School was out. Mary was intensely proud of her students. The seniors had all graduated, and all of the undergraduates had passed. All of them intended to finish high school, and a couple of them wanted to go to college. It was a record to thrill any teacher’s heart.

Joe didn’t get a respite. Mary decided he needed more advanced classes in math than she was qualified to teach and began a search for a teacher who was qualified. She found one in a town seventy miles distant, and three times a week Joe made the trip for a two-hour accelerated course. She continued to teach him at night.

The days passed in a haze of happiness for Mary. She seldom left the mountain, seldom saw anyone except Wolf and Joe. Even when they were both gone, she felt safe. It had been only a little over two weeks since the attack, but it seemed as if it had happened a long time ago. Whenever a sliver of memory surfaced to unsettle her emotions, she scolded herself for letting it bother her. Nothing had happened, except she had been terrified. If anyone needed care and consideration, it was Cathy Teele. So Mary pushed the memories away and concentrated on the present. The present, inevitably, was Wolf.

He dominated her life, waking and sleeping. He began teaching her how to ride and how to help him with the horses, and she suspected he used the same method with her that he used with the young colts and fillies that were brought to him. He was firm and demanding, but utterly clear in his instructions and what he wanted out of both her and the horses. When they obeyed, he rewarded them with approval and affection. In fact, Mary mused, he was easier on the horses than he was on her! When they disobeyed, he was unfailingly patient. When she didn’t do something exactly as he’d told her, he let her know about it in unmistakable terms.

But he was always affectionate. Actually, she decided, “lusty” was a better description. He made love to her every night, sometimes twice. He made love to her in the empty stall where Joe had interrupted them. He made love to her in the shower. She knew she wasn’t even close to voluptuous, but he seemed enthralled with her body. When they lay in bed at night he would turn on the lamp and lean on his elbow, watching as he stroked his hand over her from shoulders to knees, seemingly fascinated by the difference between her pale, delicate skin and his dark, powerful, work-callused hand.

Wyoming weather in the summer was generally cool and dry, at least compared to Savannah, but the summer vacation from school had scarcely begun when a heat wave sent the temperatures into the nineties, even edging into the low hundreds by late afternoon. For the first time in her life, Mary wished she had some shorts to wear, but Aunt Ardith had never allowed them. She did find, however, that her plain cotton skirts were cooler than the new jeans she was so proud of, allowing for the circulation of whatever breeze happened to wander by. Not that Aunt Ardith would have approved of Mary’s attire even then, for Mary declined to wear a slip or hosiery. Aunt Ardith had donned both articles of clothing every day of her life and would have considered anyone who dared to go without a slip an out-and-out hussy.

One morning just after Joe had left to drive to his class, Mary walked out to the barn and reflected on her state of hussiness. All in all, she was satisfied with it. Being a hussy had its advantages.

She could hear some horses snorting and stamping around in the small corral behind the barn, though Wolf usually used the larger one adjacent to the stables for training. The sound of activity, however, told her where she could find him, and that was all she wanted to know.

But when she rounded the corner of the barn, she stopped in her tracks. Wolf’s big bay stallion was mounting the mare she had been riding during her lessons. The mare’s front hooves were hobbled, and protective boots covered her rear hooves. The stallion was snorting and grunting, and the mare squealed as he entered her. Wolf moved to her head to steady her, and then she stood quietly. “There, sweetheart,” he crooned. “You can handle this big old guy, can’t you?”

The mare shivered under the impact of the stallion’s thrusts, but she stood still for the service and it was over in only a couple of minutes. The stallion snorted and dropped off her, his head down low as he snuffled and blew.

Wolf continued talking in that low, soothing voice to the mare as he bent down to remove the hobble. As he started to remove the boots, Mary stepped forward and caught his attention. “You—you tied her!” she said accusingly.

He grinned as he finished unbuckling the protective boots. Miss Mary Elizabeth Potter stood before him in full form, her back ramrod-straight, chin lifted. “I didn’t tie her,” he said with amused patience. “I hobbled her.”

“So she couldn’t get away from him!”

“She didn’t want to get away from him.”

“How do you know?”

“Because she would have kicked him if she hadn’t been ready for him to cover her,” he explained as he led the mare back into the barn. Mary followed, her face still filled with indignation.

“A lot of good it would have done if she’d kicked him—you put those boots on her so she wouldn’t hurt him!”

“Well, I didn’t want my stallion damaged. On the other hand, if she had resisted service, I would have gotten her out of there. When a mare resists, it means I’ve misjudged the time, or something is wrong with her. But she took him nicely, didn’t you girl?” he finished, patting the mare’s neck.

Mary watched, fidgeting, as he washed the mare. She still didn’t like the idea of the mare being unable to run away from the stallion, even though this particular mare was now standing as placidly as if nothing had happened a few minutes ago. It disturbed her on a deep emotional level that didn’t respond to logic, and she felt uneasy.

Wolf led the mare to her stall, fed her and gave her fresh water. Then he squatted in front of the faucet to wash his hands and arms. When he looked up, Mary was still standing there, a troubled, almost frightened look in her eyes. He straightened. “What’s wrong?”

Desperately she tried to shrug her uneasiness aside, but it didn’t work. It was plain in her face and voice. “It looked—it looked….” Her voice trailed off, but suddenly he understood.

He moved slowly toward her and wasn’t surprised when she backed up a step. “Horses aren’t people,” he said gently. “They’re big, and they snort and squeal. It looks rough, but that’s just how horses mate. It would be even rougher if they were allowed to run free, because they’d kick and bite.”

She looked at the mare. “I know. It’s just—” She stopped, because she really couldn’t say what was bothering her.

Wolf reached her and put his hands on her waist, holding her lightly so she wouldn’t be alarmed and wouldn’t know that she couldn’t break free unless he let her. “It’s just that the roughness reminded you of being attacked?” he finished for her.

She gave him a quick, disturbed look, then just as quickly looked away.

“I know the memory is still there, baby.” He slowly tightened his hands, bringing her close against him and just holding her. After a moment she began to relax, and her silky head rested against his chest. Only then did he put his arms around her, because he didn’t want her to feel restrained.

“I want to kiss you,” he murmured.

She lifted her head and smiled at him. “That’s why I came out here: to tempt you into a kiss. I’ve become a shameless hussy. Aunt Ardith would have disowned me.”

“Aunt Ardith sounds like a pain in the—”

“She was wonderful,” Mary said firmly. “It’s just that she was very old-fashioned and had strict notions of what was proper and what wasn’t. For instance, only shameless hussies would wear a skirt without a proper petticoat underneath.” She lifted her skirt a little to show him.

“Then let’s hear it for shameless hussies.” He bent his head and kissed her, and felt the familiar hot excitement begin building in his body. Ruthlessly he controlled it, because control was critical right now. He had to show Mary something, and he couldn’t do it if his libido overcame his common sense. He had to do something to banish that ever-present fear from the back of her mind.

He raised his head and hugged her for a minute before letting his arms drop. Instead he took her hands and held them, and the expression on his face made the smile leave her eyes. He said slowly, “Are you willing to try something that might get you over being frightened?”

She looked cautious. “Such as?”

“We could reenact parts of the attack.”

Mary stared at him. She was curious, but also wary. Part of her didn’t want to do anything that would remind her of that day, but on the other hand, she didn’t like being afraid. She said, “Which parts?”

“I could chase you.”

“He didn’t chase me. He grabbed me from behind.”

“So will I, when I catch you.”

She considered it. “It won’t work. I’ll know it’s you.”

“We could try.”

She stared at him for a long time, then stiffened as a thought came to her. “He threw me facedown on the ground,” she whispered. “He was on top of me, rubbing himself against me.”

Wolf’s face was strained. “Do you want me to do that, too?”

She shuddered. “Want you to? No. But I think you’re going to have to. I don’t want to be afraid any longer. Make love to me like that—please.”

“What if you get really scared?”

“Don’t—” She swallowed. “Don’t stop.”

He looked at her for a long minute, as if measuring her resolve; then his mouth began to quirk up on one side. “All right. Run.”

She didn’t. She stared at him. “What?”

“Run. I can’t chase you if you don’t run.”

All of a sudden she felt silly at the thought of running about the yard like a child. “Just like that?”

“Yeah, just like that. Think of it this way: when I catch you, I’m going to pull your clothes off and make love to you, so why are you waiting?”

He removed his hat to hook it on a post. Mary took a step backward, then, despite her dignity, whirled and ran. She heard the thudding of his boots as he came after her, and laughed with excitement despite herself. She knew she didn’t have a prayer of reaching the house; his legs were much longer than hers. Instead she relied on agility and dodged around his truck, then a tree.

“I’m going to get you,” he growled, his voice right behind her, and his hand closed briefly on her shoulder before she sprinted away from him.

She sought refuge behind his truck again, with him on the other side. They feinted, but neither gained an advantage. Panting, her face alight with both excitement and triumph, Mary taunted him, “Can’t catch me, can’t catch me.”

A slow, unholy smile touched his mouth as he looked at her. She was almost glowing with her success, her silky brown hair tumbling around her face, and he wanted her so much it hurt. He wanted to take her in his arms and make love to her, and he swore to himself because he couldn’t, not right now. First he had to play this through, and, despite her brave words, he hoped she could bear it.

They had been staring at each other, and suddenly it struck her how savage he looked. He was aroused. She knew that look on his face as well as she knew her own, and her breath caught. He wasn’t playing; he was deadly earnest. For the first time, fear began to creep in on her. She tried to tamp it down, because she knew Wolf would never hurt her. It was just—oh, damn, something about it did remind her of the attack, no matter how she tried to push the thought away. The playfulness drained out of her, and an unreasonable panic took its place. “Wolf? Let’s stop now.”

His chest rose and fell with his breathing, and a bleak look entered his eyes, but his voice was guttural. “No. I’m going to catch you.”

She ran blindly, leaving the dubious safety of the truck. His running steps behind her sounded like thunder, obscuring every other sound, even that of her rasping breath. It was like being in that alley again, even though a part of her clung to the knowledge that this was Wolf, and she wanted him to do this. She hadn’t had a chance to run from her attacker, but he had been behind her; she had heard his breathing just as she now heard Wolf’s. She screamed, a high, terrified sound, just before Wolf caught her and bore her down, on her stomach, to the ground, his heavy weight coming down on top of her.

He supported himself on his arms to keep from crushing her, and nuzzled her ear. “Ha, I caught you.” He forced himself to say the words lightly, but his chest was tight with pain at what she was going through. He could feel the terror that held her in its grip, and he began trying to loosen its bonds, speaking softly to her, reminding her of the heated, sensuous pleasures they had shared. Tears stung his eyes at the sounds she made, those of a trapped and terrified animal. God, he didn’t know if he could do it. The lust had died in him at her first scream.

At first she struggled like a wild thing, kicking and bucking, trying to free her arms, but he held them clamped down. She was maddened with fear, so much so that despite the difference in their sizes and strength, she might have hurt him if not for his training. As it was, all he could do was hold her and try to break through the black mist of fear that enveloped her.

“Calm down, sweetheart, calm down. You know I won’t hurt you, and I won’t let anyone else hurt you. You know who I am.” He repeated it over and over, until exhaustion claimed her, and her struggles became weak and aimless. Only then could she begin to listen; only then could his crooning words penetrate the barrier of fear. Suddenly she collapsed on the ground with her face buried in the hot, sweet grass and began to cry.

Wolf lay on top of her with his arms still locked securely around her and soothed her while she cried. He petted her and kissed her hair, her shoulder, her delicate nape, until at last she lay limply on the grass, both tears and energy exhausted. The endless caresses affected him, too, now that she was calmer; he felt a return of the desire that was never far away from him since he’d met her.

He nuzzled her neck again. “Are you still frightened?” he murmured.

Bruised, swollen eyelids were closed over her eyes. “No,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I keep putting you through this. I love you.”

“I know, sweetheart. Hold on to that thought.” Then he lifted himself back on his knees and pushed her skirt to her waist.

Mary’s eyes flared open when she felt him pulling down her underpants, and her voice was sharp. “Wolf! No!”

He stripped the garment down her legs, and Mary trembled in reaction. It was so much like before, in the alley. She was on her stomach on the ground, with a man’s weight on top of her, and she couldn’t bear it. She tried to scramble forward, but he locked one arm around her waist and held her while he unfastened his jeans with the other hand. He kneed her thighs farther apart and eased himself against her, then let his weight down on her again.

“This reminds you of it, doesn’t it?” he asked in a low, gentle voice. “Being on the ground, on your stomach, with me behind you. But you know I won’t hurt you, that you don’t have to be afraid, don’t you?”

“I don’t care. I don’t like this! Let me up, I want up!”

“I know, baby. Come on now, relax. Think of how many times I’ve made love to you and how much you’ve enjoyed it. Trust me.”

The smell of the hot earth was in her nostrils. “I don’t want you to make love to me now,” she managed to say, albeit raggedly. “Not like this.”

“Then I won’t. Don’t be afraid, baby. I won’t go any further unless you want me to. Just relax, and let’s feel each other. I don’t want you to be afraid when I come up behind you. I admit, your pretty little rear end turns me on. I like to look at it and touch it, and when you cuddle it against me in bed it drives me crazy. I guess you’ve noticed, though, haven’t you?”

Dazedly, she tried to gather her scattered senses. He’d never hurt her before, and now that the haze of fear was fading, she knew he never would. This was Wolf, the man she loved, not her attacker. She was in his strong arms, where she was safe.

She relaxed, her tired muscles going limp. Yes, he was definitely aroused. She could feel him, nestled between her spread legs, but true to his word he was making no move to enter her.

He stroked her sides and kissed her neck. “Are you all right now?”

She sighed, a barely audible release of breath. “Yes,” she whispered.

He shifted to his knees again and sat back on his heels. Before she could guess what he was about, his steely hands lifted her up and back, so she was sitting astride his thighs, but facing away from him. Their naked loins were pressed together, but still he didn’t enter her.

The first twinge of excitement sang along her nerves. The moment was doubly erotic because they were out in the open, crouched on the grass with the hot, bright sun blazing down on them. If anyone happened to drive up, they would be caught. The sudden sense of danger sharply heightened her arousal. Actually, from the front they were covered, because her skirt was draped over his thighs.

Then that protective cover was whisked away as he pulled her skirt up and to the side. He held her to him with one hand on her stomach, and the other hand slid down between her legs. The intimate contact brought a sharp little cry to her lips.

“Do you like that?” he murmured against her ear and gently nipped the lobe.

Mary made some incoherent answer. His rough fingertips were rasping over her most sensitive flesh, creating and building such pleasure that she could barely speak. He knew exactly how to touch her, how to build her to readiness and take her to ecstasy. Mindlessly she arched back against him; the movement brought his manhood more solidly against her, and she groaned aloud.

“Wolf—please!”

He groaned, too, from between clenched teeth. “I’ll please you any way you want, baby. Just tell me how.”

She could barely speak for the powerful coil of sensation tightening inside her. “I want you.”

“Now?”

“Yes.”

“Like this?”

She moved against him and this time had to choke back a cry. “Yes!”

He eased her forward until she was on her stomach again and covered her. His entry was slow and gentle, and fever enveloped her. Eagerly she met the impact of his thrusts, her body on fire, all thoughts suspended before such all consuming need. This wasn’t a nightmare; this was another part of the sensual delights he’d been teaching her. She writhed against him and felt the coil tighten unbearably. Then it sprang free, and she convulsed in his arms. He clamped his hands on her hips and loosed his own responses, driving into her hard and fast until his pulsing release freed him.

They lay together on the grass for a long time, half-dozing, too exhausted to move. Only when Mary felt her legs begin to tingle from too much sun did she find the strength to push her skirt down. Wolf murmured a protest and slid his hand up her thigh.

She opened her eyes. The sky was bright blue, cloudless, and the sweet scent of fresh grass filled her lungs, radiated through her body. The earth was hot beneath her, the man she loved dozed beside her, and every inch of her still held the remnants of sensation from their lovemaking. The memory of it, so fresh and powerful, began to warm her body to desire again, and suddenly she realized that his plan had worked. He had recreated the scenario that had so terrified her, but substituted himself for the attacker. Instead of fear, pain and humiliation, he had given her desire and, ultimately, an ecstasy so strong it had taken her out of herself. He had replaced a terrible memory with a wonderful one.

His hand was lying low on her abdomen now, and the simple intimacy of his touch stunned her. She could be carrying his child. She had been aware of the probable consequences of making love without protection, but it was what she wanted, and he had made no mention of birth control. Even if their relationship didn’t last, she wanted his baby, a child with his strength and fire. If it could be a duplicate of him, nothing would make her happier.

She stirred, and the pressure of his hand on her abdomen increased. “The sun is too hot,” she murmured. “I’m getting burned.”

He groaned, but fastened his jeans and sat up. Then he picked up her underpants, put them in his pocket and lifted her in his arms in the same motion he used to get to his feet.

“I can walk,” she informed him, though she wound her arms around his neck.

“I know.” He grinned down at her. “It’s just that it’s more romantic to carry you into the house to make love.”

“But we just made love.”

There was fire in his black eyes. “So?”

Wolf was just about to enter the feed store when a tingle touched the back of his neck like a cool wind. He didn’t stop, which would have signaled an alarm to anyone watching, but, using his peripheral vision, he took a quick look around. The sense of danger was like a touch. Someone was watching him. His sixth sense was highly developed from hard training and years of application, and further enhanced by the strong mysticism of his heritage.

It wasn’t just that he was being watched; he could feel the hatred directed toward him. He strode into the feed store and immediately stepped to the side, flattening himself against the wall as he looked out the door. Conversation in the store halted as if the words had hit a stone wall, but he ignored the thick silence. Adrenaline pumped through his body; he didn’t notice that his gloved hand automatically slid over his chest to touch the knife that had been securely attached to the webbing he’d worn sixteen years before, in a steamy, hauntingly beautiful little country that reeked of blood and death. Only when his hand encountered nothing but his shirt did he realize that old habits had come to the fore.

Suddenly he realized that it was the man he’d been hunting, standing somewhere out there and staring at him with hatred, and rage surged through him. He didn’t need a knife. Without a word he removed his hat and boots, the hat because it increased his silhouette, the boots because they were too noisy. In his sock feet he ran lightly past the stunned and silent little knot of men who had been standing around chewing the fat. Only one voiced a hesitant, “What’s going on?”

Wolf didn’t take time to answer, but slipped out the back door of the feed store. His movements were silent, deliberate, as he used every available bit of cover while moving from building to building, working his way around so he would come out behind where he had estimated the man to be. It was hard to pinpoint his position, but Wolf had automatically picked out the best locations for concealment. If he kept looking long enough, he’d find another of the tracks he’d been searching for; the guy would get careless, and Wolf would get him.

He slid around the back of the drugstore, feeling the heat of the sun-warmed boards against his back. He was more cautious than before, not wanting the wood to rasp against his shirt. It was gravelly here, too, and he placed his feet with care to keep the little rocks from making a telltale grinding.

He heard the heavy, thudding sound of someone running, as if he had bolted in panic. Wolf ran around the front of the building and knelt briefly to inspect a faint print in the dust, only a part of a print, but his blood surged. It was the same print, same shoe, same toeing-in stride. He sprinted like the big timber wolf he’d been named for, no longer caring about noise, racing up the street, looking left and right for anyone in the street.

Nothing. No one. The street was empty. He stopped to listen. He heard birds, the rustle of a fitful breeze in the trees, the far-off sound of an engine climbing the slight rise on the north side of the town. Nothing else. No fast breathing, no running footsteps.

Wolf swore to himself. The guy was worse than an amateur, he was clumsy and made stupid moves, as well as being out of shape. If he’d been anywhere close by, Wolf would have been able to hear his labored breathing. Damn it, somehow his quarry had slipped away.

Wolf looked at the quiet houses nestled under the trees. Ruth didn’t have residential and commercial zoning; it was too small. The result was that the houses and few businesses were mixed together without order. The man could have gone into any of the houses; the way he’d disappeared so suddenly left no other possibility. It verified Wolf’s conviction that the rapist lived in Ruth; after all, both attacks had happened right in town.

He noted who lived in the houses on the street and tried to think of who inside them matched Mary’s description of a heavily freckled man. No one came to mind. But someone would. By God, Wolf vowed, someone would. He was slowly eliminating men from his mental list. Eventually, there would be only one left.

From inside a house, a curtain moved fractionally. The sound of his own raspy breathing as he sucked air into his laboring lungs filled the man’s ears. Through the tiny crack he’d made, he could see the Indian still standing in the street, staring at first one house, then another. Murderous black eyes moved across the window where the man stood, and he automatically stepped back out of sight.

His own fear sickened and enraged him. He didn’t want to be afraid of the Indian, but he was.

“Damn filthy Indian!” He whispered the words, then echoed them in his head. He liked doing that, saying things out loud the first time, then saying them to himself for his private understanding and enjoyment.

The Indian was a murderer. They said he knew more ways of killing people than normal folks could even imagine. The man believed it, because he knew firsthand how Indians could kill.

He’d like to kill the Indian, and that boy of his with the strange, pale eyes that looked through him. But he was afraid, because he didn’t know how to kill, and he knew he’d wind up getting killed himself. He was too afraid of getting that close to the Indian to even try it.

He’d thought about it, but he couldn’t come up with a plan. He’d like to shoot the Indian, because he wouldn’t have to get close to do that, but he didn’t have a gun, and he didn’t want to draw attention to himself by buying one.

But he liked what he’d done to get back at the Indian. It gave him savage satisfaction to know he was punishing the Indian by hurting those stupid women who had taken up for him. Why couldn’t they see him for the filthy, murdering trash he was? That stupid Cathy had said the Indian was good-looking! She’d even said she’d go out with the boy, and he knew that meant she’d let the boy touch her, and kiss her. She’d been willing to let the filthy Mackenzies kiss her, but she’d fought and screamed and gagged when he’d touched her.

It didn’t make sense, but he didn’t care. He’d wanted to punish her and punish the Indian for—for being there, for letting stupid Cathy look at him and think he was good-looking.

And the schoolteacher. He hated her almost as much as he hated the Mackenzies, maybe more. She was so goody-goody, making people think the boy was something special, trying to talk people around so they’d be friendly to the half-breeds. Preaching in the general store!

He’d wanted to spit on her. He’d wanted to hurt her, bad. He’d been so excited he almost hadn’t been able to stand it when he’d dragged her down that alley and felt her squirming beneath him. If that stupid deputy hadn’t shown up, he’d have done to her what he’d done to Cathy, and he knew he’d have liked it more. He’d wanted to hit her with his fists while he did it to her. That would have shown her. She would never have stuck up for the half-breeds again.

He still wanted to get her, to teach her a lesson, but school was out now, and he’d heard people say that the deputy had made her move to some safe place, and no one knew where she was. He didn’t want to wait until school started again, but he thought he might have to.

And that stupid Pam Hearst. She needed a lesson, too. He’d heard that she had gone to a dance with the half-breed boy. He knew what that meant. He’d had his hands on her, and she’d probably let him kiss her and maybe do a lot more, because everyone knew what the Mackenzies were like. As far as he was concerned, that made Pam a slut. She deserved to be taught a lesson just like Cathy, and just like the lesson the schoolteacher still had coming.

He peeked outside again. The Indian was gone. He immediately felt safe, and he began to plan.

When Wolf walked back into the feed store, the same group of men were still there. “We don’t much like you tracking folks around like we’re criminals,” one man snapped.

Wolf grunted and sat down to pull on his boots. He didn’t care if they liked it or not.

“Did you hear what I said?”

He looked up. “I heard.”

“And?”

“And nothing.”

“Now look here, damn it!”

“I’m looking.”

The men fidgeted under his cold black stare. Another spoke up. “You’re making the women nervous.”

“They should be nervous. It might keep them on guard, keep them from getting raped.”

“It was some drifter trash who blew in and blew out! Likely the sheriff won’t ever find who did it.”

“It’s trash, all right, but he’s still here. I just found his track.”

The men fell silent and looked at each other. Stu Kilgore, the foreman on Eli Baugh’s spread, cleared his throat. “We’re supposed to believe you can tell it was made by the same man?”

“I can tell.” Wolf gave them a smile that was closer to a snarl. “Uncle Sam made sure I got the best training available. It’s the same man. He lives here. He slipped into one of the houses.”

“That’s hard to believe. We’ve lived here all our lives. The only stranger around is the schoolteacher. Why would someone just up and start attacking women?”

“Someone did. That’s all I care about, that and catching him.”

He left the men murmuring among themselves while he loaded his feed.

Pam was bored. Since the two attacks, she hadn’t even stepped outside the house by herself; she’d been pretty scared at first, but the days had passed without any more attacks, and the shock had worn off. Women were beginning to venture out again, even by themselves.

She was going to another dance with Joe, and she wanted a new dress. She knew he was going away, knew she couldn’t hold him, but there was still something about him that made her heart race. She refused to let herself love him, even though she knew any other boyfriend would have a hard time replacing Joe. Hard, but not impossible. She wasn’t going to mope after he’d left; she’d get on with her life—but right now he was still here, and she savored every moment with him.

She really wanted a new dress, but she’d promised Joe she wouldn’t go anywhere alone, and she didn’t intend to break her promise. When her mother returned from shopping with a neighbor, she’d ask her about going with her to get a new dress. Not in Ruth, of course; she wanted to go to a real town, with a real dress shop.

Finally she picked up a book and walked out onto the back porch, away from the sun. There were neighbors on both sides, and she felt safe. She read for a while, then became sleepy and lay down on the porch swing, arranging her long legs over the back of the swing. She dozed immediately.

The abrupt jolting of the swing awakened her some time later. She opened her eyes and stared at a ski mask, with narrowed, hate-filled eyes glittering through the slits. He was already on her when she screamed.

He hit her with his fist, but she jerked her head back so that the blow landed on her shoulder. She screamed again and tried to kick him, and the unsteady swing toppled them to the porch. She kicked again, catching him in the stomach, and he grunted, sounding oddly surprised.

She couldn’t stop screaming, even as she scrabbled away from him. She was more terrified than she’d ever been before in her life, but also oddly detached, watching the scene from some safe distance. The wooden slats of the porch scraped her hands and arms, but she kept moving backward. He suddenly sprang, and she kicked at him again, but he caught her ankle. She didn’t stop. She just kicked, using both legs, trying to catch him in the head or the groin, and she screamed.

Someone next door yelled. The man jerked his head up and dropped her ankle. Blood had seeped through the multicolored ski mask; she’d managed to kick him in the mouth. He said “Indian’s dirty whore” in a hate-thickened voice, and jumped from the porch, already running.

Pam lay on the porch, sobbing in dry, painful gasps. The neighbor yelled again, and somehow she garnered enough strength to scream “Help me!” before the terror made her curl into a ball and whimper like a child.