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Next, I stuck to the shadows andof protection And then, one by one, I took the bleached animal skulls from between the trees and put the Mrs Carpenter her own snug ring of protection

When I finished, I lay down in bed and listened With the skulls only encircling the house, the barn was now accessible to my hunters I knew they would come for me sooner or later I prayed it would be never

31

Wal-Mart at seven am is not particularly busy At least not on a Wednesday rateful for the lack of customers and hoped no one would steal the Gary Fisher bike I’d hidden behind giant bags of water-softening salt sitting on the front curb of the store

I’d hardly slept sinceof protection to encircle Mrs Carpenter’s house, and the only things stronger than uilt, and, h I’d eaten cold eggs and toast last night, my body felt as if I hadn’t eaten for a et food froerous--for her And the note I sent her, aboutfood, was a lie

Plus, my skin still felt tainted with Rolf Heinrich’s blood I desperately neededmy head and started toward the beauty supplies section Hardly anyone passed me in the empty aisles, and when they did, they didn’t even look ain

I turnedfor a bulk-sized body hen I heard a woh--what a wo is funny to ilad I never did that stupid, fake laugh--and picked up two huge bottles of the cheapest body wash

I heard the laugh again, closer now, and hurried away to find sha and shopping at seven on a Wednesdayin my near future

I scanned the shampoo section for the cheapest stuff When I found what I was looking for, I heard that stupid laugh again I grabbed a bottle of shampoo and started to walk away, but heard a faain My feet turned to stone andon one aisle over

"--was so good!" the wo She had an accent, definitely not Spanish, and definitely not Navajo

"I know Tara’s does make exquisite food, but, you know, the irony is, a local fast-food restaurant has much better fried chicken I’ll take you there soer’s ser, I would like to try," the wolutton for punish else into ruin, so why not just take a quick peep? Bracing myself, I tiptoed around the corner of the shaiene aisle

She was beautiful Long, loosely curled hair the color of honey, skin like a peach, eyes green as grass, makeup that was so s dress cut do on her chest, e her full boobs and teeny waist Wow And her hand, dainty and sparkling with gold and geer’s

To see my best friend, ain I put a hand toto ease the pain His dark hair and stormy eyes were so familiar that I took a step toward him, ready to throw myself into his arms and cry on his shoulder Ready, even, to tell him the truth about oing to be okay I needed serious help

But I looked at Bridger--dressed in designer jeans and a fitted short-sleeve polo shirt--and the sophisticated woether, like two er love me when he had someone like her?

My heart turned colder, harder, and heavier than a luan pushing on the bridge of his nose

"Bridger!" the wo her delicate hands on his cheeks and trying to look into his scrunched-shut eyes "Est-ce que tu es d’accord? Regarde-moi"

"Donne-moi juste une minute," he muttered

I ducked back into the sha selection of hair dye, and on iht color Black So black it was alined, of a supermassive black hole, a color that sed and devoured all the light around it Because that was how I felt

I tossed the dye in the cart and walked, in robot ain, to the food section I hardly looked at the things I grabbed Any type of food would do It’s not like I actually tasted it

Fro Naalyehe or José was in early--WednesdayI rode around to the back of the restaurant and sighed with relief José’s car was in the parking lot

When I walked into the kitchen with the bike andfrom the handlebars, José whirled around I must have looked pretty terrible, because when he sawdalena What’s wrong?" he asked gently, pattingwrath I hadn’t shown up for ht

"I need a few days off" I sobbed into his shoulder I don’t know exactly why I was crying Bridger? The dead man? José’s kindness? Maybe all three co else?"

"No" I pushed away from him and wiped my cheeks with the backs ofwork" I sniffled

"Oh It was nothing Tito didn’t show up, either, but ere so slow I ended up having Yana wash dishes and Penney run the dining room We didn’t need you, but orried about you"