t break anything. Of course, she blamed me for letting the ladder tilt over. I tried to explain it wasn’t my fault. It was so horrible. When I held the ladder, it felt as if a strong force—much stronger than me—were pushing the ladder backward. I felt really bad. As if I had let Kody down. Kody was so angry and upset, it made me feel even worse. Mom was quiet the rest of the day. And Dad seemed totally freaked. “So many accidents,” he kept saying over and over, shaking his head. “So many accidents.” There have been a lot of frightening accidents since we arrived. One right after the other. Thinking about them all gave me the chills. I mean, why did the ladder move back like that? And why did Dad think I bumped his arm and made him stab himself when I hadn’t even touched
    him? And why did the window slam shut on Kody’s hands after it had stayed up for a while? Why? Why? Why? I keep telling myself it’s just a creepy, run-down old house. And the things that are happening to us are just accidents. I keep telling myself that. But I don’t know how long I can go on believing it. I’m really frightened. If one more bad thing happens, I don’t know what I’ll do. Oh well, it’s getting late. I’ll close for now. I’m sure tomorrow will be a much better day.
    Cally closed the diary and tucked it into her