Seth and I trekked out to the cottage to feed and walk the dogs. He had packed enough dog food for a couple of days in the duffel bags, but we would run out soon if we couldn’t dig ourselves out. It was fully dark and windy with large flakes falling again. The beauty was beginning to wear thin as we watched the snow piling up. Baxter had no trouble bounding over the snowdrifts, but Tuffy, as usual, stayed close to Seth and shivered. Seth had to coax him to do his business after shoveling a small area so that Tuffy wouldn’t sink into a snowbank.

“Good boy, Tuffy!” Seth said. The little dog looked up at him with adoring eyes and wagged his tail.

Baxter leaped through the drifts to get back to us as we turned toward the cottage. Inside, we grabbed the pile of towels we’d left by the door and began brushing the snow off the dogs. Tuffy shivered and allowed Seth to tend to him. Baxter shook vigorously and sprayed the entire entryway with snow and drool. I grabbed a fresh towel for myself.

“Holly is not going to be happy about this,” I said to Seth as we dumped four sopping towels into the tub.

Seth shrugged and ducked his head, unconcerned about the laundry. He placed their food bowls on the floor and both dogs attacked them as if they hadn’t been fed in weeks.

“Okay, guys,” Seth said, “you be good. I’ll be back later.”

Baxter had just run into the room with his tug toy. His ears drooped at this news.

Tuffy cast a guilt-inducing pathetic stare at us as we put on our coats again to head back out into the snow. A huge gust hit us as we closed the door and I shut my eyes against the pelting ice crystals. I thought of the scene in Little House on the Prairie where Pa has to tie a rope to himself in order to walk to the barn. I was grateful for the lights blazing from the hotel to guide us back and resolved to give Dad a hug the minute I saw him.

An excited buzz of voices greeted us when we opened the door. It sounded like Vi had managed to get several staff members and most of the guests to attend her séance. I had been to a lot of séances in my life and knew that a huge, noisy crowd was not the best arrangement. If I were a spirit, I’d want things to be a little quieter.

They had pushed all the couches to the edges of the room and had managed to put together several tables from the dining room. Chairs were arranged around the new, large table. Candles cast a warm but jumpy glow around the room. Someone had placed a basket of bread and a glass of wine on the table. The food and dim lighting are thought to attract spirits.

Vi clapped her hands three times to get everyone’s attention. No one even flinched. I saw her tug on Mac’s sleeve and gesture to the crowd. His shoulders slumped but he put his fingers to his lips and let out a shrill whistle. There was immediate silence. Vi nodded at him and Mac took a step back, separating himself from the proceedings.

I was glad to see him. Even though he complained about the psychic intervention, I knew he wouldn’t be able to resist observing everyone.

“Everyone, take a seat around the table,” Vi said.

Murmurs and mumblings filled the room as everyone jockeyed for position. Mac and Seth attached themselves to me and we found three seats together. Mac’s face was still but his eyes took in everything, Seth grinned and gave off the kind of energy he usually reserves for Christmas morning, or dinner.

Wally sat next to my mother, almost shoving Dad aside to get to her. Fortunately, Dad found a seat on the other side of her and they didn’t have to resort to a duel.

Violet clicked the light switch and plunged the room into a candlelit gloom. I had expected to be used to it after our power outage, but it still sent a chill through me to see the shadows dancing on the walls, elongated by the angle of the candles. Holly and Kirk had declined to participate. Linda was still holed up in her room, and Selma said she was worried enough about murderers, she didn’t want to mess with ghosts now as well. But the rest of us turned to look at Vi.

The last time we had performed a séance, I had left wondering if Vi had faked it. I braced myself for a repeat performance. If Mac caught her pretending to make contact with the other side, I would never hear the end of it. Lucille sat across from us and I could feel her watching us. She had taken me aside earlier to thank me for convincing Mac to sit in on this one. She’d been trying for years to get him to attend a séance with no luck. I was pretty sure it had been Seth’s suggestion that it would be a good way to observe all the suspects at once that convinced him to join in. But I let Lucille think that I had some sort of influence over Mac—she was so happy to imagine him coming around to her way of viewing the universe that I didn’t have the heart to argue.

“Let’s all join hands,” Vi said. Rustling and shifting noises spread around the table. A gust of wind pelted snow against the window and we all jumped. I heard nervous giggling from the end where Tina, Heather, and Amy sat.

“We ask to be joined by the spirits of Carlisle Castle,” Vi intoned in her fortune-teller voice. “Be guided by the light and join us.”

The room was silent except for the howling of the wind and people shifting in their seats.

“Did you hear that?” Seth whispered next to me.

I shook my head.

“It sounds like someone walking around upstairs.”

“Maybe it’s Linda or one of the staff,” I said out of the side of my mouth.

Another gust hit the window and then I heard a whistling noise start up—it sounded like a police siren but quiet and continuous. I could tell other people heard it as well—eyes were large and scanned the ceiling and the walls for the source of the noise.

“That’s just the window whistling,” Jessica said. “It does that when the wind hits it just right.”

Mac let out a breath of air.

“Everyone please focus on our intention to commune with the spirits of Carlisle Castle,” Vi said.

The quiet was broken only by the occasional gust of wind or snow hitting the windows.

I heard sounds overhead. I glanced at Seth, who stared at the ceiling. The rest of the group must have heard it, too. We all looked upward, the group wearing expressions ranging from excitement to fear. It sounded like someone pacing on creaky floorboards. Creak! Creak! Creak! Silence, then the same sounds going back the other way.

“Is there someone here with us?” Vi asked the ceiling.

A loud thunk and the sound of shattering glass came from the hallway. The candles snuffed out. Several people screamed, chairs fell over, and Lucille said, “Don’t break the circle!”

But it was too late. Mac stood and scanned the room. Seth gripped my hand while I tried to make out where everyone was in the dim light from the hallway.

The overhead lights clicked on and I looked to the wall switch where Wally stood. He nodded at Jessica and went out into the hall. I heard voices and then he returned.

He held his hands up to get the group’s attention. “It’s nothing. It was just an accident. It looks like the cat knocked a vase off a table in the hall.”

“Did you see the cat?” Vi asked.

Wally shook his head.

“So, you don’t know for sure it was the cat,” Vi said.

Wally shook his head. “What else could it be?”

“Exactly,” said Vi. “Everyone likes to blame the cat, but they aren’t always as mischievous as they seem.”

I noticed Amy staring at Vi with her mouth open. I’ve seen this before; it’s a pretty common response before you get to know her.

Mavis cleared her throat and held her hands tightly clasped together. “Do you think we should try again?” She motioned for everyone to sit back down.

Mom shook her head. “It’s not likely we’ll have any success now.”

I sighed in relief. I’d sat through many unsuccessful séances in my time and I still wasn’t sure which was worse—one where nothing happened or one where something did.