Page 35 (1/2)

Wherever she was, it wasn’t Connecticut, or King Arthur’s court

The sun had sunk below the horizon, but threw out enough rays for Jes, just endless rolling green pastureland, the barn, and the big double doors handing wide open The night closed around her, slowly but insistently urging her toward the open doors A bored cop supervising a fender bender would have done it the sa, lady; c’mon, c’mon, nuthin’ to see here…

"Cows" She could hear the about cows?"

Maybe it was her way of dealing with being lactose intolerant

She didn’t walk through the door quickly, but crept in like a thief Her caution see more than a barn: trampled straw speckled with bits of soil,a packed dirt floor Sos; a pitchfork was stuck in a pile of clean hay Ten stanchions for milk cows, a couple of horse stalls, and a stock pen, all e sound?

Be before she moved toward the center of the barn It was so obviously a dream, and yet it felt real--as if this farm actually existed somewhere

But I’ve never been to a farht shifted, and she saw that she wasn’t alone anymore At the far end of the barn, a blond woed stool next to a fat black-and-white Holstein, her ar rhythmically Je the tin

She glanced inside the e your pardon Can you tellits cud, but the wo and she turned her head to peek at Jeolden braids, rosy cheeks, and bright blue eyes were milk even, white teeth, and then went back to work

Jeolden-eyed demon to appear He didn’t The"I’m sorry, I don’t speak Ger for a man"

The ot up froown, and her smile wavered

"What is this place?" Behind the coas another open door, but Jema couldn’t see as beyond it "Why aain

Jema looked all around her The dream made no sense The milkmaid was simply a German woman, the coas just a cow, and the stuff in the pail was… es, and definitely not pasteurized, but certainly not acid or nitroglycerin

A?

She looked up at a nest in the rafters A s poked its head out, wasn’t impressed, and went back to sleep The Ger, and the ain "You don’t speak any English?"

The other woman made the pained little face that was the universal polite substitute for Obviously not, genius

Taking that Spanish class in high school didn’t seeo around the cow

The pail dropped and milk splashed out and went everywhere "Gefahr!" She threw out her plump arms "Warten Sie hier!"

Jema threw her hands up, but the milkmaid didn’t strike her They stood there another couple of seconds, Je, the milkmaid with her arms throide and her expression one of horror and fear

"You"--Jema pointed to the milk maid--"don’t want o in there"--she walked two of her fingers toward the door behind the cow--"right?"

The milkmaid nodded so hard that the ends of her braids bounced off her generously filled work apron

"I’m sorry, but I think that’s the point" Jeh the door into the darkness, and felt so squish under her shoes The smell of raw meat filled her nostrils and turned her stomach "Hello?"

Her voice made torches flare to life above her head The flae steel hooks on thick, crude chains Innards and pools of blood covered ten big stone tables; blood and piles of raw fat flooded what looked like river weeds laid out on the floor The stench enhanced the at, Je with a aiter and no prices on the menu

To one side was a cra cows in it They didn’t make a sound, and their eyes were sunk into their skulls so far they looked like black holes The one closest to the gate had a withered bag with scabby, dried-up teats dangling so low they dragged on the manure-stained, trampled straw of the pen

"You should not have come here," a deep, familiar voice said