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All at once Shadoe felt a touch & light and fleeting.  Oh God! he yelled, whirling around
while madly brushing at the back of his neck. He looked through the shadows for something &
someone, but saw nothing there. He looked up, his eyes piercing the darkness of the domed ceiling, but
he could find no explanation for what he felt & what he heard. He slowly began backing up, stumbling
down the steps of the platform. Wasting no time, he turned and began running until he came to the
arched entrance and abruptly stopped. He stood there, frozen, feeling an overwhelming
presence. Trying to keep from visibly shaking, he slowly turned. What he saw caused him to bellow out
a strangled cry and hide his eyes.
Standing in the same spot that he d just occupied, he saw a woman. Her face was a hideous
mask of dark, weathered, skeletal remains, black holes for eyes, and a perfect set of teeth that stretched
into a hideous smile. A thatch of blond hair flowed down to the shoulders of her wedding dress. She
was a floating, shadowlike apparition, unlike anything he d ever seen. Her arms were stretched toward
him. Please help me, she whispered. She s in danger & my baby is in danger. Take her away & far
away & away & from them. Please believe me. She s in danger! Her life is in danger. Take her away
& far away!
Shadoe clutched his stomach, feeling her pain.  I don t know what you mean, he rasped, his
words said with difficulty.  I don t know any baby. Who & who is & them?
Before the echo of his last word had stilled, he was no longer in the church, but in a room, a
dark room where a woman lay writhing in a large bed. A tall, lean man with dark, curly hair was
crouched at the foot of the bed. All at once he made a sound of surprise, leaned forward, and snatched a
baby from between the woman s legs. As her scream died down, he lifted the bloody bundle, slapped it,
and the child s healthy wail filled him with joy.
 Help me, she implored, lifting her head slightly and reaching toward him.  Garret & help
& me. She saw him looking down at her with a loathsome look on his face, and instead of calling for
help, he nestled the golden child in the crook of his arm and watched the woman s blood gush out and
her head fall aside in death.
When the vision faded, Shadoe reached out and grabbed one of the pews to keep from falling.
He had to literally drag himself along, grasping one pew, then another, trying to get out of that cursed
church. Away from the woman whose heartache he could feel, but didn t understand. He had to get out
or he d die from the pain. He finally reached the front, clamped his hands on the door frame in
desperation, drug himself through, and down the weak steps until he fell on the ground. The freezing
mist of early morning slowly slithered over him bringing on a blessed numbness, and the pain subsided.
In the next moment, a deathlike sleep seized him and he knew nothing else until he woke the next
morning to chirping birds, warm sunshine & and an empty field.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Garret frowned down at the thin, watery oatmeal and watched the globs of thickness drip from
the utensil as he spooned it up, then let it fall sickeningly back into the bowl. His stomach lurched at
the thought of eating this mess.
 What s the matter? Lucretia snapped, with a scowl.
His eyes shifted toward her.  What could be wrong? he growled,  I love raw, watery
oatmeal. You could have at least passed it over a flame, you bitch!
 Look, she yelled, her eyes flashing.  I m doing the best I can for you, old man. If you don t
want it, then don t eat it, but you won t get anything else. It s oatmeal, or nothing.
 I have nothing against oatmeal, he shouted, letting the spoon clatter to the bowl,  but why
can t you do just one thing right? Are you that stupid?
 I know exactly what I m doing, Lucretia said menacingly while cutting her angry eyes
toward him.
 Yes, I know you do. A slow death by torture, isn t that it, Lucretia? You won t kill me
outright, instead you ll starve me to death.
 I only wish! she barked, her abrupt, angry movements straightening the covers on his bed
and cleaning up around the damp, musty-smelling room.
Picking up the spoon again, he dipped it into the oatmeal and lifted it to his lips and tasted it.
Almost gagging, he dropped the spoon and pushed the bowl away.  Not only is it cold, there s no
flavor. What about a little sugar, milk and butter?
 You don t want to die an early death, do you? came her sarcastic answer.  You know that
stuff will kill you!
 Then let me commit suicide! Hell, you re killing me day by day anyway, so what does it
matter? What have I done to make you hate me so much?
She whirled on him.  What have you done? You turned Julita against me, that s what you
did! You taught her to hate me as much as you do.
  I did no such thing. If she hated you, it was because you earned it. You re a hateful bitch.
 There, that s what I mean. The name calling. The foul words you taught her. Then when she
used them, you sat back and laughed.
He looked at her, his mouth trembling on the edge of laughter.  But it was funny. Anytime
that kind of language comes out of a child s mouth, it s funny.
 Only to those who are sick! she snarled.
His eyes narrowed on hers.  Sick? Me? You hold that coveted title, my dear. Never have I
seen a sicker bitch than you.
 If I am, then who made me that way? I tried to help you with the inn after you decided to
confine yourself to your room, but everything I did was wrong. I was being run ragged, and decided to
save myself a few steps so I installed a buzzer for you.
 Very astute, he said, one side of his lips going up in a lopsided smile while he remembered
the fated little buzzer.
 Very stupid, you mean. That buzzer made my life miserable. You pressed it, leaned on it
until I thought I would go out of my mind. I was even hearing that buzzer in my dreams!
 Well, you certainly took care of that, didn t you? I remember the day you burst into my room [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]