11
The morning was bright and cool, and as Beth came slowly awake, she had a strange feeling of peace. Her nightmare of a few hours earlier was almost forgotten, and she lay comfortably in bed, her eyes closed, planning the day. Maybe she and Peggy Russell—
And then, as always happened on mornings when she woke up feeling happy and relaxed, the feeling of contentment fled.
She remembered where she was.
She wasn’t back home in her bedroom on Cherry Street. She was still at Hilltop.
She was still at Hilltop, and she’d had a bad dream last night, in which she’d seen Jeff Bailey die.
Suddenly a shadow fell across her, and Beth’s eyes snapped open. A few feet away, between her and the window, stood Tracy Sturgess.
“I know what you did,” Tracy said, her voice so low that for a moment Beth wasn’t quite sure she’d spoken at all.
She sat up in bed, and instinctively pulled the covers up around her chest.
Tracy was glaring at her angrily, but there was something in the half-smile on her lips that Beth found even more frightening than the words she had spoken.
“D-did what?” she stammered. The clock on her nightstand told her that it was only seven A.M. “What are you doing here?”
“I know what you did,” Tracy repeated, louder this time. Now the smile widened into a malicious grin. “You killed Jeff, didn’t you? You sneaked into the mill yesterday, and when he came down the stairs, you killed him.”
Beth’s eyes widened. “No — I—”
“I heard you,” Tracy pressed. “Last night, when you were talking to your mother, I was out in the hall. And I heard everything you said!” There was a taunting lilt to her voice now that made Beth cower back against the headboard, clutching the covers even tighter.
“But I didn’t do anything,” she protested. “It was only a dream.”
Tracy’s eyes narrowed. “It wasn’t either a dream. You just made that up to tell your mother. And she’s dumb enough to believe you. But I’m not. And wait’ll I tell my father!”
“Tell him what?” Beth asked.
“That you’re crazy, and you killed Jeff Bailey just because he was teasing you at my party.”
“But I didn’t kill him,” Beth said, her heart suddenly beating harder. “It … it was Amy who killed him.”
Tracy’s lips twisted into a scornful sneer. “Amy? You mean the ghost in the mill you were talking about?”
Beth nodded mutely.
“There’s no such thing as ghosts,” Tracy told her. “All you did was make up a story. But no one’s going to believe you!”
“But it’s true,” Beth suddenly flared. “Amy’s real, and she’s my friend, and all she did was just try to help me. And if you don’t watch out, maybe she’ll kill you, too!”
$$ washed away by her anger. “And you get out of my room.”
“It’s not your room,” Tracy replied. “This is my house, and if I wanted to, I could take this room away from you. You shouldn’t even be on this floor anyway — you should be upstairs where the servants used to live, because that’s all you’re good for.”
“You take that back!” Beth shouted. She was out of the bed now, standing in her pajamas, her fists clenched.
“I won’t take it back!” Tracy shouted. “I hate you, and I hate your mother, and I wish both of you were dead!” Suddenly she threw herself at Beth, her fingers reaching out to grab Beth’s hair.
Beth ducked and tried to twist away, but it was too late. Tracy’s body hurtled into her own, and she fell to the floor with Tracy on top of her. Then she felt Tracy’s hands grabbing at her hair, pulling and jerking at it. With a violent lurch, she managed to roll over, and covered her face with her arms.
“I’ll kill you!” she heard Tracy screaming.
And then, just as she was expecting Tracy to start clawing at her, she heard another voice.
“Beth? Beth, are you all — My God, what’s happening in here?” A second later she felt Tracy’s weight being lifted off her and opened her eyes to see her mother staring down at her.
And beyond her mother, she saw her stepfather, his hand clamped tightly on Tracy’s forearm. Wiping at her face with one hand, she pulled herself together, then got to her feet.
“What on earth were you doing?” she heard her mother demand. “What’s going on?”
Beth glanced at Tracy out of the corner of her eye, then shook her head. “Nothing,” she said. “She … she wanted me to shut off my radio, and I wouldn’t do it.”
Carolyn turned to Tracy. “Well? Is that true?”
Tracy’s chin jutted out, and she glared at Carolyn. “I don’t have to answer you! You’re not my mother!” Then she winced as her father’s hand tightened on her arm.
“You do have to answer Carolyn,” Phillip said, his voice calm but firm. “It’s true that she’s not your mother, but she’s my wife, and you will respect that. Now, is what Beth said the truth?”
Tracy remained silent for another few seconds, her eyes flashing venomously at Beth. “No!” she said at last. “She didn’t even have her dumb radio on! She was threatening to kill me, just like she already killed Jeff Bailey!”
As Beth’s eyes widened, and her skin turned ashen, a silence fell over the room. Both Phillip and Carolyn stared at Tracy in shocked horror.
It was Phillip who finally spoke. “The only threat I heard was yours. Now, go to your room, and stay there until either Carolyn or I tell you to come out. And in the future, stay out of Beth’s room unless she invites you in.”
“It’s not her room—” Tracy protested, but her father let her go no further.
“That’s enough, Tracy!”
Tracy’s eyes glittered angrily, but she said nothing more. She stamped out of the room, slamming the door behind her. When she was gone, Carolyn sat down on the edge of the bed, and motioned Beth to join her.
“Did you threaten to kill Tracy?” she asked.
Beth hesitated, then nodded silently.
“But why?”
Beth’s chin trembled, but she managed to keep herself under control. “B-because she said I killed Jeff Bailey,” she whispered. “She came in, and said she knew what I did, and that she was going to tell Uncle Phillip.”
“But you didn’t do anything,” Phillip interjected. “What did she think she knew?”
“She was listening last night when I was talking to Mom,” Beth explained. “She heard me telling Mom about my dream, and said I was just making it all up.”
Phillip’s eyes darkened. “I see,” he said. Then: “Excuse me, Carolyn. I think it’s time my daughter and I had a private talk.”
Before Carolyn could protest, he was gone. Beth, her eyes damp, looked up at her mother. “I’m sorry, Mom.”
“So am I, darling,” Carolyn replied. “I wish you and Tracy didn’t fight and I’m sorry she’s so mean to you. I guess you’ll just have to do the same thing with Tracy that I do with Abigail. No matter what she says, and how much it hurts, you have to ignore it. After a while, if you don’t react, it won’t be any fun for Tracy anymore, and she’ll stop.”
“But why does she hate me?” Beth asked. “I never did anything to her.”
Carolyn put her arms around her daughter, and drew her close. “It’s not you, honey. That’s what you have to understand. Right now, she’d be just as mean to anybody else who was living here. She’s afraid we’re going to take her father away from her, that’s all.”
“But I don’t want to do that,” Beth replied. “I already have a father. Doesn’t she know that?”
“Of course she does.” Carolyn rose from the bed and started toward the door. “But you have to understand
