Summary

Maddie and Peggy take their seats and then look at the desk where Wanda usually sits. She isn't there and the desk is dusty, meaning she might not have been there for at least a couple of days.

Wanda lives “way up on Boggins Heights.” This is a very poor neighborhood. The children go there in the summer to pick wildflowers. The first house in the neighborhood belongs to “old man Svenson.” He lives alone and there are rumors about him, including that he “was no good.” Some people say he's harmless but the children still rush past his house, anxious that he might see them. He lives alone with just a dog and a cat. Wanda's house is farther into the neighborhood and she lives with her father and her brother, Jake.

Wanda's last name is Petronski. No one else in...