The Whispering Hollows Read Online Free PDF Page B

voice, someone speaking, a hand covering the phone.
    â€œHello?” There was a male voice now. “This is Detective Jameson. Can you repeat what you told the hotline operator?” Eloise did that.
    â€œYou have to hurry,” said Eloise. “Please.”
    She could still hear him talking as she hung up the phone. She was too naïve to realize that they had, of course, traced her call. But when the phone was in the cradle, she felt a shuddering sense of relief. Only then did she realize the terrible low buzz of anxiety she’d been suffering. The shaking subsided; she felt almost giddy. Then she looked up to see Amanda standing in the arch that connected the hall to the living room.
    â€œIs it true?” she asked. “Is that what happened today? Is that why you were lying on the floor this afternoon?”
    Amanda, still wearing Emily’s nightshirt, came to sit beside her mother on the couch.
    â€œI think so,” said Eloise. “I needed to call. I know that much.”
    Amanda considered her mother in that grave way she had. “What if you’ve lost your mind? What if you’re wrong?”
    â€œWhat if I’m right?” Eloise asked.
    The answer to that question was a lot scarier. This was acknowledged between them without words.
    They sat in the quiet dark. If Emily and Alfie were there, they’d both be chattering and grilling her about the details. They would want to know everything. There would be no quiet, knowing acceptance of the bizarre. Both of them would be skeptical, playing devil’s advocate. But they weren’t here. And somehow Eloise knew that if they had been, none of this would ever have happened.
    â€œIt’s not fair,” said Amanda.
    Eloise didn’t know if Amanda meant what had happened to them, or what had happened to Katie, or what was happening to Eloise now. She suspected that the girl meant all of it. And she was right.
    â€œNo,” Eloise said. She dropped an arm around Amanda and squeezed. “Life is not fair. We just do our best. Okay? We have each other.”
    â€œFor now,” Amanda said. The girl was too smart to be mollycoddled.
    But Eloise said anyway, “Forever. We’ll be together forever. All of us.”
    Even though she didn’t know if that was true, that’s what she said. She knew that it was just as Alfie had said. They were promised nothing. Now was the only gift anyone was guaranteed to receive. Certainly, they’d had that lesson driven home for them.
    In the kitchen the next morning, they turned on the television to see the news coverage of Katie being lifted from the well, her parents running to her. And Eloise felt joy, pure joy. A thing she’d been sure she would never feel again. And she felt this until Amanda turned to her.
    â€œIs that why he took them?”
    â€œWho?” Eloise asked. “Took who?”
    Amanda’s face screwed up a little. “Is this why God took Emily and Daddy?”
    â€œAmanda—” She didn’t know what to say.
    â€œDon’t you think that’s why?” the girl said, urgent, eyes filling. “Maybe it’s them telling you what they see. You know—from the other side? Do you think, Mom? Maybe?”
    â€œI-I don’t know, honey,” Eloise stammered. “I don’t even understand yet what happened.”
    â€œBut it’s possible, right? Emily always wanted to help people. That would mean something good has come from this. Right?”
    Amanda and Eloise both started to cry again then. Would the well never run dry? And as they held each other, the phone started ringing. After that, it never really stopped ringing.
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    They called day and night. Eloise let the answering machine get it until the machine got full and started beeping. Then she unplugged the machine. The police in Pennsylvania: We just want to talk . The mother of the girl in