"Next time I'll just trounce you good, instead of running off," he murmured.

I tried to smile, but there was such a feverish look in his eyes that I could only close mine. His hand crept up the back of my neck and he pressed his forehead against mine. As soft as a moth's wings, his lips slowly grazed my brow, my nose, the corners of my mouth. I breathed deeply as his breath fanned out over my face, warm and caramel sweet, and then his lips were pressing against mine, gently at first, then more and more sure. When finally I was bursting my lungs for wanting of air, he pulled back and rested his chin on my forehead.

"It's because I was afraid of kissin' you, that I said what I did," I whispered.

Lifting a finger to my chin, he tilted my face to his.

"Are you still afraid?"

"No."

I closed my eyes as he lowered his mouth and kissed me again. Then he was on his feet, pounding his fist in his hand.

"We've got to do something. We've got to protect you against Shine."

"I'm scared, Sid."

"Of course you're scared. Jesus Christ, half of Haire's Hollow'd be scared if they had Shine coming after them. God, Kit." He dropped down besides me. "What about Doctor Hodgins? We have to tell him. He can help."

"No, he's already worryin' about me."

"He could give you a place to stay till a "

"No! Once I leave here, he'll never let me come back. I know it."

"Kit, you're not safe here."

"There's nothin' we can do," I said with despair.

"There's always something. We just have to think. I've already let the news out that Shine's back. It won't be long before the Mounties are after him."

I shook my head despondently.

"It'll take forever."

Sid grasped my shoulders with a little shake.

"Now you listen to me, Kit, no one has ever been able to get you out of here, not even the reverend, and he could turf Satan out of hell if he tried. We'll find a way to get around this one."

"How?"

"I don't know, I don't know." He slumped down besides me, his head in his hands, and we sat in silence for some time. Then suddenly he was on his feet, pulling me to mine and striding back around the house. Ripping up the rest of the pickets of the old rotten fence, he tossed them in a pile, then started lugging them across the meadow, up to the woods.

"We're going to build you a camp," he said, as I stumbled along behind him, dragging a load of pickets. "Just a makeshift thing that'll do you to sleep on during the nights. Until they catches Shine, which won't be long now, I know it. Everyone's too fed up with Shine to tolerate his bullshit much more, and what with the peace they've been having since he last ran off, they'll be only too eager to go running to the Mounties with whatever information they have about him chewing up and killing people. I'll talk to Mum and get her going after the reverend to encourage the people to come forward. It'll happen, you'll see. The people have to come together, and with the reverend's help they will. Meanwhile, we have to keep you safe, and sleeping out of the house at night is one way of doing that. No one will know. During the days, we can keep watch. I don't expect he'll be doing much visiting during daylight hours. It's evenings that vampires suckle, and that's a good thing, because by then, you'll be safer than any of us in your new bed that I'm going to make for you."

Coming to a large black spruce, its wide, flat branches swooping down like a ready-made tent, Sid dropped the pickets and commenced building a platform off from the base of the tree. Back at the house, he stripped the plastic from inside of the lean-to that he had built for storing the wood, and draped it around the underside of the tree branches to circle around the platform, weatherproofing it. After he was finished building, we went inside the house and brought back an armful of blankets and pillows. Then we carried up some biscuits, water, and even matches and a stub of a candle I found in Nan's room.

"Make sure the front door is always barred and your window is always open," Sid cautioned, back at the house again, standing outside my room window. "The second you hears a sounda"run! Take no chances. If it happens to be Pirate, then you can always climb back in. And if it's Shine, make for the woods and stay there until I comes, or until Shine leaves. Here," he passed me a picket with a couple of rusty nails sticking out of one end, "keep this by your bed and if he pokes his head in through the window, whump him in the face. And make sure it's the end with the nails that you slam him with."

I shuddered.

"I don't know if I can do that."

"Decide that when you sees his face coming through your window."

I tried to smile so's Sid wouldn't look so worried, then widened my eyes at the sight of Aunt Drucie dodging down over the bank.

"What about her?"

At that second Josie poked her tangled red head sleepily out the window. Seeing Sid, she broke into a loud grin and hoisted her leg out through.

"You go find some excuse to keep Drucie at home during the next few days, and I'll deal with this one," Sid said, holding out his hand to help Josie as she prepared to jump off the window ledge.

"Do you think it might scare Shine off if Aunt Drucie was around?" I asked.

"Uumph, forget it," Sid snorted as Josie landed on the ground at his feet. "Nothing scares Shine. Then all you'd have is Drucie running around scared to death and sounding the bells about Shine's coming to chew the face off the lot of you. Now there's reason for the Noble ones to haul you out of here."

"You's farmed! Farmed!" Josie barked, landing on both feet and scowling at me.

"Farmed?" Sid gave me a blank look.

"Later," I sighed, scowling back at Josie and going off to greet Aunt Drucie.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

THE KILLING.

SAFETY WASN'T JUST MY CONCERN. When word got out that Shine was back, a shiver went through Haire's Hollow like that of a near miss. Shine was back. And with him the haunting image of Rube Gale's bloodied corpse, the open-faced grave and the unnamed headstone. Margaret Eveleigh and her best friends started walking in groups, each keeping their eyes open for the other and walking short distances from the outport, until one of them would start squealing, thinking she had seen Shine's evil eye peering through some bushes, and sending the works of them racing back to the outport as if there was a hoard of devils chasing after them. Their parents chided them for their foolishness, yet the women ceased their dallying in May Eveleigh's store, and the men made fast work of mending their nets and getting off the wharf before evening fell. Even the reverend softened his sermons to say we should all be more accepting and loving of each other, a startling change from the hell-burning damnations he had preached when Shine had first disappeared, leading Old Joe to say that even a man of the cloth couldn't feel safe preaching the word of God with Shine on the loose.

Plus now the outporters had something new to worry about: would Shine come looking for the man that led the Mounties to his still? And it didn't matter there was no such man, that the Mounties just happened upon it. No sir. Not with Shine. What mattered was who was Shine going to look at and think led the Mounties to his still? And as Old Joe said, that could hinge on something as far removed from the deed as a scab on a dead dog's arse. Then Shine administered his own law, and the mauled corpse of Rube Gale was fresh testimony to that. And Rube was his drinking buddy who had probably done nothing more than shake his head when he was supposed to be nodding whilst Shine was talking to him. What would he do to someone he believed was trying to put him in jail for life?

The Mounties had been alerted. They came in pairs and was a comforting sight to the people of Haire's Hollow, although they made it clear there was nothing they could do about Shine until someone came forward about the murder or Jimmy Randall's ear. They never come near the gully. Sid kept telling me that was a good thing, because if they were to make a link between Shine and Josie, the reverend would be like a hawk to his prey, using Shine's presence and my safety as a reason to get me out of the gully, and Josie's moral decline as a reason to keep me out of there. One small blessing with Shine's return was that the women, scared of running into Shine, stopped coming to the gully. Aside from Aunt Drucie. And it didn't take much talking to convince her to take a couple of days.

"Just don't say anything to anyone," I cautioned as I walked her home the day Sid built the camp. "And if anyone sees you at home, just tell them you're sick, and me and Josie was just out to visit with you, and everything's fine."

"As long as you're O.K. with it," Aunt Drucie said. "I must say, I'm some tired from this heat, can't keep me eyes open at all. But I'll be worried about you and Josie, Kit. S'pose Shine comes your way."

"He got no reason to. And like I told you, me and Josie's goin' lookin' for raspberries and we won't be home much the next few days, anyway."

"Along the old sawmill road is a good spot for raspberries. Me and Lizzy use to go there, once." She stifled a yawn. "Course, we had stronger legs them days. Heh, for sure Lizzy's were, poor old girl. I misses her, Kit, I misses her a lot."

"I misses her, too, Aunt Drucie. You have a nice long nap, now. Give me a couple of days, and I'll be back with a gallon of raspberries. How's that?"

"Watch out for bears. Your grandfather seen one standin' alongside the old mill, once. That's why me and Lizzy never went back."

"I expect he's gone by now."

"Bloody bears. But we got worse than that to worry about with Shine back. Make sure you bars your door in the evenin'."

"I will. Make sure you bars yours. See you in a few days." Leaving her at her stoop, I ran back to the gully and Sid.

"Now all we've got to do is sit tight and wait for the Mounties to catch Shine, or else run him off again," Sid said, as we sat down on the grassy spot behind the house.

"I still don't know about Josie," I said.

"I think she's going to be O.K. She don't like Shine. She thinks it's him that makes her sick, not the liquor."

I gave something of a smile, sending a silent thank you Doctor Hodgins's way.

"But, is she afraid of him?" I asked worriedly. "She might forget about being sick after a spell."

"I told her I wouldn't come back if she went off with Shine again."

I sighed heavily, then spoke in a half-whisper.

"Suppose she do? Suppose she leads him to the camp?"

"She won't. She wants to please me. Lord, Kit, I know it's not the best of plans, but short of taking you out of the gully a "

"Let's not get onto that."

"Then we'll have to trust Josie. Come on, Kit. She understands a whole lot more than you think. And she certainly seems willing to go along with everything I say."

"We'll see," I said, and lay back, my hands tucked beneath my head for a pillow, staring up at the hazy sky. Sid lay back besides me, his elbow warm against mine, and if it weren't for the threat of Shine, it would've felt like the most peaceful place on earth, what with the waves washing upon the shore below us, and the gulls crying out above us, and the slight salty breeze fanning off the sea and rustling the air around us.

It was where I spent most of my time the next few days, looking out over the gully for Shine. Sid came as much as he could and helped me make fast work out of a visit from Doctor Hodgins. And I kept paying visits to Aunt Drucie, convincing her everything was fine and no, we hadn't found the raspberry patch yet, but me and Josie were going off again the next morning and spending the day looking. And there was always Josie that had to be watched. At night, after jamming the door shut with a woodchip, I went to my room and barred the door with the bed and lay there listening, waiting, the picket with the nails resting by my pillow.

It was four days past his first visit that Shine came back. I was in my room, ready to hop in bed for the night, when I heard the crackie yap. Without a second's hesitation, I lunged for the windowsill and jumped. The second my arse touched the ground, Josie's was hitting dirt as well. We stared at each other, then scrambling to our feet, took off for the woods.

It was a night in hell. Swatting flies and ants and whatever other unimaginable creatures that were most likely crawling over us, I curled into a tight ball beneath a blanket and tried to force my way through the night. Aside from a few swats and a square dance of twists and turns, Josie slept like a baby. Once, when the sky was still littered with stars, I bolted upright, terrified to hear a bone-jarring screech coming from the house. It sounded like Pirate. Or was it a screech owl? Then the air was filled with the crackie's yapping and hoarse roars from Shine. Lying back down, I took deep breaths, shutting out everything I'd heard Nan say about the minds of liquor-poisoned men. No runt of a dog would get close enough to hurt Pirate, I soothed myself. Must've been a screech owl. And for sure if it was Pirate, most likely it was the crackie who got the worst of that one.

Morning came early. Climbing the black spruce, I sat on a branch and watched the front door. The last star was still in the sky when Shine finally opened it and lurched out through, the crackie at his heels. I waited till he disappeared down the gully, and then some before shaking Josie. She woke like the baby, eyes and mouth opening at once, and all limbs flailing.

"Careful!" I cautioned as she came grumbling to her feet and leaped off the platform before she had a chance to take in where she was. But she was gone for home, any thoughts of Shine evaporating with the morning dew. Keeping up with her, we both came to the house at the same time, yet despite her rush to get home, her step quietened alongside of mine as we opened the door and peered inside. It was a sight that drew a gut-wrenching shriek out of us both and petrified us in its terrifying cruelty. Pirate was skivvered to the floor with a pig knife, his blood in a thick pool around him and his eyes and mouth shocked open, staring at usa"as if he, too, was witnessing the horror of his death alongside of us.

I stumbled backwards and Josie began turning around and around in circles, making little whimpering sounds. I tried to reach out to her, but bent over instead, retching out the cries that were coming from somewhere so deep inside of me that they sounded like someone else's.

"Get Doctor Hodgins! Get Doctor Hodgins!" Josie cried.

"Wait for Sid!" I managed to get out.

"Doctor Hodgins! Doctor Hodgins!" She made to run up over the bank, but I grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her back.

"No!" I said more strongly. "We wait for Sid."

Surprisingly, she dropped down onto the stoop and wrapped her hands around her face. I slumped down besides her and waited, one eye on the gully for fear of Shine coming back, and the other on the path leading down from the road, praying it would be Sid that came and not May Eveleigh or Doctor Hodgins or Aunt Drucie a It was Sid. About an hour later. Seeing him, Josie leaped off the stoop and dashed towards him, shouting and barking. I saw the concern on his face as he put together what she was telling him, and then he was holding out his arms and cradling me.

"We've got to get you out of here," he said, finally. "There's no telling what he'll do next."

"No a ohh, I don't know. I can't think, not with a " I choked off, and Sid tightened his arms around me.

"It's O.K.," he soothed. "We'll talk later. First, I'll take care of Pirate."

Not wanting to see, I went down to the gully and splashed some cold water on my face and neck. A few minutes later, Sid was sitting on a rock besides me.

"I've put him in a brin bag," he said. "Josie and I'll bury him out back."

I nodded.

"Kit, perhaps you should stay with Drucie until something's done about Shine."

"What about Josie? She isn't safe, either."

"She'll come with you."

"No. She'll keep comin' home."

"We'll talk with her. She listened before."

"I don't know," I mumbled, rocking back and forth. "I just don't know any more."

"Kit." Sid took me by the arms and made me stop rocking. "I can't let you stay here."

"I know," I said. "I just can't think right now."

Fear, shame, it was hard to tell which was causing the trembling in my voice, but Sid saw them both, and his eyes pained at the little comfort he could offer.

"Bury Pirate," I whispered, rising to my feet. Taking a long shuddering breath, I went back inside the house. Ripping off another scrubbing rag from the tail of Nan's nightdress, I dropped it into the bucket of water and started cleaning the piss, spit and butts off the floor. Tears welled up in my eyes as I started on Pirate's blood, but I gritted them back and kept scrubbing. The door nudged open behind me, and thinking it was Sid, I dropped the cloth and wiped at my running nose.

"Oh God," I cried out in horror as the crackie scampered across the floor and started lapping up Pirate's blood. The doorway darkened and my limbs became like water as Shine lunged in, his eyes filled with pus, and a white froth crusting the corners of his bearded mouth. He stood there, panting, his body shaking like a distempered dog.

I opened my mouth to scream, but it felt like the air had been sucked from the room and all I was gulping in was the stink off his body and the sharp, bitter fear reeking off my own. I managed a yelp before he was on me, smashing me across the face. I fell back onto the floor, my face numbed by the blow, and watched in shocked horror as he straddled a leg on each side of me and looked down, grinning. I opened my mouth to scream, squirming to get away, but he dropped to his knees, imprisoning me with his thighs, and clamped a dirt-grimed hand across my mouth. Smiling a row of rotted teeth, he reached inside his pants and pulled out his dick, as big and ugly a thing as ever I'd seen, with purple veins snaking around its sides, and the smell of rotting dogberries dripping from its head.

He bobbed it in front of my eyes, and I stopped struggling against the hand that was smothering me, prepared to die rather than have that living thing touch me. And just when the light was fading to black, Sid was leaping onto his back, his hands raking across the sneering, whiskered face.

Shine reached back his hand, and grabbing Sid by the scruff of his neck, hauled him over his shoulder and whammed him hard on the floor. Sid groaned, his breath knocked out of him, then shook his head and struggled to sit up. But Shine had let go of me and was now crawling on top of Sid. Stretching a leg across his chest, he straddled Sid the way he had sat astride me and, squealing like a stuck pig, started batting Sid across the face with his purple, swollen dick. Sid screamed, wrenching his head from side to side as Shine continued to playfully bat him in the face, all the time laughing and grunting, laughing and grunting. I managed to get onto my knees and started crawling towards the stove, thinking of finding something that I could beat against the side of Shine's head, but he caught me by the ankle and yanked me back besides him.

"Lemme go, lemme go!" I screamed, clawing at the floor to get away. But my nails scraped uselessly across the smooth surface of the canvas. Sid's cries became muffled, and I knew that Shine had placed his hand over his mouth to silence hima"or smother him. "Lemme go!" I screamed, clawing harder at the floor, but his grip was an iron band around my ankle and I collapsed sobbing. Giving one last blood-curdling scream, I swung around to chew at the hand holding me down, and widened my eyes incredulously. Coming through the doorway and swinging the axe up over her shoulder was Josie.

"Oh God!" I cried out as she stomped towards Shine, but my voice, hoarsened by my frantic screams, sounded no more than a piteous moan. I stared hypnotized as the silver arc of the axe, glinting in the morning sun, came full across the back of Shine's head, then fell sideways. A soft groan gushed from Shine and he toppled forward, his hand falling away from Sid's mouth and a growing stream of blood spewing down over Sid's terror-stricken face.