The People in the Lake by E. Randall Floyd

Author:E. Randall Floyd [Floyd, E. Randall]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
Publisher: BatWing Press
Published: 2018-06-15T05:00:00+00:00

Twenty-Eight

WHEN LAURA FELT A COLD hand plop down on her shoulder, it was all she could do to keep from losing it altogether.

“Laura?” a familiar woman’s voice called out to her.

Laura spun around, waving the big flashlight in the general direction of the voice. She almost cried out with relief when she saw Phyllis Coleman's bright, twinkling eyes peering out from the hood of a massive poncho.

“Are you all right?” Phyllis asked, steadying Laura by the shoulders.

“Oh, Phyllis,” Laura whimpered, “Thank god it’s you.”

The older woman towered over Laura, her enormous poncho popping and billowing out like great black elephant ears in the storm. She leaned close, and in a voice that boomed over the howling gale, asked, “What are you doing out here?"

“I thought I heard a noise.”

“A noise? Storms are always noisy.”

“I’m not talking about the storm,” Laura yelled over the screeching wind. She quickly explained, as best she could under the conditions, the footsteps on the deck, the pair of shadowy figures she had spotted down here on the beach.

“So you decided to come out to investigate?”

Laura nodded. “I know it sounds crazy. But I did hear someone outside my house.” She lowered the MagLite’s beam until it illuminated the skull staring up at them from the sand. “And look at this. What do you think this is?”

Phyllis bent down, picked up the skull in her hands and examined it closely. "This is odd," she shouted. “Where did you find it?”

“Right where you’re standing. Is it human?"

"It's human, all right. A young male. In his early teens."

Laura wiped the rain from her face. "How can you tell?"

"I'm a professor, remember? I've been around old bones all my life."

Laura remembered she had the pistol and quickly started to stick it inside her pocket before Phyllis could see it.

"I see you've got a Beretta," the professor observed nonchalantly.

Laura was almost embarrassed to confess she had a gun. "My husband gave it to me,” she stammered, still struggling to be heard over the storm. Hope it doesn't frighten you."

Phyllis smiled then pulled out her pair of revolvers with the pearl handles. "Not unless these frighten you."

Laura gasped at the sight of the big, shiny guns. She watched Phyllis stuff them back inside leather holders strapped beneath her raincoat, then asked, "Should we call the police?"

"Why?"

Laura cocked her head in amazement. "The skull,” she replied, puzzled that Phyllis didn’t think the skull was such a big deal. “Someone might have been murdered here."

“I doubt that. Besides, I don’t think the police would be very interested."

That puzzled Laura even more. "Why not?” she asked. “Shouldn't they launch some kind of investigation?

"This skull is rather old, dear. It’s probably been on this beach a long, long time. Tell you what, why don't we go up to your house and get out of this storm? We can talk about all this over a cup of hot tea."

Laura couldn’t think of a better idea. Before turning to go, she asked the professor if she had seen anything unusual on the beach herself.

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