him and threw itself on
me
.”
“Your brother wasn’t bitten?”
“No, and he should have been. He pulled the dog off me and never got so much as a nip. That’s how it’s always been with Steve, though. He’s the family Wonder Boy—everything he touches turns to gold. He’s currently at the top of his class in law school, married to another law student who looks like a movie star. When they graduate, they’re going into practice with my father. They’ve got the perfect kid, too; he could be in baby-food commercials.” He took his left hand off the steering wheel to glance at his watch. “Do you want to stop somewhere and pick up a sandwich? You never had breakfast.”
“I’d like that.” Karen suddenly realized that she was, indeed, very hungry. “Thanks, Officer Wilson.”
“Rob.”
“What?”
“My name’s Rob. I’m off duty right now, so you can just call me Rob, okay? If we take the next exit, we should run smack into a Burger King.” He smiled at her.
“That sounds great,” Karen said. But then… it
didn’t
.
“No, let’s not,” she contradicted herself. “Let’s stay on this road.”
“The restaurants are all closer to town,” Rob said.
“I’m sure I remember passing a McDonald’s on our way out here.”
She heard herself making the statement with bewilderment. It was a blatant lie. There were no fast-food places in this area.
Rob obviously knew this. He glanced at her sharply but did not comment.
The silence between them lengthened uncomfortably until Karen finally broke it.
“I don’t know why I said that.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I didn’t want you to turn,” Karen said. “I don’t know why. I felt like I had to give you some sort of reason, so I said that stupid thing about McDonald’s.”
“I’m not going to turn,” Rob said. “I’ll drive you anywhere you want to go.”
“It’s not much farther. A mile or so down this road is all, and then to the right. You’ll be turning onto a dirt road like the one that led to the Sanchez place, but it will be narrower.”
She was issuing directions without even thinking about it. The instructions she was giving made no more sense to her than they must to Rob. Karen knew little or nothing about the geography of the Valley. The few previous times that she had been out there had been back in her childhood when her mother had driven her out in the fall to buy apples and pumpkins. She had no memory of any detours on those occasions. The fruits and vegetables they had come for had been on prominent display on stands along the highway.
There was no explanation, either, for the tension that she was feeling. On one hand, she did want Rob to keep on driving in the direction they were headed and to take the turnoff she had indicated. On the other, she wanted him to take her home. The feeling of apprehension was coming out of nowhere, but it was increasing so rapidly that she was beginning to feel weak and a little nauseated.
Was she feeling a reaction to the pressure she had been under at the Sanchezes’? If so, why hadn’t she experienced it sooner? In Carla’s room, surrounded by the child’s possessions, she had felt nothing.
The white lace dress, which must surely have symbolized an important occasion in the little girl’s life, had stirred no response from her whatsoever. The yellow bear, tattered with loving, had lain in her arms like a rock. If Carla was missingher bear and reaching out with her mind to recall its comforting softness, Karen had not felt any awareness of such longings. Bobby’s terror she had experienced as though it were her own. Carla’s emotions were not coming through to her at all.
Perhaps she isn’t experiencing negative feelings,
Karen thought suddenly.
Maybe she
prefers
being with her father.
This was a possibility. Mrs. Sanchez might have found her former husband selfish and irresponsible, but that didn’t necessarily mean he would appear that way to an eight-year-old
me
.”
“Your brother wasn’t bitten?”
“No, and he should have been. He pulled the dog off me and never got so much as a nip. That’s how it’s always been with Steve, though. He’s the family Wonder Boy—everything he touches turns to gold. He’s currently at the top of his class in law school, married to another law student who looks like a movie star. When they graduate, they’re going into practice with my father. They’ve got the perfect kid, too; he could be in baby-food commercials.” He took his left hand off the steering wheel to glance at his watch. “Do you want to stop somewhere and pick up a sandwich? You never had breakfast.”
“I’d like that.” Karen suddenly realized that she was, indeed, very hungry. “Thanks, Officer Wilson.”
“Rob.”
“What?”
“My name’s Rob. I’m off duty right now, so you can just call me Rob, okay? If we take the next exit, we should run smack into a Burger King.” He smiled at her.
“That sounds great,” Karen said. But then… it
didn’t
.
“No, let’s not,” she contradicted herself. “Let’s stay on this road.”
“The restaurants are all closer to town,” Rob said.
“I’m sure I remember passing a McDonald’s on our way out here.”
She heard herself making the statement with bewilderment. It was a blatant lie. There were no fast-food places in this area.
Rob obviously knew this. He glanced at her sharply but did not comment.
The silence between them lengthened uncomfortably until Karen finally broke it.
“I don’t know why I said that.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I didn’t want you to turn,” Karen said. “I don’t know why. I felt like I had to give you some sort of reason, so I said that stupid thing about McDonald’s.”
“I’m not going to turn,” Rob said. “I’ll drive you anywhere you want to go.”
“It’s not much farther. A mile or so down this road is all, and then to the right. You’ll be turning onto a dirt road like the one that led to the Sanchez place, but it will be narrower.”
She was issuing directions without even thinking about it. The instructions she was giving made no more sense to her than they must to Rob. Karen knew little or nothing about the geography of the Valley. The few previous times that she had been out there had been back in her childhood when her mother had driven her out in the fall to buy apples and pumpkins. She had no memory of any detours on those occasions. The fruits and vegetables they had come for had been on prominent display on stands along the highway.
There was no explanation, either, for the tension that she was feeling. On one hand, she did want Rob to keep on driving in the direction they were headed and to take the turnoff she had indicated. On the other, she wanted him to take her home. The feeling of apprehension was coming out of nowhere, but it was increasing so rapidly that she was beginning to feel weak and a little nauseated.
Was she feeling a reaction to the pressure she had been under at the Sanchezes’? If so, why hadn’t she experienced it sooner? In Carla’s room, surrounded by the child’s possessions, she had felt nothing.
The white lace dress, which must surely have symbolized an important occasion in the little girl’s life, had stirred no response from her whatsoever. The yellow bear, tattered with loving, had lain in her arms like a rock. If Carla was missingher bear and reaching out with her mind to recall its comforting softness, Karen had not felt any awareness of such longings. Bobby’s terror she had experienced as though it were her own. Carla’s emotions were not coming through to her at all.
Perhaps she isn’t experiencing negative feelings,
Karen thought suddenly.
Maybe she
prefers
being with her father.
This was a possibility. Mrs. Sanchez might have found her former husband selfish and irresponsible, but that didn’t necessarily mean he would appear that way to an eight-year-old
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