I moved six feet northwest. “Here, too,” I said.

“He’s in pieces?”

“There’s more than one body,” Tolliver told her.

I held my hands up to sharpen my focus. I turned again, more slowly, my eyes closed, my hands raised, counting. “Eight,” I said.

“Oh, my Lord in heaven,” Twyla said. She sat down heavily on an old stump. “I’m going to call the police.”

She must have given Tolliver a glance of sudden misgiving, because he said, “You can bank on it. Harper’s right.” I heard the little beeps as she began punching in numbers.

“What happened to them?” he asked me quietly. He knew I was listening though my eyes were still closed.

I didn’t say anything. It was time for me to find out, but I didn’t want anyone else to watch while I did it. “Okay,” I said, to steady myself. “Tolliver?” I wanted him to be ready.

“I’m here,” he said. “I’ve got a hold.” I could feel his grip on my arms.

I stepped directly onto the ground above the corpse, and I looked down through the soil and rocks, caught a glimpse of hell. That was the last thing I remember.

Four

“SHE ever gonna wake up?” The speaker was Sandra Rockwell. I remembered her voice, but she sounded strange and strained.

“Harper?” my brother said. “Harper?”

I didn’t want to do this, but I had to.

“Okay,” I said, and it came out as wobbly as I felt. “You found them yet?”

“Tell me what to do,” Sheriff Rockwell said. She sounded as if she didn’t want to be there.

I had to open my eyes, and I had to look at the anxious brown eyes under the hat. Sheriff Rockwell was in a padded coat that made her look twice as large.

“They’re all there,” I said. “If you can wait a minute, I can tell you who’s where. And there are eight of them, not six.”

“How do you know that?”

I was sitting in the back seat of Twyla’s car, my head leaning against the cushion.

“Here, eat some sugar,” Tolliver said anxiously, working a piece of candy out of his jeans pocket. He unwrapped it for me, and popped it in my mouth. I knew from experience that I would feel better in a few minutes, especially if I had a Coke.

“You were willing to believe me before I did anything,” I said. “Have a little more faith. Dig for them.”

“If you’re lying, your ass will end up in jail,” she said.

“And I would deserve it.”