Barker, Clive - The Great and Secrete Show by Barker Clive

Author:Barker, Clive [Barker, Clive]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-06-11T16:51:52+00:00

had

the people come to see you?”

“People.”

“The Visitors.”

Jo-Beth merely nodded, which was sufficient to set Lois bubbling in a new

direction. “Next door, the Kritzlers had Visitors from Masquerade—you

know, that series about the sisters?”

“The TV show?”

“Of course the TV show. And my Mel…well, you know how much he loves

the old westerns ..None of this made much, if any, sense but Jo-Beth let Lois race on, for

fear that asking a question out of turn might mark her as uninitiated, and

she’d be denied any further confessions.

“Me? I’m the luckiest one,” Lois burbled. “So, so lucky. All the people from

Day by Day came over. The whole family. Alan, Virginia, Benny, Jayne.

They even brought Morgan. Imagine.”

“Where did they come from, Lois?”

“They just appeared in the kitchen,” came the answer. “And of course

“They’re every bit as sweet as I knew they’d be,” she was saying, “though

I didn’t think they’d mix with the people from Masquerade. You know, with

the Pattersons being so ordinary; that’s what I love about them. They’re

so…”

“Lois. Stop this.”

“What’s wrong?” she said.

“You tell me.”

“Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s wonderful. The Visitors are here and I

couldn’t be happier.”

She smiled at a man in a pale blue jacket who waved a welcome.

“That’s Todd, from The Last Laugh—” she said.

Late-night satire was no more to Jo-Beth’s taste than Day by Day but the

man did look vaguely familiar. As did the girl he’d been showing card-tricks

to; and the man who was clearly competing with him for her affections, who

might have passed—even at this range—for the host of Momma’s favorite

“About the Pattersons.”

“No. Of course not.”

“But they came, Jo-Beth,” she said, now, suddenly, in deadly earnest. “I

suppose I’d always wanted to meet them, and they came. ” She took hold

of Jo-Beth’s hand, her smile igniting again. “You’ll see,” she said. “And don’t

worry, you’ll have somebody come to you if you want them badly enough..It’s happening all over town. Not just TV people. People from billboards and

magazines. Beautiful people; wonderful people. There’s no need to be

frightened. They belong to us.” She drew a little closer. “I never really

understood that, until last night. Only they need us just as much, don’t

they? Maybe more. So they won’t do us any harm…”

She pushed open the door from which much of the laughter was com-ing.

Jo-Beth followed Lois in. The lights that had first dazzled her in the hallway

were brighter here, though there was no source apparent. It was as if the

people in the room came already lit, their hair gleaming, their eyes and

attendance. Alan Patterson was engaged in an animated discussion with

Hester D’Arcy, much abused heroine of Masquerade. Her oversexed sister,

who had poisoned half the family to gain control of incalculable wealth, was

in the corner making eyes at a man from an ad for briefs, who’d come as he

was best known: almost naked.

“Everybody!” Lois said, raising her voice above the hub-Dub. “Everybody

please, I want you all to meet a friend of mine. One of my very best

friends—”

The familiar faces all turned to look, like the covers of a dozen TV Guides

all staring Jo-Beth’s way. She wanted to get out of this insanity before it

touched her, but Lois had a firm grip of her hand.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.