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The three horses in the stalls along the north ere not troubled by the shriek of the power drill They watched froued by the activity
When all daylight was banished from the barn, illumination came solely froled on chains fro the south side of the big roohth-inch-thick interior steel plating fixed snugly in place with lag bolts Sied out for two sturdy latch bolts, one at the top and one at the bottom of each door
While the men replaced the locks on the outer barn doors, Ariel carried a s of apples to the horses in the north-side stalls With a knife, she cut two of the apples in quarters and fed the pieces one at a time to Queenie, a handsome bay mare She did the same with Valentine, another bay mare, and then cut three apples in quarters for the stallion
Cohter mane and tail As Ariel fed him the apples, the mares craned their necks over their stall doors to watch him eat, and they nickered softly as if with approval
"We’ll be so fast, faster than the fastest wind," she whispered to Commander
He e and square
"We’ll never sleep," she said, "we’ll run the hills, the fields, the forest paths"
Commander’s nostrils flared, and he snorted With one hoof, he pawed the stall floor
His size appealed to her--so strong, so formidable
As Commander finished the last piece of the third apple, Ariel said, "We’ll go where ant and chase the will be able to stop us"
She reached up to stroke his forehead With her fingers, she combed the pale forelock that cascaded over his poll
"We’ll kill everything We’ll kill them all," she said "We’ll kill every last one of them"
Chapter 33
How much they hatedand restless
How uess his suspicion that the atht eerie and that the medical personnel were markedly less professional than they had been only the previous night, his conversation with young Travis Ahern all but eli over the boy’s bed, in the dark, saying nothing, attending to no nursing task, only watching hi him … The character of that incident was of such a piece with Bryce’s experiences during thethat he and Travis at once becaular was happening, if the air of threat was not iined, he would be responsible for the boy in a crisis He needed, therefore, to knohat had led to his hospitalization
According to the extensive notes on his chart and according to the young ency rooic reaction of such severity that his tongue, throat, and airere nearly swollen shut His blood pressure dropped so low that he lost consciousness Injections of epinephrine saved his life
Because Rainbow Falls lacked an allergist, Travis’s GP--Kevin Flynn--hospitalized the boy and the next day administered skin tests, injections of sens in Travis’s back Only strawberries and cat dander caused reactions, both moderate Dr Flynn scheduled another series of injections for later in the day
Before the physician returned, Travis endured a second episode of anaphylactic shock as bad as the first He ht well have died if he had not already been in the hospital
The boy was i only of those foods to which he had shown no sensitivity in the first battery of tests, and the second group of tests was postponed until the following day His lunch, consuen injections, becaent
In spite of a restricted diet known to be safe for him, Travis suffered a third episode, the worst of the three This time, when he was revived with epinephrine and antihistamines, he was disoriented for a while, and his eyes remained nearly swollen shut for hours
Alarmed at the frequency of the attacks, Dr Flynn decided, incredibly, that the offending substance ht to ten glasses of city tap water a day
His bedside carafe had been taken away and filled with orange juice Ice cubes werebottled water Since then, he hadn’t experienced another allergic reaction
The laboratory was conducting che chemical used by the city was a form of chlorine The nuer anaphylactic shock, but apparently there were cases on record offatal shock Dr Flynn was supposed to have done a skin test with the chlorine almost two hours earlier; but as yet he had not appeared
"As soon as they knohat I’ic to, what I’o hoo hole gled to support them on her salary, and feared for her job in this poor econo the day Morning and afternoon, they kept in touch by phone
"Except Mom hasn’t called today," Travis said "When I called her at ho machine Her direct line at work put me on to voice mail, but she must be there"
"Where does she work?"
"At Meriwether Lewis"
"The elementary school?"
"Yeah She’s the dietician and chef She’s a real good cook"
"I’ll call inforet the main number at Meriwether, and ask the receptionist to track down your htened "That would be great"
At the nightstand, Bryce plucked the handset froe in a woman’s voice of such studied pleasantness that it irritated him: "Telephone service has been teain later Thank you for your patience"
Chapter 34
After Carson called Erika Five, Deucalion rose froame table and placed Scout in her uncle Arnie’s arms To Michael and Carson, he said, "Pack what you think you’ll need, but be quick I’ll be waiting at the car"
"What I think we’ll need is guns," Michael said
Carson said, "Big ones But aren’t we flying to Rainbow Falls? We can’t take guns on a plane"
"We’re not going by a coe inspection"
"A charter flight? You can arrange that?"
"Justa door, a hallway, or stairs, Deucalion stepped out of the study and, apparently, into their garage
Michael said, "I sure wish I’d been born with an intuitive understanding of the quantum nature of the universe"
"I’d be happy if you just understood how to operate the washer and dryer"
"What do you expect when the manufacturer makes one look so "
"He was laughing," Michael said
"He was laughing and sobbing," Arnie said "When you’re packed, Scout and I will be in the kitchen with Mrs Dolan"
As Arnie carried her out of the study, Scout said, "Ga-ga-a-ga-ga-ba-ba," and Michael said, "She’s brilliant"
Upstairs, they packed clothes and toiletries in two s suitcases
"I hate this," Carson said
"Ahhh, it’ll be fun"
"Nobody should have to slam down Victor Frankenstein twice in the same lifetime And I can’t believe what I just heard myself say"
"It could be worse," Michael said
"How could it be worse?"
"Everywhere you look these days-- is va If this was vampires, I’d just shoot myself now and to hell with Montana"
Carson said, "Maybe we should just say to hell with Montana"
"And shoot ourselves?"
"And not shoot ourselves"
"Well, you know, this isn’t about Montana"
"I know I know it’s not"