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Sarah Howell grew more upset with the hours that afternoon. Two more people were dead and they had died as mysteriously, as unaccountably as the others - and Sarah had seen Dorothy Sims only a few hours before she murdered her husband, had seen that she was wearing the amulet. The details that the woman in the parking lot had given her had been confused, but it seemed fairly certain that Malcolm Sims and his wife were dead.

The afternoon break came and the news spread among the women on the assembly line, but no one had any new information. Sarah had hoped against hope that someone would be able to tell her of a simple reason for the deaths of Malcolm and Dorothy Sims, but instead, the women pressed
her
for details of what she had heard from Anna-Lee's mother. In the last hours of the working day, the assembly line rattled on, lurching and grinding, and Sarah's thoughts were fixed on the amulet. Where was it now? Who had it? Were there to be more deaths? More unhappiness? What seemed most likely, she had to admit, was that little Mary Shirley now had the amulet. It was necessary, if so, to get the thing away from the child before anything happened to her. Sarah didn't like the idea of going over to the Shirley place trying to find the little girl and take the amulet from her. Mary might not want to give it up, Sarah might look as if she were trying to steal it; she would look crazy. But no matter how unpleasant a task it might be, her duty was to get hold of the thing, and destroy it, or put it in a safety deposit box, or
something.

Therefore just after work, Sarah asked Becca to drive her over to the Shirley house. Sarah didn't want to tell Becca why she wanted to go, because she didn't want to be talked out of her feeble resolution. She had barely persuaded herself to take on this foolish project and she knew that just a couple of well-directed sarcastic remarks from Becca would be enough to send her scurrying home, leaving that poor child with the amulet in her possession. Therefore she refused to tell Becca anything beforehand, but promised that she would inform her in detail afterwards, whether or not she was successful with her unnamed project. Becca was suspicious of all this - more suspicious than curious, in fact - and she said she was perfectly willing to wait in the car while Sarah went into the house. Sarah gratefully accepted this offer. She felt much better about going into the Shirley house knowing that Becca was out in the car waiting for her.

'You sure do put up with me', said Sarah to Becca affectionately.

i sure do!' her friend cried. 'I don't know why I do it. And I'm blasted to hell and back if I know why you want to come to this place. James and Thelma Shirley are dead! You wanted to come over and speak to Dorothy and Malcolm Sims yesterday, but they're dead too! There's nobody left!'

'There's little Mary Shirley', replied Sarah cautiously.

Becca's brow darkened. 'Why you want to see that little girl? That little girl's had a peck of trouble since last week, and you ought not go in there upsetting her. You ought—' Becca suddenly broke off in the middle of her low-voiced cautions, and cried loudly, 'I don't know why I'm talking to you like this! This is absolutely crazy, Sarah Howell. You following up these dead people like you are. It's worse than chasing fires! What do you think you're doing? You didn't hardly know these people when they were alive, so why are you hanging around 'em after they're dead?' She shook her head slowly and Sarah made no immediate reply, but allowed Becca's accusations to stand, for the moment.

Then, slowly, she said, 'Becca, listen, you've just got to put up with me on this. I don't like it, you know I don't. I don't want to go in there and talk to little Mary Shirley, I didn't want to call up Dorothy Sims on the phone yesterday, but I did it. You don't think I would be doing
any
of this, do you, if I didn 't absolutely have to do it? I don't like going around asking questions about dead people.'

Becca said nothing for she knew that Sarah was in great earnest. 'Why do you do it then?' she asked grudgingly.

'I was scared to death yesterday afternoon to call up Dorothy

Sims and when I finally did get the gumption to call, she and Malcolm had already gone. If.I had got to them first, if I hadn't been such a firaidycat, Dorothy and Malcolm Sims would be alive today. Or even if they had died anyway, I wouldn't be feeling now like I was responsible for it.'

'You're not!' cried Becca. 'What were you going to say to them? Tell Malcolm his wife was going to bash his head in later on in the afternoon in the middle of Burnt Corn Creek? Or what were you gone say to her? If she wanted to kill the
man, you
or anything you said to her wasn't going to stop the woman.'

'It was the amulet, I think, that did it. Or it might have been. It don't matter right now if it did or didn't, just so long as I find the thing.'

"The amulet
! You still harping on that thing? How can a hunk of jewellery cause Dorothy Sims to beat her husband over the head with a automobile fender?'

Sarah shrugged. 'I don't know. I don't know how it could. But I do know how to count, and I count eleven people dead in this town since last Wednesday evening when Jo Howell gave that thing to Larry Coppage. I saw him with it, and I saw Dorothy Sims with it. They're both dead. Maybe it's just bad luck, but that's still enough reason to try to get hold of it again. People ought to be warned against bad luck.' Here Sarah looked sharply at her friend, knowing how superstitious she was.

Becca had to agree. 'Maybe you're right. I'm willing to believe that it's bad luck. They're some people that have bad luck, and there's certain pieces of furniture that's bad luck, and there's probably pieces of jewellery that's bad luck.'

'And I was thinking', said Sarah, 'that maybe it was little Mary Shirley that's got it now.' She paused and allowed Becca to think of this for a moment; Becca nodded slowly. 'And little Mary Shirley', said Sarah, 'is a very little girl, and she ought not have to put up with bad luck. It didn't do Dorothy Sims a bit of good, and i sure don't want anything to happen to little Mary.'

'I guess you 're right', said Becca. 'You go on in there and talk to the girl. I guess you might as well find out what she knows. If we can get the thing back, we might as well try, 'cause this town has had bad luck this past week, and it don't need no more.'

'You want to come in with me?'

T.A. - F

Becca shook her head. 'I don't want
none
of what happened in that house to rub off on me.'

Sarah started to open the car door; they had been parked for some few minutes in front of the Shirley house. Becca said, 'But you know, Sarah, I don't believe a word of it. Not a word.'

Sarah laughed silently, a mournful little laugh, and got out of the car.

'You get that thing', whispered Becca, 'and you bring it back out here with a pai r of ice tongs, 'cause I don't want you to touch it, you hear me?'

Sarah nodded and moved up the sidewalk. Gussie answered Sarah's knock, and with a slightly puzzled expression, invited Sarah into the living room. Little Mary sat on a couch in the living room eating a sandwich and watching cartoons on television.

'Who's she staying with now?' Sarah asked Gussie.

'I'm staying here with her right now', said Gussie. 'And the sheriff, he's trying to get hold of some relatives Miz Thelma had in Ohio. She didn't like 'em and they didn't like her, so far as I know, so I don't know what's gone 'come of this child. People are bringing by food, but Mary's just in the second grade.' By this, Gussie meant that Mary was being helped by the community right now, directly after her multiple bereavements, but that she had many many years of dependency left.

'Well', said Sarah, 'she seems to be all right for now, and that's a blessing.'

'Tore up', said Gussie shortly, 'she's just tore up!'

Little Mary Shirley looked up during the commercial, and stared inquisitively at Sarah Howell.

'Mary . ..' said Sarah.

'Ma'am?' said the little girl.

'Mary, can I talk with you a few minutes?'

'You come sit by me. You gone talk about Mama and Daddy, or you gone talk about Aunt Dot and Malcolm?' The child was wary, and had had enough of consolation for the time being.

Sarah moved into the room followed by Gussie, who turned off the television set.

'I want to ask you a few questions, Mary.'

'What do I get if I get the answers right? I sure could use a new box of colours. My green broke to pieces, and my black's all used up.'

'Yes', said Sarah, 'I'll give Gussie the money, and she can buy you some new colours.'

'How many questions do I have to answer?' the child demanded.

'Just a few', said Sarah. 'Now Mary, I don't want to upset you, but I want to know what your Aunt Dot was wearing when you had that accident on the way to Montgomery.'

'Wearing a dress. Mama always said Aunt Dot's hips was too big to wear pants decent.'

'No', said Sarah, 'did she have on a necklace, that's what I want to know.'

Mary shrugged.

'You don't remember?'

Mary shook her head. 'Do I still get the colours?'

Sarah nodded. 'You don't have a necklace, do you, Mary, that's a gold chain with a thing on the end of it that's round and black and gold?'

Again Mary shook her head. The child shrugged dramatically, and looked very sad indeed, afraid that she would not get the crayons, being unable to answer Sarah's questions satisfactorily.

But Gussie spoke then. 'That's Miz Thelma's necklace you talking about.'

Sarah looked up in surprise.

'I found that thing right under the bed on Saturday morning, when I was cleaning up. I didn't never see it before. You know where it come from?'

Sarah did not reply to that question, but only asked, 'You haven't seen it since then, have you?'

Gussie shook her head.

Sarah then told a little lie. 'That thing belonged to my husband's mama, and she had lent it to Thelma. So if you do come across it, you be sure and call me, will you, Gussie? It's real important, you understand me?'

Gussie nodded, and after leaving a dollar with which Gussie was to buy Mary's box of crayons, Sarah left the Shirley house.

Becca quizzed Sarah immediately on what she had found out.

'So', said Becca, at the end of Sarah's relation, 'it's not there. It got broken off or something when Dorothy got run down in the road. Or it's still on her, and is gone get buried with her.' She was trying to reassure Sarah.

But Sarah was not so easily consoled. 'All we know is that little Mary doesn't have it, and that's something, I suppose.'

'Why do you look so unhappy, then?' said Becca.

'Because', said Sarah, 'of what Gussie said. She said that she found the amulet under Thelma Shirley's bed when she was
cleaning up ..
.' Sarah and Becca both shuddered at the thought of the two corpses and the great pools of blood. 'That means that Thelma Shirley had it in the house. And that means I was right. Larry Coppage didn't give it to Dorothy Sims direct. He gave it to Thelma and then Thelma killed her husband and died herself. Then Dorothy Sims found it, put it on - we saw her with it on - and then went and killed her husband and got killed herself.'

Becca whistled.

'You know what that means?' asked Sarah.

'What does it mean?' demanded Becca. 'I think I know what it means', she added sourly.

it means', said Sarah, 'that we know of three people who got hold of that amulet, they're all three of 'em dead, and their families with 'em. 'Cept for little Mary Shirley, and who knows what's gone come of her now?'

'That's the worst luck I ever heard of, Becca judged, i 'That's worse than bad luck', said Sarah. 'Bad luck is just sort of coincidence. I don't think that this was coincidence. I really do think that amulet's got something to do with it.'

'That's crazy, Sarah, and you know it! What could it have to do with it, except being bad luck and all?'

'I don't know, but I do know I got to find it and get rid of it before anybody else gets hold of it. I mean, what if somebody else was to die? How would you feel, knowing what I just told you, knowing that we didn't do everything in our power to get hold of it and get rid of it?'

'Ijust cain't believe it.. .'Becca maintained, it's too crazy.' Then she thought for a moment. 'But if there was something wrong with that necklace, I mean something
really
wrong with it, then that means that Jo Howell probably gave it to Larry

Coppage on purpose, knowing what it would do. That's what it means, don't it?'

Sarah didn't answer,

'That means that Jo Howell is responsible for all them people dying, don't it?'

Again Sarah said nothing. This was the part of it that she disliked thinking about most of all.

'I believe
that
!' cried Becca. 'I wouldn't put it past her. She found out where to get them things and she was the first in line for it. She probably ordered two of 'em! That woman peeves me, that woman hasn't done nothing but peeve me since the day I laid eyes on her broad behind! I wouldn't be surprised if she set out to get back at Larry Coppage for not giving Dean a job. You said she was mad at him for it.'