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The sky was grey and damp. An early norther' had blown in. It brought the kind of Houston weather that makes Texans flock to Colorado. I pulled my coat closer to shut out the chill wind, walked over to the swingset, wiped off the seat with my sleeve and sat down. For some reason I couldn't get that old Donovan song, "Season of the Witch" out of my head.

The last two days had gone by too fast for me. Saturday, little Dusty had taken us across the bayou to an abandoned city warehouse behind the zoo. It was only a walk of a couple of miles and she refused to go in our car, saying we might be seen. We tethered the horse at the house and all five of us crept through the damp woods, across a foot bridge over the bayou and around the back side of the zoo complex until we came to a battered equipment yard full of outdated tractors and other equipment the grounds crews must have used only in the summer.

Dusty talked as we trudged along. "There's bad grumps Mr. Bowie. There's very bad ones. Most grumps don't really care about kids but some are very bad. My uncle, he's the one what took care of me. He was bad. He useta hit me all the time, he useta hold me down and pinch me on the back and between the legs where the teachers at school couldn't see the bruises. He would get so mad." Anger and fear flickered across her face. "I used to hide in the shed where we boarded Libby for some people. Libby was my friend. When he hurt me I would go there and Libby would love me cause nobody else would." The hurt and outrage in her voice was almost tangible. "Coupla nights ago, I was hidin' in the shed cause I was talkin' to my new friend an he was gettin' really drunk. He came out in the shed with a belt yellin' for me."

She stopped and looked up at me. "I usta think it was my fault that he hurt me. I thought I was bad and that's why my momma left me with him. I thought I was supposed to be hurt but I don't think that no more. My friend says I'm good and he ought to love me." Her eyes were righteous and determined. "My friend says he was confused but I think he was just bad." Tears came to her eyes. She was almost shouting "Libby kicked him and I hope he's dead, really dead."