ASHLEY’S MOTHER rushed to her and squatted down, grabbing her shoulders, gazing at her with panicked eyes, and then pulling her close.
“Sid’s dad called me. Oh Ashley,” she moaned, and buried her face in her daughter’s hair, mumbling her name several more times before leading her daughter to her gray Chevy coupe.
Ashley waved to Sid, who sat in the back of his parents’ minivan. He looked at her, dazed, before lifting a limp hand in a farewell wave.
The car stank of cigarettes, a bad habit her mother indulged in only while driving, but never when Ashley was in the car.
Despite the stink, the car was clean, the ashtray empty. Ashley spotted her mother’s white smock draped over the backseat next to a paper plate with two chocolate cupcakes.
When they pulled onto the road, Ashley’s mother glanced at her, grimacing. It was the blood. Ashley had seen a similar reaction out of every person who’d laid eyes on her since she departed the woods an hour earlier.
She reached a hand to Ashley’s knee and squeezed.
“Want to talk about it, honey?”
Ashley swallowed; her mouth dry. She coughed and swished her tongue around, searching for a drop of saliva. She found nothing and closed her eyes, leaning her head against the seat.
She didn’t want to talk.
She’d spent the previous hour talking, explaining the events in the forest to Mr. Freeman and then to one policeman and a few minutes later to another and then to a group of kids who’d surrounded her when the cops had made the mistake of leaving her alone for half a second.
Sid had undergone something similar, though she’d seen him crying, his hands shaking as he tried to describe finding Krista after he heard her scream.
No, she hadn’t seen what had attacked Krista. No, the girl hadn’t spoken. No, she didn’t see an animal. No, she didn’t see any suspicious persons. Yes, she knew Krista, but only barely. The bandanas were hers, Shane’s, and Sid’s. Her mother had taught her to staunch a wound. No, she hadn’t moved Krista.
Her mother didn’t press, but when they pulled into the driveway, Rebecca did not immediately jump from the car.
“This is my fault, Ash. I should have been there with the other parents. I might not have been able to prevent what happened, but I could have comforted you. Sid’s mother was there, his father too.”
“It’s not your fault, Mom,” Ashley croaked. “I need a drink of water.”
She jumped from the car and ran into the house, aware she’d forgotten to lock the front door when she’d left that evening. She was equally aware something could have crept in while they were away, something that could’ve been concealed by the shadows.
Ashley grabbed a glass and filled it to the brim.
She gulped the water as her mother entered the kitchen and flipped on the light.
Dark eyes gazed at Ashley through the window over the sink, and she jumped, dropping the glass. It shattered, causing her mother to cry out.
It was only her reflection.
But the relief was short lived.
Her stomach rolled, the water somehow not agreeing with the stone her stomach had been clenched into since seeing Krista’s bloody throat.
She lurched into the bathroom, yanked up the lid on the toilet and vomited.
31
Max pulled open to the door to a stony-faced Jake.
“Hey, what’s up?” Max asked, half closing the door as he stepped onto the porch.
“I’ve been trying to call you since seven am. Why didn’t you pick up?”
Max frowned and looked toward the phone in his living room. “Must have been sleeping hard.”
“Well, did you hear what happened at the Summer Shindig?”
Max’s heart sank. “I was at the Summer Shindig. What are you talking about?”
“Eleanor’s sister, Jan, called this morning. Krista Maynard was attacked last night. Something ripped her throat half open. They rushed her to the hospital in Grayling. She’s lucky to be alive.”
Max’s mouth dropped open.
Jake shifted his weight and narrowed his eyes into Max’s house.
Max turned and saw Kim, wearing only his t-shirt, freeze on her way to the kitchen.
“Oh,” she looked up, startled, pulled the shirt lower, and backtracked toward the stairs.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jake grumbled.
Max didn’t bother with an explanation. The truth was obvious enough.
“Who attacked her? What did she say?”
“Ripped her throat out,” Jake repeated enunciating each word as if Max had regressed to the ignorant little brother with a penchant for asking why… why… why until Jake was forced to stuff a pillow over his head and run from the room. “I’m pretty sure she wasn’t in a state to talk.”
“Did any of the other kids see anyone?” Max demanded.
“Anyone? Max, we’re talking about an animal here. A rabid cougar or something. Krista’s dad and some other men went into the woods with shotguns this morning. Whatever it is, its hours are numbered.”
Behind Max, something crashed. He jumped, and Jake took a step back.
Max stepped into the living room, Jake on his heels. All the books on his bookshelf lay on the floor. The bookcase itself had not moved, and the pictures of him and his family didn’t tremble. Max also knew he’d screwed the bloody thing tight to the wall. Not even an earthquake could have rocked it free.
“What the-?” Jake asked.
Kim appeared in the doorway, her face white.
“What was that?” she asked, though her eyes, too, had landed on the books. In the center of the pile of books lay Heart of Darkness.
Max opened his mouth to offer an explanation, but he blurted something else altogether.
“I don’t think it’s an animal,” he said.
Jake turned to him, briefly distracted from the books.
“Max, don’t go there, brother. I’m telling you. Whatever insane ideas are percolating thanks to your not-so-healthy obsession with spook movies and weird books, they will cost you your job. Get me?” He looked at his watch and muttered under his breath.
“I’ve got to go. Matthew barely slept last night, which means Eleanor barely slept, which means I’m on diaper and feeding duty. I only came over because you didn’t answer your phone and I started worrying the cougar got you too. Glad your situation isn’t that dire,” he added derisively.
He slipped out the door.
“Give Eleanor my love,” Max called, tempted to flick his brother off. It was immature and unkind considering his brother had come over to check on him, but his final comment had been cruel. Max had noticed the color flushing Kim’s face.
Max closed the door harder than necessary. “I’m sorry,” he said, stepping toward her, but she’d turned and walked into the kitchen.
“Another child has been attacked?” she asked.
“They believe it’s an animal.”
“But you don’t?”
He shook his head.
“Why not?”
“I’m sorry about what Jake said or didn’t say. I’m sorry he was rude.”
“Why don’t you think it’s an animal?” she asked again.
He brushed his hands through his dark hair, catching his fingers in a tangle and trying to work it free.
“Here, let me,” she told him.
She pushed her slender fingers into his hair, gently pulling the strands apart.
“I don’t have a reasonable explanation. It’s a sense. I’ve had it since I discovered the first child had gone missing. It hasn’t left.”
She stepped back and studied him.
“I’m going to get dressed, and then I’d like to talk.”