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"How are you feeling?" Manfred asked He really looked anxious
"I’ood," I said "My head feels better The arm is a pain"
"I heard you two checked out of the one"
"Tomorrow or the next day," Tolliver said "We’re just waiting to see if the state guys have anything else to ask us Then we’ll be on our way You two?"
"I need to stay until tomorrow afternoon, at least," Xylda said in a whisper "There are more dead people to come And the time of ice is near"
Now, that I understood "That’s what the weather says There’s going to be an ice storet out of town ahead of it," Manfred said quietly "Grander than we can help it I’ll be taking her back home as soon as I can" I looked at hirief written on his face It
Xylda looked like she was listening to a faraway voice I was seriously concerned about her Before, she’d been in the likeable fake category, though she’d always had her moments of true brilliance They’d just been too few and far between for her tooff of them Now she appeared to be "on" all the time The stretches of shrewd reality that had helped her earn a living (if fraudulent) wage seemed to be fewer and farther between
I wondered what Manfred would do when she was gone He was very young and he still had all his options open He could go to college and get a regular job He could apprentice in a circus He could assume the hand-to-mouth existence of petty fraud and chicanery that Xylda had led This wasn’t the ti stu salad dressing down her blouse
Xylda said, "That boy is going to be a murderer" Fortunately her voice was quite low I knew she was talking about Chuck Al h He could still save hiood therapist for him, and he’ll work out all his kinks" I didn’t believe it, but I should at least sound like I thought it was possible
Manfred shook his head "I can’t believe they didn’t arrest him"
"He’s a ainst him except his own adood, do you? Maybe just the opposite, in fact Maybe in jail he’d find out howpeople"
"I think in jail he’d be on the other end," I said "I think he’d get hurt a lot, and ive it back with interest"
We all mulled it over The waitress bustled up to take our orders and to ask Manfred and Xylda if they needed more to drink They both accepted, and it was a few minutes before we could resume our conversation
"I wonder if there’s a kid like that in every community," Tolliver said "One who likes to cause pain, likes to have the power over smaller creatures"
"There was someone like that in our school in Texarkana?" I asked I was surprised
"Yeah Leon Stipes Remember hirade Leon was black, and he was on the football team, and he scared the hell out of the other teams we played I suspected he’d scared the hell out of most of the players on his own team, too
I explained Leon to Xylda and Manfred "He liked causing pain?"
"Oh, yeah," said Tolliver grimly "Oh, yeah He really did In practice, he’d nail people he didn’t have to, just to hear them yelp"
I shuddered with distaste With one hand, I opened my purse and pulled out my bottle of vitamins I pushed it over for Tolliver to deal with He removed the childproof lid and shook one out I took it
"How are you feeling?" Manfred asked "The ared "The pain medicine works pretty well," I said "In fact, I’ if I’ll fall asleep in the memorial service"
"You’ll be much better soon," Xylda said, and I wondered if she was basing that on foresight or on optimism
"What about you, Xylda?" I looked at her curiously "Didn’t I hear you were in the hospital last roup for those of us ork in the paranormal field I check it out from time to time
"Yes," she said, "but it’s bad for ative there Too ain"
I started to protest, caught the warning glance Manfred gave me I shut up
"I don’t blaative thoughts, and she was only in there for a couple of days"
I could have kicked hiue
Tolliver and Manfred talked about car hts When Tolliver left to go to thetheir bill, she said, "I’h by the pain medicine to accept this calmly "I’h "Are you scared?"
"No," she said, after a ht, "I don’t believe I aood, for the most part I never took money frorandson I believe , knowing the essential part of me won’t die"