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A thought crept into her head, cold and sly as a draft beneath a door: What if this place had been built just for this?

Kami, run, Jared ordered

Kami wanted to run, but she wouldn’t Not until she found out the truth She crept forward

Kaht at least!

I can fight bare-handed if I have to, said Kami She put her hand on the soft, weathered wood of the hut door

It swung open at her touch

There were candles, so liquid and hot There was a table covered in a white cloth On the cloth there lay a fox It was dead There was blood all over the cloth Kami knew that if she touched the blood it would still be warm, only just spilled, like the candle wax

Jared’s fear scythed through her, sharp as a blade That, , almost made Kami panic

Kaht in one hand and with the other took out her cell She kept both hands steady as she took picture after picture with her ca faster than she had coht to the safety of home She called the police as she went

Chapter Four

Blood and Sunlight

When Sergeant Kenn interviewed Kami, he was very kind, told her she had done her civic duty, and even gave her a quote for the paper

Ka in the Vale woods with "The police investigation is ongoing And so, I can assure my readers, is my own" The second issue of The Nosy Parker--Kami had decided to put out two issues in the first week of school, to gain momentum--was even more popular than the first

"People took home copies for their parents," Kami announced, and did a victory dance in the privacy of her headquarters "The photocopy machine overheated and broke down I think I can still hear the sound of it sobbing and wanting to talk about its childhood"

Ash leaned in the doorway, his eyes averted fro, brandishing of a vase of flowers, and most importantly the victory shimmy, so Kami could not really blame him

"Walk you to class?" he asked

"Well," Kami said, "sure"

Ash pushed himself off the doorframe and into the room, toward her "You did an awesome job out there in the woods," he said "And with the article"

Kaela should leave this to the police froht," Ka it with ht with you: Actually, I can walk myself to class And I can also handleand headed out,past him

"Kami, wait," Ash called out

She paused at the top of the stairs and looked back The newspaper headquarters looked great, she thought proudly The boxes were gone and the desks were shiny nut-brown Kami had borrowed a few colorful la cabinet The office looked great, and Ash looked great in it: ar at her with eyes turned dark blue with concern

"Whoever’s doing this--" he began, then switched thoughts "What if you got hurt?"

"Here’s the thing," said Kami "Holly came to me with this story because nobody else would have listened to it And nobody would have listened totootoI found so And it was horrible, and the only way I kno to deal with so about it This isto see how it ends You don’t get a say"

"I’ that impression," Ash remarked He uncrossed his arms and walked over to where Kah"

Kauys looking at her with concern, or drawing near her being all conciliatory and handsoela’s brother, of course, but Rusty hardly counted "I guess you can be worried if you really want," Kami conceded She went on tiptoe and kissed Ash on the cheek She felt him smile, then eased back down and saw him lean in toward her

"So, you’re okay?" Ash murmured

Kami wasn’t sure, despite her exhilaration over the newspaper The police had scared her Hoorried her parents were had scared her ht, and the blood But her secret fears were for her and Jared: she hardly knew this boy, no matter how beautiful his smile

She just s as his, but it seehter than before, and he leaned down closer Kaed in her throat She did not move away

An explosion of noise ca and yelling at once that it sounded like an earthquake Kaether

Kaht behind her She rounded a corner and headed down the school steps, then out the doors to the back of the school There was a courtyard there, raised a few steps above the cricket pitch

The cricket pitch was chaos

"What’s going on?" Ash de up the steps