Free Follow the Stars Home by Luanne Rice

Beating the puppy must have given him confidence, because he sounded very sure of himself. But as he listened to the voice at the other end, Amy watched him wilt before her very eyes. His spine gave out, and he drooped like a tulip stem.
    “Yes, she's right here,” he said. “I'll get her.”
    “For Mom?” Amy asked.
    “For you,” he said, covering the receiver. He seemed about to admonish her, to tell her he was expecting a call, or remind her to keep family matters private. His thin lips opened and closed a couple times, but he just handed her the phone.
    “Hello?” Amy asked.
    “Is this Amy Brooks?” came the deep voice, and she recognized it right away. Relief spread through her like a heat wave, tears cresting in her eyes.
    “Hi, Dr. McIntosh,” she said.
    “What are you doing next Saturday?” he asked.

On Saturday morning Dianne was wallpapering the parlor wall of a small Victorian. The blue and white paper was English, a pattern of tiny white peonies. Dianne worked from the interior out. She would do the inside work first, making sure every detail was perfect, then nail the house together.
    “Your grandmother would like this paper,” she said to Julia. “Peonies are her favorite flower.”
    Julia sat close by, propped up in her chair. Every window was open, and a warm wind blew off the marsh. Stella crouched on the sill, inside the screen, watching life in the yard. Julia was very quiet today, enjoying the breeze in her hair. Everyone got spring fever in their own way. Dianne felt April moving toward May.
    A car door closed, and the cat instantly slid out of sight. Born in the wild, Stella was intensely shy. Dianne craned her neck, but she couldn't see the driveway from the window. Washing wallpaper paste off her hands, she went to the door.
    “Oh, my God,” she said, feeling her stomach lurchas she saw Alan getting out of the car. Dianne thought of Julia's test results, wondered whether he had come by to break some bad news in person. But then she saw the young girl, and she relaxed a little. He wouldn't have brought someone with him if that were the case. Dianne's hands were trembling as she dried them with an old rag, and she watched them come toward the studio.
    Alan shielded his eyes, looking around. The marsh was bathed in sunlight, a hundred shades of green. Cattails rustled, and red-winged blackbirds darted in and out. Long Island Sound sparkled beyond. The Robbinses had the last house on Gull Point, ten blocks and a world away from Amy's.
    “You know these people?” Amy asked, standing beside him with wide eyes.
    “I do.”
    “They're witches,” she said. “All the kids say so.”
    “What kids?”
    “In my neighborhood.”
    “What do they say?”
    “That the ladies cast spells and turn kids into monsters and trolls. Then they keep them prisoner.” Amy was staring at the house. It was a tidy Cape, its white cedar shingles weathered to silver. The blue shutters had cut-out sea horses; the white window trim gleamed. Window boxes were filled with purple and yellow pansies.
    “Well …” Alan said.
    “Is it true?” Amy asked, standing so close, her shoulder bumped his jacket.
    “You're going to have to decide for yourself,” he said, feeling a shiver under his skin as he saw Dianne standing in the doorway.
    Amy had never doubted Dr. McIntosh before, but she couldn't imagine why he was bringing her to the witch-ladies' house. She had been so happy about spending the day with him, she had prepared by taking a bath in Rain Magic bath salts, then putting on fresh jeans and the cleanest shirt she could find. But now, standing in the clamshell driveway on Gull Point, she felt afraid.
    Tall privet hedges lined the yard, blocking any view from the street. Although Amy lived just a few blocks away, she had never seen the house before and was surprised that it looked so cute. Would witches live in a Cape with sea horse shutters? Instead of walking up the front path, Dr. McIntosh headed