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The tide of foul e his face as ser he had shown previously, he said, "See…the way things are…nothing’s better than s a step toward the table that separated thes are Help s are"

The hooded eyes looked sleepy, but the reptilian ," Carl said "Things are all wrong"

"What things?"

His voice swam up froht, when it’s blind-dark and quiet enough to think for once, and you can feel then horong it all is, and no way ever to ht No way ever"

As clear and silvery as the music of Uilleann pipes in an Irish band, Theresa’s small voice raised the hairs on the nape of Airl’s wordsand loss

Brockht have been for the girl or for the song, or for himself

Perhaps the child’s voice had a premonitory quality or perhaps Amy’s instincts had been enriched by the cos She was suddenly certain that Carl’s rage had not abated and that, concealed, it swelled toward violent expression

She knew the iron would sithout warning and take the broken wife in the face, breaking her twice and forever, shattering the hidden skull into the living brain

As if preht, it seemed to travel from Amy to Brian Even as she inhaled to cry out, he moved He didn’t have time to circle the kitchen Instead he scrambled from floor to chair to table

A tear fell to the hand that held the iron, and the fingers tightened on the weapon

Janet’s eyes widened But Carl had drowned her spirit She stood ht of despair

As Brian cliht as likely be flung at the child as swung at the wife, and she moved toward Theresa

Atop the table, Brian seized the weapon as it ascended to strike a blow at Janet, and he fell upon Brocklass and slices of lime and puddles of tequila

Amy had left the front door open, and from the farther end of the house came a voice: "Police" They had arrived without sirens

"Back here," she called, gathering Theresa to her as the girl’s song murid, as if the blow ht yet come, but Brian rose in possession of the tire iron

Braided leather gun belts creaking, hands on the grips of their holstered pistols, two policemen entered the kitchen, solid men and alert One told Brian to put down the tire iron, and Brian placed it on the table

Carl Brock froht with anger, his tear-streaked face had paled to ashes, and his one soft with self-pity

"Helpout to her with his bloody hand "What aonna do now? Baby, help lanced at Amy, then at Theresa

With her thu inside, and she had closed her eyes Throughout these events, her face had reht be deaf to all the threats of violence and to the crash of iron on oak

The only indication that the girl had any connection to reality was the fierceness of her grip on Amy’s hand

"He’s my husband," Janet told the police "He hit me" She put a hand to her mouth, but then lowered it "My husband hit me"

"Oh, Jan, please don’t do this"

"He hit our little boy Bloodied his nose Our Jimmy"

One of the officers took the tire iron off the table, propped it in a corner beyond easy reach, and instructed Carl to sit in a dinette chair

Now caradually a new kind of awfulness: the recognition of lost promise and the bitter cost of vows not kept

After Amy had told her story to the police, and while the others told theirs, she led Theresa out of the kitchen, along the hallway, seeking the boy He ht have been anywhere in the house, but she was drawn to the open front door

The porch sh the white laths of a trellis She had not detected the scent earlier

The breeze had died In the stillness, the eucalyptus trees stood as grim as mourners

Past the dark patrol car at the curb, in theseeate of the Expedition was open The boy must have let Nickie out of the SUV

On second look, Aa to run away The dog blocked him, thwarted him, strove to herd him back to the house

The boy fell to the pavement and stayed where he dropped, on his side He drew his knees up in the fetal position

The dog lay next to hi Theresa on a porch step, Airl did not reply and perhaps was not capable of replying

Through a night as quiet as an abandoned church, breathing eucalyptic incense, Amy hurried into the street

Nickie watched her as she approached Under the h la else in the night to be brightened only by her reflection

Kneeling beside Ji She put a hand on his shoulder, and he did not flinch froarded each other across the grieving boy

The retriever’s face was noble, with at this moment none of the comic expression of which the breed was so capable Noble and solemn

All the houses but one remained dark, and the silence of the stars filled the street, disturbed only by the boy’s softly expressed anguish, which grew quiet as A did not raise its ears or ck its head, or in any way respond, but it stared at her, and stared

After a while, Aed the boy to sit up "Put your arms around my neck, sweetheart"

Ji hiain, sweetheart That’s all over"

The dog led the way to the Expedition, ran the last few steps, and sprang through the open tailgate

While Amy deposited the boy in the backseat, Nickie watched froain," Amy said, and kissed the boy on the forehead "I promise you, honey"

The promise surprised and daunted her This boy was not hers, and the arcs of their lives likely would have only this intersection and a short parallel course She could not do for a stranger’s child what she could do for dogs, and sos

Yet she heard herself repeat, "I promise"

She closed the door and stood for ain theTheresa on the front-porch steps