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She started to head home half a dozen tie Most of the merchants had decked themselves out in costu hardware and fairies ringing up produce
She had a late lunch with Ripley, and an i a Christmas party
And it seeratulate her on her engageht To Zack And finally, finally, she belonged to herself
She swung by the station house to s she&039;d already oblins expected at dusk
"I ht be a little late Have to run herd on some of the older kids," Zack told her "I&039;ve already dealt with a couple of teenagers who tried to convincewere for their et the toilet paper for rolling houses when you were a kid?"
"I stole it out of the bathroom closet at home, like anyone with half a brain"
Her di puot out on that" He cocked his head "You sure look chipper today"
"I am chipper today" She stepped forward, wrapped her arotten his arht," he told her, and answered
"Sheriff&039;s office Yeah, Mrs Stubens H his hip to the corner of the desk and stood straight again "Is anybody hurt? Good No, just stay right there, I&039;m on my way Nancy Stubens," he told Nell as he strode over to the coat rack for his jacket "Teaching her boy how to drive He ran straight into the Bigelows&039; parked Honda Civic"
"But is he all right?"
"Yeah, I&039;ll just go sort things out for theht take a while That Honda was brand-new"
"You knohere to find me"
She walked out with hiood-bye Then they walked in opposite directions
She&039;d gone half a block when Gladys Macey hailed her
"Nell! Hold on" Puffing a little at the effort to catch up, Gladys patted her heart "Letso much about"
Before Nell could offer her hand, Gladys was grabbing it, bending over close to get a good, long look "Should have known that Todd boy would do a good job" She gave a nod of approval, then looked up at Nell "You got a winner there, and I don&039;t "
"I know it"
"I watched hiot some man on him, if you knohat I mean, I used to wonder what sort of wo it&039;s you I&039;ve got a fondness for you"
"Mrs Macey" Undone, Nell hugged her "Thank you"
"You&039;ll be good for hiood for you I know you&039;ve had some troubles" She si in your eyes when you came here It&039;s not there much anymore"
"I left all that behind I&039;m happy"
"It shows Have you set the date?"
"No, not yet" Nell thought of lawyers, of conflict Of Evan She would deal with it, she told herself With all of it "As soon as we can"
"I want a front-row seat at the wedding"
"You&039;ll have one And all the chane you can drink at our thirtieth anniversary party"
"I&039;ll hold you to it Well, I&039;ve got to get on Monsters&039;ll co, and I don&039;t want my s soaped You tell that man of yours I said he did well"
"I will" That ain What a wonderful phrase
She quickened her steps She was going to have to hurry to beat dusk
She went to the front of the cottage, glancing around a bit self-consciously Secure that she was alone in the lowering light, she held her arms out toward her jack-o&039;-lanterns, breathed in, focused
It took some work, a hard slap of effort, and a match would certainly have been quicker But it wouldn&039;t have given her the salow from the fire in her h Boy, oh boy, that was so cool
It wasn&039;t just the -who and what she was It was finding her strength, her purpose, and her heart Taking back control so that she could share it with a man who believed in her
Whatever happened tomorrow, or a year from tomorrow, she was now and always Nell
She danced up the steps and into the front door
"Diego! I&039;m home You wouldn&039;t believe the day I&039;ve had Absolutely the best day"
She twirled into the kitchen, flipping on the light She put on the kettle for tea before beginning to fill a big wicker basket with her goody bags
"I hope we get a lot of kids It&039;s been years since I&039;ve done trick or treat I can&039;t wait" She opened a cupboard "Oh, for heaven&039;s sake! I left ?"
"You alere absent she reached for slipped like water out of her hand, s filled her ears as she turned
"Hello, Helen" Evan walked slowly toward her "It&039;s so good to see you"
She couldn&039;t say his name, could make no sound at all She prayed it was another vision, a hallucination But he reached out, and those slender fingers brushed her cheek
She went cold to the marrow
"I&039;ve ers slid around the back of her neck now and brought on a hideous wave of nausea "Wouldn&039;t find you? Haven&039;t I told you, Helen, sowould ever keep us apart?"
She only closed her eyes when he bent, brushed his mouth over hers "What have you done to your hair?" His hand fisted it, tugged viciously "You kno I love your hair Did you cut it off to displease me?"
A tear slithered down her cheek as she shook her head His voice, his touch, see she ay and leave her as she&039;d been
She felt Nell fading away
"It does displease reat deal You&039;ve stolen a year of our lives"
His fingers tightened, went biting cruel as he jerked her chin up "Look at me, you stupid little bitch Look at me when I speak to you"
Her eyes opened and all she could see were his, those clear, empty pools
"You&039;ll have to pay for it, you know that More than a year erased And all the while you&039;ve been living in thisas a waitress, serving people Trying to start your pitiful little business, kitchen business Hu me"
His hand slid froive you after a time, Helen After a time, because I know you&039;re slow, and just a bit stupid Have you nothing to say toseparation?"
Her lips were cold, felt as if they ht crack "How did you find me?"
He smiled then, and made her shudder "I told you I&039;d always find you, wherever you went, whatever you did" He gave her a hard shove that jaistered in kind of an absent way, like a memory
"Do you knohat I found here, in your little nest, Helen? Helen,How many an to shriek, but neither of the local fishers to ht Clear enough that her swiht fear
"There&039;s no fisherman," she said and barely cried out when he slapped her
"Liar You kno I detest liars"
"There&039;s no-" The tears escaped at the next slap But it snapped her back to who she was She was Nell Channing, and she would fight "Keep away frorabbed for the knife block, but he was quicker He&039;d always been quicker
"Is this what you want?" He drew the long, jagged-edged blade free, turned it in the light an inch froht: So, he&039;ll killthe side of her face with a vicious backhanded slap that sent her flying She crashed into the table, striking her head against the edge of the thick wood The world went bright, went dark
She didn&039;t feel her body hit the floor
Mia treated a young space explorer The bookstore was one of the rinning puhosts, and, of course, a coven of witches Her usual storechains
She was having the tihoul a cup of punch from a cauldron as the dry ice packed beneath it sent out curls of se as he watched her "Are you gonna ride on your brooht?"
"Of course" She bent down "What kind of a witch would I be otherwise?"
"The witch who chased Dorothy was a bad witch"
"She was a very bad witch," Mia agreed "I happen to be a very good one"
"She was ugly, and had a green face You&039;re pretty," he giggled and slurped his punch
"Thank you very much You, on the other hand, are very scary" She handed hi of candy "I hope you won&039;t trickin his begging sack, then ran off to find his hten The pain cah the teleam of the blade
"Call Zack" She rushed to the door, calling out to a startled Lulu "There&039;s trouble Nell&039;s in trouble Call Zack"
She raced into the street, swung around a group of costumed children and nearly plowed into Ripley "Nell"
"I know it" Ripley&039;s head was still ringing "We have to hurry"
She ca There was absolute silence She rolled, et to her hands and knees Nausea sent her curling into a ball again
The kitchen was dark now, lit only by the faint glow of a candle in the center of the table
He sat there, in one of her kitchen chairs She could see his shoes, the gleam of them, the perfect crease in his slacks, and she wanted to weep
"Why do you make me punish you, Helen? I can only think you ed her with his shoe "Is that it?"
She started to craay Just a moment, she prayed Give ain
He simply pressed his foot into her back
"We&039;re going to go somewhere where we can be alone Where we can discuss all this foolishness, all this trouble you&039;ve caused et her away? He hadn&039;t meant to put marks on her, not where they could be noticed She had pushed him to it
"We&039;ll walk to my car," he decided "You&039;ll wait there for me while I pack and check out"