"What about you?" Jimmy managed.

Another scream rent the night. "Just go! Wow!"

The children darted around her and pounded down the lane toward their bikes. Natalie hesitated. She should go with the children. Or stay where she was. G.o.d knew what was going on in that house.

Another chilling, agonized scream. Blaine barked frenziedly and lunged forward. Without thought, Natalie followed.

She hadn't realized how close she was to the house until within seconds its bulk loomed ahead of her. Flickering light spilled from the windows onto the ragged growth that had once been a lawn. Candlelight. No. The light didn't flicker, it leaped. Bigger flames than candles could create.

Blaine was ahead of her, running back and forth in front of the house, barking wildly. Natalie hesitated again as the shadow of the house fell over her. Then she thought of what the children had said. The killer was a she with long blond hair. Alison. She knew it. But there had been the screams and now the fire. What if Alison wasn't the killer but the victim?

The door of the house stood open. Natalie stepped cautiously into a musty hall. To her left was a darkened room. To her right light glimmered through the doorway of another room. She moved toward it, her heart thudding. A thin veil of smoke floated toward her, enough to sting her eyes and nose, not enough to make her cough. She put her hand over her nose, took a deep breath and held it. Then she crept into the room.

Candles everywhere. A body lying facedown on the floor, pale blond hair spilling around the head, flames eating at a long, white gown.

Natalie rushed forward, grabbing up a small rug as she a.s.sessed the extent of the fire. Not bad. She slapped the rug down on the burning edge of the robe. Once, twice, three times. Then the overturned candle beside the body, then the small pillow whose foam rubber stuffing puffed most of the smoke. The wooden floor below, dampened by long years of moist lake air and no heat, merely smoldered.

Natalie tossed the rug onto the wood and stepped on it a few times. Satisfied that she'd extinguished all of the minor fire, she pulled the body away from the scorched flooring, turned it over, and swept back the blond hair. Alison Cosgrove's eyes remained closed, her face deathly white, as blood oozed from the ugly gash on her delicate neck.

17.

Sirens. Flashing lights. Police cars. An ambulance. Emergency technicians. Cops. A frantic, shouting Nick Meredith.

"Where is my daughter? Is she all right? What are you doing here, Natalie? Do you have a death wish or something?"

"Will you just calm down?" Natalie begged. "No one can tell you anything while you're standing here bellowing."

"Pardon me for raising my voice, but I want to know WHAT THE h.e.l.l IS GOING ON!"

Natalie flinched. "I will tell you what the h.e.l.l is going on if you promise not to say one more word until I finish explaining." Nick glowered. "I mean it."

"All right," he ground out.

Natalie took a deep breath. "I stopped by your house. Paige was gone. I came looking for her-"

"I know that much. What I want to know is-"

"Nick, be quiet. You promised." He stared hard at her for a moment, then nodded. "Something Paige had said to me made me think she'd been to the Saunders house. When we got to Hyacinth Lane, Blaine started tracking her. We ran into her and Jimmy. They babbled something about the killer being in the house and showed me a picture. Then we heard screams. I sent the kids to Jimmy's and I came to the house."

"So Paige is at Jimmy's?"

"I'm sure Beth Jenkins wouldn't have let her leave."

Emergency technicians carried Alison from the house. She lay motionless, covered with a blanket and strapped to the gurney. An oxygen mask covered her face and an IV bag dangled above her head. "Is she alive?" Nick called.

"Yes. Barely. She's in shock. Only first-degree burns on her legs," one of the E.M.T.s answered. "The throat is another story. If she'd been found just five minutes later by someone who didn't know exactly how to apply pressure, she'd be gone."

Nick looked at Natalie. "You saved her life."

"You say that like an accusation."

"No. I just want to be mad at you, but how can I when you saved a life?"

"You can't and I'm freezing, so why don't we go to the Jenkins house, make sure Paige is safe, and find out what the kids saw?"

"It's not that cold. You're scared." Nick took off his jacket and handed it to her. "Hysell, you know what to do here," he called. Ted looked surprised, then immediately began bawling orders, even to people standing next to him.

Ten minutes later two wide-eyed children stood in front of the sheriff. Paige's freckles stood out against her milk white skin. Jimmy had lost most of his swagger. Nick had pulled himself up to his full six-feet-two, and even Beth Jenkins and her balding husband looked frightened. Blaine lying at her feet, Natalie let herself be swallowed by an overstuffed recliner. She still wore Nick's jacket and with both hands she held the hot mug of coffee Beth had shoved at her. as soon as she came in. Natalie felt oddly detached, almost as if she were floating high above the tableau. She did not let herself think about Alison.

Nick pinned the children with a dark blue glare. "I want to know what you two were doing at the Saunders house," he said in a deliberate, loud voice. "No lies, no evasions."

"I go over to the Saunders house all the time," Jimmy volunteered. "I'm allowed."

"Not at night. And not with a little girl," his father bl.u.s.tered. "What were you thinking? Are you out of your mind?"

Nick held up his hand for silence. "Paige?"

"I... well... I wanted to see the house."

"But you sneaked out to do it," Nick said severely. "And this is not the first time."

"Well... no. I've been there once before."

"You sneaked out of your room and came with Jimmy."

"Yes," Paige said miserably.

"But Jimmy didn't force her to go, did you Jimmy?" Beth interrupted anxiously.

Nick looked at her. "I'm sure he didn't force her. He no doubt persuaded her. But I'm not putting the blame entirely on Jimmy. Paige knows better than to pull a stupid trick like this."

Paige's face went from white to crimson. Wretchedness shone in her beautiful eyes. Natalie knew the child had done wrong, but she empathized with her. She would have done the same thing at Paige's age. She probably had no influence with Nick Meredith, but she would try to make him see that under normal circ.u.mstances what Paige had done would not be the end of the world. Of course having a murderer on the loose wasn't a normal circ.u.mstance for Port Ariel, as Paige well knew. Calming down Nick would not be easy.

"We'll deal with the lectures and punishments later," Nick continued evenly, although Natalie expected any moment to see steam explode from his ears. "Right now I want to know everything you saw. Jimmy, you first."

"Yes, sir." Jimmy stepped forward, suddenly military in his bearing. "We arrived at the Saunders house at 8:25. I looked at my watch because we were doing something real important and I knew you'd want me to get everything right."

"You were going to tell me about this?" Nick asked incredulously.

"Oh, yes, sir. Well... not everything. I wasn't going to tell you about Paige being with me. See, I sort of made her go."

"Jimmy!" both elder Jenkinses barked as Paige threw him a grateful look.

"How did you make her?" Nick demanded.

"I kinda embarra.s.sed her into it. I said she was too scared. A little girl. She hates that."

"Jimmy, you're never going to set foot outside this house again!" Beth began shrilly before she spotted another junior Jenkins peeking around the door facing and went after him, shouting.

"Go ahead, Jimmy," Nick said. "It was 8:25 and..."

"And nothing happened for a few minutes. I knew it would, though. I had a hunch. So then someone started lighting candles, and then the music came on real loud. I went up to the window because Paige and me wanted a picture of the killer we saw the other night at the house." Nick frowned ferociously. Paige shrank. Jimmy hesitated, then plunged on. "Someone was wearing a long white thing and dancing. I was surprised. I thought it would be some awful-looking guy, but it was a girl with blond hair. I took the picture. She saw me. She ran out of the room, and Paige and me took off. Then Blaine and Natalie caught us, and you know the rest."

"The girl was alone?"

"Yeah. Dancin' like I said."

"You didn't see anyone in the room with her?"

Jimmy shook his head. "Just about a hundred candles."

More like ten, Natalie thought, but Jimmy was excited. He blinked at the sheriff, clearly expecting more questions, but Nick's attention had turned back to Paige.

"Is that what you saw?"

"I... I didn't go up to the window. I was standing closer to the front door. And I saw something else. Somebody" came out of a room and crossed the hall to where the girl in the white robe was."

Nick leaned forward. "What did this person look like?"

"It was dark and I couldn't see real good. There was this thing like a..." She searched for the word. "I think they call it a poncho. With a hood. I couldn't see the face. I'm sorry," Paige ended meekly.

Natalie knew the apology was two-p.r.o.nged. Paige was sorry for not seeing who was wearing the poncho. She was also sorry for sneaking out. She sounded so pitiful Natalie didn't know how Nick could stay angry with her, but he didn't look as if he were softening.

"So you kids have seen someone at the house before, someone burning candles and dancing to loud music, but you never said a word about it," Nick accused.

"We didn't think you'd believe us," Jimmy explained. "It was so weird-the candles and the music and the person in a robe."

"A girl named Alison Cosgrove is Ariel's descendant," Natalie said. "I think she's been dressing up and going to that house at night, pretending to be Ariel."

Paige's eyes widened. "You mean that girl we saw is the killer?"

Nick said harshly, "I don't think so. The person wearing the poncho is the killer. He cut Alison's throat."

Jimmy's face slackened and Paige cringed. "Is she dead?" she asked timorously.

"No, but she could have been. So could you. You have no idea of how much danger you were in." Nick's voice rose. "If you hadn't run away when you did... If Natalie hadn't come along, I don't know what might have happened!"

Hearing the agitation in his voice, Blaine jumped up and barked. "I think everyone gets the idea, Sheriff," Natalie said calmly. "Paige needs to go home now-"

"I'll decide what my daughter needs," Nick snapped.

"Okay. What do you think she needs?"

Nick hesitated. "To go home. Will you take her? I have to get back to the Saunders house."

"I'll be glad to take her." Natalie stood and suddenly realized how weak her legs felt.

On the ride home, Paige began to cry quietly. Blaine nudged her and she wrapped her arms around the dog's neck. "Are you all right?" Natalie asked.

"Yeah, I guess." She sniffled. "I've never been so scared."

"I haven't, either."

"Really? You don't act like you're scared."

"Sometimes it takes our bodies a while to register how scared we've been. We look all right, and then we fall apart."

More sniffles. "Do you think my dad still loves me?"

"Of course he does! He's angry because you sneaked out and he's frightened when he thinks about what might have happened to you, but he will always love you."

"Maybe," Paige said doubtfully. "Do you think he hates Jimmy?"

"No. He's mad at Jimmy for luring you out, but he doesn't hate him."

"How do you know?"

How did she know? Lots of parents would turn Jimmy into a villain, bad-mouth the child all over town, forbid him to come within fifty feet of his daughter again. "I haven't known your father long, but I have a feeling he's a fair person," she said carefully. "He will realize Jimmy isn't an adult. He's an impulsive kid who probably learned an important lesson tonight."

And I hope all that's true, Natalie thought. Otherwise, Paige will be disappointed in her father. And so will I.

"Do you know the girl that got her throat..." Paige shuddered.

"Yes, a little."

"You said her name is Alison. Is she the crazy girl Mrs. Collins was talking about on the phone today?"

Mrs. Collins, who gossiped incessantly around Paige. Nick must replace that woman. "Something awful happened to Alison when she was much younger than you and she never recovered. She's what they call unstable." And you have called crazy, Natalie thought with a stab of guilt. "She's been missing since last night and everyone has been terribly worried."

"If I'd known it was her we saw at the Saunders house, I would have told someone," Paige said earnestly.

"I'm not absolutely sure it was her. I'm just guessing because I know she loves the story of Ariel and she loves rock music. I know you would have told someone about someone being at the house playing music, though, if you hadn't been so scared."

Paige was silent for a few minutes. Then she said in a tiny voice, "Natalie, I didn't tell my dad the complete truth."

Natalie felt a cold tingle in her neck. "The complete truth about what, honey?"

"About the person in the poncho. The person that cut Alison's throat and maybe killed all those other people."

Natalie asked urgently, "What is it that you didn't tell your father?"

"I told Daddy I didn't get a good look at the person's face because of the hood and that was the honest truth. I didn't even tell Jimmy. But the person in the poncho looked right at me and I didn't have a hood on. He saw me, Natalie, and he prob'ly thinks I saw him!" Paige's voice rose to a wail. "Now he's gonna hunt me down and cut my throat!"