Forbidden Secrets by R.L. Stine Page B

from the war. It would have changed her so.
    â€œAll right,” Savannah said. She pulled on her dressing gown. “Show me your dolls.”
    Lucy tugged Savannah across the hall. “This is my room,” she said with pride. She opened the door and skipped in.
    Savannah followed Lucy into the room, not surprised to find the room decorated in black.
    It was wrong to do this to a child’s room, she thought. And Lucy is still a child. Her room was filled with dolls—on the bed, on the dresser, on the shelves, on the floor. Porcelain dolls. Rag dolls.
    A cold draft caused goose bumps to form along Savannah’s arms. All the dolls had black hair like Lucy’s, she noticed. All the dolls had black eyes. All the dolls wore black dresses.
    Are the dolls all in mourning just like this house? she wondered. What a joyless place for a child to grow up.
    Lucy flung herself across her bed. Two dolls leaning against the headboard fell forward. Lucy picked one up and hugged it close against her.
    â€œThese are all my friends,” Lucy said solemnly. “Tyler always brings me a new doll every time he goes away.”
    Savannah sat on the edge of the bed. How sad that Lucy doesn’t have any real friends. “I would like to be your friend too,” she said.
    Lucy’s forehead wrinkled. “I don’t think you can.”
    â€œWhy not?” Savannah asked. She tried not to feel hurt. Lucy would need some time to get used to her.
    Lucy shook her head. “We can’t be friends because Tyler brought you here to live. So we’re almost sisters. I have always wanted a sister. I think a sister would be much better than a friend.”
    Savannah hugged Lucy close. “I have always wanted another sister.”
    Lucy hopped off the bed and picked up a rag doll from a rocking chair. The doll was as tall as Lucy.
    â€œTyler gave me this doll first,” she said, smiling brightly. “Don’t you think she’s pretty?”
    â€œShe’s very pretty,” Savannah assured her. “What’s her name?”
    â€œHer name is Lucy.” She dropped the doll back into the chair. “Which doll do you like best?”
    Savannah pretended to consider the question with great seriousness. “I’m not sure,” she said. She stood and tapped her finger against her lips. “They are all so pretty.”
    â€œYou have to pick one,” Lucy insisted.
    Savannah walked around the room, studying all the dolls. Lucy grinned with delight.
    Savannah spotted a doll lying on its side on top of the dresser bureau. Its profile was perfect: a small nose, a ruddy cheek, thin lips, a large, shining black eye.
    I’ll pick this doll, Savannah decided. She lifted it up and gasped.
    The other side of the doll’s face was smashed in. Tiny bits of jagged china formed a gaping hole where the eye had been.
    â€œWhat happened to this doll?” Savannah asked Lucy.
    â€œI killed her.”

Chapter
    19

    L ucy’s black eyes were big and serious. Savannah felt a chill sweep through her.
    Then Lucy began to giggle. “I didn’t really kill her. She fell off the bureau. That’s how she broke her face.”
    Savannah released her breath with a whoosh.
    Lucy sighed. “She was the prettiest doll. The other dolls were happy when she got hurt.”
    She’s teasing me, Savannah thought, fighting off a feeling of alarm. “They weren’t really happy,” Savannah said.
    â€œYes, they were,” Lucy insisted. “They were very happy Lucy got hurt.”
    Savannah felt confused. “I thought the big doll in the rocker was named Lucy.”
    â€œSilly Savannah,” Lucy exclaimed. “All the dolls are named Lucy.”
    Lucy glanced around the room. Then she leaned close to Savannah. “Except one,” she whispered. Lucy crooked her finger. “Follow me.”
    Savannah set the porcelain doll back on the dresser and followed