Sawyerville: Horror Short Stories From Another Earth Vol.3 (2 page)

"Mrs. Travis?" she called out. She could hear Mr. McLaw open the car door behind her and step out onto the gravel.

Gail could see the look of shock on Mrs. Travis' face as she approached them.

Chapter 3 - Pip

"Did you feel it?" Mrs. Travis asked her breathlessly.

"Feel what?" Gail wondered.

"The car! Did you feel the car hit something!  I swear I hit something!" Mrs. Travis said nervously.

"Yes. Yes, we did," Mr. McLaw said, nodding.

"But there was nothing there!"

"It must have been an animal."

As Mr. McLaw and Mrs. Travis continued to talk about this curious accident, Gail began to look around her. They were on a road in between large fields of wheat, with the occasional old tree lining the sides of the road. She suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Will the car start?" she interrupted the two.

Mrs. Travis only looked at her. Then she quickly walked back to her car and slid into the driver's seat. She tried to start the car. It revved up a bit but it stopped a few seconds later.

"I suppose we have to ask for help from the Stanners," McLaw sighed. The Stanners' home was a 10-minute walk from where they were standing.

Gail was glad that she was wearing her old sneakers and a pair of jeans. She felt sorry for Mrs. Travis, who was wearing a full skirt and a pair of kitten heels.

"Well, we'd better get started then," Mrs. Travis got out of her car with her purse. "I do not want to stand out here while it's getting darker by the second."

They began to walk on one side of the road, each of them hoping that a car would pass by the road and give them a ride. Mrs. Travis and Mr. McLaw entertained themselves along the way by talking about each other’s neighbors, while Gail continued to think about the eyeball.

Whose could it be
? She wondered, then she shook her head.
Must be some animal's. Probably a pig's eye.
Then she shuddered.
But why would they say that they're coming for me? Why?

She started to quicken her pace. The sooner they're under a solid roof, the better.

When they finally reached the Stanners' home, they noticed that all of the lights were out even though their beat up old pickup truck was parked right outside.

Mr. McLaw approached the front door and began to knock.

"Hello? Robert? Are you there?" he called out.

There was no answer.

Mrs. Travis rapped on the door more fervently. "Mr. Stanner! Please. Our car broke down and we need your help to get to the sheriff's office. It's important!"

Gail was standing behind them and noticed the curtain fall behind one of the glass windows.

"Someone's inside," she whispered to them.

McLaw nodded quickly and began to rap on the door again.

Suddenly, they noticed the doorknob turn. At first, the door creaked open by just a crack, then a little boy peeked out. It was the Stanners' nine year old son, Pip.

"Hello there, Pip," Mrs. Travis said gently. "Where are your ma and pa?"

Pip looked at her with wide, scared eyes.

"Remember me, Pip?" Mr. McLaw smiled at the boy. "It's me, Uncle Sam."

Pip's eyes brightened a bit then he pushed the door open and nodded to let them know they could come inside. As soon as they got in, he quickly shut the door and bolted it.

All the lights were out inside the small cabin except for a small candle at the far end of the room. All three of them thought they should not ask about that; the Stanners were not particularly well off, and it might be embarrassing to find out that they have not paid their power bill.

Pip sat down on a chair to the candle, while Mrs. Travis sat down on a chair next to him, took off her shoes, and began to rub her sore feet.

"Where's your ma and pa?" Mr. McLaw asked Pip, but the boy only shook his head. Mr. McLaw stood still for a moment and cocked his head to one side, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Well then, I hope you don't mind me checkin'," he said. He began to search around the house.

Gail noticed that Pip was holding his arms across his chest, looking scared.

"What's wrong, Pip?" Gail finally asked.

Pip squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head rapidly. Gail sighed and bent down in front of the boy.

"You can tell us, Pip," she said softly. "We're your friends."

Mrs. Travis only glanced at them both as she continued to massage her aching feet.

Pip peered at Gail, then opened his arms as if to embrace her.

"Bathroom," he whispered into her ear. "You need to come with me." Gail pushed her head back to look at Pip's pleading face. She glanced at Mrs. Travis and noticed that the lady was looking strangely at her. She returned to look at Pip again. He leaned forward toward her ear.

"Please," Pip whispered again. Gail wondered why, but she decided to accompany him and find out what he might want to tell her.

"I, I guess he needs to go to the bathroom first, Mrs. Travis," Gail said. "I should go with him, since he's scared to go alone."

"Whatever you say, dear." Mrs. Travis said in a somewhat tired voice.

Pip led her by the hand toward the Stanners' small bathroom. Gail wondered where Mr. McLaw had gone off to.

"Come inside with me," Pip whispered to her. As soon as they were inside the bathroom, Pip quietly shut the door and locked it. Moonlight was shining through the large glass window from above the toilet.

Before Gail could say anything, Pip approached her, immediately pulled her arm to bring her ear down toward his mouth.

"We need to escape. They're coming to get you," he whispered frantically.

Chapter 4 – Stone's Throw

"Who?" Gail whispered back. She felt the hairs on her arms beginning to stand on end, and her mind ached from all of what was happening. She walked toward Pip, who had already let go of her arm and had gotten himself up on the toilet seat. He was carefully pushing the window open.

"No time," he whispered to her. "Let's hurry!"

To Gail's frustration, he pushed himself up and out of the window.

All of a sudden, someone was banging on the bathroom door.

"Gail!"

It was Mr. McLaw.

"Gail, open the door! There's something we've gotta show you!"

The banging became more violent. Instinct told Gail to follow Pip. She scampered on top of the toilet seat and grabbed the window frame. The door began to shake as if two bodies were hitting themselves against it.

"Gail! Don't you listen to that boy!" Mrs. Travis shouted from the other side. She could hear Mrs. Travis hiss at Mr. McLaw, which sounded something like "the little snitch!"

Gail pulled herself through the window and fell down, rolling on the grass. Pip was standing next to her. He signaled her with his hand to follow him, quick! Then he began to run. She picked herself up and, half-blindly, followed him. She could hear shouts from behind her from her two former companions.

Pip was running toward the thick fields of wheat. Gail trailed along behind him as fast as she could. For a small boy, Pip was quite fast. She could hear the noisy rustling of the wheat stalks as she brushed past them.
Run, just run,
her thoughts focused on getting away, far from danger.
Run as fast as your legs can carry you, Gail!

Mrs. Travis and Mr. McLaw certainly sounded like danger back there.
She could hear them cursing and shouting.

They were now deep in the fields. She could barely see Pip in the midst of the tall wheat stalks. Pip had stopped in the middle of the field and was lying on his stomach on the ground. With his right hand, he sent a signal to her to approach him and do the same and she did.

He pushed his forefinger to his lips to signal her to stay quiet. He then held his palm against his mouth. She followed suit. There was a rustling of wheat stalks, then several voices that were not too far from where they were hiding.

"Darn it, where d'you think they ran off to?" Gail heard a deep voice saying. It happened to be Mr. Stanner.

"I believe they're just somewhere around here." It was Mrs. Travis.

"Why'd you let us meet your blasted son anyhow, Stanner?" Clearly, Mr. McLaw was not the friendly town tailor anymore.

"Didn't think Pip is immune to it," Mr. Stanner said glumly. "Didn't think he'd have the courage to be a snitch!"

"We're just gonna have to punish him, then."

"I've got no problem with that. You can even kill him, if you want," Mr. Stammer said nonchalantly. "Him ruinin' the plan, and all..."

"Shh... Both of you!" Miss Travis hissed. "They could be hidin' around here and we can't hear 'em if you two keep yappin'."

Gail could hear them searching around the field again, so she turned to face Pip, but the boy signaled for her to follow him. They both crawled farther into the fields. Without saying anything, they both managed to understand each other that they should time their movements with that of the group of adults.

The moonlight was bright, which helped them to see a bit of where they were heading. Gail hoped that Pip knew exactly where he was going as they continued to crawl as silently as they could through the field.

Pip was a little ahead of her when he suddenly froze. She heard a faint whimper from him, but she saw that he clamped his mouth to keep himself from screaming. Gail did the same before she knew what caused Pip to panic. It was a close call, because they had just came across Mrs. Stammer.

Or what used to be Mrs. Stammer.

Mrs. Stammer's body was lying on the ground, her limbs pointing at odd angles, her neck twisted too far back that indicates that she is already dead. Her face was expressionless and bloody and her mouth partially open, revealing missing teeth. Her faded pink dress was soaked in crimson red. She looked like she had been stabbed several times and had struggled with her captors. The smell of dried blood wafted in the air.

Pip's eyes were brimming with tears, but the poor boy was brave enough to know that he should not become hysterical. It almost seemed as if he knew this was going to happen.

Pip stifled his sobs as Gail ran her hand down his back as a gesture of comfort, but they both knew there was no time to mourn. Even though the rustling of the wheat stalks was faint, it was still a sign that Mrs. Travis, Mr. McLaw, and Mr. Stammer were not too far behind.

They picked themselves up to a crouching position. Instead of crawling, they began to squat walk. They moved to the side to avoid the body before they continued on a straight path. They began to move faster, until finally they reached a fence made out of barbed wire.

As Pip signaled for them to start digging a trench underneath the wire for them to crawl through, a horrifying image crossed her mind and made her feel faint.

Mrs. Stammer had no eyes.

Chapter 5 – Sheriff Farce

Gail held the barbed wire up so that Pip could crawl underneath through the trench to the other side. When he finally got through, he held the barbed wire for her as well.

Finally, they were both on the other side of the fence. They were on an empty field. Across it, there was a trail far up ahead.

"We need to stay low," Pip whispered to her. "Let's follow that trail. It's a shortcut that'll bring us closer to the sheriff's office."

They both ran for the trail. They were now out in the open, and Gail feared that at any moment, their three hunters would catch sight of them.

As soon as she got to the trail, she glanced back. To her horror, she could see Mr. McLaw's head poking out of the wheat field, his head facing their direction. She could almost see his mouth stretched out into a malicious grin.

"Run fast!" Pip whispered to her hoarsely. They both broke into a sprint, following the trail as fast as their legs could carry them. They could hear the distant voices turning into a commotion from behind, but this time, Gail did not bother to look back.
Just run! Run for your life, Gail!
her mind screamed.

She could feel her heart almost bursting inside her chest, her lungs painful and almost out of breath. She continued to run, a bit more slowly, but just to catch her breath. Pip ran farther away before he stopped, turned to her, and waved his arm to signal her to keep going.

She picked up her pace and began to run again.
Please,
she thought.
Mother, help me!

The image of her sister suddenly appeared in her mind, and this gave her the courage to run faster. She had to save her sister from this madness! She continued to follow the trail until she reached the main road again. Pip was waiting for her. As soon as she caught up with him, he began to run again, this time, across the road toward the back of a small building.

The sheriff's office!
Her heart began to beat wildly.

The lights were on inside, and she could hear people talking. She and Pip quickly ran to the front of the building and pounded on the door.

"Hold your horses!" someone said from inside. The door was opened by the paunchy, mustached Sheriff Farce himself.

"Please, help us!" Gail cried out. "They're out to get us!"

"Get in." That was all the sheriff said when he ushered them into the small building and shut the door.

"They're chasing us!" Gail panted. "They might still be outside!" She immediately went over to the window to take a peek. Pip was catching his breath, one hand on his chest.

"Who's been chasin' you?" the sheriff asked curiously.

"My father," Pip piped up. "And Mrs. Travis and Mr. McLaw. My mother... My mother's dead."

"Your mother is what?" The sheriff sounded shocked. He immediately locked the door and made Gail and Pip sit down.

"My father, he killed my mother," Pip continued. "Mrs. Travis an' Mr. McLaw want to kill her, too." He pointed at Gail.

"Now, what you're saying is a very serious thing," the sheriff began. "those are kind Saw' folk you're talking 'bout."

"It's true!" Gail wailed. "We were on our way to this office here when Mrs. Travis hit something, and then her car broke down along the way, and then  ... Well, I think you'd better call for backup. There's three of them and one of you!"