All Heads Turn When the Hunt Goes By by John Farris

Author:John Farris
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: horror
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The clinic in Chisca Ridge, a three-story brick house without distinction, was two blocks south of the one-street business district of the small town. It occupied an overgrown acre at the intersection of Des Arc and West Pine streets; similar houses, separated by victory-garden plots, filled the neighborhood. There was a deep front porch, a porte cochere and too many shade trees, which would serve to keep the interior dark even on the brightest days. The lower windows were shaded, the upper windows vacant. A child had left a broken roller skate on the front walk. A cat studied them from beneath a drooping branch of a giant mimosa tree. As they walked up the steps to the front door, Nhora morosely jangled the ring of keys she had received from Flax the undertaker.

"Henry was unaccountably brilliant, considering his background," she said. "He came from one of those impoverished mining towns where children rarely go to school past the sixth grade. Henry was spindly from birth, and if that wasn't enough of a handicap, when he was ten, a coal truck ran over him. That accident put him in the hospital for two and a half years. His father was a minor union official, so fortunately there were medical benefits. He needed seventeen operations in all, and still some of his bones wouldn't knit properly. To take his mind off the pain he educated himself, reading nearly every book in the local library, taking college-level correspondence courses. Somehow he put himself through medical school, but he never made up the cost emotionally.

"His record was sensational—I saw the transcripts—but the prestige appointments he wanted didn't come his way. Henry had no social graces, and he was totally at a loss on any level of give-and-take with other people. Also he had the sharp, antagonistic manner of the man who knows his superior mentality isn't going to pay off for him. Henry had a minor breakdown from overwork; nothing serious, but his psychiatrist recommended an undemanding practice in a town like this one. He wasn't experienced, but we needed a doctor badly."

Jackson struck a match while Nhora searched for the right key to unlock the clinic. There was a tarnished brass nameplate beside the bellpull. Henry F. Talmadge, M.D. A breeze pushed its way through the heavy mimosa, and shadows came to life the length of the porch.

"The practice turned out to be more demanding than he anticipated. Because of Nancy?"

"Yes." Nhora put a key in the lock. "His interest was—far too personal. I think he fell in love with Nancy. He should have looked for help, he could have taken her to Memphis or New Orleans. But after a while he became obsessed, he had to find the cure all by himself."

The door opened and they went in. Nhora paused to turn on the dim overhead light in the foyer. On the left a mahogany staircase went up to the second floor. Nhora turned and looked at the top of the stairs with visible apprehension.

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