The Old Willis Place

tiny footsteps.
    "Do your parents know you come here after dark?"
    I shook my head. "We sneak out."
    "You're pretty good at sneaking," Lissa said. "Out of your house. Into my house." She was mad again, I could tell by her voice and the sharp look she gave me.
    "I promise I won't borrow anything else," I said. "Unless I ask first."
    "How about Georgie?"
    "I'll make him promise, too."
    "You'd better."
    "I'm sorry, honest I am," I told her. "But we've always taken stuff from the caretakers. They were lazy, mean old men, not like you and your father. You're the first girl who's ever come here. Please, Lissa, don't be mad. I haven't had a friend for a long, long time."
    Lissa hesitated. "I want my bear," she said in a low voice, close to tears again. "Bring him back and we can be friends."
    Before I could answer, we were interrupted by a series of whoops and hollers from the woods. Georgie dashed up the hill toward us, his face and body painted with red and yellow mud from the creek. Crow and hawk feathers jutted from his hair. He wore nothing but a ragged loincloth.
    "Go home," he shouted at Lissa, "and don't come near my sister again—or you'll be sorry!"
    Lissa gasped and dropped MacDuff's leash. The dog raced across the lawn toward Georgie.
    I ran after MacDuff, screaming at Lissa. "Call him off, call him off! That's my brother!"
    "MacDuff!" Lissa cried. "MacDuff!"
    The dog had already caught Georgie and knocked him down. He stood over him, snarling. While Georgie lay on the ground and hollered, I grabbed MacDuff's leash and tried to pull him away. In a second, Lissa was beside me, yelling at the dog, tugging at his collar.
    At last, MacDuff allowed Lissa to haul him away from Georgie. I knelt beside my brother. "Are you all right?"
    He sat up, looking more savage than ever. "You liar, I knew you'd sneak off and see her!"
    Lissa stared at him, struggling to restrain MacDuff. The dog kept barking. The racket echoed from the house and the woods, setting off a flock of crows.
    "Stop it, MacDuff!" Lissa shouted, adding to the din. "Be quiet! Sit!"
    Georgie scrambled to his feet. "Shut up and go away!" he yelled at Lissa. "And make that stupid dog be quiet. She's bound to hear the noise he's making!"
    "Who?" Lissa looked at Georgie. "Who will hear?"
    I grabbed my brother and shook him. "Don't say another word!"
    He pulled loose. "I can say whatever I want. Thanks to you, the rules are busted. Nothing matters now."
    Lissa turned to me. "What's he talking about?"
    I stood between Lissa and Georgie, unsure whose side to take. I was furious with my brother for messing things up just when I was getting to know Lissa, but there he stood, ready to cry, though Lissa wouldn't have guessed it from his fierce expression. Georgie had good reason to be angry. As he'd said, I was a liar. I'd broken promises. I'd broken rules. All because I wanted a friend.
    Just as I was about to take Georgie's hand and run, Lissa said, "Here comes my father."
    Horrified, I spun around and watched as Mr. Morrison strode toward us. It was one thing for Lissa to know about Georgie and me. She was just a kid like us. But Mr. Morrison was an adult. He was bound to ask even more questions than Lissa. And he'd be harder to fool.
    "What's going on?" Mr. Morrison asked, obviously puzzled by Georgie's and my presence. "Who are these children?"
    "Diana's my friend and that's her brother, Georgie," Lissa said. "MacDuff tried to bite Georgie. He had him down on the ground. I could hardly pull him off." Lissa started crying. "I was so scared."
    Mr. Morrison grabbed the dog's collar and told him to sit and be quiet. MacDuff obeyed, but he watched my brother closely. He'd probably never seen a boy quite like Georgie.
    Keeping a grip on MacDuff, Mr. Morrison asked my brother if he was all right. "Did MacDuff bite you? Or hurt you?"
    Georgie's thin chest rose and fell sharply with every quick and angry breath. Ignoring Mr. Morrison, he scowled at me. "You've really done it now, Diana!"
    Before I could say a word to stop him, Georgie turned and ran. His skinny legs streaked through the weeds. The feathers in his hair bobbed. He didn't look back, not even when I called his name. In a few seconds, he vanished into the woods. A crow cawed, and then all was still.
    I longed to run after my brother, but I stood where I was, too shocked to move. After all these years, I'd let a caretaker catch me. I couldn't believe it. Georgie was right. I'd really done it now.
    Mr. Morrison