What I want to see is the twins,Eddie thought. Both sets, all four, alive and well. Especially Lia. What else do I want? For Tian to come out of the barn with a frown on his face. For him to ask us if we heard anything in the night, maybe a fox or even one of those rock-cats they talk about. Because, see, one of the shoats has gone missing. Hope you hid whatever was left of it, Mia or whoever you are. Hope you hid it well.

She came to him, lay down, turned over once and fell asleep—he could tell by the sound of her breathing. Eddie turned his head and looked toward the sleeping Jaffords home place.

She didn’t go anywhere near the house.

No, not unless she’d wheeled her chair all the way through the barn and right out the back, that was. Gone around that way…slipped in a window…taken one of the younger twins…taken the little girl…taken her back to the barn…and…

She didn’t do that. Didn’t have the time, for one thing.

Maybe not, but he’d feel a lot better in the morning, just the same. When he saw all the kids at breakfast. Including Aaron, the little boy with the chubby legs and the little sticking-out belly. He thought of what his mother sometimes said when she saw a mother wheeling a little one like that along the street: So cute! Looks good enough to eat!

Quit it. Go to sleep!

But it was a long time before Eddie got back to sleep.

Three

Jake awoke from his nightmare with a gasp, not sure where he was. He sat up, shivering, arms wrapped around himself. He was wearing nothing but a plain cotton shirt—too big for him—and flimsy cotton shorts, sort of like gym shorts, that were also too big for him. What…?