Michael Ford: Jane Bites Back

“Are you all so stupid?” Charlotte said.

“You’re insane,” said Walter. “You can pretend to be whoever you want to be, but what reason do you have to hate Jane?”

Charlotte stepped back. She looked at Walter for a long time, then looked at Jane. “He doesn’t know, does he?” she said. “He really doesn’t know.”

“Know what?” Walter asked.

Charlotte clapped her hands and held them to her face, covering her mouth. Her eyes glittered with happiness. “Oh, this is turning out to be such fun,” she said, clapping her hands like a child. “All right then, let me tell you a story.” She took a deep breath. “Once upon a time—”

Suddenly the door to the storeroom burst open. Jane looked up to see Byron striding into the room. “You!” she said. Her voice sounded peculiar, as if she’d spoken through a megaphone. Then she realized that it was because everyone in the room had said exactly the same thing at exactly the same time. She looked at the others, all of whom were glaring at Byron with the same look of consternation.

“How dare you come back here?” said Walter. “Jane told you, she wants nothing to do with you.”

“Jane?” said Kelly. He looked over at her with a puzzled expression. “This is the guy Bryce has been sleeping with.”

“Bryce?” Jane said, equally puzzled. She looked at Byron. “You’re Grayson?” she repeated.

Byron shrugged. “I know this is a bit awkward,” he said.

Before he could continue, Charlotte lunged at him, her fangs bared. “You left me!” she screeched.

Byron stepped aside, pushing her as she went by. Charlotte crashed headfirst into a pile of cookbooks, which toppled over, sending her to the floor. She turned herself over and renewed her attack. This time Byron was able to grab her arm. He swung her violently, sending her twirling toward one of the tall shelving units. She hit it hard, and it fell over, burying her in an avalanche of self-help books. Moments later she leapt up, sending copies of Surviving Menopause flying in every direction. She picked one up and chucked it at Byron’s head, missing him by an inch.

“Untie me!” Jane said to Byron. “I can help.”

“There’s no time,” Byron told her as he looked for a way to stop Charlotte.

Charlotte was throwing books furiously now, picking them up and hurling them at Byron as quickly as she could. A firestorm of young adult novels, pop-up books, and how-to guides bore down on him. Jane saw a copy of The Lovely Bones fly by, pages flapping, and cut Byron’s cheek.

Ducking and weaving, Byron ran at Charlotte, batting the missiles out of the way. Then the two of them were entwined, Charlotte clawing at Byron as she roared in rage and Byron trying to subdue her. Then, to her surprise, Jane saw Walter stand up. The ropes that had bound his wrists fell to the floor. He bent and helped Kelly and Lucy up.

“Go!” he said. “Get out of here.”

As the two of them left the room, Walter came to Jane. Kneeling, he reached behind her and cut her ropes.

“How did you get free?” she asked as she stood.

“Pocketknife,” said Walter as he took her arm and ran for the door. “It just took me a while to get it open.”

Behind them Jane could hear crashes and screams as Byron and Charlotte continued to fight. In the main room of the bookstore Kelly and Lucy waited anxiously.

“Who’s winning?” Lucy asked.

Jane shook her head. “It’s hard to say,” she replied.

“We should call the police,” Walter suggested.

“No!” Lucy and Jane said simultaneously.

Walter looked at them both. “But—” he began.

“Trust me on this,” said Jane, interrupting.

“We should at least try to help him,” said Walter.

“I say let her have him,” Kelly said. “Home wrecker.”

“In case you’ve forgotten, he saved your life,” said Lucy sharply.

“For the moment,” Jane said. “We need to get out of here.”

They ran for the front door and into the parking lot. There they huddled in a group, watching the store for signs. A moment later they saw shadowy figures moving inside the store.

“They’re still at it,” said Jane.

Loud thumps came from inside, and something fell over with a crash. “That sounds like the audiobooks display,” Lucy remarked.

“That’s it,” said Walter. “I’m going in.”

Before Jane could stop him he had run back inside. More crashes filled the air, and then a figure ran toward the large glass window that spanned the front of the shop. The shadow grew larger and larger. Then it hit the window with a sickening thud and the glass shattered. Tiny pieces of glass fell to the sidewalk, clattering like hail, and Charlotte followed them. She landed face-first on the pavement and lay still.

Walter and Byron emerged from the store, panting heavily. They looked at the prone body of Charlotte. Byron clapped Walter on the back. “Good work,” he said.

Walter shook his head. “You’re the one who clocked her with the Stephen King hardcover. That took some of the wind out of her.”

“Thank heavens he’s a wordy man,” said Byron.

The two of them came over to where the others were standing. Jane gave Walter a hug, holding him close. “I’m so glad you’re all right,” she said.

“Me too,” said Walter. “For a while there I thought that lunatic was going to slit all our throats. I still don’t get it. All of that over a book?”

“It’s a good thing you came along,” Lucy said to Byron.

Before Byron could respond, Kelly hauled off and punched him in the face. Byron reeled back, holding his nose, while Kelly shook his hand in obvious pain. “That hurt!” he yelped.

“Bloody hell!” Byron said.

“Boys!” Jane said, getting between them. “You can work it out later. Right now we need to do something with Charlotte. I mean Violet.”

“That could be a problem,” Lucy said.

Jane turned to her. “Why?”

Lucy nodded toward the store. Where Charlotte had been lying there was now nothing but broken glass.

“Tell me again why we aren’t calling the police,” Walter said to Jane. They’d just returned to Jane’s house after straightening up the bookstore. It was two in the morning, and Jane was exhausted. She was sitting on the couch, her feet tucked up under her, drinking a cup of tea.

“It would only be a lot of bother,” Jane answered.

“Bother?” said Walter. “The woman was going to kill us.”

“I don’t think she would really have done it,” Jane said. “I think she was just upset.”

Walter gave her a disbelieving look. “You saw the inside of the store,” he reminded her. “You saw what she did to the window. That was a little more than just being upset. It was completely psychotic.”

“Trust me,” Jane said. “We know her name. We can easily track her down if need be. I think you and Byron scared her well enough.”

“That’s another thing,” said Walter. “Why did he come back? And what’s this about him and Kelly’s boyfriend? I’m so confused.”

As if he’d been called, Kelly came into the living room. He had a towel wrapped around his hand.

“Is the ice helping?” Jane asked him.

“A little,” he answered. “I can’t believe how much it hurts.”

“Yes, well, Byron—Brian—has a very hard head,” Jane told him.