I stared at her, trying to understand.
“Where is everyone?” I cried. “Where did everyone go? Why are you the only one here?” I brushed snowflakes from my eyebrows. “Della, how did it get to be winter?”
“You’ll be my buddy-won’t you, Sarah?” Her blue eyes burned into mine. Her hair glowed around her pale face.
I blinked. “I don’t understand-” I started. “Please answer my questions.”
“You’ll be my buddy, won’t you?” she repeated, pleading with those amazing eyes. “I’ve waited so long for a buddy, Sarah. So long.”
“But, Della-”
She started to sing again.
I shoved my hands into the pockets of the robe. I shivered. I couldn’t get warm. I couldn’t stop shaking.
Why was she singing the Camp Cold Lake song so sadly?
Why wouldn’t she answer my questions?
How did she know my name? And why did she say she’d been waiting for me?
“Della, please-” I begged.
Singing her strange, sad song, she floated up the wooden stairs to the lodge. Her hair shimmered, golden in the gray light. Swirls of fog curled around her as she moved.
“Oh!” I cried out when I realized I could see right through her.
“Della-?”
She floated over the stairs, tilting her head from side to side, singing in that breathy whisper of a voice.
“Della-?”
She stopped singing and smiled at me again. Snowflakes covered her blond hair. The fog still swirled around her.
I could see the dark shingles of the lodge through her body. I stared right through her.
“Sarah, you’re my buddy now,” she whispered. “I need a buddy. Everyone at Camp Cold Lake needs a buddy.”
“But-but you’re dead!” I blurted out.
Della is dead, I realized.
And I’m her buddy.
That means…
That means that I’m dead too!
17
Della floated over me. So light and pale. The wind fluttered her hair. It rose around her like a shimmering halo.
“You’re dead,” I murmured. “And I am too.”
Saying the words sent a cold shudder down my body.
I began to realize the truth. I began to see what had happened.
Della had probably drowned here. Drowned in the lake.
That is why everyone at the camp is so crazy about water safety.
That explains the endless water safety lectures. And the long list of rules. And why the counselors insist on the Buddy System at all times.
Della drowned here.
And now I’m her buddy.
I’m her buddy-because I drowned too.
“Noooooooooo!” A long wail of horror, of disbelief, escaped my throat.
I threw my head back and wailed like an animal. Wailed out my sorrow.
Della floated over me, watching me. Waiting for me to stop. She knew what I was thinking. She knew I had figured everything out.
She waited patiently. How long had she been waiting there for me? Waiting for a buddy? Another dead buddy?
How long had she been waiting for another unlucky girl to drown?
“Noooo!” I moaned. “No, I won’t do it, Della! I can’t do it! I won’t be your buddy! I won’t!”
I spun around. So dizzy, I nearly dropped to my knees.
I started to run. The white robe flew open. It flapped beside me like wings as I ran away from her.
Ran barefoot over the snowy ground.
Ran through the swirls of fog. Through the gray.
“Come back, Sarah!” I heard Della call to me. “Come back! You have to be my buddy! I’m trapped here. Trapped as a ghost. I can’t leave this camp-I can’t get to the other world-without a buddy!”
But I didn’t stop. I kept running through the camp. Past the cabins. Past the supply sheds at the edge of the woods.
I kept running from her calls. Running from her ghostly voice.
I don’t want to be her buddy, I told myself. I don’t want to be a ghost!
I blinked away snowflakes as I ran. Ran through the bare, creaking trees. Ran without looking back.
I stopped when I reached the lake shore. Stopped when I felt the cold water lap over my feet.
The cold, gray water.
I struggled to catch my breath. But my chest hurt. Felt about to explode.
Gasping, I turned-and saw Della floating through the trees. Floating toward me, her eyes glowing with blue fire.
“You can’t leave without me, Sarah!” she called. “You can’t leave, Sarah!”
I turned away from her. Turned back to the water.
My chest. My head.
Everything hurt so much.
I couldn’t breathe.
My chest was going to burst.
I sank to the mud.
As the gray faded to black.
18
Pinpricks of white light danced above me.
I thought of fireflies, darting above the grass late at night.
The tiny lights grew brighter. Round, like flashlight beams.
Brighter still.
Until I was staring into a glowing ball of gold.
I blinked.
It took me a long while to realize that I was staring up at the sun.
I turned my head away.
I suddenly felt heavy. I could feel the ground beneath me. I could feel the weight of my body on the ground.
My body. My solid body, coming back to me.
I heard a groan. Someone moved above me.
I blinked several times. And squinted up at Liz.
Her face was red. Her mouth was twisted in a hard scowl.
“Ohhh.” I groaned as she pressed both hands on my chest. Raised her hands. Pressed again.
I felt water slide from my open mouth.
I choked. Felt more water pour down my chin.
“She’s coming around,” Liz announced. She pressed hard on my chest again. “She’s alive!” Liz cried.
Behind her, I could see bare legs. Swimsuits. Campers.
Yes. The other campers.
I groaned again. Liz continued to work over me.
I’m lying on my back, I realized. I’m on the lake shore. Liz is giving me CPR.
The other campers are standing around me. Watching. Watching Liz save my life.
“I’m-ALIVE!” The word burst from my throat.
I sat up. And gazed around.
Everyone is back! I realized. It’s summer again. The leaves are back on the trees. The sun is beaming down.
And everyone is back. Including me!
Liz uttered a sigh and sank back on her knees. “Sarah, are you okay?” she asked breathlessly. She mopped sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. “Are you okay?”
“I… I think so,” I murmured.
I had a sour taste in my mouth. I still felt a little dizzy.
Behind Liz, some campers cheered and applauded.
“We thought you were gone for a moment.” Liz sighed. “You stopped breathing. What a scare!”
Two counselors helped me to my feet. I tried to shake off my dizziness. “I’m okay!” I cried. “Thank you, Liz. You-you saved my life!”
I hugged Liz. Then I turned and hugged Aaron.
Briana and Meg were standing nearby. I startled them by hugging them too.
I was so happy to be alive! So happy to be away from that gray, gray winter. Away from that frightening ghost girl in the empty camp.
“Sarah-what happened?” Liz asked, placing a hand on my still-wet shoulder. She gently brushed back my hair.
“I’m not sure,” I told her. “I’m really not sure.”
Liz shuddered. “When you stopped breathing, I… I got so scared.”
“I’m fine now,” I told her with a smile. “Thanks to you.”
“She did it for attention,” I heard someone mutter.
I turned-and saw Jan whispering to another girl. “Now everyone has to say ‘Poor Sarah’,” Jan whispered nastily. “Now everyone has to be nice to her.”
I felt hurt. I opened my mouth to say something to Jan.