I imagined them sucking her blood like ticks.

“No. They’d never bite me. And they know not to bite you either.”

“Well, you need to eat,” I said. “At the next stop we’ll get out and find an all-night coffee shop and get some nourishment into you.”

She gave her head an emphatic shake. “No, Mother. This is a big day. I have to stay on schedule.”

“For the sunrise? It will happen whether you’re watching or not.”

“Sunrise isn’t the first stop on the schedule.”

“What is?”

“All in good time, Mother.”

At Bleeker Street we switched to the D train and continued to the end of the line at Coney Island. Once the D left Manhattan, it stopped being “sub” and traveled on elevated tracks.

After an uneventful trip on two largely uninhabited trains, we reached the end of the line at Coney Island. Ellie led us down to street level where we found ourselves in a rough, seedy neighborhood.

“I don’t like it here,” I said.

“It’s necessary,” she said. She was in enigmatic mode now. “What time on your phone?”

I checked. “Four fifty-seven.”

“Good. We have time.”

“Hey, Red Riding Hood,” said boozy male voice. “I dig the cape.”

An unshaven man in a short jacket and a fedora set at a rakish angle stepped out of the shadows and approached us.

I tugged on Ellie’s sleeve. “Let’s go.”

But Ellie stood firm, muttering something that sounded like, Right on schedule.

“Good evening, sir,” she said. “Could you direct us to the boardwalk?”

“Sure can.” He stopped two feet before us. “Gimme your fancy red cape and I’ll guide you there myself.”

It occurred to me that he was seeing the red cape I’d seen in flashes throughout our trip.

“I’m afraid I can’t give up Blanky.”

“We ain’t hagglin’, little girl.” A knife with a nasty-looking blade appeared in his hand. “Hand it over.”

I wanted to run but I couldn’t leave Ellie.

“I’ve had Blanky all my life.”

He waved the blade toward me. “This looks like your mother. You’ve had her all your life too, right? How’s about I cut her and we see if you still wanna keep your cape?”

Ellie tsked. “Well, since you put it that way.”

She untied the blanket from around her neck and handed it over. I noticed that her back was clear of the creatures. I glanced at Blanky and saw its entire underside massed with kiddlies.

“Ellie…”

“Mother…” A warning tone.

I zipped my lips.

The man had slipped the knife into his belt and was swinging Blanky over his shoulders, then knotting it around his neck.

“You know, I used to be quite the fashion plate. I had a stable of the finest girls on the street. Then everything went south for me. But I can still look sharp, right? I can—”

His expression suddenly changed—to puzzled, then concerned.

“What the—?”

He started twisting and clawing at his back. He staggered in a circle as he tried to untie Blanky but his fingers fumbled futilely at the knot.