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Hilary had the urge to lift the afghan that was draped on the couch and curl up in it to ward off the chills that swept over her In spite of the frequent beatings, the emotional intimidation, the physical andwith Earl and Emma, she knew she was lucky to have escaped sexual abuse She believed Earl had been impotent; only his inability to perforradation At least she had been spared that nighted into it, and Hilary unexpectedly felt a kinship with the woh her ly

Mrs Yancy stroked the white cat, and itI don’t understand," Joshua said "Why didn’t Leo send Katherine to you as soon as he knew she was going to have a baby? Why didn’t he ask you to set up an abortion for her?

Surely you had the contacts for that"

"Oh, yes," Mrs Yancy said "In my line of work, you had to know doctors ould handle that sort of thing Leo could have arranged it through me I don’t know for sure why he didn’t But I suspect it was because he hoped Katherine would have a pretty baby girl"

"I’m not sure I follow," Joshua said

"Isn’t it obvious?" Mrs Yancy asked, scratching the white cat under its fat chin "If he had a granddaughter, then in a few years, he’d be able to start breaking her in, just like he did Katherine Then he’d have two of theet a response out of his other self, Bruno got up and walked ai the dust on the floor; hundreds of whirling ht from the

Eventually, he noticed a pair of du about fifty pounds They were part of the elaborate set of weights he had used six days a week, every week, between the ages of twelve and thirty-five Most of his equiphts, the press bench--was down in the basement But he had always kept a spare set of dumbbells in his room for use in those idle moments when a few extra sets of bicep curls or wrist flexes was just the thing to drive away boredo out with theot into the faht years ago, when he’d first expressed a desire to lift weights and becoht it was an excellent idea Long, brutal workouts eights helped burn up the sexual energy that he was just then beginning to generate, caught as he was in the throes of puberty Because he didn’t dare expose his de preoccupied hiht otherwise have done Katherine had approved

Later, as he packed on muscle tissue and becahts about the wisdoht develop his body only so he could successfully turn on her, she had tried to take his weights away froed her to reconsider, she realized that she would never have anything to fear froht differently? Bruno wondered as he curled the duain Hadn’t she realized that she would always be stronger than he was? After all, she had the key to the door in the ground She had the power to unlock that door andhis biceps and triceps beca as she possessed that key, she would always be stronger than he was

It was around that tian to develop, that she first told him that she kne to come back from the dead She’d wanted him to know that, after she died, she’d watch over him from the other side; and she’d sworn that she would co or if he started getting careless about hiding his dee from other people

She had warned him a thousand times or more that, if he was bad and forced her to corave, she would throw hiround, lock the door, and leave him there forever

But now, as he worked out in the dusty attic, Bruno suddenly wondered if Katherine’s threat had been empty Had she really possessed supernatural powers? Could she really co because she was afraid of hi--and then break her neck? Was her story about coainst his getting the idea that he could kill her and then be free of her forever?

Those questions ca enough to explore each one and answer it Disconnected thoughts surged like bursts of electric current through his short-circuiting brain Each doubt was forgotten an instant after it occurred to him

Contrarily, each fear that rose up did not fade away but re, in the dark corners of his ht of Hilary-Katherine, the latest resurrection, and he remembered that he had to find her

Before she found hian to shake

He dropped one dumbbell with a crash Then the other one The floorboards rattled

"The bitch," he said fearfully, angrily

The white cat licked Mrs Yancy’s hand as she said, "Leo and Katherine worked up a complex story to explain the baby They didn’t want to ader at thesuitor But she didn’t have any suitors The oldher Just him Gives me the creeps What kind of irl? And the bastard started on her when she was only four! She wasn’t even old enough to understand as happening" Mrs Yancy shook her gray head in shock and sorrow, "How could a grown man be aroused by a baby like that? If Iwould be castrated--or worse Worse, I think, I tell you, it disgusts me"

Joshua said, "Why didn’t they just claier passing through? She wouldn’t have had to send an innocent iven the police a totally phony description And even if, by souy who fit that description, some poor son of a bitch who didn’t have an alibiwell, then she could have said he wasn’t the right man She wouldn’t have been forced to railroad anyone"

"That’s right," Tony said "Most rape cases of that sort are never solved The police would probably have been surprised if Katherine had made a positive identification of anybody they rounded up"

"I can understand why she wouldn’t have been eager to cry rape," Hilary said "She would have had to endure endless humiliation and embarrassment A lot of people think every wo for it"

"I’m aware of that," Joshua said "I’s are idiots, asses and buffoons Remember? But St Helena has always been a relatively openminded town The people there wouldn’t have bla raped At least most of them wouldn’t have She would have had to deal with a few crude characters and arun she would have had everyone’s sympathy And it see that route than trying to make everyone believe an elaborate lie about Mary Gunther--and then having to worry aboutthat lie for the rest of her life"

The cat turned over on Mrs Yancy’s lap She rubbed its belly