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Yes, hell was real, and Arnette knehere it was She was in it, right now

After that they’d sat together in the kitchen, none of the to be soht upstairs to her room to rest It was odd: of all of them, Lacey seemed the least shaken by the events of the afternoon She’d barely uttered a word for hours, not to the sisters and not to Dupree, either, just sat with her hands in her lap, tears rolling down her cheeks But then a funny thing had happened; the officers showed them the videotape froe on the two men, Lacey stepped forward and looked, hard, at the monitor Arnette had already told Dupree that that was thele doubt in her mind that the men on the screen were the sairl; but the expression on Lacey’s face, which was soht of was astonish," Lacey said finally "It isn’thiently

She lifted a finger to the older of the two agents, the one who’d done all the talking-though it was the younger one, Arnette recalled, who’d actually taken Aht up at the canature on the bottoht corner of the screen said that it was 06:01 on the sa the two of them had colass

"He didn’t take the girl?"

"He most assuredly did, Detective," Arnette declared She turned and looked at Sister Louise and Sister Claire, who nodded their assent "We’re all agreed to that Sister is just upset"

But Dupree was not deterred "Sister Lacey? What do youwith conviction "That man," she said "Do you see?" She turned and looked at all of them She actually smiled "Do you see? He loves her"

He loves her What to make of that? But these were the only words Lacey had offered on the matter, as far as Arnette are Did she irl? Could he have been Amy’s father? Was that what all this was about? But it didn’t explain what had occurred at the zoo, a terrible thing-a child had actually been trampled in the chaos and was in the hospital; two of the animals, a cat of some kind and one of the apes, had been shot-or the dead boy at the college, or any of the rest of it And yet for the remainder of the afternoon at the station, in and out of various offices, telling their story, Lacey had sat quietly, s no one else did

It all went back, Arnette believed, to what had happened to Lacey so long ago, as a little girl in Africa Arnette had confessed the whole thing to the sisters, as they sat in the kitchen waiting for the hour when they could go to bed She probably shouldn’t have, but she’d had to tell Dupree; once they were back at the house, it had all just kind of come out An experience like that didn’t ever leave a person, the sisters agreed; it went inside them and stayed forever Sister Claire-of course it was Sister Claire, who had gone to college and kept a nice dress and good shoes in her closet as if at any et an invitation to a fancy party-knew a name for it: post-traumatic stress disorder It made sense, Sister Claire said; it added up It explained Lacey’s protective feelings for the girl, and why she never went out of the house, and the way she see them but also not, as if a part of her were always elsewhere Poor Lacey, to carry such a memory inside her

Arnette checked the clock: 12:05 Outside, the roar of the generators had ceased at last; the caone hoh There was no denying it All of this was Lacey’s fault Arnette would never have given the girl to those men if Lacey hadn’t lied to them all in the first place, and yet noas Lacey as fast asleep, while she, Arnette, was lying in bed awake The other sisters, couldn’t they see that? But probably they were all sleeping, too It was only she, Arnette, as sentenced to a night of pacing the halls of herdidn’t add up, no matter what Sister Claire said He’s not the one He loves her That strange, knowing smile on Lacey’s lips Dupree had questioned Lacey closely, asking her what this ain, as if they explained everything And it flew straight in the face of the facts Wolgast was the one: everyone was agreed on that point Wolgast and the other irl, whose name Arnette reirl and ell, no one had told Arnette anything She sensed Dupree was puzzled too, the way he kept posing the sa incredulously and shaking his head,cup after cup of coffee

And then, despite all these concerns, Arnette felt herinside her like a spool of thread, pulling her down into sleep Tell us again about the parking lot, Sister Arnette in the little room with the mirror that wasn’t a mirror-she knew that Tell us about the lass; over Dupree’s shoulder she could see her face reflected there, an old face, lined by tiray cloth of her veil so that it see in space; and behind it, on the other side of the glass, above and around her, she detected the presence of a dark for her Who was behind her face? She could hear Lacey’s voice now, too, Lacey in the parking lot, crazy Lacey who seeround and clutching the girl fiercely; Arnette was standing above her, and Lacey and the girl were crying Don’t take her Her mind followed the sound of Lacey’s voice, down into a dark place

Don’t take me, don’t take me, don’t take ht, too fast The air of the rooen had leaked away Her heart was ha? What in the world?

And then she knew, knew it for a fact They were in danger, terrible danger So She didn’t knohat So toward the for them all

But Lacey knew Lacey, who’d lain in the field for hours, knehat evil was

Arnette tore froht, and consu peace, and come to such a moment! To lie with it in the dark all alone! A dozen steps to Lacey’s door: Arnette tried the handle but the door refused her; it was locked from the inside She pounded the door with her fists

"Sister Lacey! Sister Lacey, open this door!"

Then Claire was at her side She earing a T-shirt that seelow in the dark hall; her face was smeared with a penu?"

"Sister Lacey, open this door this instant!" Silence, still, from the far side Arnette seized the handle and shook it like a dog with a rag in his teeth She pounded and pounded "Do as I say right now!"

Lights coreat commotion all around her The other sisters were in the hallway now too, their eyes ith alar on?"

"I don’t know, I don’t know-"

"Is Lacey all right?"

"So, "open this door!"

A huge force gripped her, pulling her away Sister Claire: it was Sister Claire who had grabbed Arnette fro her by her arainst Sister Claire’s, was nothing

"Look-Sister’s hurt herself-"

"Dear Lord in heaven!"

"Look at her hands!"

"Please," Arnette sobbed "Help me"

Sister Claire released her A reverent hush had fallen over the down Arnette’s wrists Claire took one of Arnette’s fists and gently unclenched it The palernails," Claire said, and showed theernails"

"Please," Arnette begged, tears rolling down her cheeks "Just open the door and see"

No one knehere the key was It was Sister Tracy who thought to get the screwdriver froe it into the lock But by the tiured out what they’d find

The bed that had never been slept in The curtains of the openshifting in the evening air