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The hot afternoon drew to an end In the summer, fewer people came in to drink after work They headed horound pool, and take their kids to sports events

One of our alcoholics, Jane Bodehouse, showed up around five o’clock When she’d gotten cut fro a feeeks before, Jane had gotten sewed up and had returned to the bar within twenty-four hours For a few days, she got to enjoy painkillers and alcohol I’d wondered if Jane’s son otten hurt at Merlotte’s, but as far as I could tell, the poor guy had only a , Jane had abandoned her barstool in favor of the table by the here she’d been sitting when the bottle cah theIt was like she’d enjoyed the excitement and was ready for another Molotov cocktail When I went over to give her a bowl of snack mix or replenish her drink, she always had a plaintive murmur about the heat or the boredom

Since the bar was still almost empty, I sat down to have a conversation with Jane when I served her the first drink of the day Maybe Kennedy joined us after she’d lasses To make them even happier, she turned the TV to ESPN

Any conversation with Jane was ra and tended to bounce back and forth between decades with no warning When Kennedy eant days, Jane said, "I was Miss Red River Valley and Miss Razorback and Miss Renard Parish when I was in my teens"

So we had a pleasant reood to see Jane perk up and share soround with Kennedy On the other hand, Kennedy was a little freaked out at the idea someone who’d started out like her had ended up a barfly She was thinking soet back behind the bar, and I rose to greet ood-bye when she said, "Do you think it’ll happen again?"

She was looking out the s front

I started to ask her what she ot it "I hope not, Jane," I said "I hope no one ever decides to attack the bar again"

"I did pretty good that day," she tolddown that hall at a pretty good clip Those EMTs were real nice to ood We all thought so," I told her I patted her shoulder and walked away

The fireboht in my memory, had turned into a pleasurable reminiscence for Jane I shook ran had always told ain, she was proved right

Even the break-in at Splendide had served a purpose Now I knew for sure that sorandmother had had possession of the cluviel dor

Chapter 8

An hour later, having co at my kitchen table withto decide how to begin the letter, the one I’d promised Bellenos I’d atteoing to go

The last ti into the portal, it had been eaten Granted, it had been a human body

My first attees It was now in the kitchen trash can I had to condense what I needed to convey Urgency! That was the an I hesitated And Claude, I added Bellenos and Der too restless to stay confined to the building Theybad will happen if this situation doesn’t change soon Please let us knohat’s going on Can you send a return letter through this portal? Or send Claude back? Love, Sookie

I read it over, decided it was as close as I was going to get to what I wanted to say (Claude, get your butt back here now!) I wrote both Niall’s and Claude’s names on the envelope, which was real pretty-cream with pink and red roses on the border I alht corner before I realized it would be a ridiculous waste

Between the heat, the bugs, and the burgeoning undergrowth, my jaunt into the woods to "mail" my letter was not as pleasant as my previous rambles had been Sweat poured downto h toclu out in the sun-Gran would have had a na around inside the dense growth At least Bellenos leftridiculous We had plenty of deer Plenty

Towhere I’d last seen it, but it looked smaller Not that it’s easy to define the size of a patch of shih to admit a very small hu a chainsaw to the body beforehand

Either the portal was shrinking naturally, or Niall had decided a size reduction would preventelse unauthorized into Faery I knelt before the patch of wavery air, which hovered about knee-high just above the blackberry vines and the grasses I popped the letter into the quavering patch, and it vanished

Though I heldhappened I didn’t hear the snarling of last ti I don’t knohat I’d expected, but I’d half hoped I’d get so saying, We’ve received your e and will attempt to deliver it? That would have been nice

I relaxed and s h the woods I could hardly wait to strip off ed fro afternoon, I saw that would have to be a pleasure delayed

In my absence I’d acquired so to be in theirby a car as if they’d been on the point of getting into it to drive away If only I’d stayed by the portal a few roup was oddly assorted Theby the driver’s door had coppery brown hair and a short beard, and he earing gold-rilasses He wore khakis and a pale blue oxford cloth shirt with the sleeves rolled up, practically a summertime white-collar work uniform The other man was a real contrast His jeans were stained, and his T-shirt said he liked pussies, with an oh-so-clever drawing of a Persian cat Subtle, huh? I caught a whiff of otherness co froet any closer to investigate what his true naturea low-cut T shirt, dark green with gold studs as a decoration, and white shorts Her bare legs were heavily tattooed

"Afternoon," I said, not even trying to sound welco from their brains Wait Didn’t the sleazy couple look just a little familiar?

"Hello," said the woman, an olive-skinned brunette with raccoon eye arette "You Sookie Stackhouse?"