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"If I&039;d had my Dynamite Man Particle Blaster they wouldn&039;t have hurt us," Phillip whispered He si patched up He held on to h many kind people offered to take him and rock him, or buy him an ice cream cone, or color with him, my little brother would not be separated from me This definitely made it harder on me, but I tried to have so much sympathy for Phillip that the pain would not seem important I&039;m afraid I found that to me, pain is very important, no matter who else has been hurt

Noas actually in the hospital bed with et, his eyes still wide and staring, but beginning to glaze over I thought he&039;d had so that was okay My father and stepa;

Robin, bless him, had found their phone nu them in their motel room

"Phillip, if I hadn&039;t had you to hold on to, I would have gone nuts," I assured him "You were so brave I know you were scared inside, like I was, but you were brave as a lion to hold yourself together"

"I was thinking about escaping all the ti for a chance," he infor to sound more like Phillip Then, less certainly, "Roe, would they really have killed us?" What was I supposed to say? I glanced over at Robin, who shrugged in an it&039;s-up-to-you gesture Why was I asking Robin what I should say to my little brother?

"Yes," I said, and took a deep breath "Yes, they were really bad people They were rotten apples They were nice on the outside but full of worms on the inside"

"But they&039;re locked up in jail now?"

"You bet" I thought about lawyers and bail and I shivered Surely not? "They can&039;t ever get you again They can&039;t ever hurt anybody again They&039;re far away and all locked up, and your mom and dad will carry you hoet here?" he asked desolately "Soon, soon, as fast as their car can coly as I could, perhaps for the fiftieth time, and thank God at that ht behind hiid control "Mahness left hiy puddle of little boy Betty Jo swept him out of the hospital bed and into her arhtly as he held her "Where can I take him?" she asked the nurse who&039;d followed the room two doors down, and Betty Jo vanished with her precious arlad to see Betty Jo take him I could have cried There is no substitute for a real mother At least I am no substitute for a real ht me that, if I&039;d ever doubted it My father bent and kissed me "I hear you saved his life," he said, and tears trickled down his face I had never seen my father cry "I am so thankful you are both safe, I prayed in the car all the way here I could have lost both of you in one night" Overwheluest chair Robin had quietly vacated Robin stood back in the shadows, the diet how he&039;d looked with the shotgun in his hands I was just too tired to appreciate my father&039;s eled by a bank loan officer with a green silk scarf I had been hit by a secretary with a golf club I had been terrified out of my mind for myself andwords, I told myself hazily, but true The face of evil Finally, my dear father dried his eyes, toldPhillip hoht "We&039;ll have to see about treatment for him," he said apprehensively "I don&039;t kno to help him" "I&039;ll see you," I mumbled

"Thanks, Aurora," he said "If you need help yourself, you kno to reach us" But they were dying to get Phillip away, and his voice verged on perfunctory I was a grownup, right? I could take care of myself Or my mother would take care of me I let myself have a flash of bitterness, andcareful of ht I drifted off to sleep for a second Robin was holding my hand when I woke up I think he had kissed ain It felt even better

"They were stupid really," I said a little later "When you think about it, yes," Robin agreed "I don&039;t think they ever realized it wasn&039;t a ga the deaths after old murders Bankston snatched Phillip on impulse when they should have waited and picked a victim froent, he would have known taking Phillip fro hi him out to Melanie&039;s place well, led hi too soon, and they didn&039;t even consider you having keys"

"How did you knohere ere?" I asked It had never occurred to me to question our last-minute rescue

"When I saw Melanie pull back in, she acted strange," he began "I had started to wonder where you&039;d disappeared, too, and her co back after she&039;d just left a few et her tape recorder, you know," he said, and looked away into the shadows of the roo, and decided there was only one place you could be Really, I was just guessing," he said frankly "You had disappeared as suddenly as Phillip, there were no strange cars around, Melanie tried to act concerned about Phillip beingbut she wasn&039;t, and she had that daerous, but he&039;s also obvious" Robin reached down to take my hand "I had to persuade Mr Crandall in a hurry that we had to raid Bankston&039;s place, but he was game Even if I had made a mistake, he said, if Bankston was any kind of a , anything goes Jed&039;s a frontier kind of guy"

"How&039;d you get in? Didn&039;t Melanie lock the door behind her?" "Yes, but Mrs Crandall had a key, the key she&039;d beenover to you - I think she kept it because the former tenant used to lock herself out a lot"

I would have laughed if ency rooo home in the next day or two, but my collarbone and two ribs were broken and I was bruised all over froly co one cheek Myto tell her I&039;d rather be inon how sore I was in theMother had flown into the hospital with every eyelash in place but a wild look in those fine eyes We had hugged and talked for a while, and she had even shed a few tears (certainly atypical), but when she learned that as far as I knewwide open and, for that matter, Bankston&039;s as well since the police were still searching it, she decided I ell enough to leave and flew off to see to safeguarding my property and the disposition of Bankston&039;s

My mother was a friend of Bankston&039;s ain "That poor wo raised a monster like that? The other Waites children are fine people What happened? He&039;s known you all your life, Aurora! How could he hurt you? How could he think of hurting a child?"

"Who knows?" I said wearily "He was having a great time, the time of his life" I had no syht now I had no extra emotion of any kind to throw around I was drained, exhausted, and in pain I had bruises and bandages galore Even Robin&039;s kiss didn&039;t make me feel lecherous, just raised the possibility that so up his jacket now, getting ready to go "Robin," Idown into sleep He turned, and I realized that he was spent, too His tall shoulders were stooped, the crinklyhair looked limp "You saved me," I said

"Nah, Jed Crandall saved you," he said with an atte off-hand "I was just back-up muscle"

"You savedspiral into sleep When I woke up again the clock said 3:30 auest chair, someone short and stocky and blond and fast asleep Arthur&039;s head was slu a little I&039;d have to remember that

My mouth was dry and my throat sore, so I reached for the cup of water on the bedside table Naturally, it was just out of reach I wiggled painfully sideways, still stretching, but then Arthur handed it to me "I didn&039;t want to wake you up," I told hi," he said quietly

"What happened?"