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Her fear was sharpened by the fact that she lacked the words to explain to herself as happening in her own home, for she had always been in love ords and had faith in their power She liked to read just about anything poetry, short stories, novels, the daily newspaper,else was at hand She was in sixth grade at school, but her teacher, Mrs Tokawa, said she read at a tenth-grade level When she was not reading, she was often writing stories of her own Within the past year she had decided she was going to grow up to write novels like those of Mr Paul Zindel or the sublimely silly Mr Daniel Pinkwater or, best of all, those of Ms Andre Norton

But noords failed; her life was going to be far different frohtened as much by the loss of the comfortable, bookish future she had foreseen as she was by the changes that had taken place in her parents Eight months shy of her twelfth birthday, Chrissie had becoe for which she was ill prepared

Not that she had already given up She intended to fight She was not going to let thee her without resistance Soon after she had been thrown into the pantry, once her tears had dried, she had looked over the contents of the shelves, searching for a weapon The pantry contained ed food, but there were also laundry and first-aid and handy a small aerosol-spray can of WD-40, an oil-based lubricant It was a third the size of an ordinary spray can, easily concealed If she could surprise them, spray it in their eyes and temporarily blind the a newspaper headline, she said, "Ingenious Young Girl Saves Self with Ordinary Household Lubricant"

She held the WD-40 in both hands, taking co memory recurred: her father’s face as it had looked when he had thrown her into the pantry--red and swollen with anger, his eyes darkly ringed, nostrils flared, lips drawn back froe "I’ll be back for you," he had said, spraying spittle as he spoke "I’ll be back"

He slaht-backed kitchen chair that he wedged under the knob Later, when the house fell silent and her parents see on it with all her ht, but the tilted chair was an immovable barricade

I’ll be back for you I’ll be back

His twisted face and bloodshot eyes had made her think of Mr Robert Louis Stevenson’s description of the murderous Hyde in the story of Dr Jekyll, which she had read a few o There was madness in her father; he was not the sa was the memory of what she had seen in the upstairs hall when she had returned ho the school bus and had surprised her parents No They were not really her parents anyelse

She shuddered

She clutched the can of WD-40

Suddenly, for the first time in hours, she heard noise in the kitchen The back door of the house opened Footsteps At least two, maybe three or four people

"She’s in there," her father said

Chrissie’s heart stuttered, then found a new and faster beat

"This isn’t going to be quick," said another htly raspy voice

"You see, it’s more complicated with a child Shaddack’s not sure we’re even ready for the children yet It’s risky She’s got to be converted, Tucker" That was Chrissie’s h she did not sound like herself It was her voice, all right, but without its usual softness, without the natural, musical quality that hadfairy tales

"Of course, yes, she’s got to be done," said the stranger, whose name was evidently Tucker

"I know that Shaddack knows it too He sent ht take more time than usual We need a place where we can restrain her and watch over her during the conversion"

"Right here Her bedrooot to her feet and stood facing the door

With a scrape and clatter, the tilted chair was reht hand, down at her side and half behind her, with her forefinger on top of the nozzle

The door opened, and her father looked in at her

Alex Foster Chrissie tried to think of him as Alex Foster, not as her father, just Alex Foster, but it was difficult to deny that in some ways he was still her dad Besides, "Alex Foster" was no ether new

His face was no longer warped with rage He appeared more like himself thick blond hair; a broad, pleasant face with bold features; a s of freckles across his cheeks and nose Nevertheless, she could see a terrible difference in his eyes He seery Yes, that was it: Daddy see … but for soer but she sensed it, a fierce need that engendered a constant tension in his muscles, a need of such tremendous power, so hot, that waves of it see water

He said, "Co, blinked as if repressing tears, exaggerated the shivers that swept through her, and tried to look sed forward

"Co her out of the pantry

Chrissie stepped through the doorway and saw her htly behind Alex Sharon was pretty--auburn hair, green eyes--but there was no softness orand changed and full of the say that filled her husband