When he quietened down she asked: 'How many times did you leave the room?' The knife. Oh, no, the knife. 'Twice. No, three times. I had to get some water yesterday. But I wasn't trying to escape, Annie. I'm writing a book.' 'You didn't try the telephone. I suppose, or investigate the locks. No, you were such a good little boy.' 'Of course I did.' He was beginning to wish she would go 51 away, The drug was making him partly tell the truth, but he also badly wanted to sleep. 'How many times did you go out?' 'I told you. Three times.' 'How many times?' Her voice was rising. 'Tell the truth.' 'I am telling the truth. Three times!' 'You're treating me like a fool.' 'Annie, I swear —' 'Oh, yes, you swear. People who tell lies love to swear. Let me tell you, Mister Clever. I stretched hairs all over the place — upstairs, downstairs, out in the barn — and a lot of them have gone.' Annie, how could I have gone upstairs? How could I have gone outside to the barn? But she didn't give him time to protest; she went straight on. 'So you tell me that you left the room only three times, Mister Clever, and I'll tell you that you're the fool, not me. How many times?' 'Three.' 'Once for medicine.' 'Yes.' 'Once for food.' 'Yes.' 'And once for water.' 'Yes. Yes, I told you.' She reached into her pocket again and brought out the butcher's knife. 'I looked under your mattress just before I gave you the injection for your operation, and see what I found.' What did she mean by 'operation'? He was suddenly sure that she intended to use the knife on him. 'But you didn't get it out of the kitchen, did you? You only went for medicine, food and water. The knife must have flown here all by itself. What kind of fool do you think I am, Paul? How many times?' 'All right, all right. I got the knife when I went for water. But, Annie, what did you mean by "operation"?' 'I think you went seven times,' she said. 'Yes, if that's what you want to bear, I left the room seven times,' Paul said. He was angry now, because be was frightened. Then she started to speak softly and he began to drift, almost into sleep. 'Do you know what the British used to do to workers in their diamond mines who tried to escape, Paul?' 'They killed them, I suppose,' he said, still with his eyes closed. 'Oh, no,' she replied. 'That would be like throwing away a whole car just because some little thing went wrong. No, they still needed them for the mines, so they just made sure that they couldn't run away again. They performed a little operation, Paul, and that's what I'm going to do to you. It's for your own good. Please try to remember that.' The ice-cold wind of fear blew over Paul's body and his eyes flew open. She got up from the bed and pulled back the blankets so that his legs and feet were uncovered. 'No,' he said. 'No . . . Annie . . . whatever it is you're planning, we can talk about it, can't we? Please . . . you don't have to . . .' She bent over and picked up some things from the floor. When she straightened up she was holding an axe in one hand and a blowlamp in the other. The blade of the axe shone dully. She bent down again and picked up the box of matches and a bottle of dark liquid. 'Annie, no!' he screamed. 'Annie, I'll stay here, I promise. I won't even get out of bed. I'll do whatever you say!' 'It's all right,' she said, and her face now had that blank look. Some part of his mind which was not filled with fear knew that when this was over she would remember hardly anything at all about it. This was the woman who graduated in 1966 and now, in 1987, told him that she had been a nurse for only ten years. 53 She probably hardly remembered killing all those babies. He suddenly knew that this was the axe she had used on Pomeroy. He continued to scream. He tried to turn over, as if he could get away from her, but his broken legs and drugged body refused to obey. Annie poured some of the liquid on to his left ankle and some more on to the blade of the axe. The smell reminded Paul of doctors' offices in his childhood. 'There won't be much pain, Paul. It won't be bad.' 'Annie Annie oh Annie please no please don't Annie I swear to you I'll be good I swear to Cod I'll be good please give me a chance to be good ANNIE PLEASE LET ME BE GOOD -' 'Just a little pain, Paul, and then this unpleasant matter will be behind us.' She threw the empty bottle over her shoulder, her face completely blank now. She seized the axe in both hands and moved her feet so that she was standing firmly on the floor. 'ANNIE OH PLEASE PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!' 'Don't worry,' she said, and her eyes were gentle. 'I'm a nurse.' The axe whistled through the air and buried itself in Paul Sheldon's left leg just above the ankle. Pain exploded in his body. Blood splashed her face and the wall. He heard the blade rub against the bone as she pulled it free. He looked down and saw his toes moving. Then he saw her raising the axe again; drops of blood were falling off it. Her hair was hanging loosely around her blank, calm face. He tried to pull back in spite of the pain, but he realized that, although his leg was moving, his foot wasn't. All he was doing was widening the cut, making it open like a mouth. He realized that his foot was joined to his leg by only a little flesh - and then the axe whistled down again. It cut through his leg and sank deep into the mattress. Annie pulled the axe out of the mattress and threw it on to the ground. She picked up the blowlamp and lit it with a match. 54 She seized the axe in both hands and moved her feet so that she was standing firmly on the floor. 'There isn't time to sew all this up,' she explained. 'You're losing blood too fast.' She turned the flame on to the stump of his leg. Fresh pain seized Paul's body. Sweet-smelling smoke drifted up to his nose. 'Nearly finished,' she said. The blankets were burning now. Annie bent down again and picked up the yellow bucket. She poured water over the flames. Paul screamed again. Annie stood and looked at him. 'You'll be all right,' she said. Her eyes seemed to move round the room aimlessly. It was a relief for her to notice something on the floor. 'I'll just get rid of the rubbish,' she said. She picked up Paul's foot. The toes were still moving. She started to walk out of the room and then turned and said, 'Don't blame me for this. It was your own fault.' Paul dived into the cloud, hoping that it would bring death this time, not just unconsciousness. He dimly heard himself screaming and smelled his burned flesh. As his thoughts faded, he thought: Dragon Lady!' Kill you! Dragon Lady! Kill you! Then there was nothing except nothing.