Chapter Four

"Do you sell pepper spray here?" I asked the burly cashier in the hardware department of Sears. "Maybe even in a multi-pack?"

He stared at me for a moment and then shook his head.

"Are you sure? You don't have, like, a self-defense section?"

He chuckled and rolled his eyes. "No, miss, no self-defense section. Maybe you want to try Victoria's Secret."

Ass. "Thanks, anyway," I said. "Oh, one more thing . . . do you carry chainsaws here?"

"Chainsaws?"

"Chainsaws."

"Uh, yeah, they're in aisle three, but I really don't think--"

"Thanks a lot," I said, and walked quickly to aisle three. I examined the different types of chainsaws and shears they had, but they all had electric cords. That wouldn't work. I really needed something that wasn't too heavy, but I really didn't think one with a cord would work. I'd probably need a lot of running room, and it wasn't like I could carry around a bunch of extension cords with me.

The cashier kept walking by, eyeing me warily, so I left the store. I grabbed a coffee at Starbucks and decided I might as well walk the mall for a while. I couldn't go back to the dorm until 1, when I was "done" with classes.