A scream of horror rose in Sydney’s throat. She swayed on her feet.
The note slipped from her hand and dropped to the bed. It landed next to the red belt.
Sydney sank onto the bed, sick and terrified. As she collapsed against the pillows, her hand flew out and hit the telephone.
Emma! she thought, bolting up again. I have to tell her!
She grasped the phone and dragged it off the table. The numbers blurred in front of her eyes.
Finally, she managed to punch in Emma’s number.
“Hello?” Emma’s voice sounded wary.
“Emma, it’s me!” Sydney cried, her voice trembling.
“Syd, I’m really glad you …”
“Emma, I know what’s happening!” Sydney interrupted. “I know who sent me the note and put the ring in my locker! I—”
“Syd, slow down!” Emma urged. “You’re going too fast. I can’t understand you.”
Sydney choked back a sob. She forced herself to take a deep breath. Finally, she was able to talk again.
“Remember my red belt?” she asked. “The one you used to tie the rock to Jason?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“It’s here, in my room!” Sydney cried. “I found it just now. Somebody tied it around Goldy’s leg.”
“Whose leg”
“Goldy, my old … Oh, what difference does it make? The belt is here!” Sydney cried. “And there was a note, too. It said ‘Murderer.’”
Emma gasped.
“Somebody put the belt and the note in my room—and I know who it was!” Sydney announced.
“Who?” Emma demanded anxiously.
“Jason.”
Emma gasped again. “Whoa! Sydney …”
“Listen to me!” Sydney jumped up and began pacing back and forth by the bed. “The note is in Jason’s handwriting, Emma! I’d know it anywhere!”
Emma remained silent.
“Don’t you get it?” Sydney continued. “It’s not somebody who saw us out in the woods. It’s Jason himself.”
Her voice rose. “He was dead, right? Emma? You were sure he was dead?”
“Yes. He was dead,” Emma replied in a whisper.
Sydney was silent for a moment. “Do you believe in ghosts?” she asked in a tiny voice. “I don’t know—”
“Syd, I was just about to call you,” Emma broke in. “I got a note, too. With the same word on it—‘murderer.’”
“You see?” Sydney cried. “It’s him. It’s Jason! Who else could it be?”
“Somebody from school,” Emma replied. “Someone Jason talked to. That’s what I thought the second I saw the note.”
“What about the handwriting?”
“Someone copied it,” Emma declared. “Now listen, Syd. We have to figure this out. Someone wants to scare us—really bad. We can’t get hysterical. We have to think.”
“I can’t!” Sydney cried, her voice rising even higher. “I can hardly breathe! I almost fainted when I saw the note, Emma! I’m so scared, and I don’t know what to do!”
“I’m coming right over,” Emma said. “I’ll borrow my neighbor’s car. Hang in there!”
After Emma hung up, Sydney held onto the phone until it beeped, startling her. She hung it up and began pacing the room again.
Every time she turned, she saw the red belt and the small sheet of white paper lying on the bed next to Goldy.
I have to get out of here! she thought. I can’t stand being in this room.
Still in her bathrobe, Sydney pulled open the sliding door, ran down the deck steps and around the house to the garage to wait for Emma.
Hurry, Emma! she thought, pacing barefoot up and down the rough cobblestones. I can’t keep it together much longer. I’m going to start shrieking my head off any second!
At last, headlights rounded the corner of the house. A dark brown station wagon pulled to a stop. Emma climbed out. Sydney ran over and threw her arms around her friend.
“Thank goodness you’re here!” she cried, hugging Emma tightly. “I’m so scared!”
“Ssh,” Emma murmured. She held her by the arms. “Syd, what are you doing out here like this? Your hair’s all wet and you’re barefoot.”
“Waiting. I couldn’t wait inside,” Sydney told her. “I took a shower. That’s why my hair is wet. Then I got out of the shower, and that’s when I found … the belt and …” She broke off.
Emma squeezed her arms. “Syd, please. Try to hold on.”
“I’m trying,” Sydney gasped. “But I’m so scared. Aren’t you? First Jason’s school ring. And now the belt—how did the belt get here?”
“Do you believe in ghosts, Emma? I never did. But now—”
Emma took hold of Sydney’s arms again. “You’ve got to keep it together, Sydney,” she declared. Her blue eyes were filled with worry. “You’re really losing it. You look terrible. And you’re not making any sense.”
“I can’t help it!”
“You have to!” Emma gave Sydney a little shake, then put an arm around her shoulders. “Let’s go to your room, okay? Show me the belt and the note.”
Sydney took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. But we have to go in through my deck. I don’t want to run into my parents.”
“Definitely not,” Emma agreed. She took Sydney’s arm and walked her up the deck steps.
Emma pushed the sliding door all the way open. Then she tugged gently on Sydney’s sleeve. “Come on, Syd. Show me the belt.”
Sydney stepped hesitantly through the door. Her eyes snapped immediately to the bed.