Crouched over her shovel,Mary-Lynnette froze.
Stop worrying, she told herself. That's not the sisters. It's not Ash coming back. That's an animal.
She listened. A mournful maaaa came from the goat shed.
It wasn't anything. It was a rabbit. Dig!
She got out a spadeful of dirt-and then she heardit again.
Hoosh.
A snuffling sound. Then a rustling. Definitely an animal. But if it was a rabbit, it was an awfully loud one.
Who cares what it is? Mary-Lynnette told herself.There aren't any dangerous animalsout here. And I'm not afraid of the dark. It's my natural habitat. I love the night.
But tonight, somehow, she felt differently. Maybe it was just the scene with Ash that had shaken her, made her feel confused and discontented. But just now she felt almost as if something was trying to tell her that the dark wasn't any human's natural habitat. That she wasn't built for it, with her weak eyes and her insensitive ears and dull nose. That she didn't belong.
Hoosh.
I may have rotten hearing, but I can hearthatjustfine. And it's big. Something big's sniffing around in bushes.
What kind of big animal could be out here? Itwasn't a deer deer went snort-wheeze. It sounded larger than a coyote, taller. A bear?
Then she heard a different sound the vigorousshaking of dry, leathery rhododendron leaves. In the dim light from the house she couldseethe branches churning as something tried to emerge.
it's coming out.
Mary-Lynnette clutched her shovel and ran. Nottoward the gap in the hedge, not toward the housethey were both too dangerous. She ran to the goat shed.
I can defend myself in here-keep it out---hit itwith the shovel....
The problem was that she couldn't see from in here.There were two windows in the shed, but between dirt on the glass and the darkness outside, Mary-Lynnette couldn't make out anything. She couldn'teven see the goats, although she could hear them.
Don't turn on the penlight. It'll just give awayyour position.
Holding absolutely still, she strained tohear any thing from outside.
Nothing.
Her nostrils were full of goat. The layers of oat straw and decomposing droppings on the floor were smelly, and they kept the shed too warm. Her palms were sweating as she gripped the shovel.
I've never hit anybody ... not since Mark and Iwere kids fighting ... but, heck, I kicked a strangerthis morning... .
She hoped the potential for violence would comeout now when she needed it.
A goat nudged her shoulder.Mary-Lynnette shrugged it away. The other goat bleated suddenlyand she bit her lip.
Oh, God-I heard something out there. The goatheard it, too.
She could taste her bitten lip. It was like sucking on a penny. Blood tasted like copper, which, she realizedsuddenly, tasted like fear.
Something opened the shed door.
What happened then was that Mary-Lynnette Something unholy was after her. Something thatsniffed like an animal but could open doors like ahuman.
She couldn't see what it was-just a shadowdarkness against darkness. She didn't think ofturning on the penlight-her only impulse was to smash out with the shovel now, to get ft before ft could get her. She was tingling with the instinct forpure, primordial violence.
Instead, she managed to hiss, "Who is ft? Who'sthere?"
A familiar voice said,"Iknew you were going to do this. I've been lookingeverywherefor you."
"Oh,God, Mark." Mary-Lynnette sagged against wall of the shed, letting go of the shovel.
The goats were both bleating. Mary-Lynnette's earswere ringing. Mark shuffled farther in.
"Jeez, this place smells. What are you doing inhere?"
"Youjerk,"Mary-Lynnette said. "I almost brained you!"
0"You said you were forgetting all this crazy stuff. You lied to me."
"Mark, you don't ...We can talk later.... Did you hearanything out there?" She was trying to gather her thoughts.
"Like what?" He was so calm. It made MaryLynnette feel vaguely foolish. Then his voice sharpened. "Like a yowling?"
"No. Like a snuffling." Mary-Lynnette's breath was slowing.
"I didn't hear anything. We'd better get out ofhere. What are we supposed to say if Jade comes out?"
Mary-Lynnette didn't know how to answer that. Mark was in a different world, a happy, shiny world where the worst that could happen tonight was embarrassment.
Finally she said "Mark, listen to me. I'm your sister. I don't have any reason to lie to you, or playtricks on you, or put down somebody you like. AndI don't just jump to conclusions; I don't imagine things. But I'm telling you, absolutely seriously,that there is something weird going on with these girls."
Mark opened his mouth, but she went on relentlessly. "So now there are only two things you can believe, and one is that I'm completely out of mymind, and the other is that it's true. Do you really think I'm crazy?"
She was thinking of the past as she said it, of allthe nights they'd held on to each other when their mother wassick, of the books she'd read out loud tohim, of the times she'd put Band-Aids on his scrapes and extra cookies in his lunch. And somehow, even though it was dark, she could sense that Mark was remembering, too. They'd shared so much. They would always be connected.
Finally Mark said quietly, "You're not crazy."
"Thank you."
"But I don't know what to think. Jade wouldn't hurtanybody. I justknow that. And since I met her , ."Hepaused. "Mare, it's like now I know why I'm alive.She's different from any girl I've ever known.
She's ____ she's so brave, and so funny, and so ... herself."
And I thought it was the blond hair, MaryLynnette thought. Shows how shallow I am.
She was moved and surprised by the change in Mark-but mostly she was frightened. Frightenedsick.