All Around the Town Read Online Free PDF Page A

that kind of abuse. But Laurie was so frightened to go to bed. She loved my father but would never sit on his lap again. She didn't want him to touch her. She was afraid of men in general."
    "Surely she was examined when she was found?"
    "Yes, at the hospital in Pennsylvania."
    "Those records may still exist. I wish you'd arrange to send for them. What about that recurring dream?"
    "She had it again last night. She was absolutely terrified. She calls it the knife dream. Ever since she came back to us, she's been afraid of sharp knives."
    "How much personality change did you observe?"
    "At first a great deal. Laurie was an outgoing sociable child before she was kidnapped. A little spoiled, I suppose, but very sweet. She had a play group and loved to visit back and forth with her friends. After she came back she would never stay overnight in anyone's house again. She always seemed a little distant with her peers.
    "She chose to go to Clinton College because it's only an hour-and-a-half drive away and she came home many weekends."
    Carpenter asked, "What about boyfriends?"
    "As you'll see, she's a very beautiful young woman. She certainly got asked out plenty and in high school did go to the usual dances and games. She never seemed interested in anyone until Gregg Bennett, and that ended abruptly."
    "Why?"
    "We don't know. Gregg doesn't know. They went together all last year. He attends Clinton College as well and would often come home weekends with her. We liked him tremendously, and Laurie seemed so happy with him. They're both good athletes, especially fine golfers. Then one day last spring it was over. No explanations. Just over. She won't talk about it, won't talk to Gregg. He came to see us. He has no idea what caused the break. He's in England this semester, and I don't know that he's even heard about my parents."
    "I'd like to see Laurie tomorrow at eleven."
    The next morning Sarah drove Laurie to the appointment and promised to return in exactly fifty minutes. "I'll bring in some stuff for dinner," she told her. "We've got to perk up that appetite of yours."
    Laurie nodded and followed Carpenter into his private office. With something like panic in her face, she refused to recline on the couch, choosing to sit across the desk from him. She waited silently, her expression sad and withdrawn.
    Obvious profound depression. Carpenter thought. "I'd like to help you, Laurie."
    "Can you bring back my mother and father?"
    "I wish I could. Laurie, your parents are dead because a bus malfunctioned."
    "They're dead because I didn't have my car inspected."
    "You forgot."
    "I didn't forget. I decided to break the appointment at the gas station. I said I'd go to the free inspection center at the Motor Vehicle Agency. That one I forgot, but I deliberately broke the first appointment. It's my fault."
    "Why did you break the first appointment?" He watched closely as Laurie Kenyon considered the question.
    "There was a reason but I don't know what it was."
    "How much does it cost to have the car inspected at the gas station?"
    "Twenty dollars."
    "And it's free at the Motor Vehicle Agency. Isn't that a good enough reason?"
    She seemed to be immersed in her own thoughts. Carpenter wondered if she had heard him. Then she whispered, "No," and shook her head.
    "Then why do you think you broke the first appointment?"
    Now he was sure she had not heard him. She was in a different place. He tried another tack. "Laurie, Sarah tells me that you've been having bad dreams again, or rather the same bad dream you used to have has come back."
    Inside her mind, Laurie heard a loud wail. She pulled her legs against her chest and buried her head. The wailing wasn't just inside her. It was coming from her chest and throat and mouth.

    Chapter 13
    THE MEETING with Preacher Rutland Garrison and the television producers was sobering.
    They had eaten lunch in the private dining room of Worldwide Cable, the company that syndicated Garrison's program to an