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She reached out her hand and covered her niece’s thin fingers with hers She sahere there had once been a ring, but it was gone now, leaving just a pale white mark in its place She wondered for just a moment if she should tell Sally that she’d spoken to her husband No, not yet Maybe never Let the girl rest for a while Hopefully there would be time, but Aet rid of Sally this very et her away from here beforeNo, she wouldn’t think about that She didn’t really have a choice
Everything would work out Besides, ould itout here? So she said nothing, just held Sally’s hand in hers
"I’m awfully tired, Amabel"
"I’ll bet you are, baby, I’ll just bet you are"
Airl in the small second bedroom The room was quiet, so very quiet She was asleep within minutes In a few
There was so h the s that gave onto an ie of a copse of thick oak trees The twoher to her knees They put their hands on her shoulders, forcing her to sit in front of his desk He was s at her He didn’t say a word until they’d left, quietly closing the door behind theers "You look pathetic, Sally, in those gray sweats And just look at your hair, all stringy, and no makeup on your face, not even a touch of lipstick in honor of co to seewith you before bringing you to me"
She heard every word, felt the hurt that every word intended, but the coed, a tiny movement because it was so much work to
"You’ve been with me now for nearly a week and you’re not a bit better, Sally You’re still delusional, paranoid If you’re too stupid to understand what those words et more basic with you You’re crazy, Sally, just plain crazy, and you’ll stay that way No cure for you Now, since I’ve got to look at you for a while longer, why don’t you at least say so you used to sing in the shower Yes, I know you always sang in the shower How about it?"
Oddly, even though the co in her brain, the viciousness of the words, the utter cruelty of theed to rise, lean forward, and spit in his face
He lunged around his desk as he swiped his hand over his face He jerked her to her feet and slapped her hard, sending her reeling to the floor The door to his office flew open, and the two h
They orried about him?
She heard hi rams of Haldol No pill this tiirl down"
No She knew that if they gave her any ered to her feet She ran to those s She heard shouts behind her She dove through the glass For an instant she was flying, white shards of glass falling froher above that beautiful lawn, flying away from the horror of this place, the horror of hi any Then she felt the pain drag at her, pulling her down, down, until there was blackness and beautiful nothingness
But the screaer screa
Another screa to hear those screams They’d been here, in The Cove, in Amabel’s house, not in her dream back there She didn’t move, just waited, waited A cat? No, it was human, a cry of pain, she kneas God knew, she’d heard enough cries of pain in the last year
Who? Amabel? She didn’t want to move, but she made herself slip out from under the three blankets Amabel had piled on top of her at nine o’clock the previous evening It was freezing in the suest room and black as the bottom of a witch’s cauldron Sally didn’t have a bathrobe, just her long Lanz flannel nightgown Scott had hated her nightgowns, he hatedno, forget Scott He truly didn’ttime
The rooently shoved it open The narrow hallas just as dark She waited, waited longer, not wanting to hear that cry again, but knowing she would It was a cry of pain Perhaps there had been surprise in it She couldn’t be sure now She waited It was just a matter of time She walked in her sock feet toward Amabel’s bedroom