It was then that she noticed the billboard, although she could have sworn it had not been there a moment before. Old and weatherbeaten, it looked as though it had been standing since the days of Burma Shave roadside poetry. 'Nancy's Place,' it said. 'Good Food at Honest Prices.' And then the most important information of all: '3 Miles.'

Had she been more familiar with the area, she would have known that the section was so totally barren it was more than likely that Nancy's Place no longer existed. But she chose to believe that within a short walking distance was a restaurant where other human beings were eating and talking and laughing.

She desperately wanted to be one of them. She was sure that she would find help at Nancy's Place. But she would have to walk to get there.

She opened the door and got out of the car. It was much colder than it had been earlier. She turned to reach into the back seat of the car for her coat.

It was then she heard the abrupt fluttering sound, followed by a strange scratching on the roof of her car.

She jumped back. There, not two inches from her face, loomed a huge black raven, staring at her with piercing, malevolent eyes.

She screamed and stumbled backward, struggling to keep her balance. The raven followed her with its eyes, much the same way that Damien had, back at the school. She waved her coat at the raven, but the bird remained where it was, large and unmoving.

She kicked the car door shut and backed away, pulling on her coat against the cold, never once taking her eyes off the raven. There was something deeply horrifying about the bird, and Joan was sure she knew what it was.

The bird had been sent by the Devil.

The raven stayed where it was, motionless, implacable, seemingly secure in the knowledge that it could reach her with one single flap of its wings.

Keeping her eye on the raven, she continued walking backward down the road toward Nancy's Place until she had put a good forty yards between herself and the monstrous bird. Then bowing her head toward the ground and clasping her gloved hands together tightly, she murmured another piece of scripture to herself, almost as an incantation. The passage, from Luke, gave the words of Jesus Himself: 'Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you!'

Then she whispered, 'Praise the Lord,' and looked up. The raven was gone.