Part 12 (2/2)

his face, but his hands hadn't pinched and he hadn't gotten much soap in

her eyes. He asked about her bruises, and she had told him what her mam

had warned her to say if anyone asked. She was clumsy. She fell down.

Emma had seen the angry look come into his eyes, but he hadn't smacked

her.

He'd given her a s.h.i.+rt to wear, and she had giggled because it had come

all the way to her toes.

The lady had come with him when he had put her in bed. She'd sat on the

edge and smiled when he had told a story about castles and princesses.

But they had been gone when she'd awakened. They'd been gone and the

room was dark. She was afraid. Afraid the things would get her, snap

their big teeth, eat her. She was afraid her mam would come and slap

her because she wasn't home in her own bed.

What was that? She was sure she had heard a whispering noise in the

corner. Breathing through her teeth, she opened one eye. The shadows

s.h.i.+fted, towering, reaching. m.u.f.fling her sobs against Charlie, Emma

tried to make herself smaller, so small she couldn't be seen, couldn't

be eaten by all the ugly, squishy things that hid in the dark. Her mam

had sent them because she'd gone with the man in the pictures.

The terror built so that she was shuddering, sweating. It burst out of

her in one high wall as she scrambled out of bed and stumbled into the

hallway. Something crashed.

She lay sprawled, clutching the dog and waiting for the worst.

Lights came on. They made her blink. The old fear dissolved in a new

<script>