Jenny barely heard her. Her skin was still crawling, and she couldn't shake off the feeling that she might be sick. 'Who would do that to me?" she asked. "To anyone?"

"Nobody. I mean, nobody that I know," Sally said. "Everyone I've talked to says they think you're nice, pretty, good things like that. Not that

we've been gossiping or anything," she added. **But you know, when somebody new moves in, you can't help talking about them a httle."

Jenny nodded. "They've said good things? Even Brad?" She took a deep breath and finally told Sally about his visit. She didn't go into detail, just told her that he'd been drinking and was still upset. "I wasn't going to say anything, but now ... do you think he did it?"

"Brad," SaUy said thoughtfuUy. "He does still have this idea that you heard something on the rimrocks that night. Dean and Karen and everybody keep telling him to forget it. But he's really bull-headed. And after what he did last night, I guess he could be the one."

"But it doesn't make any sense," Jenny said. ^Why would he leave me a dead snake?"

"Somebody who'd do something like that isn't making sense in the first place. And Brad's not famous for his brainpower." Sally looked curiously at Jenny. "Did you really hear something up there?"

"I thought I did." Jenny's mind flashed back to that moment on the bluff. "No, I'm positive I did," she said. "I keep going over it and over it. I even dreamed about it last night. But everytime I get to that part, I can hear the voice, but I can't hear what it said."

"What was the voice like?"

"I don't know." Jenny shook her head. "It was loud, shouting."

"Mad? Scared?" SaUy asked. "Seems like you'd be able to tell that much."

Why was Sally pushing? Jenny wondered.

*What difference does it make?" Jenny said defensively. "Diana shouted and then she fell and screamed. It happened all at once, almost. There wasn't anything I could have done."

"No, but maybe Brad thinks there was," Sally said. "Like I said, he's obsessed about it, so maybe he decided you could have done something, and he sent you a chopped-up snake to let you know how he feels about you."

Jenny shuddered. She remembered Brad's strong hands reaching across the diner table toward her, and the way he'd leaned over her last night. He'd been so angry. Was he still so angry that he'd do something like this? "Do you really think it was him?"

"I think it's possible," Sally said.

'Wait!" Jenny snapped her fingers. "Maybe it's somebody in junior high. This has a real junior-high, prank-type feeling to it, don't you think?" She suddenly felt hopeful. She could deal with a junior-high prank. It was revenge she couldn't handle.

'Well, like I said, anything's possible," Sally said, "but actually, I'd put my money on Brad."

Why was she so eager to blame Brad? Jenny wondered. Weren't they friends? "I guess I'll never know for sure," she said. "But I'd rather believe it was a bad junior-high joke."