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fetal position, and though Rob took his denim jacket off and draped it over
her, she was shivering as if it were winter.
"I think she's in shock," Rob said.
"Yeah," I said. I'd heard things about shock. Like how shock alone could kill
someone after an accident, even someone who was not all that seriously
injured.
And Heather, if you asked me, was very seriously injured.
"Heather?" I peered into her face. It was hard to tell whether or not she
could hear me. "Heather, can you hear me? Listen, it's all right. Everything
is going to be all right."
Rob gave it a try.
"Heather," he said. "You're safe now. Look, can you tell us who did this? Can
you tell us who did this to you, Heather?"
That was when she finally opened her mouth. But what came out was not the
name of her attacker.
"Go away," Heather wailed, pushing ineffectually at me with her one unbroken
arm. "Go away before they come back . . . and find you here...."
Rob and I exchanged glances. In my concern over Heather, I had forgotten that
there was a very strong possibility this could happen. You know, that they
might actually come back and find us, I mean. I hoped Rob still had that
wrench handy.
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"It's all right, Heather," I said, trying to calm her. "Even if they do come
back, they can't take on all three of us."
"Yes, they can," Heather insisted. "Yes, they can, yes, they can, yes, they
can, yes & "
Okay, this was getting creepier by the minute. I had thought, you know, we'd
find her, and that would be it.
But clearly, that wasnot it. There was a lot more to it. Like, for instance,
how the hell we were going to get her out of there. No way was she going to be
able to stay on the bike in her condition. I wasn't sure she could even sit
up.
"Listen," I said to Rob. "You've got to go get that cop. The one by the
turnoff? Tell him to call an ambulance."
Rob looked down at me like I was nuts. "Are you crazy?" he wanted to know.
"You're the one who's going for the cop."
"Rob," I said, trying to keep my tone even and pleasant, so as not to alarm
Heather, who seemed to have enough on her mind at the moment. "I am staying
here with Heather. You are going for the cop."
"So you can get your arm broken like hers when they whoeverthey are come
back?" Rob's tone was not even or pleasant. It was determined and
grim-sounding. "Nuh-uh. I'm staying. You're going."
"Rob," I said. "No offense, but I think she'd be better off with someone
she "
But Rob didn't let me finish.
"And you'll be better off when you're miles away from here." Rob stood up and
took me by the arm, half-lifting, half-dragging me out of the bathtub. "Come
on."
I didn't want to go. Well, all right, Idid want to go, but I didn't think I
should go. I didn't want to leave Heather. I wasn't sure what, exactly, had
happened to her, but whatever it had been, it had traumatized her to the point
where I wasn't sure she even remembered her own name. How could I leave her
alone with a guy she didn't know, especially since it was a fair guess that
what had been done to her had been done by just that? Some random strange guy,
I mean.
Or guys, I should say, since she'd said "they."
On the other hand, I didn't exactly want to stay with Heather alone while Rob
went for help, either.
Fortunately, Rob made the decision for me. Bossy boyfriends do come in handy
sometimes.
"You follow our tracks," he said when he'd pulled me down the stairs, through
the party rooms, and out into the night air. "The tracks we made through the
pine needles. See them? Follow those back to the road, then make a left. Got
it? And do not stop. Do not stop for anything. When you find the guy, tell him
to take the old pit road. Okay? The pit road. If he's local, he'll know what
you're talking about."
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He had shoved his helmet over my head, making speech difficult. Still, as I
straddled the seat of the Indian, my feet barely reaching the boot rests, I
tried to express my great unease with this plan.
Rob wasn't listening, however. He was busy starting the engine.
"Don't stop," he shouted again, when he'd successfully maneuvered the
kickstart. "Do not stop for anyone not in uniform, understand?"
"But Rob," I said over the noise from the engine, which wasn't all that loud,
actually, since Rob kept his bike in good repair. "I've never ridden on a
motorcycle alone before. I'm not sure I know how."
"You'll be fine," he said.
"Um. I hesitate to mention this, but I think you should know, I don't exactly
have a driver's license yet "
"Don't worry about it. Just go."
He'd been holding on to the brake. Now he let go of it, and the bike jolted
forward. My heart lurched as I grabbed for the handles. I was so short, I had
to stretch out practically flat against the body of the bike to reach them . .
. but reach them I did. I'd be all right, I realized . . . until I had to
stop, anyway. No way were my short legs going to be able to reach the ground
while still keeping the bike, which had to weigh eight hundred pounds,
upright.
Rob had been right about one thing, anyway. I absolutely could not stop, and
not because some of Heather's attackers might still be lurking around, but
because once I stopped, I'd never be able to get the stupid thing up again.
And then I was careening back through the woods, trying to follow the ruts
the Indian's wheels had made through the bracken on our way in from the road.
It wasn't hard, exactly, to see where I was going the headlight was bright
enough that I could see a dozen or so feet ahead of me at all times. It was
just that it was much harder to steer than I'd thought. My arms were straining
with the effort of navigating the bike around all the trees that kept looming
up in front of it.
This is what you always wanted, I told myself, as I drove. A bike of your
own, to feel the wind on your face, to go as fast as you've always wanted, but [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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