Thanks to everyone who reviewed. This story is turning out a little different than I had planned. I knew the beginning and the end, just not the middle. Your reviews have made me want to keep going. Hopefully this chapter doesn't suck.

Chapter 4: Final Warning

Harris and Jack burst into the blacksmith shop. Harris grabbed a surprised Gray and handcuffed him.

"What's going on?" Saibara demanded.

"You're under arrest for the attempted murder of Karen Leonard and the stalking of Mary Patrick."

"And killing all of my chickens," Jack added.

"What are you talking about?" Gray protested. "What do you mean by stalking? I never went anywhere near your chickens, and I certainly didn't try to kill Karen!"

"You haven't been sending Mary roses everyday for almost a month now? And you didn't kill my chickens to warn me to stay away from her?" Jack demanded.

Gray shook his head. "I haven't done any of those things. I know, I've been acting kind of strange lately, but there is a good reason for that."

Harris held up the hat they had found in Karen's room. "Isn't this yours?" he asked.

Gray looked like he was about to pass out. "Yes. I lost it a couple of days ago. Where did you find it?"

"Karen's room," Harris informed him.

"I'm telling you, I didn't have anything to do with this! I can explain! Listen, you have the wrong guy," Gray insisted. "I like Mary, but we're just friends. I'm glad she's with you, Jack. I know that right now, you don't have any reason to believe me, so I'll explain what's been going on." He took a deep breath. "I'm engaged to a girl in the city. I've been working two jobs, so I can afford a house. I have to keep it a secret because her parents don't like me and we don't want them to know that we are getting married."

Saibara nodded. "This is true. I have met her. She's a very nice girl. Her parents don't want her marry Gray because he's not rich."

Harris sighed. "I'll have to check this out. You're under house arrest until I've checked your story."

Gray nodded. "I understand. I'll get her address for you."

Karen woke up from the anesthesia, still feeling groggy. She turned her head, and noticed her parents sitting in chairs on either side of her bed.

Sasha was the first one who noticed that she was awake. "How are you feeling, sweetheart?"

Karen took a breath. "OK, I guess. Can I have some water?"

"I'll be right back."

Sasha left the room to get her some water. Jeff sat, holding Karen's hand. He still looked freaked out. Sasha came back in the room with Karen's water and Mary.

"Someone wants to see you. Do you feel up to it?" she asked, handing Karen the glass.

"I won't stay long," Mary said. "I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm still tired, and numb right now," Karen said, after taking a drink of the water.

Mary nodded. "I'll come back later this afternoon and we can talk then, okay?"

Karen managed a small smile. "That would be nice."

When Mary came back to the Clinic at 5:30, Karen was sitting up in bed. Elli was finishing up with changing her bandages.

"I brought cookies," Mary said. "And a milkshake for Karen. Do you want some cookies, Elli?"

Elli threw away the old bandages and crossed to the sink to wash her hands. "No thanks, I have dinner with Tim tonight," she replied, blushing.

"It's about time he asked," Mary said. "The men around here sure are slow, aren't they?"

Elli laughed. "Don't be up too late, Karen," she warned, as she was leaving the room, "You need all the rest you can get.

Mary handed the milkshake to Karen. "It's root beer," she said.

Karen took a sip. "Thanks." She fiddled with the straw. "I'm sorry, Mary."

Mary gave her a surprised look.

"Before….before 'he', whoever he was, pushed me out of the window, he said it was for you, because I had been so mean."

"I'm sorry, Karen, that's awful," Mary interrupted.

"Wait. He was right, you know. I have been mean to you, and everyone else besides Popuri. I've had time to think about it today, and I can see that I acted really stupid. All of us used to be such good friends when we were kids. Then, I went to the city for a while and when I got back, I was so full of myself, thinking I was better then everyone else, like I had more experience at living than everyone did. Still, part of me missed having you and Ann and Elli as friends. I should never have tried to take Jack from you either. You two like each other and I'm glad. So, I want to ask, can you forgive me and can we be friends again?"

Mary set down her plate of cookies and hugged Karen gently. "Of course we can! I missed you, too. I'm sorry this happened. I'm glad it gave you time to think, but really, I wish something else could have done that."

"Do I look really bad?"

"Nope. And Tim said you may only have one or two scars. You'll still be beautiful."

"You know, that isn't important anymore. I could have died in that fall. The fact that I didn't, means more to me now then being beautiful."

The girls sat silent for a moment, then Karen spoke up again. "Does anyone have any idea who did this? I didn't recognize the voice, but I was drunk and he was whispering."

"Harris and Jack found Gray's hat near your bed, but he has an alibi, sort of. They're not sure he did it, but, well that's not all. Whoever it was, killed all of Jack's chickens and sent me dead roses with one the chicken heads."

"Eww, what a creep! I can't believe it might be someone from this town! We've known everyone in this town all our lives, well except for Gray, Cliff, and Carter. But he's a priest, so he doesn't count."

"I don't think it could be Cliff. He and Ann have been stuck to each other like glue. And, Carter is waiting to hear from his friend in the city. He thinks maybe his friend can find out who's been sending the roses."

"Gray spends a lot of time in the city," Karen said. "Maybe he dropped it on purpose we'd suspect him and he could come up with an alibi."

"How do you know about him going to the city?"

"Kai told me the other day. He said he's seen Gray around the city a few times a week. When Kai asked him about it, he acted real strange, then took off."

"I heard he had girlfriend in the city,"

"Maybe he made her up, you know, so we wouldn't suspect him anymore."

"I think that milkshake is making you nuts," Mary said, doubtfully.

Karen coughed and tried not to laugh. "Don't you dare make me laugh," she said, smiling. "It hurts."

"Jack and Harris are looking into it. They want to talk to you when you feel better."

"Tell them to give me a day or two, and I'll be ready. I'm too tired to think right now."

Mary stood up. "I'll come by tomorrow. Get some more sleep okay?"

"See you tomorrow."

The man sighed in frustration. His plan backfired. Well, part of it had anyway. Not only was Karen being nicer to Mary, they had become friends again. In fact, Karen seemed like a whole new person. After she had gotten out of the Clinic, she returned to doing small jobs at the store, and visited with Mary and Ann everyday. Even Popuri seemed to have changed. She had been slightly obnoxious before, but after seeing Karen and what had happened to Jack's chickens, she turned into a new person. The five girls were friends once again, and that made him extremely happy. He was not happy, however, with Jack. He had not listened to the warning. Mary obviously did not learn anything from hers, either. Something had to be done. If he could not have Mary, neither could Jack. For Mary, he would give them both one more chance.

Karen had not been able to give them any helpful details, and Gray's story checked out, so they were back to the beginning again. Mary was still receiving roses, but not the same ones as before. Sometimes they were dead, and couple of them had been black. Except for the roses, nothing had happened for a week and that was making Harris and Jack frustrated. They had nothing new to go on. Carter's friend, Steven, had not been able to find anything out. So, there were no new suspects so far.

A scream outside his house woke Jack up early on Tuesday. He jumped out of bed and ran outside in him pajamas. Mary was standing near his field, a look of shock on her face. All of his crops were ruined! Everything that had been planted at the beginning of the season was ready to harvest today and it was all gone. Fruits and vegetables were smashed and scattered all over the field. Written on his house, in red paint, were the words, "Final Warning."

"I'm sorry, Jack," Mary said, looking like she was going to cry.

"Don't be! It's not your fault! We're going to find out who this psycho is and nail him." He sighed. "I've got to change and clean this mess up."

"I'll help. The Library can wait."

"I'll be right back."

A few minutes later, Jack came back out of the house, dressed and carrying some trash bags. They worked in silence for a while before Jack asked, "Why were out so early?"

"I got a present for Marvin. I wanted to bring it over before I started work. Listen, Jack, I'm scared. What if the next time something happens, someone dies?"

"That's not going to happen," Jack assured her. "We'll catch him before he does."

After they had cleaned up the field, they walked over to the Mayor's house together. Jack explained what happened to his field and house.

"All right, you two, from now on, I don't either of you going anywhere alone. Either you're together or someone else is with you. Jack, I want you to stay at the Inn until we straighten this out. You can check on your animals during the day. I've got an idea. It may not work, but we have to try."

I'm not really sure if I like this chapter either, but I need it here because the last chapter has already been written. I just need to type it up and fix it a little and that's it.