But Linda shook her head. "I can't. I-I have to get back there. I can't just leave Mark alone-"
"He's not alone," Mabel said firmly. "And there's nothing you can do right now. You just sit down and get yourself calmed down for a minute, then we'll both go see what's going on."
Jerry Harris appeared upset as he hung up the phone. "What is it?" Blake Tanner asked. "What's going on?"
"I don't know, exactly," Jerry replied. Already on his feet, with Blake right behind him, he went into the living room, where he told Blake and his wife what Linda had said.
"Oh, Lord," Elaine breathed. Her eyes shifted to Blake. "You go with Jerry and I'll call Sharon." She was already picking up the telephone as the two men hurried out into the night.
Mark had managed to wriggle free of Jeff twice, but it hadn't done him any good. Neither time had he managed to get more than a few feet away before Jeff tackled him again. Now, withJeffs fists pummeling him, he gave up trying to get away from the larger boy and was instead merely doing his best to defend himself from the rain of blows that seemed to come from every direction.
His nose was bleeding and he could taste the salty flavor of blood in his mouth. He thought there was a cut over his right eye, too, and his ears were still ringing from a blow to his head.
Now Jeff was on top of Mark again, his eyes fixed blankly on the object of his rage. His mind had almost ceased to function, but as he felt his fists hammer into Mark again and again, a sensation of satisfaction coursed through him. He'd show the little jerk-he'd show everyone!
A few seconds later, when Robb Harris, Pete Nakamura, and Roy Kramer arrived on the scene, Jeff wasn't even aware of their presence, so engrossed was he with the damage he was inflicting on Mark Tanner.
Nor did Jeff hear Robb's voice as Robb shouted at him. "What the hell are you doing, Jeff? You're going to kill him!"
Robb stared at the struggling figures, only half recognizable in the darkness. It wasn't even a fight, he saw instantly, for Mark, pinned to the ground, was doing little more than trying to shield his face. And Jeff, his own face a nearly unrecognizable mask of mindless fury, seemed oblivious of what he was doing. It was like watching a dog worry a half-dead rat, Robb realized with a sickening sensation. At any moment he expected Jeff to pick Mark up and start shaking him.
"Help me!" he shouted to Pete Nakamura. "We've got to get him off Mark."
As a porch light snapped on across the street, and then another one farther down the block, Robb moved in on one side of Jeff, grasping his arm.
With one quick movement, Jeff twisted himself loose from Robb's grip, then swung at him, his fist clipping Robb's jaw. Robb howled with the sharp pain and reeled back, his right hand automatically coming up to touch his injured jaw.
Jeff's first swing at Pete Nakamura caught the other boy in the left eye. Roy Kramer hurled himself onto Jeff's back, his arms snaking around Jeff's neck.
As Roy's grip tightened around Jeff's neck, Jeff seemed to hesitate for a moment, his arms dropping to his sides. Then a gurgle of fury erupted from Jeff's strangled throat. Heaving with exertion, he thrust himself upright, carrying Roy Kramer on his back. He spun around, as if expecting to find this new enemy behind him, then dropped to the ground and rolled over. As his weight pressed down on Roy, the other boy's arms loosened for a moment, and suddenly Jeff was free. He rolled again, then crouched low to the ground. His eyes, glistening in the light of the streetlamp, darted from Robb to Pete, then back to Roy, who was lying on his back now, trying to catch his breath.
Mark Tanner, whimpering with pain, had drawn himself into a tight ball, his knees drawn up against his chest.
People were emerging from the houses on the block now, and shouts were beginning to fill the night as one person called out to another, asking what was happening.
Jeff's head swung around and his eyes took in the gathering crowd. Then a strange, animal like sound emerged from his throat, and he was gone, dashing down a driveway, disappearing around the corner of a house.
Jerry Harris turned the corner into Pueblo Drive and instantly braked the car to a stop. A few yards away a crowd was gathering and he could see Robb, massaging his jaw with a hand, standing in the middle of someone's lawn.
Blake Tanner was already out of the car, running toward Robb. It was only when Blake dropped to his knees that Jerry realized the dark form at Robb's feet must be Mark. Leaving the engine idling, he ran over to his son.
"What happened?" he asked. "Are you all right?"
Robb nodded, but said nothing for a moment. When at last he spoke, his voice was shaking. "It was… nuts," he breathed. "Jeff was just pounding him into the ground, and he wouldn't stop-"
"Where is he?" Blake demanded.
"Gone," Robb told him." It was really weird, Dad. Roy finally jumped him from the back and got him off Mark, but then he rolled over and Roy had to let go. And then he started looking at us like he didn't even know who we were. Then he started running." Robb pointed to the two houses between which Jeff had dashed, and Jerry nodded.
"Okay," he said. He glanced quickly at the gathering crowd, then recognized one of the staff fromTanenTech. "Call an ambulance," he told the man. "Then let's get some people together and see if we can find JeffLaConner. And somebody call his folks," he said to no one in particular, but almost immediately a woman split away from the crowd around Mark and hurried across the street.
Finally Jerry joined Blake Tanner at Mark's side. "Is he okay?"
Blake glanced up, his expression tight with anger. "How okay can he be with his nose bleeding, his face cut up, and one of his eyes swollen shut? And where the hell is thatLaConner kid, anyway?"
"Now, take it easy," Jerry replied. "Let's just take one thing at a time and try to get this straightened out. And the first thing is Mark. I've got an ambulance coming, just in case we need one."
On the ground, Mark moved and his right eye opened slightly. "D-Dad?" he asked. "Is that you?"
"It's okay, Mark," Blake assured him. "I'm here, and it's all over. You're going to be okay."
A sob, half pain, half simple relief, erupted from Mark's throat. Slowly, almost as if he were afraid he might break into pieces, he straightened his legs. Then, with almost no warning at all, he rolled over, dragged himself onto his hands and knees, and threw up.
He gagged for a moment, coughed, then sank back down to the lawn.
A few people, sensing Mark's embarrassment, turned away.
There was the wail of a siren in the distance, and a couple of minutes later the street was filled with flashing lights as the ambulance rounded the corner and screeched to a stop at the curb.
Sharon Tanner's face was pale as she opened the front door for Elaine Harris. "Where is he?" Sharon asked. "Where's Mark?"
"Just put on your coat and let's go," Elaine told her. "Jerry and Blake are already there. Everything's going to be all right, I'm sure."
Sharon reached for her coat, then remembered Kelly, who was upstairs in her room, sound asleep. "Just a second," she said. "I have to get Kelly."
While Elaine waited in the foyer, Sharon hurried up the stairs, then reappeared a moment later. Kelly, still in her pajamas, and tying the belt of a bathrobe around her waist, trailed after her.
"But where are we going, Mommy?" she asked.
"Never mind, honey," Sharon told her. She rushed down the stairs and put on her coat. "It's going to be all right. We're just going for a little ride, that's all."
Kelly, still fogged with sleep, followed her mother out to the Harris's station wagon and climbed into the backseat. By the time Sharon had settled herself into the passenger seat, Elaine had started the engine and put the transmission in gear. The car lurched as Elaine's foot hit the accelerator, then they were out of the driveway.
"What happened?" Sharon asked as they drove down the street. "Why would Jeff want to pick on Mark?"