No!Susannah cried to the force that was trying to engulf her. And did that force have a name? Of course it did. Its name was Mother, its hand was the one that rocked the cradle, and the hand that rocks the cradle rules the w—

No! You have to let me finish this! Afterward, if you want to have it, I’ll help you! I’ll help you have it! But if you try to force this on me now, I’ll fight you tooth and nail! And if it comes to getting myself killed, and killing your precious chap along with me, I’ll do it! Do you hear me, you bitch?

For a moment there was nothing but the darkness, the press of Eddie’s leg, the numbness in the left side of her face, the thunder of the oncoming horses, the acrid smell of the leaves, and the sound of the Sisters breathing, getting ready for their own battle. Then, each of her words articulated clearly from a place above and behind Susannah’s left eye, Mia for the first time spoke to her.

Fight your fight, woman. I’ll even help, if I can. And then keep your promise.

“Susannah?” Eddie murmured from beside her. “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” she said. And she was. The icepick was gone. The voice was gone. So was the terrible numbness. But close by, Mia was waiting.

Thirteen

Roland lay on his belly in the ditch, now watching the Wolves with one eye of imagination and one of intuition instead of with those in his head. The Wolves were between the bluff and the hill, riding full-out with their cloaks streaming behind them. They’d all disappear behind the hill for perhaps seven seconds. If, that was, they stayed bunched together and the leaders didn’t start to pull ahead. If he had calculated their speed correctly. If he was right, he’d have five seconds when he could motion Jake and the others to come. Or seven. If he was right, they’d have those same five seconds to cross the road. If he was wrong (or if the others were slow), the Wolves would either see the man in the ditch, the children in the road, or all of them. The distances would likely be too great to use their weapons, but that wouldn’t much matter, because the carefully crafted ambush would be blown. The smart thing would be to stay down, and leave the kids over there to their fate. Hell, four kids caught on the arroyo path would make the Wolves more sure than ever that the rest of them were stashed farther on, in one of the old mines.

Enough thinking,Cort said in his head. If you mean to move, maggot, this is your only chance.