Whiskey and Tonic by Nina Wright

Author:Nina Wright [Wright, Nina]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Ampichellis Ebooks/Martin Brown Publishers
Published: 2010-12-31T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter twenty-four

My skin prickling, I continued through the woods toward the two white ovals. Troubling new questions dawned: If those were indeed windows, who was on the other side? Did someone live here? How could there be electrical power on this estate? According to Wee Sweeney, the last Schuyler throat-slitting was in 1875, and no one, besides squatters, had resided at Winimar since.

Suddenly the ovals were gone. Blinked out. I had the completely irrational notion that the monster of the forest had gone to sleep or—more terrifying—was now playing possum. Then came the crash of running human footsteps somewhere to my left. Wildly, I zigzagged my flashlight.

“Whiskey! It’s all right! I’m over here! Shine your light over here!"

I was never so glad to hear Rs and Ls confused with Ws.

“David!” I cried, willing the convulsions in my arm to stop so that I could focus the light on him. “What happened to you?”

He entered the path of my beam and jogged straight to me, panting hard.

“I’m all right. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

“But—what about Abra? And Norman?"

“We’ll come back for them. In daylight.”

“Maybe you will,” I snapped. “I’m totally freaked out!”

“I know. I heard you scream."

“I saw eyes,” I babbled. “Great big cat eyes with no irises! They were open and then they closed!”

Dr. David gently grasped my arm. “Let me take the flashlight. You can’t hold it steady."

I gladly surrendered it along with all responsibility for saving our lives.

“Did you see the eyes?” I persisted.

Dr. David hadn’t seen anything that looked like white eyes or windows. He said he tripped and tumbled into a shallow ravine. By the time he got back on his feet, I was screaming. He concentrated on following my voice.

“Why did you run off like that?” I demanded.

“I heard urgency in Norman’s howl and went to assist. Then I heard your distress and turned back. Sorry if I frightened you, Whiskey. It’s how I’m trained to respond."

I would have appreciated someone trained to stay by my side, but I didn’t say so. Having him back was an immense relief.

“Can you get us out of here?” I said.

Dr. David shone the light on a compass he withdrew from his pocket. “I know it’s rough walking, but if we keep going south, we’ll get to County Road H.”

And so we picked our way southward across the forest floor, dodging trees, shrubs, stumps and fallen trunks. The muted skittering sounds continued. But there were no more howls.

“Why do you keep looking back?” Dr. David asked.

“For the eyes! I want you to see them, too. But they’re closed now. I mean gone.”

I could feel him studying me. “You know, Whiskey, extreme fright can cause hallucinations.”

“I did not hallucinate! They were probably two lighted windows, not eyes. I know that!”

“So . . . you think someone’s living here?" His tone implied that was preposterous.

“I think someone’s here . . . probably in the old house, wherever that is . . . with some kind of light. That’s all."

Dr.

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