Cedar Woman (164 page)

Logan
slowly
beca
m
e
aware
of
h
i
s
surround
i
ngs.
Sitting
on
the step,
he
hea
r
d
his
m
o
t
h
er’s
c
a
r. He
sa
n
k de
e
p
er i
n
to his
s
ho
u
l
d
e
rs,
a
fra
i
d
, k
no
w
in
g h
o
w d
i
sa
pp
o
i
n
t
ed h
i
s
m
o
t
h
er
wo
u
l
d be w
it
h h
i
m
.

Sh
e
wo
n’
t
t
a
lk
to
me f
o
r ye
a
r
s
,
he
thought.

Tears
s
p
illed
d
o
wn
h
i
s
tan
n
ed
c
h
ee
k
s,
a
n
d
h
e
h
u
ng
h
i
s
head
o
n
ce
m
or
e.

The
s
o
unds
of
the
lake
see
m
ed
to
s
t
o
p
.
T
h
e
f
ou
n
tain
sparkle
d
,
b
u
t
t
h
ere
was
n
o
s
p
l
ash
o
f
wa
t
e
r
.
The
du
c
ks
swam
but
t
h
ere
was
no
h
i
nt
o
f

t
h
e
q
u
a
c
ki
n
g
a
n
d
pe
e
p
i
n
g
L
o
gan
h
a
d
c
o
m
e
to
l
o
ve.
He
s
a
t
u
p
ri
g
h
t
a
n
d

l
o
o
k
ed aro
u
nd…
d
i
d
h
e
j
u
st
hear…laug
h
te
r
?

He
k
n
ew
h
is
m
o
t
h
er’s
lau
g
h,
k
n
ew
it
as well
as
h
is
o
w
n
.
He
co
u
ld hear
h
e
r
s
i
ngle
w
h
oo
p
as
she t
h
r
e
w
back
h
e
r
he
a
d
,
t
h
e
cl
a
p
o
f
her
h
a
n
d
s. Single
y
el
p
s
of lau
g
hter
f
o
ll
o
we
d
.

T
u
nkasila
was
laugh
i
n
g
.
He
could
hear
h
im
,
li
k
e
a
balloon
leak
i
n
g air.
He
wou
l
d
cov
e
r
his
face
and
t
h
e
n
wh
e
eze
out
his
laught
e
r,
his
face
t
u
r
n
in
g
re
d
.

He
hea
r
d
an
ot
h
er
ca
r
. Sh
e
rr
i
!

O
h
, no!
he g
ro
ane
d
.

There
w
as
t
h
e
sla
mm
ing
o
f
a
car
d
o
o
r
an
d
t
h
en
he
c
ou
l
d
he
a
r
her ri
n
g
t
h
e
do
o
r
b
ell.

Silence
and
t
h
e
n
, “Aaaaaaaaaa
a
hhhhhhhhhhhh!”

He
liste
n
ed
i
n
te
n
tly:
a
no
ther
scream a
n
d
t
h
en
S
h
erri’s
v
e
ry i
d
e
n
tifia
b
l
e
h
e
arty la
u
g
h
t
er.
W
h
at
w
a
s
h
ap
p
e
n
i
n
g
i
n
t
h
e
r
e?

The
y
’ve
f
o
rg
otten
ab
out
me,
he
m
ou
r
n
e
d.
I’ll
have
to
sleep
under the deck
with
t
h
e
opos
su
m
.

L
o
gan
gave
a start
as
he
h
eard
t
h
e
swi
s
h
of
t
h
e
sli
d
i
n
g
d
o
o
r
s. T
u
nkasila
m
o
t
i
on
e
d
f
o
r
Lo
g
a
n
to
c
o
m
e
i
n
.
He
rose
a
n
d
wal
k
e
d
sl
o
w
ly