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  “Okay.” He brought her back, settling her head on his shoulder. He'd waited more than ten years to find out what it was like, he thought, as he set the swing back in motion. He figured that was slow enough.

  As the crickets began to sing, neither of them realized they were caught in the lens of a telescope.

  Chapter 7

  THOUGH ERNIE BUTTS FIGURED school was, at best, a waste of time, he liked his advanced chemistry class. There was something fascinating about the Bunsen burners, the test tubes, and petri dishes. Memorizing the periodic chart of elements was a bore, but he'd never had any problem with retention. Nor did he have any trouble identifying unknowns in a mixture. Unknowns never failed to interest him.

  Still, doing lab work was the best. There was something powerful about mixing chemicals, testing reactions. He always felt in control. He liked to measure and pour and create, and toyed with the idea of making a bomb. Not a stupid stink bomb like Denny Moyers had put together and set off during third period in the girls′ locker room. That was kid stuff. Ernie wanted something that would flash and boom, busting out windows and setting off some real old-fashioned hysteria.

  He could do it; school, and the books his parents had bought him, had given him the knowledge. He was certain he had the capability. And if he decided to do it, he wouldn't get caught like that jerk-off Moyers. Real power wasn't in bragging about what you did, but in having people wonder.

  Doodling in his notebook, Ernie glanced up as James Atherton repeated his instructions. As far as Ernie was concerned, Atherton was a bigger asshole than most adults. He repeated everything in his quiet, tutorial voice, occasionally stretching and turning his long, skinny neck or polishing his glasses as he droned on and on.

  Like a four-eyed giraffe, Ernie thought maliciously.

  Everybody knew he'd made a nice little pile of money in real estate and didn't even have to teach. But here he was, semester after semester, in his dopey suits and ties, trying to teach chemical reactions to kids who mostly didn't give a fuck.

  People said he was dedicated; Ernie figured he was just a dick.

  The fact that he was mayor of Emmitsboro only added to Ernie's bitter amusement. What did the mayor of Hick-town have to do anyway? Decide what color the benches in the park should be painted?

  “This chemical bonding lab will count for one-quarter of your grade in this last marking period,” Atherton continued, scanning the faces of his students with a little inward sigh. After nearly thirty years as a teacher, he had no trouble reading the outcome of this final experiment of the school year. At least ten percent of the class would fail and too many would barely skim by.

  “Miss Simmons, perhaps you could put your compact down for a moment.”

  There was a ripple of giggles as Sally Simmons hastily stuffed her compact in her bag.

  “You will be working in teams,” Atherton continued, meticulously straightening a pile of papers before picking it up to distribute the sheets. “Lab partners are listed on this work sheet. I suggest you familiarize yourselves with the stages of the experiment. Written work will be due in two weeks.”

  As the papers made their way around the class, there were groans and grunts and whispered comments. Ernie noted, with little interest, that Sally Simmons was his lab partner.

  “It will be up to each team to distribute the workload,” Atherton said over the din. In his unassuming way, he studied each student. He knew each of them better than they would have guessed. “Remember, you are partners, and the grade, good or bad, will belong to both of you. You may go to your assigned stations and begin your planning.” He held up a bony finger. “Quietly.”

  Atherton glanced at the clock and was as relieved as his students that only ten minutes remained in the period.

  “I guess we're partners.” Sally tried a bright smile. Though she'd known Ernie for years, from a distance, she still wasn't sure what to make of him. He was by turns wild and moody, and that appealed to her sympathy for rebels.

  “Yeah.” Ernie gave her a long, unnerving look that had her licking her lips.

  “Well, I guess we could study and work on the written part after school some days. We can use my house if you want.”

  “I work after school.”

  “Well… after that, then. I could come over to your place if that's better.”

  He continued to look at her in a way that had her fussing with her hair, then the buttons of her shirt. Beneath the lacy black bra she'd swiped from her older sister, her heart pounded pleasantly.

  “I'm usually finished about nine,” Ernie told her. “We can use my place, nobody'll be around to bother us.” He smiled then, letting his lips spread slowly away from his teeth. “Unless you figure Josh'll get pissed.”

  She smiled again, more comfortable on familiar ground. “We sort of broke up. Josh is cute and all, but he can really be a pain.”

  “Yeah? You two have been pretty tight the last few weeks.”

  She tossed back her rich fall of dark hair. “We just hung around some. People started putting us together after we found that empty grave. If you want, I can come by tonight, and we can get started.”

  He smiled a little. “Yeah, we'll get started.” He wondered if she was a virgin.

  After school Ernie drove to Clare's. He didn't mind the idea of having sex with Sally, but the hot, sweaty dreams he'd been having had centered on his new neighbor. He wondered how it would be to have both of them at once, the way he'd seen in the porno tape he'd copped from Less Gladhill at the gas station.

  His hands were sweaty as he thought of it. He liked the idea of control, domination, power. Doing both of them would prove something. Would make him somebody.

  He pulled into Clare's drive and shut off the engine. From there, he watched her work with hammer and snips. It was warmer today, and she was wearing shorts, snug ones frayed at the hem, and a big T-shirt that slipped over one shoulder.

  What would it be like to walk in, to rip that shirt away? Right there, right now, in broad daylight. Her eyes would widen, the pupils dilating with fear and shock. He'd pull her down to the concrete. She'd whimper. But then… then she would be hot and wet and ready.

  He didn't like the idea that Sheriff Rafferty was moving in on her, but he wasn't overly disturbed. Ernie figured he could take care of Rafferty if he had to.

  He climbed out of the truck and walked toward her.

  Intent on shaping the metal in her vise, Clare didn't notice him until he was almost beside her. She straightened, pressed a hand on her lower back, and smiled.

  “Hi.”

  As she arched her back, her small, unencumbered breasts strained against the cotton T-shirt. He imagined squeezing them.

  “You said I should come by after school sometime.”

  “So I did.” She set the hammer aside. “I'm glad you decided to help me out.” She took a moment to pull herself out of the project at hand and into a new one. “Listen, there's a chair inside the kitchen. Why don't you drag it out here? You can grab yourself a Pepsi if you want.”

  “Okay.”

  When he came back, she had cleared off a space on a worktable. “Just set it over there. You might want to rest your arm on that bench from time to time. Don't be afraid to tell me if you're getting tired.” She hoisted herself up on the worktable, turned down the volume of the old Moody Blues number on her stereo, and gestured for him to sit. “I'm just going to do some sketches. I think if you set your elbow on that bench and make a fist…yeah.” She smiled at him. “So how's school?”

  “Okay.”

  “I guess you've only got a few weeks left.” She was sketching on a pad as she spoke, and tried to put him at ease.

  “Yeah.”

  A man of few words, she thought, and tried again. “You into sports or anything?” “Not into sports.” “Got a girl?”

  His gaze slid up her legs. “Not one in particular.”

  “Ah, a wise man. So, what do your folks do?”

  He grim
aced, from habit. “Run the pizza parlor.”

  “No kidding?” She stopped sketching. “I had some the other night. It's terrific. I have to tell you, the idea of leaving New York pizza behind made the decision to come back here tough. Rocco's made up for it.”

  He shrugged, embarrassed to be pleased. “It's no big deal.”

  “Easy to say when you've grown up with it. Open your fist once and spread your fingers. Mmmm.” With a frown of concentration, she continued to sketch. “So, where'd you live before here?”

  “New Jersey.”

  “Oh, yeah? Why did you move here?” The sulky look came back in his eyes. “Don't ask me. They didn't.”

  Sympathetic, she smiled at him. “It's not such a bad place.”

  “It's dead. I hate it. People sit around and watch the grass grow.”

  Three sentences in a row, she thought. He must have strong feelings. “I guess it's hard to believe there'd ever come a time when you'd actually appreciate watching the grass grow.”

  “Easy for you to say,” he muttered, mimicking her. “You can go back to New York whenever you want.”

  “That's true.” And children, she thought, no matter how hard they strained for independence, were stuck. “It won't be long before you can decide for yourself. L.A., right?”

  “Yeah. I'm getting the hell out of here.” He was staring at her legs again, at the way the frayed hem of her shorts cut high on her thighs. “Have you been there?”

  “Yeah, once or twice. It's not really my style. You'll have to let me know what you think of it once you get there. Make a fist again.” She turned a page in the sketchpad, then shook her head. “You know, what I think I want is from the shoulder up, kind of like a tree shooting up from the roots. You want to take your shirt off? It's warm enough.”

  He looked at her, secrets playing in his eyes as he slowly pulled the T-shirt over his head. She wanted him. He knew it.

  What Clare saw was a slim, angry boy on the teetering brink of manhood. More, she saw a subject, a slender arm, surprisingly roped with muscle, its power still untapped.

  “This is going to work.” She scooted down from the table. “Let me pose it. I won't ask you to hold it long. It'll get uncomfortable.”

  She took his arm, cupping a hand under his elbow as she lifted it, bent it. Then she closed her fingers over his to make a fist again.

  “Now, if you can hold it out at this angle…. Good, now put some tension into it. Terrific. You're a natural.” As she stepped back, she glanced down to the pendant he wore. It was silver, in an odd geometric shape. Like a pentagram, she thought, and looked up at him. “What's this? A good luck charm?”

  His free hand closed over it protectively. “Sort of.”

  Afraid she'd embarrassed him, she picked up her pad again and began to sketch.

  She worked for an hour, letting him take frequent breaks to rest his arm. A time or two she caught him watching her speculatively, with a much too adult gleam in his eyes. She passed it off, a little amused, a little flattered that he might have developed a small crush on her.

  “That's great, Ernie, really. I'd like to start working in clay whenever you've got another couple of hours to spare.”

  “Okay.”

  “I'll get you some money.”

  Alone, he flexed his arm and wandered around the garage. When he spotted the sculpture in the corner, he stopped short. Once again, his fingers closed around the inverted pentagram as he studied the half man, half beast she had created out of metal and nightmares.

  It was a sign, he thought, his breath coming quickly. His fingers trembled slightly as he reached out to stroke it worshipfully. She had been brought here for him. The rituals, the offerings had met with favor. The Dark Lord had delivered her to him. Now he had only to wait for the right time and place to take her.

  “What do you think of it?”

  Cautiously, Ernie dragged on his shirt before he turned. Clare was standing behind him. She was staring, as he had been, at the sculpture. He could smell her, soap and sweat.

  “It has power.”

  She was surprised to hear the opinion from a seventeen-year-old. Intrigued, she turned her head and stared at him. “Ever thought about becoming an art critic?”

  “Why did you make this?”

  “I couldn't seem to help myself.”

  The answer was perfect. “You'll do more.”

  She glanced back at the heap of metal on her welding table. “Yes, it seems that I will.” Shaking herself, she held out some bills. “I really appreciate your posing for me.”

  “I liked it. I like you.”

  “Good. I like you, too.” When the phone rang, she turned to the kitchen doorway. “Gotta go. See you soon, Ernie.”

  “Yeah.” He wiped his damp palms on the thighs of his jeans. “I'll see you real soon.”

  Clare opened the refrigerator and picked up the phone simultaneously. “Hello.”

  As she rooted out a hot dog, mustard, pickles, and a soft drink, wet, heavy breathing sounded in her ear. She grinned, stuck the hot dog in the microwave, and began to breathe back, occasionally adding a husky “yes” or “oh yes!” After setting the timer, she popped open the bottle. “Oh, my God, don't stop.” She finished with a long, wavering moan.

  “Was it good for you?” the low, masculine voice asked.

  “Wonderful. Incredible. The best.” She took a long swallow of Pepsi. “Jean-Paul, you give great phone.” She took the hot dog out of the microwave, then wrapped it in a piece of Wonder bread, and began to slather on mustard. “If Angie ever finds out-”

  “I'm on the extention, you idiot.”

  Chuckling, Clare added a row of dill pickle slices. “Oh, well, all is discovered. So what's up?”

  “After that,” Jean-Paul said, “I am.”

  “Behave yourself,” Angie said mildly. “We wanted to see how you are.”

  “I'm good.” Satisfied, Clare picked up the dripping sandwich and bit in. “Really good,” she mumbled with a full mouth. “In fact, I just finished some sketches with a new model. The kid's got great arms.”

  “Oh, really?”

  Amused by Angie's intonation, Clare shook her head. “I meant kid literally. He's sixteen, seventeen. I also took some sketches of this friend of mine who's a waitress. Competent poetry in motion. And I've got my eye on a fabulous set of hands.” She thought of Cam and chewed thoughtfully. “Maybe the face, too. Or the whole damn body.” Just how would he react if she suggested he pose nude? she wondered.

  “You sound busy, chèrie. ” Jean-Paul picked up a chunk of amethyst from his desk.

  “I am. Angie, you'll be pleased to know I've been working every day. Really working,” she added, scooting up on the counter, then taking another bite of the hot dog. “I've actually got one piece finished.”

  “And?” Angie probed.

  “I'd rather you see it for yourself. I'm too close to it.”

  With the phone cocked between his ear and shoulder, Jean-Paul passed the stone from hand to hand. “How is life in the boondicks?”

  “Docks,” Clare corrected. “Boondocks, and it's fine. Why don't you come see for yourself?”

  “What about that, Angie? Would you like a few days in the country? We can smell the cows and make love in the hay.”

  “I'll think about it.”

  “A week in Emmitsboro is not like a year in the Outback.” Warming to the idea, Clare polished off the hot dog. “We don't have wild boar or mad rapists.”

  “Je suis desolè, ” Jean-Paul said, tongue in cheek. “What do you have, chèrie?”

  “Quiet, tranquility-even a comforting kind of boredom.” She thought of Ernie with his youthful restlessness and dissatisfaction. Boredom wasn't for everyone, she supposed. “After I show you the hot spots like Martha's Diner and Clyde's Tavern, we can sit on the porch, drink beer, and watch the grass grow.”

  “Sounds stimulating,” Angie muttered.

  “We'll see what we can shuffle in our sc
hedule.” Jean-Paul