The Haunted полностью

All was not as still as it seemed, however. There was a lantern hung from a post holding up the roof of the soldiers’ barracks. It creaked in the wind, drawing his attention, and by its faint yellow light, he saw something slithering on the ground, a monster of mud and leaf, twig and clay, a cousin to the Serpent. It maneuvered through the garden toward him, and it was this that was the source of the whispers, this that was calling his name. As it approached, it began to rise up, this unholy atrocity, and on its elongated head, even in the gloom, Father Juarez saw features of the face that he recognized, that he knew.

The monster whispered his name. Laughed.

He ran to his quarters, awakening all, screaming with the onset of madness.

Twenty-three

There was no courthouse in Jardine, so anytime Claire was required to appear before a judge, whether for a hearing or a trial, she had to drive the fifty miles to Amarejo, the county seat, an arduous trip that inevitably consumed the better part of a working day. Even early morning appearances required an hour’s drive there and back, in addition to the waiting time in court and the length of the meeting itself, so the best she could hope for was a return to Jardine by noon or one o’clock.

Today’s preliminary hearing for Oscar Cortinez was not scheduled for the early morning. It was set for eleven thirty, which meant it would probably be postponed until after lunch. In court parlance, that meant two o’clock. So she doubted she’d be home before five. To make matters worse, she had to attend an eight-o’clock deposition for the Seaver divorce, which the lawyer of her client’s soon-to-be-ex-husband refused to conduct in Jardine. So she needed to get up early, leave the house early, and spend the entire day in Amarejo, with probably a significant amount of downtime between the deposition and the hearing.

She let the kids sleep in, but if she had to get up early, Julian had to get up early, and she prodded him awake, telling him to make coffee and get breakfast ready while she dressed and put on her makeup. Breakfast consisted of an overtoasted bagel, but at least the coffee was good, and she drank two cups to ensure that she would remain awake for the long, boring drive. “I may be back late,” she warned Julian. “So if I don’t get back in time, or the kids get hungry, there’s leftover chicken in the refrigerator and fish sticks in the freezer. If you guys want, you can make Pasta Roni or macaroni and cheese.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Julian told her.

She double-checked her briefcase to make sure she had all pertinent forms and paperwork for both the deposition and the hearing, packed her laptop in its case, made sure she had enough money to buy lunch, turned on her cell phone and gave Julian a kiss before stepping outside. “Be careful,” she told him. She wasn’t exactly sure what she meant by that, but he nodded, and that reassurance buoyed her as she walked out to the van in the driveway and pushed the button on her key to remotely unlock the doors. She waved good-bye to Julian one last time before he went back into the house.

To her left, Claire sensed movement, and she quickly turned her head in that direction. There was a man walking down the sidewalk toward her, an average-size man of medium build wearing a backward yellow baseball cap. She’d seen him around before, but it seemed odd for him to be out this early in the morning. He could be exercising, she thought, but he was not running, jogging or even walking fast, and the closer he came, the more uncomfortable Claire felt.

She quickly got in the van and locked the doors before starting the engine.

The man passed by without even glancing in her direction, and Claire relaxed a little.

She watched him walk away. She was so worked up that these days anything even slightly off from the usual routine had her seeing threats where none existed. Arranging her purse, briefcase and laptop on the passenger seat next to her, she turned on the satellite radio, tuned in CNN, then started off.

The sun was up, but the day was still young, and much of the morning’s light hid behind clouds that stretched from horizon to horizon, creating billowing silhouettes that stood out sharply against the gradations of pink and orange behind them. More vehicles than she’d expected were on the road, and that caused a slowdown where the highway narrowed to two lanes in Yucca River Canyon. Truth be told, she was glad for the company, happy she was not all alone on the road. For the thoughts in her head were the type that inspired fear and dread. She was not planning out questions and exceptions for the deposition, was not going over in her mind opening statements for the hearing. She was going over the history she had read about in Oscar Cortinez’s books, the tales told by Spanish explorers and Mexican missionaries.