“You know Clint and the children can never leave this place, Mary. And your place is here with them. This is your home now. I’ll be back. I won’t be gone long.”

“I wish you wouldn’t go.”

“I know, dear. I’ll be back before you miss me. Time passes quickly down here.”

Clint had nothing to say when she told him. His silence spoke of his disapproval. She packed some gear and left without further discussion.

The door at the top of the stairs was open, as she expected. She knew Michael would leave it that way in case any of them cared to return. She spent two days at the bottom of the stairs, getting used to the light, then ventured up. It was hot.

How do I look now, she wondered. She skirted the woods and made her way to her mother’s house. Strengthening her resolve, she knocked on the kitchen door. Her mother looked dully out at her.

“You’ve come back.”

“Yes. Momma.”

“Well, come in and clean up.”

Not exactly a rousing welcome, but about what she had expected. After all, she had kidnapped Michael’s youngest daughter and given her a life in the caverns. Not an act to endear her to the family.

After she showered, she put on the clean housedress her mother had laid out. She examined herself in the mirror. Her face looked about the same. A few more lines around the mouth and eyes, maybe. Somehow she didn’t feel nearly as monstrous as she had the last time she was here. The smell of bacon frying came through from the kitchen. She joined her mother, wordlessly set the table, then sat down and waited.

“How’s Mary?”

“She’s fine. She’s happy, Momma.”

Her mother turned with fury in her eyes. “Don’t you dare talk of happiness to me. You. Living under the earth like a worm. Destroying all that Michael and Maggie had by taking their little girl like you did. You’re Satan himself.”

Sally Ann endured her mother’s venom. She knew it had to come out sooner or later, and was glad Cora could get it off her chest so soon. She stood up and put her arms around her mother as she stood at the stove. She felt the silent sobs shake her frail frame. Her mother had grown old. Very old.

“Oh, Sally Ann, why have you come back again? Just when a hurt has healed, you come back to pick it open again. Why do you do that?”

“I’ve come to see Michael.”

“I guess I knew that the moment I saw you at the door. Well, there’s the phone. Get it over with.”

The number was written on a list Cora kept on the wall. Sally dialed the number slowly, praying that Maggie wouldn’t answer the phone. She did.

“Hello?”