Night World : Daughters of Darkness Chapter 4

What a difference a day made.Somehow, in the hot, misty August sunlight the -next morning, bloody shame-Lynnette couldnt necessitate serious roundchecking on whether Mrs. burdock was dead. It was except too ridiculous. Besides, she had a lot todo-school started in only if everyplace two weeks. At the beginning of June she had been incontest able-bodied summer would lastforever, sure that she would never assign, Wow, this summer has gone by so fast. And direct here she stoodin mid-August, and she was state, Wow, its gone by so fast.I inquire clothes, Mary-Lynnette thought. And a stark naked backpack, and notebooks, and some of those little(a)purple felt-tip pens. And I need to make memorialize get all those things, too, because he wont do it by himselfand Claudine will never make him.Claudine was their stepmother. She was Belgian and very pretty, with curly bootleg hair and sparklingdark eye. She was solely ten years older than MaryLynnette, and she looked even younger. Shed beenthe familys theatre of operationscleaning helper when Mary Lynnettes mom first got sick five years ago. MaryLynnetteliked her, merely she was hopeless as a substitute mother, and Mary-Lynnette usually ended up takingcharge of gelt.So I dont confound time to go everyplace to Mrs. B.s.She spent the day shopping. It wasnt until after dinner that she thought round Mrs. burdock again.She was helping to dear dishes out of the family room, where dinner was traditionally eaten in move ofthe TV, when her father said, I heard something today about Todd Akers and Vic Kimble.Those losers, scratching muttered.Mary-Lynnette said, What?They had some kind of accident over on Chiloquin street-over between hazel tree Green Creek andBeavercreek.A car accident? Mary-Lynnette said.Well, this is the thing, her father said. sphere in that location wasnt whatever damage to their car, besides theyboth thought theyd been in an accident. They showed up at home after midnight and said th at somethinghad happened to them out there- hardly they didnt go to sleep what. They were absent a hardly a(prenominal) hours. He lookedat crossbreeding and Mary-Lynnette. How about that, guys?Its the UFOs Mark shouted immediately, dropping into discus-throwing position and wigglinghis plate.UFOs be a crock, Mary-Lynnette said. Do youknow how distant the little green men would haveto travel-and theres no suchthing as gasp speed. Whydo people have to make things up when theuniverse is just just blazing with incredible things that are real-She stop. Her family was looking ather oddly.Actually Todd and Vic plausibly just got smashed, she said, and put her plate and glass inthe sink. Her father brassd slightly. Claudine pursed her lips. Mark grinned.In a very real and literal sense, he said. We hope.It was as Mary-Lynnette was walking back to the family room that a thought struck her.Chiloquin Road was right finish off Kahneta, the road her get house was on. The road Mrs. B.s ho use wason.It was only two miles from Burdock Farm to Chiloquin.There couldnt be either connection. Unless the missys were burying the little green man whod abductedVicand Todd.But it bothered her. ii rattling strange things happening in the resembling night, in the same area. In a tiny,sleepy area that never saw any kind of excitement.I know, Ill call Mrs. B. And shell be fine, and thatll prove everythings okay, and Ill be able to laughabout all this.But nobody answered at the Burdock house. The phone rang and rang. Nobody picked it up and theanswering machine never came on. Mary-Lynnettehung up trace grim but oddly calm. She knew whatshe had to do now.She snagged Mark as he was going up the stairs. I need to call down to you.Look, if this is about your Walkman-Huh? Its about something we have to do tonight. Mary-Lynnette looked at him. What aboutmyWalkman?Uh, nothing. Nothing at all.Mary-Lynnette groaned but let it go. Listen, Ineed you to help me out. Last night I saw some thing weirdwhen I was on the hill. She explained as succinctly as realizable. And now more weird stuff with Toddand Vic, she said.Mark was shaking his head, looking at her in something like pity. Mare, Mare, he said kindly. Youreally are crazy, you know.Yes, Mary-Lynnette said. It doesnt matter. Im serene going over there tonight.To do what?To check things out. I just indispensability to substantiateMrs. B. If I lavatory talk to her, Ill feel better. And if I coffin nail findout whats buried in that garden, Ill feel a wholelotbetter. possibly they were burying Sasquatch. That government study in the Klamaths never did find him,you know.Mark, you owe me for the Walkman. For whatever happened to the Walkman.Uh Mark sighed, then muttered resignedly.Okay, I owe you. But Im copulation you right now,Im not going to talk to those girls.You dont have to talk to them. You dont evenhave to see them. Theres something else I wantyouto do.The sun was just setting. Theyd walked this roada hundred times to get to Mary-Lynnettes hill-the onlydifference tonight was that Mark was carryinga pair of pruning crop and Mary-Lynnette had pulled theRubylith filter off her flashlight.You dont reallythink they offed the old lady.No, Mary-Lynnette said earth-closetdidly. I just want to put the foundation back where it belongs.You want what?You know how you have a view of the way theworld is, but every so often you wonder, Oh,myGod, what if its really different?Like, What if Im really adopted and the people I think are myparentsarent my parents at all? And if it were true, it would change everything, and for a minute youdont know whats real. Well, thats how I feel right now, and I want to get rid of it. I want my old worldback.You know whats scary? Mark said. I think Iunderstand.By the time they got to Burdock Farm, it was full dark. Ahead of them, in the west, the star Arcturusseemed to hang over the farmhouse, glittering faintly red.Mary-Lynnette didnt bother difficult to dea l withthe rickety gate. She went to the place behind theblackberry bushes where the picket besiege had fallen flat.The farmhouse was like her own familys, but with lots of Victorian-style gingerbread added.MaryLynnette thought the spindles and scallops and fretwork gave it a whimsical air-eccentric, like Mrs.Burdock. Just now, as she was looking at one of the second-story windows, the shadow of a movingfigure fell on the roller blind.Good, Mary-Lynnette thought. At least I know somebodys home.Mark began temporary removal back as they walked down the weedy path to the house.You said I could hide.Okay. Right. Look, why dont you take thoseshears and mien of go around back-And look at the Sasquatch grave temporary hookup Im there? Maybe do a little digging? I dont think so.Fine, Mary-Lynnette said calmly. Then hidesomewhere out here and hope they dont see you when they come to the door. At least with the shears you have an excuse to be in the back.Mark threw her a bitter watch and she knew shedwon. As he started off, Mary-Lynnette said suddenly,Mark, be fearful.Mark just waved a dismissive hand at her without turning around.When he was out of sight, Mary-Lynnette knockedon the front door. Then she rang the doorbellitwasnta button but an actual bellpull. She could hear chimes inside, but nobody answered.She knocked and rang with greater authority. Every minute she kept expecting the door to disperse toreveal Mrs. B., petite, gravelly-voiced, blue-haired,dressed in an old cotton housedress. But it didnthappen. Nobody came.Mary-Lynnette stopped being polite and began knocking with one hand and ringing with the other. Itwas somewhere in the middle of this frenzy ofknocks and rings that she recognize she was frightened.Really frightened. Her world view was wobbling.Mrs. Burdock hardly ever left the house. She alwaysanswered the door. And Mary-Lynnette had seenwith her own eyes that somebody was home here.So why werent they answering?Mary-Lynnettes smell was be ating very hard. She had an uncomfortable falling sensation in her stomach.I should get out of here and call Sheriff Akers. Its his job to know what to do about things like this.But itwas hard to work up any feeling of confidence in Todds father. She took her alarm and frustration out onthe door.Which opened. Suddenly. Mary-Lynnettes clenched fist hit air and for an instant she felt sheer panic, fear of theunknown.What can I do for you?The voice was soft and beautifully modulated. Thegirl was just plain beautiful. What Mary-Lynnettehadnt been able to see from the top of her hill was that the brown hair was lucent with rich chestnuthighlights, the features were classically molded, the tall figure was graceful and willowy.Youre rowan, she said.How did you know?You couldnt be anything else Ive never seen anybody who looked so much like tree spirit. Your auntyy told me about you. Im Mary-Lynnette Carter, Ilive just up Kahneta Road. You probably saw myhouse on your way here. rowan lo oked noncommittal. She had such a sweet,grave face-,and skin that looked like washrag orchidpetals, Mary-Lynnette thought abstractedly. She said, So, I just wanted to welcome you to theneighborhood, say hello, see if theres anything you need.Rowan looked less grave she almost smiled and her brown eyes grew warm. How nice of you. Really.I almost wish we did need something but in reality were fine.Mary-Lynnette realized that, with the utmost civility and good manners, Rowan was winding up theconversation. Hastily she threw a new subject into the pool. There are triad of you girls, right? Are yougoing to school here?My sisters are.Thats great. I can help show them around. Ill be a senior this year. Another subject, quick,MaryLynnette thought. So, how do you like Briar Creek? Its probably legatoer than youre used to.Oh, it was pretty quiet where we came from,Rowan said. But we love it here its such a tremendous place. The trees, the little animals. . . She broke off.Yeah, those cut e little animals, Mary-Lynnette said. Get to the point, her inner voices were corpulent her. Her tongue and the roof of her mouth felt like Velcro. Finally she blurted, So-so, um, how isyour aunt right now?Shes-fine.That instants hesitation was all Mary-Lynnette needful. Her old suspicions, her old panic, surged upimmediately. Making her feel bright and cold, like aknife made of ice.She found herself saying in a confident, almost chirpy voice, Well, could I just talk to her for a minute?Would you mind? Its just that I have something sort of important to tellher. She made a move as if tostep over the threshold.Rowan kept on blocking the door. Oh, Im sosorry. Butwell, thats not really possible rightnow.Oh, is it one of her headaches? Ive seen her in bed before. Mary-Lynnette gave a little tinklylaugh.No, its not a headache. Rowan spoke gently, deliberately. The truth is that shes gone for afew days.Gone?I know. Rowan made a little grimace acknowledging that this was odd. She just dec ided totake a few days off. A little vacation.But-gosh, with you girls just getting here Mary-Lynnettes voice was brittle.Well, you see, she knew wed take care of thehouse for her. Thats why she waited until wecame.But-gosh, Mary-Lynnette said again. She felt aspasm in her throat. Where-just where did shego?Up north, somewhere on the coast. Im not sure of the name of the town.But . . . Mary-Lynnettes voice trailed off. moxie off, her inner voices warned. without delay was the timeto be polite, to be cautious. Pushing it meant showing this girl that Mary-Lynnette knew something waswrong with this story. And since somethingwas wrong, thisgirl might be dangerous.It was hard to believe that while looking at Rowanssweet, grave face. She didnt look dangerous. ButthenMary-Lynnette noticed something else. Rowan was barefoot. Her feet were as creamy-pale as therest ofher, but sinewy. Something about them, the way they were rigid or the clean definition of thetoes, made Mary-Lynnette think of those feet running. Of savage, primal speed.When she looked up, there was another girl walking up behind Rowan. The one with dark well-heeled hair.Her skin was milky instead of blossomy, and her eyes were yellow.This is Kestrel, Rowan said.Yes, Mary-Lynnette said. She realized she was staring. And realized, the moment after that,that shewas scared. Everything about Kestrel made her thinkof savage, primal movement. The girlwalked as if she were flying.Whats going on? Kestrel said.This is Mary-Lynnette, Rowan said, her, voice politic pleasant. She lives down the road. Shecame to see aunt Opal.Really just to see if you needed anything, MaryLynnette interjected quickly. Were sort of youronly neighbors. Strategy change, she was thinking. About-face. Looking at Kestrel, she believed indanger. Now all she wanted was to keep these girls from guessing what she knew.Youre a friend of Aunt Opals? Kestrel asked silkily. Her yellow eyes swept Mary-Lynnette,first up, then down.Yeah, I come o ver sometimes, help her withthe-oh, God, dont say gardening-goats. Um, Iguess she told you that they need to be milked everytwelve hours.Rowans expression changed fractionally. MaryLynnettes heart gave a violent thud. Mrs. B. wouldnever,everleave without giving instruction manual aboutthe goats.Of course she told us, Rowan said smoothly, justan instant too late.Mary-Lynnettes palms were sweating. Kestrelhadnt taken that keen, dispassionate, unblinkinggaze offher for a moment. Like the proverbial birdof prey staring down the proverbial rabbit. Well, itsgettinglate and I bet you guys have things to do. I should let you go.Rowan and Kestrel looked at each other. Then theyboth looked at Mary-Lynnette, cinnamon-browneyes and golden eyes fixed intently on her face.Mary-Lynnette had the falling feeling in her stomach again.Oh, dont goyet, Kestrel said silkily. Why dontyou come inside?