She stared at the flap, hesitating, smelling dust and popcorn in the air. I'm brave, she told herself, and sidled forward. She pushed on the tent beside the flap to widen the gap, and she stretched her neck and peered inside.
It was too dark to see anything, but the smell of popcorn was stronger. Rashel moved farther and farther until she was actually in the tent. And then her eyes adjusted and she realized that she wasn't alone.
There was a tall man in the tent. He was wearing a long light-colored trench coat, even though it was warm outside. He didn't seem to notice Rashel because he had something in his arms, and his head was bent down to it, and he was doing something to it.
And then Rashel saw what he was doing and she knew that the grown-ups had lied when they said ogres and monsters and the things in fairy-tale books weren't real.
Because the tall man had Timmy, and he was eating him.
Bating him or doing something with his teeth. Tearing and sucking. Making noises like Pal did when he ate his dog food.
For a moment Rashel was frozen. The whole world had changed and everything seemed like a dream. Then she heard somebody screaming and her throat hurt and she knew it was her.
And then the tall man looked at her.
He lifted his head and looked. And she knew that his face alone was going to give her nightmares forever.
Not that he was ugly. But he had hair as red as blood and eyes that shone gold, like an animal's. There was a light in them that was like nothing she had ever seen.
She ran then. It was wrong to leave Timmy, but she was too scared to stay. She wasn't brave; she was a baby, but she couldn't help it. She was still screaming as she turned around and darted through the flap in the tent.
Almost darted through. Her head and shoulders got outside and she saw the red plastic tubes rising above her-and then a hand clamped on the back of her Gymboree shirt. A big strong hand that stopped her in midflight. Rashel was as helpless as a baby kitten against it.
But just as she was dragged back into the tent, she saw something. Her mother. Her mother was coming around the corner of the climbing structure. She'd heard Rashel screaming.
Her mother's eyes were big and her mouth was open, and she was moving fast. She was coming to save Rashel.
"Mommeeeeeeeee!" Rashel screamed, and then she was back inside the tent. The man threw her to one side the way a kid at preschool would throw a piece of crumpled paper. Rashel landed hard and felt a pain in her leg that normally would have made her cry. Now she hardly noticed it. She was staring at Timmy, who was lying on the ground near her.
Timmy looked strange. His body was like a rag doll's-arms and legs flopped out. His skin was white. His eyes were staring straight up at the top of the tent.