"This is going to be an awful summer," Jamie Dukeshire complained as he and his sister rode the gently swaying train.

April-Lee drew her eyes away from the window to regard him. He looked completely miserable, with his sandy hair stuck up in all directions and his mouth drawn down in a frown. Not that Jamie ever looked overly happy. He was smart but things didn't come easily to him. He often felt that he had been born unlucky.

"Don't worry," she told him reassuringly. "It won't be that bad. We'll have the girls for company."

"Girls don't like me," he said and stared at his shoes.

"The girls" were April-Lee and Jamie's cousings, who they were on their way to visit. There were four of them -- Mary-Ann, Ilyse, Kendra, and Daisy -- all around April-Lee and Jamie's ages. Because they lived so far away from each other, the two families had not seen each other since they were too young to remember. Seeing their cousins would be like meeting strangers. April-Lee didn't mind, but her brother was very shy, and this kind of thing would be a chore for him.

Not that April-Lee didn't wish they had been allowed to go to Africa with their parents. It would have been awesome. Sometimes, though, things didn't end up the way you wanted.

Daisy was the first to see them when they alighted from the train. She crashed into them, trying to hug both siblings simultaneously.

"You're here, you're here, you're here!" she chanted. "I knew it was you because of your hair!"

April-Lee laughed and returned the hug. "Red-curls every time," she said, tugging lightly on of Daisy's long curls.

The twins, Ilyse and Kendra, made more dignified greetings.

"How are you?" asked one.

"How was your trip?" asked the other.

"Mum and Dad weren't feeling well, so they didn't come," Mary-Ann added, reaching for their suitcases. "Let me help you with those bags. I'm sure they'll be glad to see you later."

"They're never feeling well," Daisy muttered. "All day, everyday, they sleep. And even at night they're grouchy, when they're around."

"Hush, Daisy," Mary-Ann said quietly.

"Are you sure we won't be in the way?" Jamie said, uncertain.

"Oh no! We're glad to have you."

"How far is it to your house?" April-Lee asked.

"Just under two miles. It's an easy walk, but I figured with your luggage we should drive," Mary-Ann said.

"She's terribly proud of that awful sardine-can she drives," Ilyse, or perhaps Kendra, explained.

"Just got her license last week," her mirror image added.

"And aren't you jealous!" Daisy giggled.

"I know I am," April-Lee said quickly, seeing Mary-Ann's venomous look. "You're lucky, Mary-Ann. I wish I could drive."

"Well, she is a bit beat up," Mary-Ann admitted, "But she does all I need, and most of what I want. Stopping, going, steering, all the important things."

"It won't go backwards though," Daisy said.

"Just makes it more of an adventure," April-Lee cut in again. She sighed quietly to herself. She didn't want to spend the summer preventing arguments between Mary-Ann and Daisy. Perhaps it was just the natural enmity that came from being the oldest and the youngest, but the two seemed quite at odds with one another.

The ride to their cousins' farm was thankfully uneventful. Mary-Ann's car was something of a wreck on wheels, but it got the six of them and all of April-Lee and Jamie's luggage to the house, which was the important thing.

"Do you want to see your room?" Daisy demanded. "I can show you!"

"Sure," Jamie said. "Lead the way, McDuff."

An explanation of who McDuff was and a brief summary of Shakespeare's MacBeth occupied the time it took to traverse the enormous old house. Jamie was startled to find himself being led downstairs. "The bedrooms are in the basement?" he asked.

"Well, not really, but it's so hot in the summertime that we all usually sleep downstairs. Be very quiet, Jamie. Mum and Dad's room is just down the hall."

"Looks almost like a dungeon," he said, smiling.

Daisy didn't smile back. "Feels like one too, sometimes," she said with a sudden gravity.

"Daisy?" he said, not knowing what to make of the sudden shift.

She shook her head. "The others say I'm being silly; it's all eleven-year-old nonsense, but I'll be twelve in three weeks, and they oughtn't laugh at it anyway."

"Laugh at what?"

"I think Mum and Dad are...I don't think they're sick."

"You don't?" Jamie was feeling more and more out of his depth.

She paced back and forth across the basement floor. "Mary-Ann says that it's a cult. But there's more to it than that, I'm sure of it Jamie! They go out for hours every night and then they sleep all day. They both quit their jobs!"

"Maybe they've just taken a new lease on life or something," Jamie suggested.

"They just seem...strange. Oh, I don't want to bias you. Let me show you what I found, and see what you make of it."

As he followed his cousin, Jamie found himself waiting for her to spin around and yell "Gotcha! Really had you going there, didn't I!" or something to that effect.

"This is the extra fridge. We use it to store big things, like right after we've butchered a pig, and the one upstairs doesn't have room," she explained, swinging open the large shiny door. "Well, what do you think?"

Jamie stared at the shelves full of beakers filled with an unmistakable dark red liquid.

"Blood..." he whispered.

"Gallons of it," Daisy said grimly. "What do you think they use it for?"

"I'm more concerned with where they got it," her cousin replied.

A noise from behind made them both turn.

Jamie nearly jumped out of his skin at seeing the tall, imposing figure standing before them. When the light from the refrigerator finally hit Mary-Ann's face, he relaxed. For a moment, that is. Her scowl told him that he and his younger cousin were in trouble.

"Mum told you to stay out of there," the eldest scolded, slamming the door. "What do you think you're doing in here?"

Daisy seemed unfazed by her sister's ire. "If they're going to be staying here, they need to know the truth!"

"And what truth is that, Daisy-Mae? That our parents are --"

"You just don't want to believe me." Daisy's arms folded in stubborn insistence. "How else do you explain the blood?"

"You said it yourself a moment ago," Mary-Ann countered. "We use this icebox when Mum and Dad have slaughtered a pig."

"Then where's the meat?"

This question seemed to surprise Mary-Ann, who stumbled on her words. She didn't have an answer. Jamie didn't remember seeing any chops or bacon in there himself. Still, if Daisy was aiming at what he thought she was... It was too surreal for him. There had to be another explanation.