Page 69 of The Narrow

“No offense, but I’m deeply tired of talking,” I say. “I can’t remember the last time I had a full night’s sleep.”

“Right. Because of the ghost that’s stalking you,” Veronica says.

“Maeve,” I say. “Her name is Maeve.”

“The Drowning Girl,” Veronica says, and there’s a challenge to the words. “She almost killed you last night. We have to figure out how to stop her or destroy her or whatever.”

“She’s not evil. She doesn’t need to be destroyed,” I object.None of this is Maeve’s fault. “She doesn’twantto hurt me—or anyone. She’s trying to find Grace. If we can help her, maybe she can move on, or whatever it is souls are supposed to do.”

“Why are you so obsessed with helping this girl who was dead before you were even born?” Veronica demands.

“Because she shouldn’t have died,” I say. “Because it might help Del.”

“You can’t always take on everyone else’s problems, Eden,” Veronica says. “Look at what this is doing to you.”

“It doesn’t matter. Not if I can help her,” I insist.

Veronica gives a strange, strangled sound. “Of course it matters. You matter.”

“That’s not what I meant,” I say, and my face goes hot. I can’t tell if I’m lying. All I know is that I can’t leave Maeve out there suffering like she is, not if I have any chance to save her. I couldn’t do anything this summer. Only surrender. Now I candosomething, and I can’t turn away from it.

Del interrupts, her voice gentle. “How can we even help? We don’t know where Grace is. Everything you’ve tried to find out about what happened to her ends with that night. So if she isn’t with Maeve, where did she go?”

“I don’t know.” I shake my head, frustrated. Maeve’s memory and her ability to communicate are so fragmented, but I’m certain she knows more that could help us. If only she could find a way to help me. “I need to talk to Maeve again. If she can tell me what actually happened that night—”

“No,” Del says at the same time Veronica snaps, “No fucking way.”

“She’s not going to just go away,” I say. “Helping her is the only way to stop this. And it’s the right thing to do.” I look between them imploringly. They have to understand.

Del is the first to nod. “The whole world is trying to keep them apart and punish them for who they are. It tore them away from each other. And it happened to so many people so many times. We can’t fix the past, but maybe this one story can have a happy ending,” she says softly.

“They’re dead. How happy can it be?” Veronica asks, but she purses her lips, thinking. “Maybe we could find a way to talk to her without getting hurt.”

“How?” Del asks.

“We could try a séance,” she suggests. “I mean, most of what I know about this sort of thing is about, like, the metaphorical energy of the spirits as a source of strength and wisdom, not an actual manifestation of a dead girl with dead-girl powers. But we could give it a try.”

“What would we need?” I ask, my heart speeding up. It sounds too good to hope for, but I’ll try anything.

“Let me look into it,” Veronica says. “We’re probably going to have to cobble some things together and cross our fingers.”

“We’ve got to try,” I say immediately.

Veronica gives me a hard look. “First you’ve got to heal up. Because now you’ve got a doctor appointment, and if Maeve snaps your bones again, you’re going to have some awkward explanations.”

“She’s right,” Del says. “You’ve got to take care of yourself first, Eden.”

“We don’t have that kind of time.”

“We do if you’re careful. Don’t let the water in. Don’t stay out after dark. Right?” Veronica says.

“But—”

“Two weeks,” Del suggests. “Give yourself two weeks to heal and for Veronica to do the research. Maeve’s waited forty years. She can wait that long.”

I let out a sigh, surrendering. “Fine. Two weeks.”

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