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He burst into the room and ran to his mother. “Mom, what’s wrong? What’s happened?”

Annie stopped screaming and pointed.

“What?” Charlie asked. “What are you looking at?”

Annie continued to point, but then blinked several times, quickly. The floor was clear. There were no spiders. Not a one. The boxcar door was closed.

“Mom?”

Annie pulled Charlie into her arms. “You’re shaking,” he said, his own voice trembling. “What’s going on?”

Her phone, resting on the table, dinged, announcing a new email. Annie let go of her son, picked up the phone, opened the mail app.

It was from Dr. Hersh.

What are you doing now?her note read.I can send a Zoom link if it’s convenient.

Twenty-Seven

Annie needed a moment to pull herself together first. She told Charlie there was nothing to worry about, just a spider, then sent a quick email to Maya, asking if they could talk in half an hour. That gave her enough time to put together some dinner for Charlie. Mac and cheese from a box. Not her favorite, but that was fine, because she had lost her appetite.

“I’ve got a Zoom call and I’m going to take it on the laptop in my room,” she told Charlie as he ate. “You good down here?”

He shrugged. “I’ll watch TV.”

She went to her room, closed the door, sat on the bed, and opened up her laptop. She clicked on the link Dr. Hersh had sent, and seconds later, there she was on the screen.

“Hey, Maya,” Annie said. Her doctor had insisted she call her by her first name.

“Annie, long time, no chat,” Maya said. “How’s it going up there?”

“Okay.”

“How’s Charlie?”

“He’s good, he’s good. I got him a bike. It’s a piece of crap, to be honest, but he doesn’t care. He shined it up and he rides around the property like a maniac. We picked strawberries today.”

Maya smiled. “Nice. But I’m guessing if everything were perfect, you wouldn’t have been in touch.”

“Yeah, well.”

“What’s on your mind?”

“You mean, other than thinking I’m losing it?”

“Talk to me.”

Annie hesitated, not sure how to begin. “Did you ever see that old movieThe Rocking Horse Winner? Or maybe read the story, by D. H. Lawrence?”

Maya thought for a moment. “The movie, I’m pretty sure. Made in the late forties, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, around then.”

“Refresh my memory?”

“It’s about this boy who has, well, a rocking horse, you know, a wooden toy you sit on and pretend it’s a horse. But there’s something special about it. It has... special powers. The kid rides his rocking horse until he gets visions of which horses are going to win at the track. It’s pretty creepy.”

“Okay. Not the first movie about a creepy toy.” Maya smiled. “There’s lots about creepy dolls. Chucky, Annabelle. That more recent one, Megan? That was kind of fun. What was that one with Anthony Hopkins, where he’s the ventriloquist? Came out ages ago.”