"If we call the cops," he explained, "no telling what'll happen. I mean, here we are in a house with three dead people. And I killed two of them. Trying to explain..." He shook his head, "Even if we could get them to believe the truth, it might be a disaster. Who knows what'll happen if a bunch of our town cops go in and try to rescue everyone?"

"They'd probably do better than us," Mandy said. "At least they've got guns."

"We'll have the element of surprise."

"Maybe, maybe not."

"Thing is," said Rhonda, "the cops won't believe us. I mean, who would? They'll blame us for all this and in the meantime midnight'll come and go and... you know what that'll mean."

Bret drew a finger across his throat, making a slurpy wet sound with his mouth.

"How many are there?" Mandy asked.

"About twelve," Hunter said. "There were about twelve. So maybe ten, now."

"And three of us."

"Four," Bret said. "You counted wrong."

"No I didn't."

"Did, too."

Rhonda spoke up. "Bret, don't argue with your sister."

"But..." He pressed his lips together and frowned.

The frown became a smile when Rhonda reached out and ruffled his hair.

"I know we're outnumbered," Hunter said. "But I'm almost positive they don't have any guns. With a little luck, we can probably take down three or four of them before they even know what's happening."

"Maybe the others'll panic and run," Rhonda added.

Wishful thinking, Mandy thought.

They aren't gonna panic. What they'll do, they'll kill us.

But what if they do have Dad and Phyllis? she wondered. The woman in the sheet might've been one of the cult members and maybe she lured Dad and Phyllis into the woods to capture them. And they'll get sacrificed at midnight along with Shannon and Laura and Hunter's girlfriend and Rhonda's brother and anyone else they've caught.

"Okay," Mandy said. "I'll go along with you."

"Yes!" Bret blurted.

"Not you."

His mouth dropped open. He looked betrayed. "I am, too."

"It's too dangerous."

But where isn't dangerous? she wondered. Where can I leave him? Not here.

"You can't leave him here," Hunter said, almost as if reading her mind. "Even if the thing from upstairs doesn't bother him, more people like Bryce and Simone might show up."

Take him home and leave him with Mom?

Try that, she thought, and neither of us will be going on any rescue tonight.

"If we keep him with us," Rhonda said, "at least we'll know where he is and be able to watch out for him."

Hunter began, "We could make him wait..."

"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Charles called. "COME OUT HERE!"

"Just a second!" Rhonda shouted to him.

To Bret, Mandy said, "I guess you can come with us, but you've gotta promise to do whatever I say."

"Okay. I promise."

"Cross your heart and hope to die?"

With two quick swipes of his forefinger, he crossed his heart.

Mandy looked from Rhonda to Hunter. "Okay. Only thing, can we take the same path Dad took? It starts by the dead-end barricade."

"Charles'll see us if we go out the front," Hunter said.

"We can go out the back," said Rhonda.

Hunter led the way. Rhonda followed him, Bret tagging along behind her and Mandy bringing up the rear.

"We oughta get some knives or something," Bret said. "Me and Mandy. All I got's my slingshot." Reaching back, he patted the slingshot in the seat pocket of his overalls.

"You don't need a knife," Mandy told him.

"But if we're gonna..."

"I'm not going to have you running around with a weapon For Pete's sake, you're eight years old."

"Eight and a half."

As they entered the kitchen, Hunter flicked a light on. Looking back, he said, "Maybe you should grab a knife or something, Mandy."

"I'm fine the way I am."

"You oughta have something," Rhonda said.

"If Bret and I are supposed to be your prisoners, we shouldn't go walking in with weapons."

Bret scowled over his shoulder at her. "If you don't want a knife, I'll take one."

"No you won't."

"Mannnndyyy."

"Let's just keep going, Hunter," she said.

He led them to the rear of the kitchen, then used his free hand to open the back door.

The door had a broken window. "This is how they got in," Hunter said. Shards of glass crunched under his shoes as he walked through the doorway.

From far away, Charles's faint but angry voice called out, "WHAT'RE YOU DOING IN THERE? DAMN IT, GET OUT HERE! I MEAN IT! THIS ISN'T FUNNY! I'M GETTING SERIOUSLY PISSED AT YOU GUYS!"

"What about him?" Mandy asked as she followed the others onto the back porch.

"We can't take him with us," Rhonda said.

"He'll be fine where he is," said Hunter.

"I don't know," Mandy said. "Maybe we should call him an ambulance."

"He's an ambulance," said Bret, and laughed.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR.

They sat quietly, back to back, still a few yards away from the others. Ever since Fain's departure with Eleanor, nobody had spoken to them or bothered them.

The three remaining guards - Royce and the two others - stayed together near the group of kids. The kids were kneeling or sitting on the ground, some of them quietly weeping, others whispering among themselves, but nobody causing trouble. Whatever else might've happened to them earlier, they'd obviously seen Betsy's attempted escape and they' d watched Laura get whipped. Enough to scare any but the most reckless kid into behaving.

"How you doing?" Shannon whispered.

"All things considered... not so great." Laura realized, however, that the fiery pains from the whipping had subsided. "I'm a little better," she admitted.

"Good. You feel like some action?"

"You're kidding."

"I don't mean right now."

"What're you thinking of?"

"They aren't paying much attention to us."

"Why should they? We can't go anywhere."

"We might."

"Rolling?"

"Do you think you can stand up?"

Though ropes still bound them tightly arm to arm and back to back, nobody had retied their legs. From their waists down, they were free.

Laura supposed it might be possible to rise if she braced herself against Shannon's back and pushed upward with her legs. "Maybe. Then what? Sidestep vigorously?"

Shannon laughed. She did it quietly, but Laura felt the shaking of her back.

"Not exactly," Shannon whispered. "But maybe I can run."

"What about me?"

"You come along for the ride."

"On your back?"

"That's the idea."

"We might do better rolling."

"What I was thinking, we sit tight for now. Sooner or later, stuff s gonna happen. There'll be a distraction. Like when Eleanor brought the girl in. Or maybe a kid'll act up. We wait for something like that, then get up and make a break for it. Go for the embankment, maybe."

"You running, me on your back?"

"Right."

"You might be big and strong, but you're not that big and strong."

"I can do it."

"They'll chase us down in five seconds."

"Maybe, maybe not. Anyway, it'd beat just sitting here and letting them butcher us."

"I guess."

"And who knows, if we get one or two of these creeps chasing after us, maybe some of the kids'll have a chance to get away."

"I guess it's worth a try," she said.

The hell it is, she thought. We won't get away. Neither will any of the kids. Two guards will stay to make sure none of them make a break. Just one'll come after us. Probably Royce. He'll catch us. before we get anywhere near the embankment, and he'll take us down hard. And then he'll give us a little payback for causing trouble.