“I’m not sure how impulsive his act was,” she said, still trying to keep her voice even. “He had the handcuffs for my wrists and the duct tape for my mouth. He waited outside until there was no one in the store.” She was guessing on that one, but it was a pretty good guess. “I assume he’s ready to call my friend Bobo to tell him what he has to do to get me returned. That pretty much seems like kidnapping, right?”

The Egglestons looked even more uncomfortable, and the look Mamie cast on her son was not an admiring one or a loving one.

Fiji’s heart sank. She’d said exactly the wrong thing. They’d understood that she was not going to forgive and forget. She didn’t believe she could have convinced them otherwise, though. Of course they didn’t want to see their son taken to jail, especially if they shared his political and social beliefs. Of course he hadn’t wanted them to know he was hurting a woman. But now that they knew, and they’d met the woman, they were going to give him a pass. She dared not go into the house.

For a brief second, she tried to imagine what kind of woman they would have taken into the house, given dry clothing to, called the police for. She could not come up with such a woman, not when their son’s freedom was at stake.

I have to freeze them all, she thought. That was a spell she knew she’d mastered.

Her fingers began making their small movements, clumsily because of the cold and the stiffness from being confined. Since Price was nearest to her, it affected him first, and in a matter of seconds he became very still. His dad said, “What the hell . . .” before he, too, turned to (frozen) wood. Mamie was smart enough to realize that something Fiji was doing was causing this extraordinary reaction in her menfolk, and she tried to cut and run, but her clogs slid in the mud of the yard, and Fiji seized her arm—both to stop her from going down and to get her attention. Once Mamie looked into Fiji’s face and Fiji repeated her hand gestures once more, Mamie was still as anyone could want.

This was so much better than using only her intent, as she had in the truck.

Fiji didn’t know how long she had until the spell wore off; not long, she figured. She didn’t want the Egglestons to send the police after her for theft, so she couldn’t take Price’s truck. Instead, she ran for the road. Fiji was not much of a runner, but she fairly scampered down the paved driveway.