until the last week, it had seemed sort of fuzzy. They passed Biggâs Furniture Store and Kayak Rentals and then drew to a standstill at the cemetery entrance. At the front were the older gravestones, some of them dating back a hundred and fifty years. Mom and Dad were farther back, close to the path. Grandpa had chosen that place because it was shaded in summer by a giant oak tree.
âWant to go in?â
âCame with Twyla yesterday. We brought yellow roses that she got at The Flower Box. Mom carried those on their wedding day.â
âItâs not like youâre really going today. Youâll be in school on Monday. Maybe Twyla will take you to see your grandpa at Pleasant Meadows when we get out of class.â In contrast to yesterdayâs crying bout, Brian seemed determined to look on the bright side.
Oliver gripped his handlebars tighter. âIf they
donât make me go straight back with them.â
Having listened to Aunt Nellie and his parents talking last night Brian had decided they sounded as bad as the aunt and uncle in
Harry Potter
, but again he made a big effort to sound hopeful. âGuess what?â
âWhat?â
âMom and Dad said theyâll take me over to Aunt Nellieâs as often as I like when schoolâs out, and we can hang out there, and pâraps theyâll
let me come out to the Cully Mansion. I think itâd be cool if we saw old Emilyâs ghost, but maybe,â his voice perked up, âthey wonât think having her there so great. And theyâll decide to clear out and go back to New York.â
âI thought of that, but itâs stupid. Theyâd take me with them and then Iâd never see Grandpa or Twyla.â
âNot if theyâve decided they donât like you. Remember we talked about you making sure they donât.â The words hung in the air.
âRight.â Oliver was staring off into the distance at the big oak.
âWorth a try, donât you think? You could do it by pretending to be nice, or at least reasonable.â
âHow?â
âTell them youâre really into sports. Theyâll get sick of you real quick if they have to spend half their time running you to baseball or swimming. And if that doesnât do it you can say you want to take piano lessons.â
âActually, I would like to learn. Thanks, bro.â
âAnd if that doesnât work something elseâll happen. Aunt Nellie says it always does if you trust your spirit guides. She goes to that church at Dobbs Mill. Dad says itâs no nuttier than any other church.â
Oliver was no longer listening. His ears had choked up along with the rest of him. It was time to turn back. After parting from Brian, he rode slowly up his own drive, returned the bike to the shed and went back into the house, through the still-empty living room up the stairs. Back in his bedroom, he lay down on the bed to think. He didnât get far. Within a moment his eyes closed and he dozed, waking with a start half an hour later. Jumping up he hurried down the hallway.
From the top of the stairs he could now see Grandpa in the wheelchair wearing his plaid bathrobe, with his gray hair combed flat to his head. If he couldnât get dressed in real clothes, it was all the more important that his hair didnât stick up the way it always wanted to do. Twyla was sitting across from him on the sofa. Her dark hair was speckled with silver and buzz cut so it sculpted to her head. Brianâs mother, Mandy Armitage, had said she didnât know any other woman who could wear her hair that short and look great. It required a perfectly shaped head. If she tried it, sheâd joked, sheâd have looked like a light bulb. Twyla was tall and rangy. She didnât look cozy, but she was. From above Oliver saw her get up and cross to the wheelchair to lean down and kiss Grandpaâs cheek. Heâd been a big man once, filling