Trick-or-Treating False Key

Chapter 3

Bella whirled around and caught me staring. She looked as shocked as if I'd watched her undress through an open window. I think she'd forgotten I was there, and she glared at me. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing."

"Have some more gummy worms," she said, but not at all friendly. She gave me the half-eaten bag, which had slipped from my fingers.

Granny had stopped chipping. "Maybe he's had enough."

Bella wheeled around. "He saw. He knows!"

Granny put down her tools and turned to me. "Tyler, do you play music?" She had taken off the owl-glasses and fixed me with her bright blue eyes. A single word arose in my mind, Run.

"A bit," I said, trying to stand up. "I think I'll head out now." But the cats encircled my legs, rubbing against me and licking ferociously at the bare skin between my knees and sneakers. I felt bound to the chair.

"But, Granny," Bella whined.

"No," said Granny. "Off you go." I took the hand she offered, and with a surprising amount of strength, she pulled me out of my seat. "And you too," she said, pushing away the cats with her foot. "Away with you. Gluttons!"

I chanced a glance at Bella, whose face had darkened like a storm cloud. The air around her fizzled. "Granny," she began again, but the old woman cut her off.

"We don't do children!"

I swear blue sparks flew from her eyes, and the steel in her voice made me flinch, but Bella seemed unfazed.

"Except for the ones you choose, you mean," Bella muttered.

Granny opened her mouth to speak, closed it, and then spoke in a gentle voice. "Lagom är bäst."

"I'll get my own. I don't need you."

Granny said, "Weren't you going to a party tonight? Let's fix your hair."

I lingered, expecting Bella to protest but she perched on a stool and produced a hairbrush from her tiny purse. Granny pulled out the chopsticks wedged Japanese style in Bella's ponytail and brushed her auburn hair smooth until it shone, humming a strange tune as she did so. Bella closed her eyes and relaxed while Granny did her thing.

"Don't be in such a hurry to grow up." The old woman had redone Bella's hair. "Plenty of time to learn all you need. And we don't practice on friends." The piercing blue eyes turned to me. "You are a friend, aren't you, Tyler."

I didn't think it wise to contradict.

She fished something out of her pocket. "This is for you. Happy Halloween." In her slim, fair, outstretched hand she displayed a small, irregular pearl.