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"Mommy. Cleo is probably very unhappy. Where is he?" I pursued.

She put down her dish of chicken cutlets so hard it amazed me the dish didn't shatter.

"Are you deliberately being thickheaded. Noble Atwell? Well? Are you? That was a characteristic your father possessed and a characteristic that came to the fore too often."

"No, Mommy, Im not deliberately being anything. I miss Cleo. I need Cleo." I said. "He's always been with inc."

"Exactly. That was the reason he was chosen. Other than myself, there was no other living thing that was as close to you, as capable of getting to you. Noble. Don't you see? It makes perfect sense."

"Did you give him to someone else?" I questioned.

She stared at me a moment, and then she looked away.

"Yes. I gave him to someone else. I gave him to the pound," she said.

"You mean where they keep the animals in cages, and when no one comes for them, they destroy them?" I asked, my voice no longer diminishing the panic and the rage.

"Someone will take him. He's too attractive an animal, and he's young enough to learn to be with someone else. I don't want to talk about Cleo anymore. You're giving me a splitting headache." she added sharply and returned to her dinner preparations.

I stood there just looking at her.

"Go to the pantry and get me some basil," she commanded. When I didn't move, she turned, "Well?"

I walked away slowly, my heart feeling so heavy in my chest. I thought it might have hardened into stone. When I brought her the basil, she smiled, and then she immediately changed expression.

"One more thing," she said. "Someone had the audacity to call here and ask for you."

"Who?"

"Some impetuous boy. I told him you were sick and couldn't come to the phone, and he said he'd call again to remind you of a bargain. Who is this? What bargain? How would anyone know to call you? You haven't been talking to strangers, have you? Not after all my warnings."

I shook my head. I didn't feel like being honest and cooperative. I was still blistering inside about Cleo.

"Just a prank. I'm sure." I said. "Like we had happen many times before," I added. That was true. For years, kids who lived in our area thought it was funny to call us and say silly things. I went into the living room. where I sat in Daddy's favorite chair and thought about Cleo, how he would be at my feet by now, lifting his head even' time I moved practically. The memory brought a smile to my lips and then overwhelmed me with a wave of sadness. I could also imagine him, despondent, lying in some cage, lifting his ears at every footstep, every voice. expecting me to rescue him. How I wish I could.

It made me very angry. Cleo couldn't have brought evil to us. Cleo barked at evil. Mommy had told me that herself. She told me he would protect me. She told me Daddy must have given him that assignment. Surely, she merely forgot. I'll tell her. I thought and then we'll go get Cleo before it's too late. I hurried back to the kitchen.

She listened quietly, and then she turned and smiled.

"You knowIm very impressed with you. Noble. You thought all that out very logically and sensibly."

My heart leaped for joy.

"However," she said. "what you don't know is that evil is insidious. It creeps through shadows and through smiles equally. This is why we have to be on such guard, be so alert always. I told you, it even got past me, but not past Uncle Herbert's spirit. But don't worry anymore. It will be all right now. Everything will be fine again," she said and kissed my forehead, petting my hair. "How noble you are. Noble. How noble you will be," she whispered and returned to her work, leaving me frustrated.

I left the house to be by myself. The rage building inside me was too strong. It would only get me in trouble. I thought, It was fortunate for me that I walked out at that moment, too, for coming down our driveway was a metallic black automobile. and I could see Elliot driving, Panicking. I gazed back at the house and then ran down the driveway so he would stop before he got too close, Once Mommy saw them, she would know I had been lying about the phone call.

There was a pretty brunette in the front seat with Elliot, and as I drew closer to the car. I saw another girl with darker hair in the rear. It wasn't until he stopped the car and I saw the three of them that I realized what day it was. Being locked up in my room. I had lost track of time. Elliot rolled down his window and smiled at me.

"Hey," he said. "we're here just as I promised."

The Girl in the front leaned over his shoulder to look at me. She was smiling, but her face was full of curiosity, her hungry eyes looking me over like a fox might look over a chicken.

"Hi," she said.

"This is Harmony." Elliot told int, nudging his head in her direction. Then he winked.

Instinctively. I folded my arms aver my chest and stepped back. The girl in the rear rolled down the window. too.