She half laughed.
She waited there until she saw the boy draw away from the window. She went into the house and bolted the door behind her. Then she went up the narrow steps.
That night she lay awake for a long time. The heat had grown intense. She found herself tossing from side to side of the small bed.
The window shade had stuck at the top of the window.
The moonlight trickled into the room. She could see the window-framed, star-specked patch of the skies. When she sat up she saw the round, reddish-yellow ball of the moon.
She must have dozed, because she woke with a start. She felt that she had had a fearful, evil dream. The horror of it clung to her.
The room was like an oven.
She thought the walls were coming together and the ceiling pressing down.
Her body was covered with sweat.
She forced herself wide awake. She made herself get out of the bed. She stood for a second uncertain. Then she went to the window.