Carnival by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone [Johnstone, William W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2015-12-28T05:00:00+00:00

TWO

Tuesday evening.

“I was there,” Frenchy backed up Martin’s story. “I know what I saw and heard.”

The group had been enlarged by two: Eddie and Joyce Hudson. Neither of them had seen Missy since the night before. Ed had seen his sister getting into Karl Steele’s truck after school had been dismissed early that day. He had mentioned that to his father, but not his personal thoughts: that his sister was probably into some pot and heavy stuff with Karl’s dad out at the ranch.

The group sat on the front porch, drinking coffee or iced teas. Gary said, “So Nabo admitted that Satan was present?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes. He was also very glib about only the unworthy ones being harmed. Those of strong faith would not be.”

“But I don’t even go to church!” Nicole said. “I was raised a Catholic, but broke away years ago. I was just a kid.”

“I was raised a Baptist,” Audie spoke up. “But I haven’t been inside a church in five or six years.”

Martin stirred on the porch. “If you’re looking at me for an explanation, you’re going to be disappointed. I don’t have the answers.”

“There has got to be something we can do!” Joyce looked at her small gathering of friends. “I can’t believe we’re just sitting here allowing this to happen.”

“What would you suggest, babe?” her husband asked her. “Short of a miracle, that is.”

She opened her mouth. Closed it. She knew she must not protest too much. She had been warned.

“There hasn’t been a vehicle of any type pass by here in over an hour,” Linda said. “Where is everybody?”

“On one side or the other,” Martin answered her. “The question is: where does that leave us?”

“Stuck in the middle,” Gary said softly. “Not knowing what to do about the situation.”

The sounds of the calliope began again, cutting the night, and as before, it was taunting in its haunting melody.

* * *

Martin opened his eyes and lay very still for a moment, trying to determine what had brought him out of a very troubled sleep.

His sleep had been filled with a babble of voices, hollow-sounding and very far away. And his father’s face kept appearing and fading, appearing and fading.

He glanced at the luminous numbers of the clock on the nightstand. Two o’clock.

Despite a lot of misgivings on his part, everyone had decided to go back home for the night. Only Jeanne was staying over.

Martin lay very still and listened. He could detect nothing out of the ordinary. Perhaps it had been his nightmares that had awakened him.

He quietly slipped out of bed, shoving his feet into house slippers and putting on a robe, belting it. He looked back at the nightstand, hesitated, then walked over to it, taking a 9mm autoloader out of the top drawer. He jacked a round into the chamber, put the hammer down, and the weapon became double-action, safer than carrying it cocked and locked. He walked to his closed bedroom door and stood for a moment, listening.

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.