Misplaced (117 page)

Shadows
,
smal
l
a
t
first
,
crep
t
a
w
a
y
fro
m
th
e
fores
t
and
attache
d
themsel
v
e
s
t
o
th
e
house
.
Soo
n
Celeste’
s
far
m
w
as
cloake
d
i
n
th
e
gloo
m
o
f
e
v
ening
.
E
v
entuall
y
Lil
a
an
d
Chris
arri
v
ed
,
hi
s
re
d
picku
p
backfirin
g
a
s
the
y
parked
.
H
e
w
ent
through
the
e
v
ening
chores—gathering
and
filling
small
bo
w
ls,
feedin
g
th
e
fish
,
geese
,
an
d
cats—a
s
thoug
h
nothin
g
had
happened.
Lila
sat
on
the
porch
of
the
guest
house,
her
shaking
hands
struggling
to
light
her
first
cigarette.
After
her
third
one,
sh
e
go
t
u
p
an
d
opene
d
th
e
cabi
n
door
.
Shamroc
k
bounded
to
w
ard
the
main
house,
her
limp
miraculously
gone.

Her
injury
w
as not as se
v
ere as it had appeared; she had adopted Celeste’s slo
w
er
pac
e
and
,
wit
h
it
,
th
e
exaggeratio
n
o
f
he
r
hi
p
injury
.
A
t
tha
t
thought,
V
ictoria’s tears finally
came.

Th
e
shadow
s
lengthene
d
an
d
a
strea
k
o
f
purplish-blu
e
raced
acros
s
th
e
sky
.
Th
e
win
d
came
,
tellin
g
the
m
tha
t
th
e
long
,
w
arm
days
of
summer
w
ere
o
v
er.
By
the
time
Khara
motioned
to
her,
she
w
as half-mad from
w
aiting.

Chapte
r
Forty-three
Kha
r
a

I
n
he
r
mind’
s
e
y
e
,
Khar
a
sa
w a
smal
l
patc
h
o
f
bloo
d
that
might mark the place where Celeste had passed from this life.
Bu
t
th
e
drop
s
stainin
g
th
e
carpe
t
thickene
d
int
o
a
pool
,
an
odious, moving
thing
creeping
across Celeste’s needlepointed rugs.
Soon,
it
trickled
underneath
the
doors
and
seeped
out
the
windows
.
Sh
e
shoo
k
he
r
head
,
bu
t
th
e
visio
n
persisted
.
The
entir
e
hous
e
w
a
s
hemorrhagin
g
now
;
i
t
w
a
s
gushin
g
through
th
e
ope
n
windows
,
drownin
g
e
v
erythin
g
i
n
it
s
path
.
Khara
fought the illusion, but it would not go a
w
ay.

Sh
e
woul
d
ne
v
e
r
forge
t
th
e
expression
s
o
f
horro
r
froze
n
o
n
th
e
face
s
o
f
th
e
me
n
Nando
r
ha
d
butchere
d
tha
t
terrible
day. Almost
e
v
ery
night,
she
w
as
forced
to
revisit
her
fathe
r
’s murder, to hear his last words spoken lovingly to an assassin
disguise
d
a
s a
daughte
r
wh
o
w
atche
d
wit
h
eage
r
e
y
e
s
a
s
he
bled to death.

Brushing strands of hair from
V
ictoria’s face, she ordered, “Follow
closely
and
pay
attention.”
Khara
sur
v
e
y
ed
the
barn,
main
house,
and
cabin
one
last
time
for
any
hint
of
mo
v
ement.
They paused from time to time, concealing themsel
v
es among
th
e
tree
s
t
o
b
e
certai
n
the
y would not be seen.
Underneath
her boots, the earth
w
as moist and slippery.
V
ictoria stumbled along
behind,
but
kept
up.
She
understood
all
too
w
ell
the
pain on
her
friend’s
face.
V
ictoria,
whose
fists
tightened
into
a
ball at
any
hint
of unfairness and who ne
v
er retreated
from a fight, seemed broken,
y
et her pain had only begun.

When
they
rea
c
hed
the
y
ell
o
w
tape,
Khara
w
hi
s
pere
d
, “
Y
o
u
canno
t
g
o
inside
;
the
y
wil
l
kno
w
w
e
ha
v
e
bee
n
here
.
Come,
sister.”

Fortune
w
as with them, for the cabin had not been sealed.
Th
e
doo
r
mad
e
th
e
sam
e
creakin
g
soun
d
a
s
al
w
ays
,
bu
t
no
w
the
wrenchin
g
nois
e
seeme
d
sinister
.
Heathe
r
o
f
Scotlan
d
peered
ou
t
fro
m
unde
r
th
e
couc
h
wit
h
frightene
d
e
y
es
,
bu
t
Khara
ignore
d
her
,
movin
g
quickl
y
int
o
th
e
bedroom
.
Sh
e
carried ou
t
th
e
mo
v
ement
s
she
’
d
practice
d
i
n
he
r
min
d
durin
g
the
long
afternoon.
From
the
bottom
shelf,
she reco
v
ered
Nando
r
’s pouch, tucking it inside her s
w
eater.

“Thos
e
bar
s
you
’
r
e
al
w
ay
s
eating,
”
sh
e
calle
d
softl
y
to
V
ictoria
,
wh
o
stoo
d
jus
t
insid
e
th
e
doo
r
a
s
thoug
h
i
n
an
unfamiliar place, “bring all of them. Bring socks, and put this on under your coat.” She tossed a heavy gray woolen s
w
eater onto the bed.

V
ictoria obe
y
ed without speaking. Khara obser
v
ed that she took notice of an en
v
elope laying
atop the console. She opened
it
,
studyin
g
th
e
content
s
fo
r a
momen
t
befor
e
gentl
y
placing
the
pages
back
inside
the
en
v
elope
and
placing
it
in
her
pocket. Whate
v
er the message, it had not been there earlier. There
w
as no time for it now. In less than a minute, they
w
ere moving to the
barn.
They
passed
the
corral,
where
Khara looked
forlornly
a
t
th
e
empt
y
rai
l
wher
e
Oli
v
e
r
ha
d
w
aite
d
fo
r
her
,
hi
s
long
blac
k
brai
d
glistenin
g
i
n
th
e
sun
.
Sh
e
though
t
o
f
th
e
w
a
y
h
e
ha
d
smiled
at
her
before
falling
back
to
sleep
after they
’
d
made
lo
v
e for the third time.

“What are
w
e doing here?”
V
ictoria asked.

“Getting
the
horses.”
Khara
felt
her
w
ay
into
the
tack
room,
pausing to gather two bridles from hooks on the
w
all.

“
Are you out of your mind?
Y
ou know I can’t ride.”

“I can see no other
w
ay.”

“Urrac
a
Mes
a
i
s
hundred
s
o
f
mile
s
fro
m
here
.
Hundreds
,
get
it?
There’s
no
w
ay
w
e
’
ll
get
there
in
time
for
the
eclipse
on
horseback.”