The Ultimate Fan Guide

by L. J. Smith

  She didn’t want to kill it.

  Then you’d better scavenge something better than fungus, Smart Crispy said. Because I know what Roach is going to say when she hears that you saw meat and didn’t even take a shot.

  All right, all right. Crispy blinked rapidly; she wasn’t crying, of course— she never cried—but she had to blink before moving again. Slowly she stuffed the last cones of graybread into the rags that served her as a tunic. Then, slowly, reluctantly, she reached down to her rawhide belt, groping for her slingshot. It was makeshift, with almost all the materials gathered from the boneyard. A piece of tire from an old tractor for the cup. Bits of rubber for elastic and a Y-shaped metal pipe for a handle.

  Then she positioned herself, inching upward, praying that the mound of garbage at her back wouldn’t collapse. And all the while she thought. She thought herself part of the night, part of the boneyard, just another bit of garbage that a bird wouldn’t notice.

  At last Crispy was in line for a shot. Slowly she fitted a pebble into the slingshot. Now was the time to disappear into the boneyard background. The bird mustn’t sense any danger. No danger … no danger …

  That was the moment Crispy sensed the danger to herself. It was unmistakable, and it was close. It was just a hint over the reek of garbage, a rank odor that froze Crispy’s heart.

  Werewolf.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  L.J. Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of the Night World series and the Vampire Diaries series. She has written more than twenty-five books for young adults, and she lives in the Bay Area of California, where she enjoys reading, hiking, and traveling. Her favorite place is a cabin in Point Reyes National Seashore. Visit her at ljanesmith.net, where she has lots of free stories for downloading.