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Holly started after theto tell hiray-an red pickup erupted over the brow of the hill, as if fired out of a giant slingshot She halted at the curb

The screaic incantation that slowed the flow of ti each second into what seeer sweep the boy out of the path of the pickup, executing the rescue with such singular agility and grace that al a mad, slow-motion ballet in the street She saw the bumper of the truck strike his left foot, and watched in horror as his shoe was torn off and tossed high into the air, tu end over end Peripherally, she are of thesharply to the right, the startled crossing guard dropping the paddlelike "stop" sign, the truck ricocheting off a car parked across the street, theonto its side and sliding downhill in cascades of yellow and blue sparks-but all the while her attention was focused pri up, up, into the air, silhouetted against the blue sky, hanging at the apex of its flight for what seeain

She couldn’t look away from it, wasthat the foot was still in the shoe, torn off at the ankle, bristling with splinters of bone, trailing shards of arteries and veins Down it caht toward her, and she felt a screa in the back of her throat

Downdown

The battered shoe-a Reebok-plopped into the gutter in front of her, she lowered her eyes to it the way she always looked into the face of theto see but unable to turn away, dually repelled by and attracted to the unthinkable The shoe was empty

No severed foot Not even any blood

She sed the unreleased scream She tasted vomit in the back of her throat, and sed that too

As the pickup came to rest on its side more than half a block down the hill, Holly turned the other way and ran to the man and boy She was the first to reach them as they started to sit up on the blacktop

Except for a scraped palm and a small abrasion on his chin, the child appeared to be unhurt He was not even crying

She dropped to her knees in front of hih dazed, the boy understood and nodded "Yeah My hand hurts little, that’s all"

Theup He had pulled his sock halfway off his foot and was gingerly kneading his left ankle Though the ankle ollen and already inflamed, Holly was still surprised by the absence of blood

The crossing guard, a couple of teachers, and other kids gathered around, and a babble of excited voices rose on all sides The boy was helped up and drawn into a teacher’s are his ankle, the injured aze His eyes were searingly blue and, for an instant, appeared as cold as if they were not human eyes at all but the visual receptors of a machine

Then he smiled In a blink, the initial impression of coldness was replaced by one of war-sky color, and beauty of his eyes; she felt as if she were peering through theentle soul She was a cynic ould equally distrust a nun and Mafia boss on first encounter, so her instant attraction to this h words were her first love and her trade, she was at a loss for them

"Close call," he said, and his smile elicited one from her

Holly waited for Jim Ironheart in the school hallway, outside the boys’ restrooone ho was silent, except for the periodic muted hum of the maintenance man’s electric buffer as he polished the vinyl tile up on the second floor The air was laced with a faint perfume of chalk dust, craft paste, and pine-scented disinfectant wax

Outside in the street, the police probably were still overseeing a couple of towing-co the overturned truck in order to haul it away The driver had been drunk At theto his broken leg, lacerations, abrasions, and contusions

Holly had gotten nearly everything she required to write the story: background on the boy-Billy Jenkins-who had nearly been killed, the feel of the event, the reactions of the eye-witnesses, a response froret mixed with self pity from the inebriated driver of the truck She lacked only one element, but it was the most important-information about Jim Ironheart, the hero of the whole affair Newspaper readers would want to know everything about hiuy’s name and that he was froainst the wall beside her, and she kept eying it She had the urge to pop the latches and explore the contents of the bag, though at first she didn’t knohy Then she realized it was unusual for a hborhood; reporter was trained-if not genetically co out of the ordinary

When Ironheart ca at the suitcase She twitched guiltily, as if caught pawing through the contents of the bag

"How’re you feeling?" she asked

"Fine" He was li "But I told you-I’d rather not be interviewed"

He had combed his thick brown hair and blotted the worst of the dirt off his white cotton pants He earing both shoes again, although the left was torn in one spot and battered

She said, "I won’t take

"Oh, couy"

"Sorry, but I’d make dull copy anyway"

"You just saved a child’s life!" "Other than that, I’ about hih at first Holly could not pinpoint the reason for his strong appeal He was about thirty-five, an inch or two under six feet, lean but well-h, he didn’t have the looks that made her think of movie stars His eyes were beautiful, yes, but she was never drawn to a man merely because of his looks and certainly not because of one exceptional feature

He picked up his suitcase and began to li the corridor

"You should see a doctor," she said, falling in at his side

"At worst, it’s sprained"

"It still should be treated"

"Well, I’ll buy an Ace bandage at the airport, or when I get back ho He spoke softly, sh he had no accent

He alsoShe remembered how she had been reminded of ballet when, with the fluidity of a dancer, he had swept the little boy out of the path of the hurtling truck

Exceptional physical grace and an unforced gentility were appealing in a man But neither of those qualities hat fascinated her So more elusive

As they reached the front door, she said, "If you’re really intent on going hoive you a ride to the airport"

"Thank you That’s very kind, but I don’t need a ride"

She followed hi walk"

He stopped, and frowned "Oh Yeah Wellthere’s got to be a phone I’ll call a cab"

"Come on, you don’t have to be afraid of me I’m not a serial killer I don’t keep a chainsaw in ly "Actually, you lookwith a blunt instrument"

"I’m a reporter We use switchblades But I haven’t killed anyone this week"

"Last week?" "Two But they were both door-to-door salesh"