against Cora’s shoulder.
The blow knocked her backward. The barrels swung toward the sky. Even as she tried to catch herself with her right leg and cried out, Abilene knew she was going down.
The kid bolted, looking over his shoulder at Abilene. She was rushing him before Cora hit the ground.
He raced into the field.
Abilene sprinted after him, flinging her legs out long and quick, pumping her arms, the blade of Batty’s knife flashing beside her face each time her right arm shot up. In seconds, she was wheezing for breath. Her muscles burned.
The kid got farther and farther away from her.
And he was running along the edge of the field, not across it, not fleeing toward the lodge. He’d been watching. He knew that Finley and Vivian were in that direction.
Abilene looked toward the corner of the lodge.
No Finley, no Vivian.
Where are they?
He’s gonna get away!
Turning her head forward again, she fixed her eyes on the kid’s gleaming back. He was fifteen, twenty feet ahead of her. Closing in on the woods at the corner of the field.
Can’t let him.
Can’t let him get away.
He killed Helen.
Abilene staggered to a halt. She turned the knife around and clamped the blade tight between her thumb and the curled side of her forefinger. She cocked it back over her shoulder and threw it.
Not a chance, she thought.
But she knew she couldn’t chase him down.
The knife tumbled end over end. At first, it seemed to be whipping straight for the kid’s head. That’s where she had aimed, figuring that even if she wasn’t good enough to make the blade stick, the handle might at least connect and stun him.
But the knife began to drop.
Gonna fall short.
Expecting it to hit the ground behind him, Abilene wanted to be there fast to retrieve it. She forced herself to run. And only took a single stride before the blade sank deep into the back of the kid’s left thigh. He twitched and cried ‘Yeeah!’ His leg jumped upward instead of striding out. He dived at the ground as if sliding head first for a base.
He reached around. He grabbed the knife. He yanked it out of his leg an instant before Abilene smashed down on his back. He grunted under the impact. Abilene hooked one arm across his throat and squeezed. Her other arm stretched out sideways and grabbed the wrist of his knife hand. She tried to keep it pinned to the ground as she choked him.
He bucked and writhed, slippery beneath her. He shook his head. He dug his chin into her forearm. He shoved himself upward with his right arm. Abilene felt his body rise and tilt. Starting to slide, she swung a leg over his hip.
Together, they rolled. He came down on top of her. Though she could barely breathe under his weight, she kept her grip on his knife hand and tried to tighten her stranglehold. She hooked her legs over his.
When he shoved her arm away from his throat, she jammed her mouth against the back of his head. His hair was wet and oily, so thick that she thought she might not get through it. But her teeth found his scalp.
He yelped and let go and drove his elbow down. It smacked into her just below the armpit. At the shock of pain, her mouth sprang open. He got his head away from her teeth, but she clutched his throat again. The elbow punched her a second time. And he kept on pumping it down, pounding her side. Each blow seemed to steal more of her strength.
She was helpless to stop him when the kid pushed her arm away from his throat, freed his knife hand from her grip, kicked his legs out from under hers and rolled off.
She lay on her back, struggling for air.
He got to his hands and knees. The knife in his left hand was pressed against the ground. He was gasping just as hard as Abilene. Raising his head, he looked at her through cords of wet hair that had fallen over his face.
‘I… didn’t… do it,’ he panted.
He suddenly raised his head higher. His face, red and dripping behind the strands of hair, twisted with despair.
Abilene could guess why.
She wondered if she had enough energy to turn her head so she could watch Finley and Vivian racing to her rescue.
She was still thinking about it when the kid scurried to her side and pressed the knife blade against her throat.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
On his knees by Abilene’s shoulder, hunched over her and holding the knife against her throat, the kid stared up at Finley and Vivian. They halted just on the other side of Abilene.
Finley had the old, rust-speckled knife in one hand, a water bottle in the other. Vivian was holding Abilene’s moccasins and a plaid blouse.
‘Go away,’ the kid said. ‘Leave me be.’
Finley dropped the knife. ‘Just take it easy.’
‘Where’s Cora?’ Vivian asked.
‘She’s… okay,’ Abilene gasped.
‘I only just wanta go home,’ the kid said. ‘I never hurt no one.’
‘What’s your name?’ Vivian asked.
‘Jim.’
‘I’m Vivian. This is Finley. That’s our friend, Abilene. We don’t mean you any harm. Why don’t you put your knife away? You can leave. Nobody’ll try to stop you.’
‘Yeah, ya will. Ya think I killed that girl.’
‘Did you?’ Finley asked.
‘I already said. Weren’t me. My brother, Hank, he’s the one. He’s crazy. All I done, I tried to scare ya off. Didn’t want him doing that to none a ya.’
‘Are you the one who threw our stuff in the pool last night?’ Vivian asked.
He nodded. ‘To scare ya off. I didn’t take nothing. Honest.’
‘It’s all right,’ Vivian said. ‘We don’t care if you took something.’
‘Well, I didn’t.’
‘What about the car keys?’ Finley asked.
‘I didn’t see no keys. Didn’t take no keys.’
‘What did you take?’ Finley asked.
‘Nothing! ’
‘Damn it, Fin,’ Abilene blurted.
‘He’s lying.’
‘He’s gonna slit my throat, you dumb shit.’
‘No, he won’t. Don’t worry. If he does, I’ll kill him. You don’t want me to kill you, do you Jim? What did you take?’
‘Nothing.’ He sounded as if he might start'to cry. ‘Just a… thing. It weren’t yours. Ya don’t wear ’em.’
