A New Beginning

to get the van fixed and get moving.

'Well, I'll be sorry to see you go,' Bell said.

'You'll find someone new by then,' Liz said.

Just then, Jimmy was coming out of the kitchen, and Liz saw his face drop. Liz cursed herself. She walked over to Jimmy and said, 'I didn't mean it like that. I'm sure she'll be back.”

Jimmy nodded and went back to work.

Then Maria was next to Liz and patting her arm.

'You girls deserve a break, if you want to sit down. And have something to eat,' Bell said, gesturing to a table.

'If it's okay, we'd like to order some food to take to our friends before the lunch rush,' Liz said.

'Sure, just tell Sam what you want,' Bell said.

Then she shouted into the back, 'Sam, keep the grill hot.”

She and Maria conferred on the order, and Maria brought it to Sam.

As soon as she left, Jimmy was next to Liz.

'Hi Jimmy,' Liz said.

The boy was silent, but Liz could see that he wanted to say something. Finally, he said, 'They only take girls.”

'What?' she said. Then she realized what he was say- ing. 'Who takes them, Jimmy? Do you know who took your sister?”

Jimmy shook his head. 'Why do they do that? Why do you think they take girls?' he asked.

Liz felt the weight of what Jimmy was carrying for a moment and she didn't need any special alien-powers to see it. 'I don't know, Jimmy,' was all she could say.

'Sometimes they come back after a day or two. And they're okay, mostly,' he said. Then he added, 'Jessica's been gone for a week.”

Almost instantly, Jimmy was on the verge of tears. Then he was over the verge. Liz reached out with her hand and touched his arm gently. The world shifted around her. She wasn't in the diner anymore. She was in a room, except room wasn't the right word for where she was.

Then there was screaming. A girl was screaming.

The scene changed, and Liz saw Jimmy standing in a field. No, it wasn't a field. There were buildings.

Headstones. He was standing in a sea of headstones. Leaning down, he placed a single white carnation in front of one of the stones. Liz didn't just see him, she felt him… felt what he was feeling. She felt the grief in her stomach. It felt like someone was tearing out her insides.

Then she was back in the diner and Jimmy was looking at her with concern. 'Are you okay, Liz?' he asked.

Liz shook her head; the images were already receding, but not the knot in her stomach.

'You remembered something, didn't you?' he asked.

'Remembered?' she said.

'You remember things too. Things that haven't hap- pened yet,' he said.

He said it evenly, matter-of-factly, as if he already knew.

– 'Yes,' she found herself saying. 'Do you remember things, Jimmy? Is that how you knew I was going to spill the sugar?”

He nodded. 'But I try not to talk about it. It makes people nervous,' he said. 'Did you see Jessica?' he asked.

'No,' Liz said quickly, hating to lie to his open and trusting face. Yet it was a kindness, she knew. No doubt he had seen that she had remembered something bad.

'Okay,' he said.

'Jimmy, Sam needs you in the back,' Bell said from behind the counter.

'Okay,' Jimmy said, and he was off.

'Come on, Parker,' Maria said from behind her.

Liz turned to face her friend, and Maria immediately saw something in her face. 'What is it?' Maria asked.

Liz shook her head. 'Nothing, I'm just tired.”

'Liar,' Maria said, sitting down and putting the bags of to-go food down on the table.

'I had another flash,' Liz admitted. 'I'm not even really sure what I saw.”

Maria's hand reached out for hers.

'It's okay, really. I'm sure it was nothing. Just spooked me. It's the first one I've had since yesterday. I don't even really know what it was,' she said.

Her friend eyed her carefully for a moment and said, 'Come on, we'll deliver this food and walk it off.”

Liz shook her head. 'I'd rather just sit down for a few minutes,' she said. The truth was that she knew she would be able to hide from Max even less than she was able to hide from Maria.

She didn't want to answer any questions right now.

'Okay, I'll do it,' Maria said. She got up and grabbed the food. 'Are you sure you're okay?”

'Yeah,' Liz said, mustering a smile.

When the door closed behind Maria a few seconds later, Liz found that the knot in her stomach had not sub- sided a bit.

Who was that guy in Greek myths? He was cursed to see the future and be powerless to stop it, she thought.

Well, Liz was sure she had seen the future. And she was equally certain that Jimmy's sister was going to die, and soon.

9

Kyle walked around the front of the garage and saw Dan coming out of the office. 'I'm ready to go,' Kyle said.

Dan nodded and said, 'Okay, go to the office and punch in, then I need you to pull the transmission on the Plymouth. You can do that?”

'Sure,' Kyle said. 'And I can drop the new one in.”

'We'll have it this morning,' Dan said.

'Look,' Kyle said before Dan could turn and head for the garage, 'I want to thank you for letting us use the room in the back, and for breakfast. My friends and I really appreciate it.”

Dan just looked at him and nodded. 'You and your friends can stay there as long as everybody behaves them- selves and you don't wreck the place.”

Then, without another word, Dan turned and headed for the garage.

Kyle walked around to the office and found it occupied.

The girl behind the desk smiled and said, 'Hi, my name is Dawn.”

For a second, Kyle was too surprised to respond. He had expected the office to be empty.

'You must be Kyle,' she said, holding out her hand. Kyle shook it and smiled, 'Nice to meet you, Dawn.”

Kyle shook it and smiled, 'Nice to meet you, Dawn.”

It was nice to meet her. Kyle guessed she was about his age, maybe a little older. She was definitely pretty. She had shoulder-length blond hair that curled at the ends. She also had a nice smile.

And she smelled great.

Suddenly Kyle was keenly aware of how long it had been since he had last had a date.

'Here,' she said, holding out a time card with his name printed out in a neat, female handwriting.

Definitely way too long, Kyle thought. And Buddha's Mid- dle Way teaches us to avoid extreme forms of self-denial.

Kyle decided that a week or two in Stonewall wouldn't be so bad after all.

Taking the time card, he ran it under the clock, which stamped it with the time. Then he put it on a rack on