"So Paige is at Jimmy's?"
"I'm sure Beth Jenkins wouldn't have let her leave."
Emergency technicians carried Alison from the house. She lay motionless, covered with a blanket and strapped to the gurney. An oxygen mask covered her face and an IV bag dangled above her head. "Is she alive?" Nick called.
"Yes. Barely. She's in shock. Only first-degree burns on her legs," one of the E.M.T.s answered. "The throat is another story. If she'd been found just five minutes later by someone who didn't know exactly how to apply pressure, she'd be gone."
Nick looked at Natalie. "You saved her life."
"You say that like an accusation."
"No. I just want to be mad at you, but how can I when you saved a life?"
"You can't and I'm freezing, so why don't we go to the Jenkins house, make sure Paige is safe, and find out what the kids saw?"
"It's not that cold. You're scared." Nick took off his jacket and handed it to her. "Hysell, you know what to do here," he called. Ted looked surprised, then immediately began bawling orders, even to people standing next to him.
Ten minutes later two wide-eyed children stood in front of the sheriff. Paige's freckles stood out against her milk white skin. Jimmy had lost most of his swagger. Nick had pulled himself up to his full six-feet-two, and even Beth Jenkins and her balding husband looked frightened. Blaine lying at her feet, Natalie let herself be swallowed by an overstuffed recliner. She still wore Nick's jacket and with both hands she held the hot mug of coffee Beth had shoved at her. as soon as she came in. Natalie felt oddly detached, almost as if she were floating high above the tableau. She did not let herself think about Alison.
Nick pinned the children with a dark blue glare. "I want to know what you two were doing at the Saunders house," he said in a deliberate, loud voice. "No lies, no evasions."
"I go over to the Saunders house all the time," Jimmy volunteered. "I'm allowed."
"Not at night. And not with a little girl," his father blustered. "What were you thinking? Are you out of your mind?"
Nick held up his hand for silence. "Paige?"
"I… well… I wanted to see the house."
"But you sneaked out to do it," Nick said severely. "And this is not the first time."
"Well… no. I've been there once before."
"You sneaked out of your room and came with Jimmy."
"Yes," Paige said miserably.
"But Jimmy didn't force her to go, did you Jimmy?" Beth interrupted anxiously.
Nick looked at her. "I'm sure he didn't force her. He no doubt persuaded her. But I'm not putting the blame entirely on Jimmy. Paige knows better than to pull a stupid trick like this."
Paige's face went from white to crimson. Wretchedness shone in her beautiful eyes. Natalie knew the child had done wrong, but she empathized with her. She would have done the same thing at Paige's age. She probably had no influence with Nick Meredith, but she would try to make him see that under normal circumstances what Paige had done would not be the end of the world. Of course having a murderer on the loose wasn't a normal circumstance for Port Ariel, as Paige well knew. Calming down Nick would not be easy.
"We'll deal with the lectures and punishments later," Nick continued evenly, although Natalie expected any moment to see steam explode from his ears. "Right now I want to know everything you saw. Jimmy, you first."
"Yes, sir." Jimmy stepped forward, suddenly military in his bearing. "We arrived at the Saunders house at 8:25. I looked at my watch because we were doing something real important and I knew you'd want me to get everything right."
"You were going to tell me about this?" Nick asked incredulously.
"Oh, yes, sir. Well… not everything. I wasn't going to tell you about Paige being with me. See, I sort of made her go."
"Jimmy!" both elder Jenkinses barked as Paige threw him a grateful look.
"How did you make her?" Nick demanded.
"I kinda embarrassed her into it. I said she was too scared. A little girl. She hates that."
"Jimmy, you're never going to set foot outside this house again!" Beth began shrilly before she spotted another junior Jenkins peeking around the door facing and went after him, shouting.
"Go ahead, Jimmy," Nick said. "It was 8:25 and…"
"And nothing happened for a few minutes. I knew it would, though. I had a hunch. So then someone started lighting candles, and then the music came on real loud. I went up to the window because Paige and me wanted a picture of the killer we saw the other night at the house." Nick frowned ferociously. Paige shrank. Jimmy hesitated, then plunged on. "Someone was wearing a long white thing and dancing. I was surprised. I thought it would be some awful-looking guy, but it was a girl with blond hair. I took the picture. She saw me. She ran out of the room, and Paige and me took off. Then Blaine and Natalie caught us, and you know the rest."
"The girl was alone?"
"Yeah. Dancin' like I said."
"You didn't see anyone in the room with her?"
Jimmy shook his head. "Just about a hundred candles."
More like ten, Natalie thought, but Jimmy was excited. He blinked at the sheriff, clearly expecting more questions, but Nick's attention had turned back to Paige.
"Is that what you saw?"
"I… I didn't go up to the window. I was standing closer to the front door. And I saw something else. Somebody" came out of a room and crossed the hall to where the girl in the white robe was."
Nick leaned forward. "What did this person look like?"
"It was dark and I couldn't see real good. There was this thing like a…" She searched for the word. "I think they call it a poncho. With a hood. I couldn't see the face. I'm sorry," Paige ended meekly.
Natalie knew the apology was two-pronged. Paige was sorry for not seeing who was wearing the poncho. She was also sorry for sneaking out. She sounded so pitiful Natalie didn't know how Nick could stay angry with her, but he didn't look as if he were softening.
"So you kids have seen someone at the house before, someone burning candles and dancing to loud music, but you never said a word about it," Nick accused.
"We didn't think you'd believe us," Jimmy explained. "It was so weird-the candles and the music and the person in a robe."
"A girl named Alison Cosgrove is Ariel's descendant," Natalie said. "I think she's been dressing up and going to that house at night, pretending to be Ariel."
Paige's eyes widened. "You mean that girl we saw is the killer?"
Nick said harshly, "I don't think so. The person wearing the poncho is the killer. He cut Alison's throat."
Jimmy's face slackened and Paige cringed. "Is she dead?" she asked timorously.
"No, but she could have been. So could you. You have no idea of how much danger you were in." Nick's voice rose. "If you hadn't run away when you did… If Natalie hadn't come along, I don't know what might have happened!"
Hearing the agitation in his voice, Blaine jumped up and barked. "I think everyone gets the idea, Sheriff," Natalie said calmly. "Paige needs to go home now-"
"I'll decide what my daughter needs," Nick snapped.
"Okay. What do you think she needs?"
Nick hesitated. "To go home. Will you take her? I have to get back to the Saunders house."
"I'll be glad to take her." Natalie stood and suddenly realized how weak her legs felt.
On the ride home, Paige began to cry quietly. Blaine nudged her and she wrapped her arms around the dog's neck. "Are you all right?" Natalie asked.