23The car ride to Darktown started out nice and easy, Cozy even, with Betty sitting very close to Scratch with his arm around her. No words were spoken. The closer they got to the other side, the stiffer Betty became. Scratch noticed she'd embedded her nails into her knee, going through her stockings, even drawing blood.
“Relax,” he told her. “Everything will be fine.”
Betty flashed an uneasy smile, removed her nails from her knee, and fixed her skirt so no one could see the self-inflicted wound.
They passed through an area of ramshackle houses and makeshift barns that were small grocery and butcher shops. Across from the church was a movie theater. Next to that was the school, a one-room building not much bigger than a shack. Betty took it all in.
They arrived at the lake.
A car was
