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garbage can over. Your life is very valuable to me, Herculeah. ”
    His eyes began to focus and he looked down the alley. He expected to see Herculeah running toward him.
    Instead, he found, to his dismay, that the story he had created was true. There was someone at the gate. It was a big man, a very big man.
    Meat paused, frozen with fear. The man turned in the direction of the parking lot. The lid of the garbage can was still clattering at Meat’s feet, drawing attention to his unfortunate position.
    Meat wanted to duck down, but there was nothing big enough for him to duck behind. He froze. He knew how animals felt caught in the headlights of a car, waiting to be clobbered.
    The man was bound to be able to see him. He was in the light.
    But Meat couldn’t see the man clearly. He was in the shadows. All he could see was that the man was large and he had on dark clothes.
    Maybe, Meat thought, the man was some sort of night watchman—they wore dark clothes—or a policeman. He would have to think up a pretty good story if it was a policeman.
    â€œI was on my way home from a Boy Scout meeting, sir, and I didn’t feel well and I decided to sit down for a moment and—”
    Maybe it would even be Herculeah’s dad. And Herculeah’s dad would forbid her to do these dangerous things, and they could all go home and have hot chocolate.
    The figure began to walk toward him. The steps were slow and heavy.
    It was not a policeman or a night watchman or Herculeah’s dad. With increasing dread, Meat made out a huge man in a black coat and a black hat.
    His mouth dropped open. It was the last person in the world Meat wanted to see. It was the Moloch.
    Meat stepped back. He found himself flat against the wall of the hardware store.
    He had a moment of terrible decision. He didn’t know whether to run or to—
    He tried hard, but he couldn’t think of another choice. Running was the only thing to do.
    The Moloch was still coming toward him in that slow, heavy way, one step at a time.
    Meat knew that in a few more steps, he would be able to see those burning, terrible eyes. He made a decision.
    He pulled himself away from the hardware store, turned, ran around the corner of the store and headed for home.
    At the corner he turned and ran backward a few steps to see if the Moloch was still following. He was not in sight.
    â€œI’ll be back,” he called over his shoulder. He hoped Herculeah could hear him in that musty black basement.
    Well, he thought, at least he had warned her. He had knocked over the garbage can.
    His heart raced with fear and with a determination to, once again, save Herculeah.
    He paused in front of the House of Cards store. He put his fingers in his mouth. He would give a whistle so loud it would shatter windows, wake the dead, cause dogs all over the county to bay at the moon.
    He blew but nothing happened. For the first time in his life his whistle failed. He knew the truth. A person could get too scared to whistle.

11
    HERCULEAH IN THE DARK
    Using the statue for support, Herculeah pulled herself to her feet and stood in the darkness. The blackness around her was complete—not a glimmer of light to show her the way.
    She stepped around the deer and bumped into the wheelbarrow. There was a thud as her knee hit the metal.
    Herculeah froze, waiting to see if that sound would bring the Moloch back. In the seconds that followed she noticed three things.
    1. There were no footsteps coming back to the house.
    2. Her knee was beginning to throb where she had struck it on the wheelbarrow.
    And 3. Someone, somewhere, had just turned over a garbage can.
    â€œNow you warn me,” Herculeah said. “Why didn’t you warn me when I could have done something about it?Meeeeat!”
    She broke off and listened to make sure neither the Moloch nor Meat was coming. Then she began to grope her way toward the door.
    Her hands touched rakes and shovels. She found a