accidents. I'll clean it up.'
She nodded. Her lips were pressed together. She stared down at her right arm, wrapped in a cast from fingertips to shoulder, held against her chest by a sling. Her mouth started to tremble.
'I'll get you some more wine, too,' Flash said as he pushed himself off the couch.
Heather put down her book. She followed him to the kitchen and leaned against the stove, watching him take a fresh bottle of wine and a can of Budweiser from the refrigerator. Her pale eyebrows were drawn together.
'Don't let your face freeze that way,' Flash said.
'She's bombed,' Heather said.
'Don't say that.'
'Well, she is.'
'So what,' he snapped.
Heather flinched and blinked. She looked as if she might start bawling.
'I'm sorry,' Flash said. 'It's all this damn
'You shouldn't let her drink so much.'
'If she wants to get plastered out of her skull tonight, that's fine by me. Normally, I'd…' He realized he didn't need to talk so loudly; the roar of the chopper had faded a bit. 'Normally, I'd be right with you, honey. It's not good to drink too much. But your mother went through a terrifying experience this morning. She and Rose both.'
'Rose isn't getting bombed.'
'She can if she wants.'
Heather looked as if she thought her father had gone crazy.
'Why don't you wipe off the coffee table for me?'
With a shrug of her delicate shoulders, she limped ova to the counter. She tore a yard of paper towels off the roll.
'How's the ankle?'
'It hurts some.' She grinned. 'Can I get bombed?'
'Do you want to?'
'No,' she said. She arched an eyebrow. 'I'll keep my wits about me, thank you.' Then she hobbled out of the kitchen, the towels fluttering behind her like a streamer.
Flash uncorked the wine bottle. He popped the tab of his beer can. As he carried them into the living room, the telephone rang, adding its clamor to the noise of the approaching helicopter.
'The phone,' Alice said.
'I'll get it,' he told her. It rang two mores times as he filled her glass.
'Might be Nick,' she said, a look of fear in her eyes.
Taking the beer with him, he rushed back into the kitchen and snatched up the receiver. 'Hello?'
'Hi, Flash, it's Scott.'
'Anything wrong?'
'The kids are. ' The roar of the helicopter drowned him out.
'What was that? We've got one of those fucking cop choppers raising Cain.'
'I was just saying the kids are off to the movies. How're Alice and Rose doing?'
'Aaah. Who knows? Okay, I guess. Nick fill you in?'
'Yeah. He said the operation went fine.'
'She'll be in a cast for a while. They don't think there'll be any permanent damage, but they aren't making any promises. You know doctors.'
'I sure hope it turns out all right. Look, one reason I called, I was wondering if you'd like to bring the bunch over tomorrow. Nick thought it sounded like a pretty good idea.'
'I bet he did,' Flash said. Chuckling, he took a swig of beer. 'Those two sure hit it off, huh?'
'I'd say so.'
'Well, sounds real good to me. I'll have to check with the general, but if I don't call back, you can expect us. Around what time?'
'If you want to make a day of it, drop in around ten or eleven. Bring your suits.'
'Want us to bring anything else?'
'Just your thirsts and appetites.'
'Real fine, Scott.'
'Have you heard anything from the cops?'
'Their fucking chopper.' He realized that the noise was fading a bit.
'About the situation.'
'Yeah. I know what you mean.' He swallowed some more beer. 'I got a call a couple hours ago. Some deputies and a ranger went in on horses. Couldn't find the body or the woman. They brought out our tents, though. Said we can pick 'em up at the Black Butte ranger station if we're so inclined.'
'I'm not.'
'Me neither. Not just yet. But anyway, everything's just up in the air, since they didn't get the body. Won't be an inquest or anything.'
'Nick seems to be holding up pretty well.'
'I guess we can thank your daughter for that. How's Karen getting along?'
'She's here now. She's doing pretty well. But that's another thing I wanted to talk to you about. She had an accident last night.' Flash listened, his concern for Karen turning to uneasy confusion when Scott told of the attack on Benny at the library, and Julie's leg cramps in the pool.
'Add in that dog attack on Alice and Rose,' he continued, 'and we've got four incidents in the past twenty- four hours.'
'What do you make of it?' Flash asked.
'I honestly don't know what to think. If it was just Karen falling in the tub and Julie's problem in the pool, I wouldn't be too concerned. I'd say it was just bad luck. But the dog attack…'
'Alice insists the thing was dead when it went for 'em.' 'Yeah, Nick mentioned that. And I haven't been able to figure out any logical explanation for what happened to Benny. Both those situations have me pretty worried. You can't just put them down as bad luck. They were actual assaults.'
Flash frowned at the wall. He took a sip of beer.
'Every one of those incidents could've turned out fatal. I'd say we've been damn lucky so far.'
'You thinking it's that old bag's hex?'
'That seems to be the consensus around here. I hate to go along with it, but I'm starting to wonder.'
'What're we gonna do?'
'One thing about it — we're certainly not powerless. In each case, some quick action has saved the day. All I can suggest, for now, is that we keep on our toes and watch out.'
'I guess your kid was right, huh? Benny. We should've grabbed that bitch when we had the chance.'
'I don't know. Maybe. I'm not convinced she has anything to do with all this. If she is behind it, though — I mean, if it's really a curse — apparently you and Nick might be in the clear.'
' 'Cause she didn't cut us?'
'Right.'
The chopper was returning. Flash set his beer can on the floor.
'She seemed to think she needed blood and hair from her victims to make it work. As far as we know, she didn't get to you or Nick.'
'As far as we know?' Flash asked. He pushed a forefinger into his left ear to muffle the outside noise.
'Well, I've been talking to Benny about this. He thinks you two are probably all right, unless she got something we don't know about. Apparently, it doesn't have to be blood or hair. A piece of your clothing will do. Fingernail parings. Benny was a little embarrassed to mention it, but if she dug around after we left and came up with some feces…'
Flash grimaced. 'A guy can't even take a crap.'
'Did you?'
'As a matter of fact, no. I didn't cut my toenails, either. Does that mean I'm safe?'
