Chapter 18
155words
She'd tidied everything meticulously—no more newspaper clippings, no photos, no evidence of her obsession with the Kane family.
The cottage was spotless, just as it had been when Jessica was alive.
The rope hung ready from the ceiling beam as she prepared to kick away the stool beneath her feet.
Suddenly, a familiar voice called "Grandma" from the yard.
A girl who looked exactly like Jessica stood in the golden morning light, waving.
Betty's hands trembled as she climbed down, studying her "granddaughter's" face with disbelief.
"I'm hungry," her granddaughter said simply. "I haven't had your homemade bread in so long."
The old woman stood frozen, caught between terror and desperate hope.
Finally, she nodded and took her granddaughter's cold hand, leading her inside like a shepherd guiding a lost lamb home.
