Ghostlight

Chapter 1
We’d only been at Grandma’s for five minutes before Blake ruined everything.
“I start high school this fall, Avery.”
“Duh, I know. So what?”
“So, it means I’m done playing magical kingdoms.” He patted his overstuffed backpack. “Besides, I have a mile-long list of summer reading.”
At first I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. Then anger boiled in my belly, bubbling higher and higher until it burst from my mouth as the filthiest string of words I’d ever spoken. There was no way to claim I didn’t hear Grandma calling after me as I ran off, so I let the screen door slam behind me. Figured I might as well go out in a blaze of glory.
I marched along the gravel driveway toward the back buildings, biting my lip to keep from crying. People always did that in books, but it turns out that biting your lip while stomping is a bad idea. After a quick check for blood, I stepped up my pace. Stomp, stomp past the storage shed and the old barn, past the cattail pond and the copper beech tree. I was determined to keep stomping until I hit a fence or a gully. And if it was a gully, I might just jump in. Blake would be sorry then.
I got so caught up imagining my brother kneeling at my grave--blubbering and begging for forgiveness--that I almost stomped straight into the strange boy walking ahead of me. I barely had time to dodge behind a tree before he paused and glanced behind him.
He was shorter than Blake, and skinnier, but seemed around the same age. His button-down shirt was bright white, and his khakis were creased in all the right places. They were city clothes, too nice for summer on a Tennessee farm. He carried a fancy camera with a huge lens, and as he walked, he raised it every few seconds to take a photo. That’s probably why he hadn’t noticed me.
So I followed him.
I figured I’d have to be stealthy and keep a certain distance. Maybe slip behind a few more trees. But he was oblivious to me because he was taking pictures of everything. Trees, bushes, fence posts. He even took a shot of a pile of manure.
I was concentrating pretty hard on him not paying attention to where he was going, which meant I wasn’t paying much attention either. When I finally looked past him to what was ahead, I realized his path would take us toward the river.
And that meant we would run right into Hilliard House.
Sure enough, we came through a thicket of trees, and there it stood at the top of the hill, facing away from us toward the river. The redbrick house glowed like an autumn leaf against the blue sky, but its border of bushy, sunburned weeds reminded me of a dirty beard. The churning in my gut started up again.
Ahead of me the strange kid lowered his camera. Then he made a beeline for the house.
“Hey!” I shouted.
He froze in place. After a moment he turned slowly. “Hey what?”
“You gotta stay away from there.”
“Why?”
His raised eyebrow told me he wasn’t used to hearing no, so I used my bossy grown-up voice. “This is my grandma’s land, and you don’t have permission to be on it.”
He pointed at Hilliard House. “Is that where she lives?”
“Of course not! Nobody’s lived there for ages.”
He stared at it for a moment before turning back to me. “So what’s the problem? It’s a house. I’m not going to break it.”
“It’s just . . . forbidden.”
“Seriously?” He grinned. “Is there a curse on it or something?”
I shot him a withering look, Grandma-style. “Forget the house. What’s up with that camera? Are you a photographer?”
“No . . . I make movies.” He stood a little straighter. “I’m a filmmaker.”
That I didn’t expect. It was the sort of thing you’d hear from an old dude with a goatee and black-rimmed glasses. In the city. Not from some kid trespassing on a farm.
“What kind of films do you make?” I asked.
“The kind few people understand or appreciate.” He glanced back at the house. “So, is it from Civil War times?”
I sighed. “I’m not sure.”
“Have you ever been inside?”
“I told you, it’s off-limits.”
He stared at the house like he was trying to memorize every angle of it. “Didn’t you ever look at a place, really look at it, and know it had stories to tell?” His eyes met mine. “So many stories that your head felt like it would explode?”
I couldn’t look away. “Actually, yeah.”
“I wonder if the door is locked.”
Before I could answer, he took off toward the house, and all I could do was follow as he made his way around to the front porch. His city shoes clacked on the brick-lined path, and my mouth got that tingly, slobbery feeling, like I was about to throw up. I wanted to shush that clacking, as if someone else might hear it. When he leapt up the porch steps to try the front door, I held my breath. But after a few twists of the knob, he shrugged and let go, turning back toward me and stepping more carefully on the way down. He took a few more shots of the house and then walked back to where I stood.
“It’s locked up pretty tight.” His camera beeped as he checked the photos. When he raised his eyes to me, his expression softened. “Are you sick or something? You look kind of pale.”
I swallowed and shook my head. “I’m fine. Why are you here, anyway? I know you’re not a local.”
“I’m from Nashville, but my dad’s renting a little white house down the road.”
I nodded. “That’s Hollyhock Cottage--it belongs to my grandma. You here for the summer?”
“Dad is. As for me . . . I’m not sure.”
“And you’re thinking of making a movie out here?”
“Maybe.” He pushed more buttons on his camera. “I’d love to take more footage of this place, from all different angles.”
“I have to get back now. Grandma’s expecting me.”
What Grandma was expecting was to chew me out for swearing at Blake and slamming the door, but I wasn’t about to mention that. I just wanted to get some distance between me and Hilliard House.
“Okay. See you later.” He pointed his camera toward the house and fiddled with the lens.
“Um, that means you have to go, too,” I said, “seeing as you’re trespassing and all.”
He didn’t have a quick answer for that. When he lowered the camera, his green eyes gleamed with . . . well, I wasn’t quite sure what, but it was something bright and alive.
I thought of Blake and how his face had lost all of its liveliness over the past few months. There was a time when it was no big deal for him to smile or laugh or just seem excited in some way. Now he always looked bored. It didn’t help that his hair drooped into his eyes most of the time.
This kid, on the other hand, seemed like he could barely contain himself.
“It’s such a cool old building,” he said.
“There’s plenty more on this farm I could show you. Places much better than an old, falling-down house.”
“Yeah?”
“I could come down to the cottage tomorrow after lunch and give you the tour, if you want.”
He frowned. “It’d be easier if I met you. You live in that house at the top of the hill, right? I could meet you at one o’clock and we could scout locations together.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant, but it sounded a heck of a lot better than sitting alone in my attic bedroom plotting Blake’s unsolvable murder.
“Sounds cool. I’m Avery, by the way. Avery Hilliard. My family’s owned this land for about a million years.” I grinned. “Or thereabouts.”
“I’m Julian.” His gaze shifted to the left. “Just Julian.”

When I got back to the house, Grandma was settled in the saggy brown couch, a smile curving her mouth. I wasn’t fooled.
“Sorry about slamming the door and all,” I mumbled.
“Sit down, Avery May.” She patted the space next to her.
Weasley was stretched out on the rug, so I scooped him up before I sat down. Not that I needed protection from Grandma or anything. I just knew she was irked, and it felt good to have something warm and furry to hold on to.
“I wish you’d try to put yourself in Blake’s shoes,” Grandma said. “He’s nearly fifteen and has different interests, but he doesn’t have the words for expressing that in a kindly way. He will learn, however, and it’s your mother’s job--and mine--to keep at him. Not yours.”
“But we had plans for Kingdom this summer. We were going to get Princess Etheline married to the Lord of the North Countries, remember? Blake was supposed to write the treaty, and I was writing the vows.”
“Honestly, child, I’m surprised he stuck with Kingdom for as long as he did. You might be grateful for that.”
My eyeballs were prickling, so I concentrated hard on smoothing Weasley’s whiskers. “It’s not fair,” I muttered. “There’s not much to do around here without Kingdom, and I can’t keep it going without him.”
“Your mama didn’t have a brother when she was growing up,” Grandma said. “And you know what she did? She used her imagination and found her own projects. Ponder that. You can’t go looking to Blake for your happiness.”
“Only because he’s a jerk.”
Her mouth tightened. “People who can entertain themselves draw others to them.”
I lowered my head and tried to look repentant, but really I was thinking of Julian and his quest for the perfect film location.
“I met a boy today, Grandma. He said he’s staying at Hollyhock Cottage.”
She nodded. “A gentleman took the house a couple of days ago. I believe he brought his son with him.” She gave me a sidelong look. “You ought to come with me when I check on them tomorrow morning. I need to meet this boy if you’re going to be spending time with him.”
“It’s not as if I like him or anything. He’s a little weird.”
“I’ll reach my own conclusions about that. In the meantime, you’re washing the dishes for the rest of this week.” She smiled. “And I’ve put my cheesy lasagna in the oven, so you’d best gird your loins for battle.”
“Grandma,” I whispered. “I wish you wouldn’t say loins.”

Chapter 2
I did an excellent job of ignoring Blake at dinner that night, but afterward I must have been banging pans in the dishwater because Grandma gave me the stink eye as she walked past the kitchen.
The next morning, Blake actually took it upon himself to talk to me while we worked in the garden. I’d been focusing every ounce of my attention on the ripeness of the peas, so it threw me a little when I heard him scramble to his feet and speak from the next row.
“Hey, check out this caterpillar. It’s got spikes on it, like it’s wearing armor.”
I kept my eyes firmly locked on the peas and didn’t say a word.
“Earth to Avery--I’m trying to show you something.”
I dropped a handful of pea pods into my bucket.
“Are you still mad about Kingdom?”
Blake doesn’t exist. Blake is nothing.
After a moment he sighed. “Real mature, sis.”
“Not like you,” I snapped. “You’re way out of my league.”
His gloating laugh made me wish I’d kept my mouth shut.
But, hey, at least I had a life. While Blake was stuck in the house with nothing but his summer-reading list and a pile of stupid football magazines, I’d be scouting locations with Julian. But first I had to make an official welcome visit to Hollyhock Cottage with Grandma.
I always looked forward to visiting the cottage, even if it was just for cleaning and collecting bed linens between tenants. It was sweet and friendly, with its white wood siding and blue trim, not to mention the clusters of tall pink and white flowers bordering the wide porch. It didn’t sit as high on the hill as Grandma’s house, but it had two full stories and a detached two-car garage.
Grandma gave me the once-over as she rang the doorbell. “Stand up straight, Avery May.” Once I’d pulled my shoulders back to her satisfaction, she smoothed her face into a pleasant smile.
The door opened promptly. A man with white teeth and movie-star hair smiled back at us. “Well, hello, Mrs. Hilliard. It sure is a pleasure to see you.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” Grandma said. “Mr. Wayne, allow me to introduce my granddaughter, Avery May.”
I extended my hand. “Pleased to meet you, sir.” His palm was dry and smooth, but his fingers had calluses.
“Likewise,” he said. “You can call me Curtis if you like.”
I could practically hear Grandma’s eyebrows leap upward.
“I’m certain Avery May would feel it proper to address you as Mr. Wayne,” she said.
“As you wish.” He snuck a wink at me. “Come on in. It’s much cooler in the house.”
Everything about Curtis Wayne seemed expensive. His jeans were soft and distressed in that artistic way that “reeked of boutique,” as Mom would say. His hair had blond streaks, and he’d used product to make it stick out in all the right places. He was tanned, but his color was so even I figured it didn’t actually come from the sun. If he’d been rude to me, or scary, I’d have said he looked like a Ken doll who’d inherited Barbie’s millions. But his wink had seemed real--like he and I were on the cool team and Grandma, with her prissy manners and church clothes, just wasn’t.
He led us into the living room and toward the brown sectional couch and braided rug. Mr. Wayne had added his own touch by placing a wooden chair and music stand in front of the window. A guitar stood next to the chair. I didn’t know much about guitars, but this one seemed well loved. I mean, it didn’t look new--there were places where the finish had worn away--but it didn’t have any nicks or dust on it. All I could think was that it looked healthy, like it got plenty of exercise and was proud of itself.
“Julian’s upstairs,” he said. “I know he’s eager to meet you, Mrs. Hilliard.” He gestured toward the couch. “Have a seat while I go unearth him.”
Once Mr. Wayne had left the room, Grandma eased herself onto the edge of the sectional. “How refreshing that he did not bellow up the stairs at the boy. I appreciate his manners.”