"Here we go," he said as he slowed for the turn.
Molly had been almost completely silent since they had left the restaurant. Now she let out a long breath.
"Maybe this isn't such a good idea," she said. "Are you sure we should do this?"
"No. Did I sound sure?"
That earned him a smile, but only a very halfhearted one.
"Bill's going to be here tomorrow night," Molly continued. "Maybe we shouldn't be doing this without him."
The road up to the school passed a small lake on one side - barely large enough to make the upgrade from pond - and he gazed at the body of water briefly.
Buckton was a nice town. Old New England the way that most of New England had forgotten how to be. It was a shame that the Prowlers had to ruin it.
"Jack?" Molly prodded.
He braked slightly, the Jeep slowing as they glided around a long curve in the road.
"We could wait," he agreed. "Maybe they won't come at all. We could be totally wrong. And even if we're right, it may not be tonight. But if we're right about their reasoning here, hitting the library is the obvious next step."
Hands gripping the steering wheel, a chunk of ice in his gut, he glanced at Molly. "I've gotta do something, y'know? We spent the whole day sittin' around, and I can't do much more of that. Let's just check it out, see what we can see."
Molly did not respond. He glanced at her again and found her staring at him.
"What?" Jack asked, an edge in his voice.
"Whatever's going on, Bill will protect her. You know that."
"Yeah," he agreed. "I know that."
Molly's expression was sweet and gentle, and he regretted having snapped at her.
"I can hold my own, Jack. I've done it before," she began.
"I don't doubt that," he replied quickly. Molly waved his words away. "I know you don't. What I'm telling you is that I'm with you, all the way. But I'm afraid that the reason you don't want to wait is that you're so worried about Courtney and Bill that you're looking for something to worry about. We need to be careful, here."
"I'd never - " Jack began, but he bit off the denial. After a moment he exhaled. "Maybe there's something to that. But I think we need to find out as much as we can. If the book is here, and they get it, we might never find them. I need something to take my mind off things in Boston, yeah, but that doesn't mean this doesn't need to be done."
Molly reached out and touched his arm, then drew her hand away. "I just wanted to make sure."
Slowly she opened the glove compartment and removed the gun she had placed there earlier. Molly held the weapon in her hands and did not put it down again.
Buckton Regional High was all cement and faded brick and glass windows. There were houses scattered along the road, and a few beyond it. Several other official-looking buildings were within spitting distance of the school, and one of them was a circular stone structure.
"The library," Jack said softly.
The trees were farther back from the road here, and the heavy moon cast the night with an eerie, surreal illumination. Enough, in fact, that to Jack it felt like they were on some massive movie set.
He turned into the library parking lot.
"Jack, look!"
The large glass doors of the library and several of the windows were shattered. Their theory had proven itself correct, but Jack was not sure he was pleased.
"But it hasn't even been dark that long," he said, mostly to himself. "I never thought they'd come so early."
"Me, either," Molly agreed. "But it's really remote down here, not a lot of homes. I can't believe they beat us here. I thought we'd be up half the night."
"Let's check it out," he said.
He put the Jeep in Park and they got out quickly. He went around the back, keys jangling, intending to get something with more stopping power than the pistols they carried.
"They're still here," Molly whispered. "They're coming out."
Jack ran around to her side of the Jeep to see that several Prowlers had come out the front door and were already loping around to the side of the library and heading for the forest and the mountains beyond.
As they watched, others emerged. One of them carried a girl over his shoulder. At first Jack thought she might be dead or unconscious, but then she began to scream and beat at her captor.
Before Jack could stop her, Molly raised her pistol and fired once into the air.
"No!" Jack shouted, but it was too late.
The Prowler holding the girl stopped to glare at them. Even from a hundred yards away, Jack could see him sniffing the air, getting their scent. Others ran out of the library as well, and they began to gather on the lawn, some of them moving across the grass toward the parking lot.
"Get in the Jeep!" Jack said.
"But the girl - "
"There are too many." He had counted at least twelve so far, including those who had run into the woods.
Molly backed toward her door, gun in both hands.
Several of them hesitated. One, his muzzle dark with something Jack suspected was blood, snarled at the others. The one carrying the girl glared at them a moment, then turned and ran for the forest. One by one, most of the others in front of the library followed.
Two were left behind. A pair of Prowlers, snorting and slavering. They charged across the lawn toward the parking lot. Jack tested the weight of the keys in his hand, glanced through the back windshield of the Jeep at the crate Bill had loaded in there, and knew that he did not have enough time to get to those weapons.
Ninety yards away.
Not even enough time to get into the Jeep.
Molly took a step back.
"Too late," Jack told her. "If we run, or try to get to the
