The Lesson of Her Death

doesn’t fly, he doesn’t materialize, he doesn’t float. He walks. That’s okay.)
    Sarah looked for the glow of sun as he approached but she could see nothing except trees and branches, leaves, grass, shadows. The footsteps grew closer. Hesitant, uncertain. Then she saw him—a figure in the woods, coming slowly toward her, picking his way through the brush. He seemed less like a wizard than, well, a big man tromping noisily through the forest.
(That’s okay too.)
    “I’m over here. Here!” She stood up, waving her arm.
    He paused, located her and slowly changed direction, pushing aside branches.
    She picked up the stuffed bear and ran toward him. She shouted, “I’m here!”
    A sheet of bright green leaves lifted aside and the deputy stepped out, brushing dust and leaves off his uniform.
    “Tom!” she cried, her heart sinking.
    “Hey, missie, how’d you get here without getting all messed up?” He picked a leaf out of his hair then swatted his forehead. “Skeeter.” He examined his palm.
    Crestfallen, Sarah stared up at him.
    “You’re not supposed to be out here, you know. You could get me in a whole mess of trouble. You’re supposed to stay close to the house. Anyway, ’nough said. Your mom wants to see you now. You’ve got an appointment at the doctor’s, she says.”
    “I can’t come right now.” She scanned the forest.
He’s leaving! I can tell. The deputy scared him off
.
    “Well, I don’t know,” Tom said patiently. “Your mother told me to fetch you.”
    “Not now, please? Just a half hour?” She was close to tears.
    “That’s a cute little fellow you’ve got there. What’s his name?”
    “Chutney.”
    “How about if you and Chutney come home now and afterward you come back here with me and I’ll keep an eye on you? How’d that be?”
    When she didn’t answer, the deputy said, “Your mom’ll be pretty unhappy with me if I don’t bring you right now, like she asked. You don’t want her to have words with me, do you?”
    It was true. If she didn’t come now, if she missed the appointment with Dr. Parker, her mother would be furious with the deputy. Sarah couldn’t stand the thought of anyone being mad because of her. People hated you when you made them mad, they laughed at you.
    She looked around her once more. The Sunshine Man was gone now. He’d fled and was far away.
    “Why you looking so sad, little lady?”
    “I’m not sad.” Sarah walked through the grass. “Come this way. It’s easier.” She led him out of the tall grass into the strip of land beside the cow pasture and turned toward the house, certain that she and the Sunshine Man would never meet.
    Special to the Register—A freshman at New Lebanon High School has been charged in the “Moon Killer” slayings of two Auden University co-eds, law enforcement authorities announced today.
    The fifteen-year-old youth, whose identity has been withheld because of his age, was apprehended by town and county deputies at his parents’ home yesterday afternoon.
    “He clearly fits the profile that we were working from,” said New Lebanon Sheriff Steve Ribbon. “He had a collection of deviate photographs and drawings of girls from the high school. It looked like he had a whole series of assaults planned.”
    Sheriff Ribbon added that authorities are looking at the possibility that the youth was involved in the slaying last year of another Auden co-ed, Susan Biagotti.
    “At the time,” he said, “it appeared that the girl was killed during a robbery. But the way we’re looking at it now, it might have been the first in this series of killings.”
    Some residents greeted the news of the arrest with cautious relief. “Of course, we’re glad he’s been caught,” said a New Lebanon housewife who refused to give her name, “but it seems like there’s still a lot of questions. Was he doing this alone? Is it safe for my children to go back to school?”
    Others were less restrained in their reaction. “We can breathe again,” said one Main Street shopkeeper, who also insisted on anonymity. “My business came to a standstill the last couple weeks. I hope he gets the chair.”
    Under state law, a fifteen-year-old can be tried as an adult for murder, but no one under eighteen can be sentenced to death. If the jury convicts the youth of first-degree murder, his sentence could range from thirty-five years to life and he would have to serve at least twenty-five years before he would be eligible for