Chapter 9 Chapter nine

When Sam arrived at the hospital at 1:30 in the afternoon, Caro had been waiting there for nearly an hour.Sam walked into the semi-private room to find her and Nancy with Jamie.Sam kissed her, and she looked completely in control, but he felt her lips quiver as he kissed her.Nancy had a brooding, bewildered expression on her face.Jimmy's face was a little pale as he leaned against the pillow, making his tanned skin look a bit green.His left arm is bandaged, and he looks smug and excited. "Hello, I didn't make a sound when they sewed me up. Sixteen stitches." "Does it hurt?"

"A little bit, but not badly. Geez, I can't wait to tell my friends at home. It was a real bullet. It hit me in the left arm and went through the shed next to the dining room. In this end, out that end--whew--When they find that bullet and the sheriff's all over it, they'll give it to me. I'm going to get a wooden stand, put a glass cover on it, and put it in In my room." "Who did it?" "Gee, who knew? I guess it was that guy, that Cady. A lot of kids didn't even hear the gunshot. I didn't, I wish I did. He's far away from us, in Shadow Hills Somewhere up there, the Sheriff said."

Sam began to understand the whole situation: "Jimmy, tell me about this from the beginning." Jimmy had an uncomfortable expression on his face: "Uh, I got into trouble. I stole Mr. Manner's shaving cream and planned to spray it into David Johnston's mouth, and then secretly put it back. But I Got caught so was given ten days to clean pans, today is the last day. Everyone hates scrubbing pans, you have to use a wire brush, I was given ten days to do it because it was kind of like stealing, Though it's not at all. The pots are to be washed in the shed out there, where there's a tap, and then, well, about half-past nine, I'm washing the breakfast pots, and they're almost done by then."

"I was standing there looking at the last pot and there was a 'bang'! I thought some rascal had slipped into the shed and scared me with something. Then my arm was hot and I felt weird, I looked down, and there was blood coming out, all over my hands. I opened my throat and screamed like hell, and ran to Mr. Manner's little room, and the other children saw so much blood, and they ran and screamed Yeah, they put a tourniquet on me. And then I suddenly felt the pain, and I cried, but not too much. By then, Tommy had got Nancy, and then the sheriff came, and we sat together Came here in the sheriff's car and it was doing like a hundred miles an hour with the siren blaring. Ouch, I wish I could sit again when my arms don't hurt."

Sam turned and asked Kailo. "How is the situation now?" "Doctor Pitt wants to keep him here for observation for one night, and he can go on the road tomorrow. He transfused some blood for Jimmy." "It will leave a scar," Jimmy said eagerly. "A real bullet scar. Will it hurt when it's about to rain?" "I think that's gotta have the bullet in the body, son." "Anyway, none of the kids I know has gunshot scars." A smiling nurse came in and said, "It's time for our wounded to take the pink pill and take a big nap."

"Well, I don't need a nap." "When can we see him again, Miss Nurse?" Caro asked. "Five o'clock, Mrs. Borden." They reached the landing and went downstairs into the hospital hall.Pale-faced, Caro turned to Sam, her bloodless lips barely moving, and she said in a voice so soft that Nancy couldn't hear, "What now? How now? When will he kill one of them?" "Please, dear." "Dad, Sheriff Concierge and Tommy are here," Nancy said. "Take your mother over there on the couch and you sit there with her. Nancy, please."

The sheriff was a gangly man in boots, dark brown breeches, and a khaki shirt.He had an outdoorsy look about him, with a gun belt on and a wide-brimmed hat in hand.He shook hands slowly, as if he was still thinking about something.He spoke nasally and his voice was tired. "We can talk in the corner, Mr. Bowden. No problem, Tommy, you sit down." They pulled three chairs together. "I'll tell you about my situation first, Mr. Bowden. Then I want to ask you two or three questions. First, it appears that the range of the shot was about seven hundred yards, and it was shot from uphill to downhill. Good musket, a good telescopic sight, and a man with a lot of knowledge in the field, this shot is not really difficult. I think if the wind is not so strong, I can take every shot in the In a circle half the size of a grand pie plate. If it was deer hunting season, I might think otherwise. Your son's arm is close to his side, the wind is a bit strong, coming from the south, and the child is facing east. So look It sounded like a gust of wind had blown the bullet an inch or two. It wasn't someone trying to frighten the kid, they were trying to kill him. If he'd aimed a little better, let's say two and a half inches to the right, the kid I’m afraid he’s dead without waiting for the whole person to fall to the ground.”

Sam swallowed hard, "You don't have to—" "I'm stating the facts, Mr. Bowden. I didn't say this to see how hard it would upset you, and I wouldn't go and tell your wife like that. If he really hit the one he wanted Boy, it's hard for us to find out where that bullet came from. But he missed, and he made two holes in the shed, which gave us a line of sight. The bullet can't travel in a straight line Yes, because bullets go down, especially after going through a 3/4 inch thick plank. This allowed us to figure out a route that leads up the slope of a hill that the kids call 'Shadow Hill' , there are a lot of trails to go there, and I know there are many places that look directly down on the camp. I have asked one of the second-in-command, Ronnie Gideon, to stay there and search. He is a good boy. Good tracker, he'll find out where the gunman was targeting. It's too late to barricade it now because we don't know what to look for. I know you can tell us who to look for, Boden gentlemen."

"I can't prove he fired it. I can't prove he poisoned our dog. But I know Cuddy did it both times. Max Cuddy. I think he was last September, Released from federal prison, he drives a gray Chevrolet about eight years old. You can call Captain Mark Dutton of the New Essex Police Department and he'll give you what you need to know data for you." "He must have had a very strong hatred for you." "He was sentenced to life in prison because I helped testify. But after thirteen years, they let him go. He was in prison for raping a fourteen-year-old Australian girl during the war. .He and his family are criminals, he's brutal, and I think he's more than just crazy."

"Is he smart? Shrewd?" "yes." "Let's take a look at the current situation. Suppose he is caught, and he is miles away from here. He can't have a gun with him. He will deny that he shot a child, saying that it was probably a stray bullet. He will shout Being persecuted, I can’t think of a good way to legally detain him.” "That's great." "Well, you've got to think the way those guys do. Well, it was carefully planned, and he must have spent some time scouting out the whole situation, so he'd have to figure out what to do after killing that kid, so Either he had the audacity to show up after he was sure we couldn't find evidence, or he had arranged a hiding place long ago. Killing a kid would draw a lot of attention, and he couldn't be sure no one saw him on those lanes, so I I bet he must have a lair to hide in. He'll get everything right first, and he'll go somewhere out in the middle of nowhere, where nobody's going to look for him."

"You are really optimistic." "I'm just trying to be realistic. That way you know what's going on. I bet he's hating on himself for the miss. I think he left the area after he planned to move as fast as possible, and he'll probably continue to do as fast as possible. , I think you should be as careful as possible during this time." The sheriff stood up and smiled wearily: "I will contact the people in New Essex, and then an arrest warrant will be issued. I think the best way is to lock up your family." "I don't think that's funny, Sheriff." "I can see that you don't have much sense of humor left this afternoon." "What can I do, Uncle?" Tommy asked Sam. "Can you go... no, I'll do it myself, I'll pick up Butch in the car and bring him back here. Stay with these ladies, Tommy." "Yes, Mr. Bowden." "Thank you, thank you very much." It took him more than half an hour to arrive at the summer camp in his station wagon.He found Sheriff Concierge and Mr. Manner in the executive cabin, with them a rather stupid-looking young man whom they introduced as Deputy Ronnie Gideon. Manner was clearly very disturbed. "I don't know how we could have avoided it before, Mr. Bowden." "I don't blame you at all." "It was really hard for me to accept that it was deliberate. But Sergeant Conci told me that must be the case." The sheriff threw a small object into the air and caught it again. "Here's the bullet. It's pretty badly deformed. I think it's 30 caliber. Mr. Manner sent a whole bunch of boys to look for it, and they found it." "We said it was a stray bullet," Manner said. "Even after saying that, everyone was very excited. But I don't know what the parents will do when they get the letter that a stray bullet injured a summer camp student." Say. Excuse me, Mr. Bowden, but you have more problems than I do, and I should not dwell on my own." "Did you find where the shots were fired?" Sam asked. The deputy nodded. "A large rock with lying marks on it, about thirty feet from the back path. He was lying on the moss on the rock, and the moss hadn't quite recovered. No trace of car tires, no empty bullets. It is. Found a bitten end of a cigar, he put it out on a rock, and the bitten end was still wet." "If he kills the kid," said the Inspector, "we're going to send it to the laboratory and see if we can get any data out of the spit, but I don't think it'll be of much use." "Cady smokes cigars." The sheriff looked at Sam mildly. "Hope that thing you're wearing is licensed." "What? Ah, sure, yes, my gun has a license." "What are your plans now?" "We decided to take Jamie home today. I thought I would go to the girls' summer camp to pack Nancy's luggage and help her with the withdrawal procedures." "And go home?" "No. I'm going to send my wife and three children somewhere, where...she and the youngest boy are living there all this time." "Cardy might know about that place?" "I don't think he would know." The sheriff pursed his lips. "Sounds like it's okay. Let them all live there until he gets caught. But what if he doesn't get caught? How do you know when he's going to give up and go away?" "I don't think we'll know." "You can't hide your family forever." "I know that, and I've thought about it. But what else can I do? Do you have any ideas?" "The only way I can think of it, I don't really feel very good about it, Mr. Bowden. Think of him as a tiger, and if you want to lure him out of the bushes, you have to tie a sheep and you Hide in a tree." Sam stared at him. "How could you think I'd use my wife or any of my children as bait—" "I just said that I don't think I am smart. It is said that you can guess how a tiger will act, but you can't guess what a lunatic will do. This time he shot slyly, next time he may Will try another way. I think it's best to keep them in hiding, the best you can do." Sam checked his watch: "I want to pack Jimmy's luggage and pick up Butch, Mr. Manner." "I've packed his bags and taken him to the Diner. Butch's at my wife's, I'll bring him. I'm sorry Jimmy's month ended so badly." "I'm glad it didn't get any worse." "We'd love to have him with us next year." Sam said goodbye to the sheriff and thanked him too.The sheriff assured him that there was a good chance of Cady being arrested and interrogated, but there was something hollow about his words. Sam was back at the hospital at a quarter to five in the afternoon.Nancy was surprised to find out that he had checked out her summer camp for her, and disappointed that she didn't have a chance to say goodbye to her friend.But she quickly accepted it as a logical and inevitable decision. She nodded slowly, and said, "I know, there are too many hills over there. If I go anywhere outdoors in broad daylight, I will inevitably worry about whether..." She shivered as she spoke. Sam called Bill Starch from the payphone booth in the hospital lobby, told him what was going on, and said he wouldn't be back in the office until Friday morning. After they saw Jamie again and said good night to him, they ate dinner at the Edmond Hotel.Sam suggested to Caro that she take Nancy and Butch to drive back to Shufflen, while he stayed here for the night and sent Jamie there the next day.But when he felt how reluctant she was to be separated from him, he went to the counter of the big hotel and asked for two rooms for the night.Tommy Kent insisted on taking the bus back to the camp, but Sam decided to drive him back.Nancy would love to go along, but Sam wants her to stay with Mom and Butch.He was worried about Caro, she seemed too quiet and low-key, she just mechanically participated in the conversation during dinner, she seemed to be far away from all of them. As he drove the MG westward toward the lingering sunset in the sky, he said to the silent passengers beside him, "Tommy, is it right for me to do this?" "what?" "What would you do if you were me?" "I... I think I'll do the same as you." "You sound like you're holding back." "It's not, but it looks like it's too... you know, waiting around and not doing anything." "Too passive." "That's exactly what I mean. But I can't think of anything else you can do." "This society is well organized to protect me and my family from theft, arson, and riots, and the average criminal is reasonably well controlled. But society cannot cope with such a particular and irrational idea. Kill our people. I know I can apply enough pressure to keep my family under 24/7 official protection. But that just makes it more fun for Cady to try to outwit the police. Once the police are gone , I can hire someone to be a bodyguard, but I'm afraid it's better to change the soup, and it's too hard to live like that. Especially after today's incident, people will be frightened anytime, anywhere." "There's no way he could have found out they were in Suvron?" "Unless he can follow us as we leave Edmonds, it won't be found out. But I don't think he'll be around here anymore. I think he's always half a step ahead of me, and I think he knows that." I'll be picking up both kids from summer camp right away. I feel he's back around Harper's. There's a lot of wilderness in that area." "I really don't want anything to happen to Nancy." "The Suvrons aren't as safe as I thought they were. I think I might move them to another location tomorrow." "I thought, I'd feel better that way." Sam studied a map for a long time before the two-vehicle convoy embarked on the hundred-mile journey north from Edmunds to Suvron.Zhan Mi was in a good mood, and his face returned to normal, with the slightly dignified calm of a seasoned fighter.Caro remained strangely depressed and unresponsive.He led the way with Nancy driving the MG, and Kai Luo followed behind with his two sons.He chose some small roads, with a longer detour. After stopping twice and making sure that no one was following him, he continued on the road with more confidence. It was a sunny morning, the air was clean and fresh, and the distant mountains were clear at a glance.The path goes through beautiful countryside.This is a refreshing day.With their family together, he was almost certain that Cuddy would be arrested, and that at that point there might be a legal way to subject him to a psychiatric test; perhaps some kind of pressure could be exerted to get Beth McGowan to testify. From time to time he looked in the rearview mirror to see how far Caro was from him.It was almost eleven o'clock when they were about forty miles from Suvron, and he glanced up to see what was going on behind him. Just then, he saw the station wagon behind him jerk, turn back and fall into the ground. Overturned in the ditch by the roadside.The whole process is like a slow motion shot in a movie.He braked the car so hard that Nancy looked over her shoulder and screamed.He shifted the car into reverse, backed it up quickly, got out, and ran to the station wagon.He climbed up the side of the car, opened the door, and Bucky was wailing in terror, and he lifted Bucky out first, then Jimmy, and then Caro.Nancy helped them down.There was no traffic on the road, and Sam sat the three of them down in the thick grass by the side of the ditch, near the back fence. Butch's forehead was swollen the size of half a walnut; Caro's lip was bleeding.Jamie didn't seem to be hurt, but Caro was broken, totally broken.Her hysteria seemed to worry the children more than the accident, and he couldn't calm her down.A small farm van came rattling along, and Sam rushed out to stop it, driven by a stern-looking little old man, looking straight in the eye, clenching his teeth, and moving his mouth.Sam had to jump sideways or be knocked over by him.In the end Sam had to stand on the side of the road, shaking with anger, cursing loudly at the car that was going further and further away. The second car stopped.It was a dusty sedan with a pile of tools in the back seat, and two large men in overalls got out of the car without haste and walked over.At this time, Kai Luo was exhausted, she lay on her side on the ground, holding Sam's handkerchief to cover her mouth. "Is anyone seriously hurt?" "Cracked and bruised lips. They don't drive fast. Where can I get help?" "We're going into town, and we can get Charlie Hall to come and pull the car up with his tow truck. Ed, if you'd like to wait here and take Charlie's car back later, I can take this The wife and children will be driven to town, and they will be handed over to Dr. Evans." "I got shot in the arm yesterday," Jamie said loudly. The two men looked at him blankly.An old couple drove up in a big shiny car, first slowed down a little, then sped up and drove away. Sam helped Caro across the ditch and put her in the limousine without protest.With tools still piled up in the back seat, there was only enough room left for Butch, and Jamie had to sit on Nancy's lap, tucked in the front seat.The driver got into the car and said, "Dr. Evans is in a white house on the left hand side just entering the town." After he drove away, Sam told the man named Ed, "I even forgot to thank him." "I don't think he'd feel hurt. I just don't know who's driving which car?" "My wife drives the station wagon, and I take my daughter to drive the front MG. When the accident happened, I happened to see it in the rearview mirror." "I see. It's not easy to have one wheel missing in the front and still have no big trouble." "Front wheel? I haven't even noticed, left front wheel?" "It should have fallen somewhere nearby, and it probably ran to the opposite side." After five minutes of searching, they found the tire fifty feet from the curb.The chrome inner ring glistened in the sun, so Ed saw it.Three cars stopped and Sam waved them on.Ed jumped into the ditch and looked at the bolts holding the tires.He stretched out a thick finger and touched the screw lightly. "Strange," he said. "What's wrong?" "None of the screws have been cut, only some of the threads have been damaged. How far did you come from?" "From Edmund." "Well, I think there's only about three nuts on it, each turned loose enough to just catch on the threads. Kids do crazy things these days. Even if all the nuts aren't bolted on tight enough , and it can't all come off automatically. These crazy little bastards, I say, they really played a bad trick on you. Let's see if we can still find the tire cover. " The tow truck arrived within minutes of Sam finding the tire cover from the opposite ditch.The station wagon is first lifted by the winch, flipped back, and then dragged out of the dry ditch.The right side of the station wagon was dented and both windows were broken.Sam listened carefully for how to find the garage, thanked Ed, and drove into town to find Dr. Evans' clinic. The town was called Allenton.The doctor's name is Pei Shike.He explained that he had taken over the clinic from Dr. Evans.He was small, dark, cat-like--with a black beard, and with an accent that made it hard to tell where he was from.He wore a starched white robe. He took Sam to a small consulting room, closed the door, and asked Sam to smoke a cigarette. "Mr. Bowden, is Mrs. Madam—so to speak—a very nervous woman? Easily nervous?" "no." "Then has she been under a lot of pressure recently?" "Yes, it was really, really stressful." He waved a cigarette in his hand. "I feel like she's - you know - like an undercurrent. As for the boy's bullet wound, I checked his stitches for any open stitches. It's really none of my business, but if she's my wife , I will find a way to relieve her pressure, and quickly, it is like fighting, she has given all her strength. She is completely in a fighting situation, and she may collapse." "What do you mean by that?" "Who's to say? When reality outgrows what she wishes she could, or actually can, it becomes escapism." "But she's very stable." Pei Shike smiled slightly: "But not dull stable, stupid stable, no. She is very intelligent, sensitive, and imaginative. She is petrified, Mr. Bowden. I gave her a small amount of sedative, please Use this prescription to fill her with some more medicine." "What about the wound on her mouth?" "The split is not big enough to be stitched up, and I have stopped the bleeding. It will probably swell for a day or two. The little guy is very happy with the bag on his head, and he even went to admire it in the mirror. Nothing else Damaged." "I've got to look at that car. Would it be too much of a bother if they were left here while I went to look at the car?" "Not at all. Miss Walker will give you the bill, Mr. Bowden. Your honorable lady is resting, while your well-behaved children are in the back yard teasing my big Belgian rabbit." The station wagon was erected and was being refurbished.The service manager said: "The damage is not serious, a few damaged screws had to be filed before the tires could be put back on. The car needs to be re-aligned, but I don't think the bodywork is deformed. The door on the right won't open. .We filled up the oil leak. Of course it will take a long time to smooth the dent, but I think you're in a hurry to get on the road." "Indeed. I think my wife probably doesn't want to drive. Can you let my MG park here for a few days?" "no problem." "How soon will this car be fixed?" "Give us another forty minutes." "Can I write a check?" "of course can." After he bought the medicine prescribed by the doctor, he returned to the clinic.The nurse took him to the room where Kailuo was resting.The curtains were drawn, her eyes were closed, but she was not asleep, and when he came to the bed, she opened them.There was still a little bit of dried blood on her top.She smiled feebly.He sat down on the edge of the bed and took her hand. "I think all the sawdust in my straw bag has leaked out," she said. "It's about time, too, isn't it?" "I feel so ashamed. But it wasn't about the overturned car, as I think you know. It's about Jimmy, it's because of what happened, a kid that young, and someone tried to shoot him with a gun, The gun killed him like a small animal." "I know." "I just can't stop thinking about it. Does my mouth look horrible?" "Terrible," he said, grinning at her. "You know, I can see my upper lip when I look down. There's a tear in there, the doctor put something in there, he's fine." "He gave you a little medicine." "I know, it takes the pain away and makes me feel like I'm floating. Is the car wrecked?" "It will be on the road in an hour. It doesn't look pretty, but it drives." "That's great! But...but I don't want to drive today." "I parked that MG here, and we went there in a station wagon." "OK, dear." "What was the situation at that time?" "It didn't go straight at first, you know, a bit off, I thought the car needed to be re-aligned. Every minute I had to adjust the direction, and then, when I turned, there was a weird 'creak' in the front somewhere And then, just before the accident, it got worse and there was a horrible shake and I was about to put my foot on the brake and honk to stop you when I saw that wheel slip out and roll in front of me .Before I knew what was going on, we were overturned, and I don't know what hit my mouth. Did they figure out what happened?" "Someone loosened the screw cap." She looked up at him, then closed her eyes, and took hold of his fingers. "Oh, my God!" she whispered. "He knows the car, he'll know the nearest hospital is in Edmonds, he'll find out, Edmonds isn't a big place. I don't think there will be a night watchman in the parking lot across from the hotel if we go It's a completely different situation on the main road, with so many cars going so fast." "When will our luck run out? How long do we have to wait before then?" "They'll get him." "They'll never get him, you know that, and I know that. And if they do, they'll let him go again like they did last time." "Please, Caro." She turned her face away from him.Her voice is far away. "I think I was about seven years old. My mother was still alive, and we were going to a carnival where there was a carnival. My dad put me on a big white horse, and it was fun for a while. I hugged that A copper pillar, the horse went up and down, and I later learned that my father paid the man to let me ride for a long time. After a while, the faces around people began to blur, and the sound of music seemed to be getting louder. Louder. I looked out and saw lines. I wanted to stop. When I closed my eyes, I felt like I was going to fall. No one could hear me. I felt The horse was spinning faster and faster, the music was louder and louder, and I felt like I was going to be thrown out." "Baby, stop talking." "I wish it would stop, Sam, and stop spinning, and I wish I wouldn't be scared anymore." She looked at him pleadingly.He had never felt so helpless in his life, and never loved her so much.