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She stu a table This cry came from outside She was sure of it It wasn’t Amabel; thank God, she was safe Amabel would knohat to do

What was it? She rubbed her hip as she set the table against the wall again

Suddenly A on? Is that you, Sally?"

"Yes, Aht it was you What is it?"

"I didn’t hear a thing," Amabel said "Go back to bed, dear You’re exhausted It’s probably the leftovers of a bad dream Just look at you, you’re white as the ork You did have a nightmare, didn’t you?"

Sally nodded because it was the truth But those screaone on and on They’d not been part of the dream, the dream that was a memory she hated, but that always caainst it

"Go to bed You poor baby, you’re shivering like a leaf Go back to bed Hurry now"

"But I heard it twice, A fro out there You’re so tired, so much has happened in the past few days I’ at the top of their lungs There’s nothing, Sally It was a nightet, this is The Cove, dear Nothing ever happens here If you did hear so, why it was only the wind The wind off the ocean can whine just like a person You’ll learn that soon enough You didn’t hear anything Trust me Go back to bed"

Sally went back to bed She lay stiff and waiting, so cold she wondered whether the tears would freeze on her face if she cried She could have sworn that she heard a door quietly open and close, but she didn’t have the guts to go see

She would relax, then stiffen again, waiting to hear that awful cry But there weren’t any ht She was exhausted; she had been drea and it had been hideous and so very real Maybe she was paranoid or psychotic or schizophrenic They had called her all those things for six months She wondered--if she saw the person actually cry out would that be a delusion? Just a fabrication of her mind? Probably No, she wouldn’t think about that tiain near dawn

It was a dreamless sleep this tiy than he’d had just twentywith it That was because she was here He was sure of it now, he could feel her here He’d always had these feelings--s just came to him suddenly, and he had always followed theotten hi li He could feel her presence in this very char and well-ht, so perfect, like a Hollywood set, just like Teresa’s ho the saue distaste when he’d traveled to that shter of the local judge

He pulled his gray Buick Regal into a well- place in front of the World’s Greatest Ice Crealass s, painted all around with bright-blue trim He could see sht-iron chairs Behind the counter an older wo to a man while she scooped chocolate ice cream out of a carton set down into the counter The front of the shop was painted a pristine white It was a quaint little place, just like the rest of the town, but for some reason he didn’t like the looks of it

He stepped out of the sedan and looked around Next to the ice crean out front in ornate type that could have coht out of Victorian times: PURN DAVIES: YOU WANT IT--I SELL IT

On the other side of the ice creaant and expensive, with that peculiar Cars had It was called Inties of black lace against a white sheet or white skin

The sidewalks looked brand-new and the road was nicely blacktopped No ruts anywhere to hold rain puddles

All the parking spots were marked with thick white lines Not a faded line in the bunch He’d seen newer houses on the drive in, apparently all built very recently In town there was a hardware store, a sn, a dry cleaners, a one-hour-photo place, a McDonald’s with a very discreet golden arch