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.I clenched my teeth.How could I have been so stupid? Protection was what I desperately wanted.But it was Mrs.Carpenter who desperately needed it.Because I, at least, could fight back.I got dressed and scribbled a quick note.Mrs.Carpenter would be safe as long as she stayed away from me.I just needed to ensure she kept her distance.Mrs.C.,I think I’ve caught something, maybe the flu, and I don’t want you to catch it, so I’ll be staying away from you for the next couple of days.Don’t worry about the chickens.I’ll take care of them.And Shash.And thanks for the scrambled eggs.I’ve got a few things up here to eat, so don’t worry about feeding me! I don’t have much appetite anyway.—MMI left the bedroom and crept through the barn, out the door, and to the front porch.Folding the note, I taped it to the edge of the front door so when Mrs.Carpenter let Duke out, she’d see it.Next, I stuck to the shadows and made my way to the edge of the property, to the ring of protection.And then, one by one, I took the bleached animal skulls from between the trees and put them around the entire perimeter of the house, making Mrs.Carpenter her own snug ring of protection.When I finished, I lay down in bed and listened.With the skulls only encircling the house, the barn was now accessible to my hunters.I knew they would come for me sooner or later.I prayed it would be never.31Wal-Mart at seven a.m.is not particularly busy.At least not on a Wednesday morning.I was grateful for the lack of customers and hoped no one would steal the Gary Fisher bike I’d hidden behind giant bags of water-softening salt sitting on the front curb of the store.I’d hardly slept since moving the ring of protection to encircle Mrs.Carpenter’s house, and the only things stronger than my exhaustion were my fear, my guilt, and, more importantly, the hole in my stomach.Even though I’d eaten cold eggs and toast last night, my body felt as if I hadn’t eaten for a month.I needed calories ASAP, but didn’t dare get food from Mrs.Carpenter’s house.Too dangerous—for her.And the note I sent her, about me having food, was a lie.Plus, my skin still felt tainted with Rolf Heinrich’s blood.I desperately needed more soap.Slouching behind a shopping cart, I hung my head and started toward the beauty supplies section.Hardly anyone passed me in the empty aisles, and when they did, they didn’t even look my way.I was invisible again.I turned my cart down the soap aisle and was reaching for a bulk-sized body wash when I heard a woman’s twinkling, false laugh.You know the laugh—what a woman does when she’s pretending something is funny to impress the guy she’s with.I rolled my eyes—glad I never did that stupid, fake laugh—and picked up two huge bottles of the cheapest body wash.I heard the laugh again, closer now, and hurried away to find shampoo.I wasn’t in the mood to see the woman out giggling and shopping at seven on a Wednesday morning.And besides, I could feel a panic attack looming in my near future.I scanned the shampoo section for the cheapest stuff.When I found what I was looking for, I heard that stupid laugh again.I grabbed a bottle of shampoo and started to walk away, but heard a familiar, low chuckle.And then the high-pitched laugh again.My feet turned to stone and my ears strained to hear the mumbled conversation going on one aisle over.“—was so good!” the woman was saying.She had an accent, definitely not Spanish, and definitely not Navajo.“I know.Tara’s does make exquisite food, but, you know, the irony is, a local fast-food restaurant has much better fried chicken.I’ll take you there sometime, if you’d like to try it,” Bridger’s smooth, deep voice replied.“Oui! Anything you like, Bridger, I would like to try,” the woman answered and laughed her chiming laugh.Call me a glutton for punishment, or maybe a masochist, but I had to look.Everything else in my life was crumbling to ruin, so why not just take a quick peep? Bracing myself, I tiptoed around the corner of the shampoo aisle and peeked down the oral hygiene aisle.She was beautiful.Long, loosely curled hair the color of honey, skin like a peach, eyes green as grass, makeup that was so smooth it could almost pass as natural, and a flowing dress cut down low on her chest, emphasizing her full boobs and teeny waist.Wow.And her hand, dainty and sparkling with gold and gemstones, rested comfortably in Bridger’s.To see my best friend, my heart seemed to heal and then break all over again.I put a hand to my chest, trying to ease the pain.His dark hair and stormy eyes were so familiar that I took a step toward him, ready to throw myself into his arms and cry on his shoulder.Ready, even, to tell him the truth about me [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]