Of course, there were her cats, too.
Martha’s pride and joy, the cats had proven to be an acceptable substitute for her inability to have children. She lavished on them all the care and love and attention she might have given her own children. They were a constant nuisance to her husband, although he was sweetly tolerant for her sake. The felines had free run of the house and yard. She had lost track of how many of them there actually were, having stopped counting somewhere after sixteen. Originally there had been only five, each with a separate name, but before long she’d given up trying to keep them all straight and begun referring to them all now simply as Kitty. They didn’t seem to mind, and it was much easier that way.
She brought the cake to her husband, along with a tall glass of milk. “Here you are, dear,” she said, giving him a quick peck on his bald spot. That flustered him a little, since he was self-conscious about the loss of his hair, but his eyes let her know that it was all right.
Back in the kitchen she decided to start an apple pie that she would bake the next day and was deep into the process when George announced he was going up to bed.
“Are you going to stay down here all night or will you be joining me?” he asked, a suggestive leer on his face.
She blushed. Despite their advanced age, the two of them enjoyed a good grope in the dark more than once a week, as if they were a couple of hormone-crazed teenagers. It didn’t matter that nine times out of ten the machinery didn’t work. It was the desire that counted, and lately it seemed to be increasing. It made her feel wickedly sinful to know that her husband still wanted her after all these years, and that alone was worth all the trouble.
She leered back at him. “I’ll be up in just a few minutes. If you’re still awake when I get there, old-timer, maybe we can find something to keep us awake a while longer.” She waved her hands at him. “Now shoo and let me finish or I’ll just sleep on the couch for the night, and you won’t get anything.”
George gave her a quick kiss and disappeared up the stairs in a hurry, muttering to himself about domineering women as he went. Martha turned back to her baking.
Her pace was quicker than it had been a few moments before.
Half an hour later, just as she was placing the pie into the refrigerator where it would stay until she had a chance to slip it into the oven in the morning, she heard a long, thin wail coming from the front yard.
Martha stopped in midmotion, bent over in front of the open refrigerator door, pie in hand, her head cocked to one side.
The house around her was silent, the only sound the ticking of the grandfather clock in the living room.
After a few moments of intent listening, she decided the noise had only been in her mind. A product of the late hour and her restless imagination.
You’ve been watching too many of those horror films, Martha old girl,she told herself good-naturedly, and slid the pie onto the shelf. She straightened up and closed the fridge, turning back to the sink to get a sponge to wash the countertops.
That was when the scream came again, a high-pitched shriek that reflexively made her pull her head down into the crook of her shoulders in response.
She took a step toward the window above the sink overlooking the front yard, but hesitated, the action uncompleted.What’s out there? she thought, frightened, visions of ax-wielding psychopaths swimming through her mind. She suddenly wasn’t certain she wanted to discover the origin of that cry. What if it was just a trick to get her near the window?
What if I look out, only to find someone looking in?
As soon as that particular thought crossed her mind, she was struck with the uncanny feeling that someonewas out there, watching her.
Watching.
And waiting.
Martha turned and quickly made her way to the staircase, wanting to be anywhere but alone in that room. She intended to go upstairs and wake George. He’d know how to handle the situation. He’d know just what to do.
She was halfway up the stairs when another cry reached her ears, and this time there was no mistaking its animal origin.
The image of a blood-smeared feline loomed, and in the rush of motherly affection that accompanied it, her fear dissipated.
One of her babies needed her.
Boosted by her concern for her feline charges, Martha got herself under control.Go on, old girl, she said to herself.March right out there and see what’s going on. No need to stand cowering in the kitchen. After all, when was the last time the police actually had to work to earn their pay in this sleepy little town? The crime rate was so low that the town council had considered tearing down the auxiliary police station to make room for a new supermarket a few months ago, and had only decided against it when a better location was discovered.
Ax-wielding psychopaths? Not in Harrington Falls.
Reassured by her logic, Martha calmly crossed to the hall closet, glancing down at her housecoat and slippers as she went. It wouldn’t do to have the neighbors see her snooping around the front lawn like that, so she drew on a long trench coat and searched for her shoes. After a moment, she remembered she’d left them by the bed upstairs. In order to retrieve them, she’d risk waking George.
“Slippers will just have to do,” she said to the pink bunnies on her feet, and wiggled her toes inside their confines, giggling at the thought of how silly she would feel if any of her neighbors caught sight of her.
She withdrew a broom with a thick wooden handle from the rack on the closet door. Holding it aloft like a baseball bat, she moved to the entryway.
“Don’t worry, Kitty,” she said softly, “Mommy’s on her way.”
Outside, the beast dropped the cat’s corpse to the ground, then licked the blood from its claws, savoring the bittersweet taste.
Suddenly, a noise caught its attention.
It stopped its grooming and peered through the branches. From where it was seated in the large, old elm that dominated the front yard, it had a clear view of the house. It watched as the front door opened and a woman stepped into view on the porch that extended the length of the house. She was holding something long and slender over one shoulder.
The beast’s eyes widened in anticipation.
Now that the appetizer was out of the way, the main course conveniently made its appearance.
Deciding it wanted to have a little fun before indulging itself, the beast slowly lowered itself to the ground.
In the darkness, Moloch smiled.
Martha stood on the front porch, peering into the darkness before her. The night was quiet. A soft wind was blowing, rustling the leaves of the nearby trees in a whispering chorus. The moon had not yet arisen, and the darkness around her seemed thick and total.
She didn’t like it.
She reached back inside the doorway and flicked the switch to turn on the porch light, but nothing happened. She tried again, with the same result.
Bulb must have blown,she thought.What a time for it, too! Her thoughts turned to the idea of waking her husband, but she quickly stifled them.
She could handle this herself.
“Here, Kitty. Here, Kitty, Kitty,” she called softly as she took a few steps farther out onto the porch.
The old wood beneath her feet groaned weakly.
“Here, Kitty, Kitty. Come to Momma.”
Only the wind answered her.
Martha crossed the porch until she stood at the top of the steps. The front lawn spread out before her, a giant carpet cloaked in dark shadows.