Frankenstein

it.”
    “I wish I’d have thought to grab my dish from the buffet before we got out of there,” Dolly said.
    “It’s just a dish,” Hank said.
    “Well, it’s not just a dish. It was my grandmother’s dish, and it’s a favorite of mine. I figured to pass it along to my first daughter-in-law whenever Whit or Farley got married.”
    “I’m sorry I diminished it,” Hank said sincerely. “I forgot what dish it was you took tonight. If we get through this with all of our fingers and toes, I’ll go back and retrieve it for you one day.”
    “You’re a thoughtful man, Hank Samples.”
    “And you did right getting all those kids gathered together in all that turmoil. You’re a good woman, Doll.”
    “We sure love you, Mom,” Farley said from the backseat, and Whit echoed that sentiment.
    “Love is what’ll get us through this,” Dolly said. “Love and the Good Lord and the backbone to protect our own. And pumpkin pie. I was planning to bake a couple tomorrow, but now, Lord willing, I’m going to bake them tonight.”

    
chapter
72

    In their room at the Falls Inn, Carson and Michael unpacked the big suitcases that contained their Urban Sniper pistol-grip shotguns, which fired only slugs, not buckshot. These weapons were essential at the end in New Orleans and would probably again make the difference between dying and surviving. The kick was the maximum Carson could handle; however, she didn’t shoot this gun with the stock high, but instead from a forward-side position, so she didn’t have to worry about dislocating her shoulder. They loaded the Snipers and put them on the bed with boxes of spare shells.
    Five-year-old Chrissy Benedetto sat in an armchair that dwarfed her, drinking a grape soda that Michael had bought from the motel vending machine. She hadn’t seen Carson kill the not-mommy, and in spite of her nasty teddy-bear experience, she seemed only mildly unsettled by recent events.
    “When will my real mommy come to get me?” she asked as Carson and Michael prepared the guns.
    “Soon,” Carson said, because she had no idea how to tell a girl this young that her mother was gone forever. The prospect of doing so made her throat tight and seemed to constrict her lungs so she could not draw deep breaths.
    The girl said, “She’s going to be very mad at the stupid pretend mommy.”
    “Yes, she will,” Michael said. “And she should be.”
    “Where’d that stupid pretend mommy come from?” Chrissy asked.
    “We’re going to find out,” Michael said, “and we’re going to send her back there and lock her away so she can never come here again.”
    “That’s good,” Chrissy said. “This is good grape.”
    “I made it myself,” Michael said.
    “Oh, you did not.”
    “Show me the bottle.”
    The girl held the bottle so he could see the label.
    “You’re right,” he said. “Carson here made that one. It’s one of your bottles of grape, Carson.”
    Carson said nothing because she was afraid her voice would break. She couldn’t stop thinking about Denise Benedetto with the silver disc on her temple, blood oozing from it and from her nose.
Me isn’t me. Tell my baby
.
    “Who’re you people?” Chrissy asked.
    “We’re friends of your mommy’s. She sent us to get you.”
    “Where is she?”
    “She’s in the city, buying you new teddy bears.”
    “What city?”
    “The big city,” Michael said. “The biggest big city, where they have the most teddy bears to choose from.”
    “Wow,” said Chrissy. “I wish she was here.”
    “She will be soon,” Michael said.
    Carson said, “I have to get some fresh air. Just a minute.”
    She left the room, walked a few steps along the promenade, put her back to the motel wall, and wept quietly.
    After a minute or two, someone squeezed her shoulder, and she thought Michael had come to comfort her, but it was Deucalion.
    He said, “This is new for you.”
    “There’s a little girl with us now. I’m pretty sure she’s an orphan. She’s not going to be the only one in this town.”
    “What’s softened you?”
    “Scout.”
    “I guess she would.”
    “Don’t worry. I can still handle myself.”
    “I have no doubt you can.”
    “But what are we going to do with her? Little Chrissy? She’s not safe with us.”
    “I’ll take her to Erika.”
    “Erika and—Jocko?”
    He smiled. “What kid wouldn’t fall in love with Jocko—as long as he’s wearing a hat with bells when she first meets him?”
    “All