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Gillian stood as if her snodered body had been turned to ice Because it was the worst, the

absolute worst that she could possibly have iirl who disappeared a year ago," she whispered "On Hilkrest Road" The one she’d thought

of-co

"I was doing a spell," Gary said "A strong one; I was a quick learner It was a fire elemental spell-so I

was out in the woods In the snohere nothing would burn And then she showed up chasing her dog"

He was staring into the distance, his face dead white Looking not haunting, but haunted And

Gillian kneasn’t with her at that moment; he was far aith Paula

"They broke the circle It all happened so fast The fire was everywhere-just one white flash, like

lightning And then it was gone" He paused "The dog got away But not her"

Gillian shut her eyes, trying not to i twisted inside her, "Oh, Gary "

"I put her body into take her to the hospital But she was dead And I wasconfused

So finally I stopped the car And I buried her in the snow"

"Gary"

"I went houy I was, you see A partyin’ guy

Everything was about good ti a witch was about" For

the first tinized it Self-hatred

"And at the party, I got really, really drunk"

Oh Suddenly Gillian understood "You never told anybody"

"On the way back hohed, but it wasn’t a

laugh "Suddenly I’m in Neverland Can’t talk to anybody, can’t touch anybody, but sure can see

everything I watched the search for her, you know They passed about a foot away fro had twisted and broken inside her, soether But this was no time to think about that

It hadn’t really been his fault but what did that ot dealt And Gary

had played his badly He’d started out with everything-good looks, obvious brains, and witch power

enough to choke a horse-and he’d blown it

Didn’t o on from here

She looked up at him "Gary, you have to tell me where she is"

Silence

"Gary, don’t you see? That’s your unfinished business Her family doesn’t know" Gillian stopped and

sed When she went on, her voice wobbled "Whether she’s alive or dead Don’t you think they

ought to know that?"

A long pause Then he said, like a stubborn child, "I don’t want to go anywhere"

Like a frightened child, Gillian thought But she didn’t look away from him "Gary, they deserve to

know," she said softly "Once they’re at peace-"

He almost shouted, "What if there isn’t any peace for htened, terrified

"What if there isn’t anywhere for o? What if they won’t take ain And she didn’t have any answers for hie e’ve

got to do I’ll stay with you, though, if you want I’m your cousin, Gary" Then, very quietly, she said,

"Take est of Gillian’s life He was looking at soht sky that

she couldn’t see, and his eyes were utterly bleak

Then he looked at her and slowly nodded

"Here?" David bent and touched the snow He looked up at Gillian His dark eyes were young- a little

scared But his jaas set

"Yes Right there"

"It’s a pretty strange place to do it"

"I know But we don’t have any choice"

David got to ith the shovel Gillian pushed and mounded snow into walls She tried to think only

of how she’d done this in childhood, about how easy and interesting it had been then She kept at it until

David said, "I found her"

Gillian stepped back, brushing off her sleeves and mittens

It was a clear day, and the afternoon sun was brilliant in a cold blue sky The s was

peaceful, almost a haven Untouched except for a welt in the snohere a ground mouse had tunneled

Gillian took a couple of deep breaths, fists clenched, and then she turned to look

David hadn’t uncoveredbeside the shallow

trench he’d nored it She said, "It was the last day before Christmas vacation, so we

took the day off fro hooky in the woods We decided to ot up and gently put a hand on her elbow "It’s a weird story, but

it’s better than the truth"

"And what can they suspect us of? We never even knew Paula Belizer They’ll know she was murdered

because she was buried But they won’t kno she died They’ll think soet rid of it"

David put his arm around her waist, and she leaned into hi each other

It was strange how natural that was, now David had agreed to help her with all this without a moment’s

hesitation and Gillian hadn’t been surprised She’d expected it He was her soulether

At last, he said quietly, "Ready?"

"Yes"

As they left the clearing, David added even more quietly, "Is he here?"

"No I haven’t seen him since he showed me the place He just-disappeared He won’t talk to hter

Mr Belizer came at dusk, after most of the police had left

It was al Gillian away for an hour So had Gillian’s parents

They were there, both of the her whenever they could David’s father and

stepht It’s been a rough last few days on everybody

But here they all were: David, pale but cal; the parents, bewildered but

trying to cope Not co how their kids could have found so much trouble in such a short ti hurt Paula Belizer

And now, here was Paula’s dad Alone Cohter-even

though the coroner had already taken his daughter away

The police let hied at David’s hand

He resisted a second, then let her tow hi,

following that poor houlish But none of the parents actually grabbed them to stop them