Satan's Swine by John Wooley

Author:John Wooley [Wooley, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: horror, terror, scary, lovecraft, supernatural, suspense, shining, Cthulthu, robert howard, Conan
Publisher: Babylon Books
Published: 2019-10-01T06:00:00+00:00

Sure, there are others, like Doc Chavez and Mr. Foreman at the drug store and even Diffie, even though he has connections to the plant through his pop, which means he’s some way connected to the Gabbers, maybe by blood. But these are acquaintances, not friends (except for Diffie, sort of) and I really don’t know how they’d react if I went to them for help. Would they even be on my side? For that matter, what about Sheriff Meagan? I can’t really call him my “friend.” Like he told me, he was in this town before me, and he’ll be in it after I’m long gone. Maybe even he doesn’t want to rock the boat against the tide of the powers-that-be.

I just don’t know, and I’m running myself half-crazy from all these mental acrobatics. I did call Ma Stean while I was out today. I got three bucks’ worth of quarters from the operator of the depot’s newsstand, and I went through them all in the phone booth before I’d told Ma all I thought I needed to. But I did get out what had happened in the past few days (leaving out how I’d found David, and in what form), why I thought I had to leave town, and when I was returning. I even told her about the man on the train who threatened me, and I just said David “threw him off” without going into detail.

She seemed surprised I’d called, but she was pleasant enough, and then some.

“Robert,” she said, “I’ll spread the word and see if I can get things smoothed over ’fore you get back. Still, you’d best keep an eye out when you arrive, and don’t tarry. Get yourself back here as soon as you can.”

“I will, Ma,” I told her, absently studying the numbers scratched into the wood of the booth above the phone and thinking the Gabber boys and Black might not be “smoothed over” so easily. “And I appreciate it.”

The operator broke in then, and I had to feed another six bits into the slot.

“One thing,” I said when we resumed. “There was a little effigy – a doll, I mean – in my drawer, and it’s gone now. Do you have any idea what happened to it?”

I got no answer, and just when I thought the line had gone dead, she said, “I’m sorry I didn’t have no more faith in you. Shoulda had more. I hope you understand.”

I didn’t, but I said “sure” and then told her I’d see her soon.

Her comment had disturbed me, and for a little while my faith in her as one of my “safe” people was shaken. Had she retrieved the doll for Black? Were they in it together? Did their longtime residency in Mackaville cause them to ultimately band together against anything an outsider tried to do? It all left me with a queasy stomach to go with my whirling head, as well as a hell of a lot more questions than answers.

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