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“Sometime soon wouldn’t send you out after ten at night to
     phone. What’s the rush?”
    “My mom just got back from the clinic and she’s gonna have her baby, any day now the
     doctor said, and my aunt needs to know what time the buses arrive so she can meet
     us on Monday. So’s we can take a bus it’s good for her to meet. My mom asked me to
     come find out so’s she can call first thing in the morning, before my aunt goes to
     church. It’s hard for my mom to get around now—you know.”
    “Where’s your father?”
    “Gone.”
    “Gone where?”
    “Dunno. He just up and went, way back, last winter.”
    The guard nodded. He reached in his pocket and pulled out the pack of gum. He offered
     a piece to Dicey, but she shook her head.
    “Can I call now, mister?”
    “Sure thing,” he said. “I wouldn’t have bothered you exceptthat there’ve been some windows broken around here. We think it’s kids. I’m the security
     guard. I’ve got to be careful.”
    Dicey nodded. She inserted the coins and slowly dialed the numbers, hoping he’d go
     away. But he stood there and listened. Behind him lay the parking lot, a vast open
     space where occasional clumps of planted bushes spread long shadows over the ground.
    An impersonal voice answered. Dicey asked about tickets to Bridgeport, how much they
     cost.
    “From where to Bridgeport.”
    Dicey grabbed at a name. “Peewauket.” That was what the map said. She pronounced it
     Pee-Walk-It. The guard, listening narrowed his eyes.
    “From Peewauket?” the voice asked, saying it Pwuk-it.
    “Yeah.”
    “Two dollars and forty-five cents a person.”
    “What’s the rate for children?”
    “The same. The charge is for the seat. Unless you’ve got a child under two.”
    “What time do buses run?”
    “Every other hour, from eight to eight.”
    Dicey thanked the voice and hung up the phone. She stood with her arms hanging down
     at her sides, waiting for the guard to leave.
    He was studying her with his little piggly eyes. He held his flashlight now in one
     hand and slapped it into the palm of the other. “You better get back now,” he said
     and then added, “You didn’t write anything down.”
    “I’ve got a good memory.”
    “Yeah? I’ll give you a test.” His body blocked the way to the safe darkness of the
     parking lot. “You don’t remember anything about broken windows in the mall, do you?
     For instance, just one for instance, at Record City.”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    “I wonder about that. I really wonder, Danny. You said Danny, didn’t you? Tillerman,
     wasn’t it? You see, we figure it was probably kids did it, account of nothing’s been
     stolen. Or maybe just one kid did it, that’s what I’m thinking.”
    Dicey glared at him. “I said I don’t know anything about that.”
    He put one arm out to bar her in, resting his hand against the side of the phone.
     “I can’t think of why I should believe you. Nope, now I come to think of it, I don’t
     think I do believe you. The only question in my mind is, what do I do with you?”
    Dicey thought fast, then acted just as fast. She lifted her right knee as if to hit
     him in the groin where she knew it would hurt bad. He lowered his arm and stepped
     back, to protect himself. In that one second while he was off balance, Dicey took
     off. She sprinted into the darkness of the parking lot. As soon as she was in the
     cover of the shadows, she turned left around the corner of the building, away from
     their car. He thundered after her.
    Dicey ran smoothly. She was used to running on beaches, where the sand gave way under
     your feet and each thrust of your legs was hindered. Running over asphalt was easier.
     Dicey pulled away from her pursuer. His steps were heavy and his breathing was heavy.
     He was out of shape and too fat to catch up with her. She had time to crouch behind
     one of the little islands of green that decorated the parking lot. She had