The Old Willis Place

might as well be the one to fix things. "Two children were huddled together on the floor. Dead."
    I saw our bodies as they'd been when Georgie and I began our new lives. Like the empty shells of locusts left on tree trunks, they were no longer needed. But they had to be found, they had to be buried.
    "Stop it, Diana," Lissa whispered. "You're scaring me."
    "It's true. Miss Lilian locked the children in and left them there to die. No one knew about the room. No one ever found those children."
    "No," Lissa sobbed. "No, that's horrible, no one would do something so cruel."
    Once more she tried to free her hands. I held them tighter. MacDuff growled.
    "She was crazy," I cried. "She hated us!"
    "Us?" Lissa stared at me. "You said 'us.'"
    "I mean Miss Lilian's ghost," I corrected myself. "She hates Georgie and me because we know she killed the children." My story told, I let go of her hands. MacDuff relaxed and rested his head once more on Lissa's knee.
    "Those poor children," Lissa whispered. "Those poor, poor children. And their parents—they never knew what happened to them. Oh, Diana." She was crying again.
    "Tell your father, Lissa. Make him believe you. Those children must be buried properly. They can't rest till they're in their graves."
    "Is that why their ghosts are still here?"
    "Yes." It was true. I knew it. Once our bodies were found and buried, Georgie and I would be free to go—wherever it was we were going.
    Lissa slid off the rock. "Come with me. Help me tell Dad. He'll never believe me."
    "No, I can't." I jumped down beside her, anxious to settle things, to start them moving. "You have to do it yourself."
    Lissa hesitated. "But, Diana, he'll be mad, he'll know I went in the house, he'll—"
    I gave her a push toward home. "Go," I cried. "Go right now. Run! And be sure and tell him who killed them."
    The first flakes of snow had begun to fall, melting where they landed. MacDuff raced in circles, his mouth open in a lopsided grin, snapping at the flakes. Lissa called to him, her voice shrill.
    I watched the two of them vanish into the woods. The old rules had changed, fragmented, broken into bits. Telling Lissa had been the right thing to do. I was sure of it.
    But I'd changed everything for Georgie and me. The life we'd shared for so many years was about to end.
    What would replace it?
T HE D IARY OF L ISSA M ORRISON
Dear Dee Dee,
Last night the wind blew really hard and MacDujJstarted barking like he heard something outside. Dad said it was teenagers again, sneaking out here to drink beer, but oh, Dee Dee, I heard a voice calling Diana and Georgie. It's Miss Willis—her ghost, that is. Dad went out to chase the teenagers away. I told him not to. It wasn't teenagers, it was—but he left before I could say what it was. I stood in the open doorway, watching him, scared of what might happen. There was no car, no teenagers, just Miss Willis hollering in the dark. Dad came back inside,fussing about pranks, but he never once said he heard anyone calling.
Diana and Georgie are lucky to be leaving this horrible place. If only Dad and I could move away, too.
Today, I asked Diana why Miss Willis was after them. I'd asked her before, but she'd never really answered. This time she told me the truth. Those children who disappeared died in the cellar of the Willis house, and their bodies are still there. Miss Willis locked them in a secret room and left them there to die. Diana and Georgie found the bodies. Diana thinks Miss Willis is after her because she knows who killed the children.
Diana spoke so calmly, but Ifelt like I might throw up or faint. How could something that horrible happen to two children? I wanted to cover my ears and run away, so Vd never have to see the farm again. Why did I drag poor Diana into that house? Why did she let me? She should've stopped me, she should've told me what was in the cellar. If Id known, I wouldn't even have sat on the terrace.
Diana said I had to tell Dad about the bodies, I had to make him believe me. The children must be buried properly. Otherwise, they'll never rest in peace.
So I ran home, just when the snow was starting, and I told Dad.
At first he didn't believe me. He said Diana must be pulling my leg. But I begged him to go to the cellar and see for himseff. Finally, he said, Okay, okay, but nothing will be there. This is ridiculous, and so on and so on and so on while I was crying and shaking and terrified.
Finally, he took his keys and a flashlight and left with