“Y-yes,” I replied. “I didn’t know—I mean… who are you? What do you want?”
“Sorry if I frightened you,” he said in that scratchy voice. “I’m a reporter. For the Star-Journal.”
“Huh? A reporter?”
I suddenly felt very foolish.
A newspaper reporter? But why had he been chasing me? And why had he been spying on our house?
He’s lying, I thought. Why did I open the door without looking first? Why did I let him in the house? Why was I so stupid?
He glimpsed himself in the hall mirror and pushed back his wavy black hair with one hand. “I’m thinking of doing a story about your house,” he said.
I studied him, trying to figure out if this was some kind of joke. “Are you selling something?” I asked. “Insurance or something? Because if that’s what
you’re trying to do—”
He raised his right hand. “No. I’m a reporter. Really.” He fumbled in his back pocket and pulled out a worn brown wallet. He flipped it open to show
me a card that had his photo on it and said PRESS at the top.
“I found some old articles at the newspaper office. A big stack of yellowed papers hidden away in a corner cabinet. In the old articles, they call this
house Forget-Me House.” His eyes burned into mine.
I stared hard at him. “Huh? Why?”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure. According to the papers I found, the house makes people forget.”
My heart started to pound. “Forget what?”