The Evil Seed (39 page)

Yes, it must have been
then that he called her; perhaps when he dropped the crushed flowers into the
grave and felt the fragrant call of the earth; perhaps he saw her standing by
the hawthorn tree all in white, like a novice. Sometimes I wonder whether he
saw her looking at me. But he called her, I’m sure of it; as sure as I know the
air I breathe. The wheel has come round again, and she is coming.
April,
come she will
… This morning I thought I saw her in my mirror, looking
out from her haunted underwater eyes. Did I see her? Or did Joe? Was she
holding a noose?
April
…
come she will.
It almost sounds like a
promise. Something inside her remembers … and come she will. I don’t think I
can be like Daniel; I don’t have the strength to hold out for as long as he
did; and for what? For all our efforts, she still came back.

Something inside me
remembers
…

We remember, don’t we?
Yes, Daniel, and Robert, and Joe and Alice. We all remember, and we keep the
faith while we can, alone, like children in the dark. That’s what she did to
us. To all of us.

April, come she will.

I think she’s almost
due.

THE END