Rockinghorse (9 page)

“Fill your water bottles,” Tracy said. “And take a handful of cookies.”

“And if you're not back here by eleven-thirty,” Lucas warned them both, “we're calling out the National Guard.”

“Make sure they're all cute soldiers,” Jackie said with a smile.

“Jesus,” Lucas muttered.

“And don't you get off the road,” Tracy added.

“Maybe we should get a pencil and paper and write all this down,” Johnny said, with the smile of his that ensured no anger from his parents.

“Get outta here,” Lucas joked.

The road smoothed out into hard-packed dirt about a mile from the Bowers's property line. The kids had not yet seen any other houses on either side of the road.

“This is weird,” Jackie said, looking around her at the timbered nothing.

“What is?”

“No houses, fool!”

“Mister T, you ain't. Who'd wanna live out here?” Johnny summed it all up with youthful feeling.

“Yeah, but we've seen that car and truck drive out of this direction a bunch of times,” Jackie said. “And they always come back. So somebody has to live up this way, right?”

The boy looked at his wristwatch. “Well, we got lots of time before we have to think about heading back. So let's keep on exploring. Got to be something out here.”

Then they heard the sounds drifting toward them. The kids stopped their bicycles in the road and listened.

“Dogs barking,” Johnny said. “More than one.” He cut his eyes. “Look!”

They both spotted the rutted, grass-covered old road leading off toward the north, into the dark timber. They would have missed the road had they not been looking directly at it.

Jackie glanced at Johnny and correctly read her brother's thoughts. “The folks said not to get off the road.”

“Yeah. But they didn't say
which
road, did they?”

“You're sneaky, Johnny. Real sneaky. That sign,” she said, pointing, “says ‘No Trespassing,' or are you retarded?”

“Blow it out your ear. So, are you afraid to go in there?”

Her reply was to stick out her tongue at him and to point her bike up the old road. Johnny followed her.

“Let's leave our bikes here,” Jackie suggested when the road became so rutted it was almost impossible to keep pedaling.

Leaving their bikes, brother and sister walked on. The road was very narrow, with just enough room for a single vehicle. And it was dark. The limbs of the trees formed a thick canopy over the single lane, creating patches of near darkness with narrow lines of light lancing through the overhang. The kids walked on.

The barking of the dogs was now very loud.

“We're close,” Jackie said.

“I never would have guessed. We'd better take it easy from here on,” the boy said. “Kinda sneak up on the place.”

“Like I said, Johnny. You're sneaky, boy. Real sneaky.”

“Relax,” Lucas said. “There is nothing up there the kids can get into. I've driven up this road as far as the road goes. There isn't another house anywhere near the road.”

“Then where do you suppose that car and truck go?” she asked. “We've both seen them several times, right?”

“Far off the road, wherever they go. Trace, we can't keep them prisoners. Jackie's almost thirteen, and she's a very responsible young lady. We let them go to the movies by themselves back home, don't we? God knows, Trace, it should be safer down here.”

She sighed. “I guess you're right. ”Oh . . . I
know
you are. But didn't Jim tell you those people not far from here worship the devil?”

Lucas fought to hide his smile. “No, he didn't. He said some people
claim
they do. Now, come on, Tracy.”

She met his eyes and shared his smile. “Maybe I just don't like the idea of my firstborn growing up so soon.”

“You think I do? Speaking of that, I think it's about time you . . . ah, well, you know—had a talk with Jackie.”

“Oh?” she teased him. “And what would you like us to discuss?”

“The facts of life.”

“Oh. I see. The birds and the bees, huh?”

“Tracy . . . ”

She tugged at his short sleeve. “Lemmie see your tatto, baby; it turns me on.”

“Damn it, Tracy!”

She laughed at his antics and patted his arm. “Relax, old man. I've already had several chats with our daughter.”

“Well . . . good. And I wish you'd tell her to stop wearing her shorts so tight. They're almost . . . well,
indecent
.”

Tracy laughed, then did a perfect parody of her daughter's reaction to such a suggestion. Putting her hands on her hips, she said, “Mother!”

Lucas laughed and said, “OK, I get the point.” He looked at his watch. “Good Lord! It's only been a half-hour since they left.”

Far above them, on the landing, the rocking horse began slowly rocking, back and forth. Its eyes blinked, the eyes containing a savage look. A look not of this earth. Not of this world.

* * *

“Look at that place!” Johnny whispered hoarsely. “It's like something right out of a horror movie.”

The house that lay before them, situated behind a six-foot-high chain link fence, was made of brick and wood and native stone. A long narrow structure, it contained few windows, all of which were shuttered closed. On each corner of the second story, at the roofline, a huge, grotesquely hideous gargoyle perched, the sightless eyes seeming to be in constant search in all directions, observing all, silently absorbing each movement, mutely recording every sight and sound. Four big Dobermans roamed inside the fence, huge black animals with massive jaws and very unfriendly eyes.

A large sign affixed to the top of the gate read: THE UNKNOWN IS HERE.

“God!” Jackie breathed. “You suppose the place is haunted?”

His reply was tersely given. “If it isn't, it should be.”

Both kids froze as several pairs of footsteps whispered in the grass behind them. Johnny turned and looked up into mean eyes.

“Food for the dogs,” a man said.

Jackie's screaming echoed throughout the woods surrounding the house where Unknown resided.

“All right,” Lucas said flatly, tension and anger in his voice. “It's time, past time, for them to be back. I'm going to spank some butt when I find them.”

“Keep your temper in check, old man. Come on. Let's go look for them. They're an hour overdue, and you and I both know this isn't like them at all . . .”

“I know.” He went into their bedroom and looked at the nightstand where he kept his .45. After a few seconds' pause, Lucas opened the drawer and stuck the pistol behind his belt. He slipped a few extra cartridges into his pocket and walked out to where Tracy was waiting. “Let's go,” he said.

She looked at the pistol in his waistband but said nothing.

Husband and wife, each trying to keep the worry from the other, rode the old dirt-and-gravel road, each of them scanning their side of the road for any sign of the children.

Nothing.

They rode the last half-mile in silence. At road's end, Lucas stopped the wagon, sighed heavily, and turned around.

“Shit!” Tracy said.

“Yeah.”

They headed back.

They retraced their route, slower this time, the station wagon just creeping along.

“There!” Tracy said, pointing.

Lucas stopped the wagon and got out, Tracy following him.

“This is the only road leading off this one,” Tracy said. “But how can we know for sure if the kids are down this road?” She looked into the gloom of the dark, rutted road. Her eyes fell on the “No Trespassing” sign. “Oh, boy,” she said. “Look at that.”

“Yeah. It would be like Johnny to ignore it. Well, we'll leave the wagon here and walk down.” He looked into the gloom. He could see the tracks of bike tires going in, but none coming out. He pointed to them. “Right there, honey. They went in, but didn't come out.”

“Lucas . . .” Her fingers dug temporary trenches in his arm.

“Easy, now,” he replied; but his words fell flat. He touched the butt of the .45 and sighed. “Come on.”

They walked into the gloom.

* * *

“You better turn us loose,” Jackie told the men and women gathered around them in the large room. It was a scary room, filled with all sorts of skulls and old bones and upside-down crosses and other witchcraft paraphernalia. “This is kidnapping, you know.”

“Wrong, girl,” the man with the small mean eyes said. His voice was harsh and heavy, with a slight accent. “You both were trespassing on private property. That is against the law. You will both stay here until your parents come for you. These woods are very dangerous. There are creatures out there,” he waved his hand, “much like the bigfoot of the great Northwest.”

“That's not true,” Johnny said.

The man's eyes turned even meaner. “Do not dispute me, boy. And, yes, it is true.”

“Our folks will call Trooper Cartier on you bums,” Johnny fired back. His initial fear was gone, replaced by youthful anger and recklessness.

“Yes, we know all about Cartier and your family,” a woman said. A very pretty woman, Jackie thought. But that sure was a funny-looking medallion she had hanging around her neck. “However, you children did a very wrong and foolish thing. You must be pun-wished.”

“You put a hand on either of us and I'll call a lawyer!” Jackie announced.

The four adults found that very amusing. But the humor did not quite reach their eyes. They remained hostile.

The second man said, “You won't have to call very loudly. One is approaching now.”

“How do you know that?” Jackie asked.

“Ve have our vays,” the man said mysteriously. The other woman laughed. “Your father and mother are coming for you.”

The brother and sister jumped up and ran to the only window in the room that wasn't barred and shuttered. Neither could see any sign of human life; only the huge, fierce-looking Dobermans that roamed the fenced-in yard.

“You're wrong,” Johnny said, turning around.

“Relax,” the second woman said. She wasn't quite as pretty as the other woman, but a nice-looking woman. Blonde, where the other woman was dark complexed and had black hair. “They will be here in about fifteen minutes; they are cautious traveling. Now listen to me. Both of you have been given cold drinks and been fed. You have not been harmed. We could not allow you to go back into the woods. All this was for you own good.”

“You say!” Jackie said hotly.

“That is correct, girl,” the woman said calmly. “We say. But, for now, we have to call in the dogs so they will not harm your parents. You see the trouble you both have caused us?”

Jackie looked at Johnny at that remark. The boy said, “You people are the weirdest bunch of people I've ever seen.”

This time, the adults did not find his remarks so amusing. “More than you know, little one,” the dark-haired woman said. “Oh, my, yes. Much more than you know. For now.”

The strange look in her dark eyes shut the boy's mouth and kept it closed. She walked to a bookcase and took down a human skull. She held it in her hands and looked deeply into the empty eye sockets, then slowly swung her gaze back to the kids. And slowly, like a huge fist closing, fear once more gripped the boy. It was infectious, closing around Jackie as well.

The others laughed, the laughter rattling the old dry bones of the skeleton hanging from a hook on the wall.

* * *

Tracy spotted the bikes first. She ran to them. She could see no signs of any struggle, or that which she had been both fearing and anticipating: blood.

“Easy, baby,” Lucas said, taking her hand and helping her to her feet. “Come on. They left their bikes here for a reason. We have to keep thinking they're all right. Let's see what's around that bend in the road.”

They walked on, Tracy saying, “It's damn spooky in here.”

“Yes.” Lucas did not want to pursue that line of talk.

Before they reached the bend in the dirt road, they heard the man's voice calling to someone—or something.

Then they saw the house behind the fence. They both stood for a few seconds, gazing at the strange-looking structure. They both spotted the gargoyles at the same time.

“Jesus Christ,” Lucas said.

A man walked to the open gate and waved to them. It was by no means a friendly greeting, but more a gesture of impatience indicating that he both demanded and was used to instant obedience.

“I don't like him at all,” Tracy said.

“Friendly sort,” Lucas said sarcastically. Raising his voice, he called, “You seen two kids out here? A boy and a girl?”

“They are in the house, and they are quite safe. We will send them out to you. Come no closer. Instruct your children to never—
never
—come back to this place again. Neither you nor your children are welcome here. We have our reasons for this, and will not tolerate any questioning or violation of them. Just do as you are told.”

“Buddy,” Lucas said, struggling to keep a lid on his temper, “if you've held our children against their will, I'll call the highway patrol.”

“And charge us with what?” the man asked, a slight smile curving his cruel lips. “Your children can, I suppose, read. They both admitted they saw the warning signs and chose to arrogantly ignore them. The dogs that patrol these grounds are dangerous to strangers. We brought the children into our home for their own protection. The boy and girl have been fed and given cold drinks. They have been treated as guests. Now, what charges could you bring toward people who cared for your children's welfare and nothing more?”

Lucas's legal mind could think of several possible charges, but he let the matter slide for now. “Send the kids out to us.”

The man waved his arm and the kids shot out of the strange-looking house at a flat run.

Both parents were much relieved to see the kids safe, but were also still very angry at them for disobeying orders.

Lucas pointed down the dark road. “Get your bikes and wait for us at the car. Move!”

The kids' tennis shoes kicked up dust as they left.

Lucas turned to the man at the gate and was surprised to see the number had grown by three. Two men and two women. The gate was shut. Huge black Dobermans now slobbered and snarled and growled behind the locked gate.

How the hell did that happen so quickly? he questioned silently. Jesus! My head wasn't turned for thirty seconds.

Before Lucas could speak, a woman said, “You are not welcome here. Take your wife and children and do not come back—ever.”

The quartet turned as if controlled by one central mind and walked in a single file back to the house. They entered without looking back.

The dogs snarled and bit at the fence that stood as a barrier between the man and woman and the savage animals.

“My God,” Tracy breathed the words. “What in the world do you suppose that was all about?”

“I don't know. But I am certainly going to take it up with Jim and Kyle.”

“
After
we talk with the kids,” Tracy said.

“Tattoo that on your arm, love.”

She smiled and patted his hand. “Thanks, dear, but one in the family is quite enough.”

* * *

“All right, gang,” Lucas said, fixing his sternest look on the kids. “What do you think your punishment should be?”

The boy and girl glanced at each other, looking sheepish, and then shrugged. “Whatever, Dad,” Jackie said.

Lucas and Tracy had listened to the kids' story. Their anger had quickly abated when they both realized the terror the kids must have experienced. The anger had then shifted to the men and women in the odd-looking house.

“Your mother and I will discuss it,” Lucas said. “For now, both of you go to your rooms and stay put.”

Alone on the front porch, Lucas asked Tracy, “What do you think?”

“I'm willing to forget it if you are. I think they've been through enough. I can't see them ever going back to that . . . place.”

“But we don't have to tell the kids that right away,” Lucas said with a smile. “I don't want them to think they're getting off so lightly.”

“No. We'll let them stew awhile. Lucas, what kind of people are they? ‘The unknown is here'; human skulls in the den; telling the kids there are monsters in the woods; a skeleton; upside-down crosses; black magic and voodoo paraphernalia, and the kids say they knew we were coming. Good God, Lucas, who do we have for neighbors?”

“A bunch of crackpots, I'm sure. I guess the rumors were right, those things that Jim told me. I guess those people do . . . as silly as it sounds, worship the devil.” He shook his head and breathed a deep sigh. “I'm just very relieved the kids are safe.”

“Are you going to talk with Kyle about what happened?”

“Oh, yes. Certainly. I imagine he'll be around sometime tomorrow.”

She looked at her wristwatch. “God, look at the time. It's three-thirty. I don't want to take a nap; I won't be able to sleep tonight. But I don't remember being so tired.”

“Tension, I guess. Got us both. I think we'll be able to sleep quite well tonight.”

On the landing above them, the rocking horse began to grin and twitch its tail; it rocked slowly back and forth.

* * *

The music awakened them. For a moment, neither could quite make out what was happening. Then the faint tinkling of a piano drifted to them through the closed door of their bedroom. The melody was not familiar to either of them.

Then they both opened their eyes, wide awake, sitting up in bed. The first tiny fingers of fear touched them.

The sound seemed to be coming from the ballroom of the great old mansion.

“What the hell?” Lucas muttered.

“Why am I suddenly afraid?” Tracy asked. “Lucas, what's happening here?”

“I don't know.” He sat on the side of the bed and slipped his bare feet into moccasin-type house shoes.

“Maybe it's the kids listening to a radio?” Tracy suggested. There was a hopeful note to her questions.

“Our kids listening to classical music?” Lucas said. “Not likely. I'm going down the hall to see about this.”

“Not without me!”

In night clothes and slippers, the couple made their way silently down the dark hall leading to the ballroom. A noise behind them spun them around, cold damp fear touching them.

Jackie and Johnny stood a few feet away, both of them rubbing their sleepy eyes. Tracy put a warning finger to her lips. The kids nodded their understanding.

Jackie slipped to her mother's side and whispered, “What's going on? Where is that music coming from?”

“We don't know, baby. We'll see. You two stay behind us.”

“For sure,” Johnny whispered.

“You got your gun, Dad?” Jackie asked. Her eyes were frightened and large in the darkness of the hall.

“No,” he said shortly. Somehow the question irritated him—does everything have to be settled with a gun?

He was soon to discover the answer to that unspoken question.

With Lucas leading the way, the quartet made their way carefully to the archway leading into the ballroom.

The ballroom seemed even blacker than the hallway.

The piano music grew louder, changing from a quiet lovely melody to one that, to the ears of those listening, seemed somehow ominous . . . and something else. Evil.

Lucas motioned for the others to stay back. He slipped through the archway and felt for the light switch. Finding it, he took a deep breath and flipped the switch, flooding the room with the harshness of artificial light.