It sounds as if somebody was dead, or going to die or something.

Like Lite says your dog will howl if anything--" "Oh, for pity sake!" Rosemary pushed her into the living room with make-believe savageness.

"I've heard her and Luck sing that last winter.
And there's a kind of a teetery dance that goes with it.

It's supposed to be a mourning song, as Luck explains it.

But don't pay any attention to her at all.