Brain Child by John Saul Page B

Tonight, she knew, was one of the nights the saints had chosen to answer those prayers.
    Tomorrow, or the next day, she would find out who had been in the car that had plunged over the edge of the ravine, and remember to go to church and light a candle to whichever saint had, in answer to her prayers, abandoned one of his namesakes this evening. Her candles were not much, she knew, but they were something, and the souls of her ancestors would appreciate them.
    Silence finally fell over La Paloma. For the rest of the night, María Torres slept in peace.
    Benny Cohen carefully peeled away the towel that had been wrapped around Alex Lonsdale’s head, and stared at the gaping wound on the boy’s skull.
    He’s dead, Benny thought. He may still be breathing, but he’s dead.

CHAPTER FOUR
    Ellen Lonsdale knew her premonition had come true as soon as she opened the front door and saw Carol Cochran standing on the porch, a handkerchief clutched in her left hand, her eyes rimmed with red.
    “It happened, didn’t it?” she whispered.
    Carol’s head moved in a barely perceptible nod. “It’s Alex,” she whispered. “He … he was alone in the car …”
    “Alone?” Ellen echoed. Where had Lisa been? Hadn’t she been with Alex? But her questions went unspoken as she tried to concentrate on what Carol was saying.
    “He’s at the Center,” Carol told her, stepping into the house and closing the door behind her. “I’ll take you.”
    For a moment Ellen felt as if she might collapse. Then, with an oddly detached calmness, she picked her purse up from the table in the entry hall and automatically opened it to check its contents. Satisfied that everything was there, she walked past Carol and opened the front door. “Is he dead?” she asked.
    “No,” Carol replied, her voice catching. “He’s not dead, Ellen.”
    “But it’s bad, isn’t it?”
    “I don’t know. I don’t think anyone does.”
    Silently the two women got into the Cochrans’ car and Carol started the engine. As she was backing down the Lonsdales’ driveway, Ellen asked the question that was still lurking in her mind. “Why wasn’t Lisa with him?”
    “I don’t know that. We got a call from the police. They said to meet them at the Center, that they were taking Lisa there. I thought … Oh, God, never mind what I thought. Anyway, Lisa’s all right, but Alex—his car went off the road up near the old hacienda. Carolyn was having a party.”
    “He said he wouldn’t go to any parties,” Ellen said numbly, her body slumped against the car door. “He promised—” She broke off her own thought, and remained silent for several seconds as her mind suddenly began to shift gears.
I can’t fall apart. I can’t give in to what I’m feeling. I have to be strong. For Alex, I have to be strong
. She consciously straightened herself in the car seat. “Well, it doesn’t matter what he promised, does it?” she asked. “The only thing that matters is that he be all right.” She turned to gaze searchingly at Carol, and when she spoke, her voice was stronger. “If you knew how bad it was, you’d tell me, wouldn’t you?”
    Carol moved her hand off the steering wheel to give Ellen’s arm a quick squeeze. “Of course I would. And I’m not going to tell you not to worry, either.”
    As Carol drove, Ellen tried to make herself concentrate on anything but what might have happened to Alex. She gazed out the window, forcing her mind to focus only on what her eyes were taking in.
    “It’s a pretty town,” she said suddenly.
    “What?” Carol Cochran asked, taken aback by Ellen’s odd statement.
    “I was just looking at it,” Ellen went on. “I haven’t really done that for a long time. I drive around it all thetime, but it’s been years since I really paid attention to what it looks like. And a lot of it hasn’t really changed since we were children.”
    “No,” Carol said slowly, still not sure where Ellen’s thoughts were leading.