“Do you think they’re still out there?” Todd said.
“What? The dead? Yes … ”
Even as she was speaking she was thinking about Zeffer’s last request. The madness of the Devil’s Country had put it out of her head.
“Suppose I said I knew a way to get them into the house?” Tammy said.
“Is that possible?
“It’s possible,” Tammy said cautiously.
He went back to the door he’d just stepped through. “How?” he asked, lowering his voice.
Tammy was still uncertain of his allegiances. She didn’t want to tell him everything in case he was still going to side with Katya. But on the other hand, she needed his help.
“It’s just something somebody told me,” she said. She wanted to believe she had him on her side, but she was far from certain.
Katya was calling from the stairs again. “Todd? Have you got her?”
“Close the door.” Tammy said. “Keep her out.” She started to look around the kitchen. Which of the drawers was most likely to contain a knife? A good strong steak knife. No, better, a fat-bladed chopping knife. Something that wouldn’t snap under pressure.
“Todd?” Katya sounded as though she was in the hallway.
“Close the door.” Tammy said. “Please.”
Todd glanced back in Katya’s direction. Then, God bless him, he closed the door.
“What are you doing?” Tammy heard her say.
“It’s all right!” Todd called back to her.
Tammy started going through the drawers, as quickly as possible. There seemed to be dozens of them. Did she want aluminum foil and plastic bags? No. Spoons and ladles? No. Cutlery? There were a few knives in here, but they were too flimsy for her purposes. She needed a blade she could use to dig at the wood. If she didn’t get the icons out of the threshold, the ghosts would stay out there.
“Todd! Let me in!”
“You have to go,” Todd said to Tammy.
“Not until I’ve got a — ”
Yes! A knife! The ninth drawer she opened was a treasure trove of knives; large, small, middle-sized. Knowing she could only have a few seconds left before Katya came in, Tammy simply gathered up a handful of knives — five or six — and headed back to the passageway.
As she reached the door, she heard Katya’s voice from across the room.
“You think you’re going to save yourself with those?”
Tammy looked back over her shoulder. Katya had pushed the door open, and shoved Todd aside, raising her hands as she approached, ready to take Tammy by the throat.
Todd raced ahead of her to stand between the two women.
“Hey now,” he said. “Let’s just calm down. Nobody’s going to hurt anybody.”
Katya seemed to listen to him. Her agitation quieted. “All right,” she said, looking at Todd with wide, dark eyes. “What do you suggest?”
Tammy didn’t trust this little performance at all; but it gave her time to back off towards the door. As she reached it, one of her hastily-collected knives slipped from her hand. She bent down to pick it up, and in attempting to do so, lost her grip on all the others. She cursed as they went spinning across the polished tiles in all directions. “Pick them up, Todd,” Katya said.
“Later,” Todd replied, his tone still mellow.
In response she slapped him, hard, across his already-wounded face, striking blood from it. “I want them picked up.”
He stared at her for a minute. Then, very calmly, he caught hold of her hand and said: “Don’t do that.”
“You want to hit me back?” Katya said. “Go on. If that’s what you want to do, then do it! No, you won’t will you? You’re too damn weak. All you men. Too damn weak.”
As if to prove the point she pulled her hand out of Todd’s grip and pushed past him, heading straight for Tammy.
Faced with the choice of waiting a few seconds to see if Todd would come to her rescue, or making an escape while she could, Tammy snatched up the first knife to hand, which was neither the largest nor toughest of the blades, and made a run for the door.