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“I know what time it leaves,” Sam snapped.
Lucy paused, pressing her lips together. “What’s your name?”
“Her name is Sam,” Charlotte said quickly. “Samantha Quint.”
“Shut up!” Sam yelled, making Charlotte wince. She had almost managed to forget her mother’s yells, how nothing Charlotte ever did would make them stop. Sam yelled if she was too loud, and if she was too quiet; if she laughed or if she cried.
“I’ve watched you come and go here for a while, Sam,” Lucy said. “I know what it’s like to be without a home. I know from experience that there’s no place to camp on the island. The nearest shelter is about an hour away. If you leave now, you can catch the bus. I’ll go with you, if you want, and show you where it is.”
“I’m not catching the goddamn bus. This place is as much mine as it is hers. It was bought with thechurch’smoney.”
“It wasn’t the church’s money,” Charlotte said. “It was the Lungrens’. They sold their house for him before they moved to the camp. They were the only reason he had that much.”
“You ruinedeverything.”
“No, I didn’t,” she said. “He was planning to leave the night she died. The camp wasn’t going to survive.”
“That’s not true!”
“Sam, do you mind my asking what your plan is?” Lucy interrupted. “There are four people in the bedroom. And I’m out here. But there’s only you and the knife in between. It’s just a matter of time before one of us gets to a phone. But if you leave now, you can catch the bus.”
“Stop it with the bus! I’m not taking the bus! I’m staying right here! She doesn’t get to have this!” Charlotte put her hands up to try to calm her mother down, but at the movement Sam swung the knife to point it at her. “Don’t move, or I’ll kill you. I swear I will.”
Charlotte slowly lowered her hands. She knew what she had to do. She had to save the others the way she should have saved the real Charlotte. She should have told someone back then. She should have called 911 when the real Charlotte got so sick. She should have donesomethingfor her best friend. Instead, she was too afraid to openly go against the adults at the camp. But she wasn’t afraid anymore. Nor was she angry. In fact, she felt anincredible sense of peace come over her. Come what may, Pepper Quint was finally going to find some redemption.
“You can’t kill me,” Charlotte said.
“Why not?”
“Because I died a long time ago.”
That made her mother go quiet. Charlotte calculated the distance it would take to get close enough to Sam to lunge at her, giving the others time to escape and call for help. She started to move incrementally forward. Sam looked suspicious, as if knowing what Charlotte was about to do.
But before Charlotte could do anything, Lucy leapt forward and seized Sam’s wrist, jerking it quickly down to connect with Lucy’s lifted knee. Sam, caught by surprise, dropped the knife. Lucy then grabbed Sam by the hair and Sam reached up to scratch and claw at Lucy’s face. Lucy didn’t back down even though it was clear Sam had the superior strength. Lucy didn’t seem to need strength, though. She was quick and wily. She fought like she’d fought before, like this wasn’t fear or adrenaline. This was experience. Charlotte could see a faint impression of Lucy’s youth, something dark and unstable, crackling around her now. When they both staggered back in an undulating knot, Charlotte was able to snatch the knife off the floor. That seemed to be all Lucy was waiting for. As soon as she saw that the weapon was taken care of, Lucy let go of Sam and the darkness around her disappeared. She was again so pale she was almost translucent. Sam wasn’t through with Lucy, though. She let out a primal scream and tackled Lucy. Lucy didn’t fight back. She went limp, her hands at her sides, and let Sam take her down. Then she just lay there on the floor while Sam hit her.
Charlotte felt Mac brush by her as he ran into the living roomand grabbed Sam by the waist and pulled her off of Lucy. He held Sam’s back against his chest, her arms pinned, while she screamed and kicked like something feral.
Charlotte looked away.
Once again, Pepper Quint had failed to save anyone.
“Oliver, get your phone and call the police,” Mac yelled over Sam’s wild screams. “Calm down, lady! I’m not going to hurt you!”
Oliver dashed past him to the patio, where he grabbed his phone. He came back inside while dialing. He knelt by Lucy as she rolled over onto all fours. “Aunt Lucy, stay still. You’re hurt.”
“I’m all right,” she said as she got to her feet.
“Come sit down,” he said, touching her arm.
She backed away from him as if scalded. “I’m fine.”
He looked like he was going to say something more to her, but then the line obviously picked up. Oliver put his finger in his ear as he turned away to try to hear over Sam. “Yes, we need the police…”
Zoey was the only one left in Charlotte’s bedroom, and Charlotte heard her saying, “Pigeon, stop it! Let me out!”
Charlotte turned to see Zoey making her way across the broken glass, waving her hand in front of her as if swatting away gnats. She finally reached Charlotte, her color high. “What happened?” Zoey said breathlessly. “I couldn’t see anything from in there.”
“Lucy got the knife away from her,” Charlotte said, putting her arm around Zoey and drawing her near. Just the thought of Zoey getting hurt made Charlotte feel sick to her stomach.
