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The doorman smiled faintly and said good-bye. The bunch of them, the gorilla, the skeleton, the green
lady, the shaggy dog, and Elizabeth went out the door quickly and were gone.
The doorman stared after them thoughtfully. Had the shaggy dog been wearing pants when he came in?
By the time Ben Holiday pulled the rental car into the parking lot of Franklin Elementary, there were
miniature witches, werewolves, ghosts, devils, punk rockers, and assorted other horrors arriving from
everywhere, all dashing from their cars to the shelter of the lighted school as if truly possessed. The rain
was still falling heavily. There were going to be more than a few disappointed trick-or-treaters this night.
Ben turned the wheel into the curb and put the gearshift into park. He looked over at Elizabeth seated
next to him. "Time to go, kiddo."
Elizabeth nodded, somehow managing to look sad even with the painted happy face. "I wish I could go
with you."
"Not this time, honey," Ben smiled. "You know what to do now, don't you  after the party?"
"Sure. I go home with Nita and her parents and stay there until my dad comes for me." She sounded
sad, too.
"Right. Mr. Bennett will see to it that he finds out what has happened to you. Whatever happens, don't
go back to the castle. Okay?"
"Okay. Good-bye, Ben. Good-bye, Willow." She turned to Willow, seated next to her, and gave the
sylph a long hug and kiss on the cheek. Willow kissed her back and smiled, saying nothing. She was so
sick it was hard for her to talk. "Will you be okay?" Elizabeth wanted to know, asking the question
hesitantly.
"Yes, Elizabeth." Willow managed another quick kiss and opened the door. Ben had never seen her this
bad, not even when she had been prevented from making the transformation into her namesake that first
time she was taken into Abaddon. His patience slipped a notch.
" 'Bye, Abernathy," Elizabeth said to the dog, who was seated with Miles in the back. She started to say
something, stopped, and then said, "I'll miss you."
Abernathy nodded. "I will miss you, too, Elizabeth."
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Then she was out the door and dashing for the school. Ben waited until she was safely inside, then
wheeled the car out of the parking lot and sped quickly back through Woodinville to 522 and turned
west.
"High Lord, I cannot thank you enough for coming to rescue me," Abernathy was saying. "I had given
myself up for lost."
Ben was thinking of Willow and trying hard to keep the car within the speed limit. "I'm sorry this had to
happen, Abernathy. Questor is sorry, too. He really is."
"I find that hard to believe," the dog declared, sounding very much like his old self. The effect of the
drugs had pretty much worn off, and the scribe was more tired than anything. It was Willow who was in
trouble now.
Ben eased the speed of the rental car up a notch.
"He was trying to help you, don't forget," he said.
"He scarcely understands the meaning of the word!" Abernathy huffed. He was quiet a moment. "By the
way  here." He took the chain with the medallion from his own neck, reached across the seatback, and
placed it carefully about Ben's. "I feel much better knowing you have this safely back."
Ben didn't say so, but he felt much better, too.
He reached Interstate 5 twenty minutes later and turned the car south. The rain diminished somewhat
and it appeared to be clearing ahead. The airport was less than half an hour's drive.
Willow's hand stretched across the seat and found his. He squeezed it gently and tried to will some of
the strength from his body into hers.
A car passed them in the left lane and a woman in the passenger seat stared over. What she saw was a
skeleton driving a gorilla, a shaggy dog, and a lady dyed green. The woman said something to the driver
and the car moved on.
Ben had forgotten about their costumes. He thought momentarily about removing them, then decided
against it. There wasn't time. Besides, this was Halloween. Lots of people would be out in costumes
tonight, going one place or another, trick-or-treating, attending parties, having fun. It was like that in
Seattle; he'd read as much in this morning's newspaper. Halloween was a big deal.
He was feeling better about things by the time the lights of the city came into view. The rain had
practically disappeared, and they were only moments from their destination. He watched the skyscrapers
brighten the night skies and spread away before him in vertical lines. He took a deep breath and allowed
himself the luxury of thinking they were almost safely home.
That was when he saw the lights of the state patrol car coming up behind him. "Oh, oh," he muttered.
The patrol car closed quickly, and he eased the rental car over onto the freeway shoulder by a bridge
abutment. The patrol car pulled in behind.
"Doc, what's he stopping you for?" Miles demanded. "Were you speeding or something?"
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Ben had a sick feeling in his stomach. "I don't think so," he said quietly.
He watched in the rearview mirror. The trooper was on the radio a moment, and another patrol car
pulled up behind the first. The trooper in the first car got out then, walked up to Ben's window, and
looked in. His face was inscrutable. "Can I see your license, sir?"
Ben reached for his billfold and belatedly remembered he didn't have it. Miles had signed for the car on
his license. "Officer, I don't have it with me, but I can give you the number. It is a valid license. And the
car is registered with Mr. Bennett."
He indicated the gorilla. Miles was trying to take off the head, but it was stuck. The trooper nodded.
"Do you have some proof of identification?" he asked.
"Uh, Mr. Bennett has," Ben said.
"I do, officer," Miles hastily confirmed. "Here, right inside this damn suit if I can just..." He trailed off,
struggling to get it free.
The trooper looked at Willow and Abernathy. Then he looked back at Ben. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask
you to come with me, sir," he said. "Please pull your vehicle out behind mine and follow me downtown.
The other patrol car will follow you."
Ben went cold. Something had gone terribly wrong. "I'm a lawyer," he said impulsively. "Are we being
charged with something?"
The trooper shook his head. "Not by me, you aren't. Except maybe I'll issue you a warning ticket for
driving a vehicle without carrying your license  assuming you have a license like you say. I'll want to
check the registration on this vehicle as well."
"But...?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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