Dead Men (and Women) Walking by Anthology

Author:Anthology
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Horror, short stories, +IPAD, +UNCHECKED
ISBN: 9781847289063
Publisher: Lulu.com
Published: 2006-07-31T07:00:00+00:00

HONOR BOUND

By Jennifer Schoonover

"You gonna marry me now, right, Cyrus?"

I remember sittin' in the loft—air so thick you were drownin' and the hay ridin' into my ass—thinking, over my dead body. Now, ten months later, that'un's exactly what it's gonna be.

Momma told me once that if'n I was gonna marry or breed, do it with a woman offa the mountain, an' above all else, stay away from the LeConte gals, 'cause despite bein' cousins, they was bad news. Now, Lolly LeConte was one of the prettiest gals I'd ever seen and she was after me like a flea onna dog. Oh, there'd been rumors, I suppose, but when she leaned over and showed me her goods and looked at me with those big swamp-green eyes, well… next thing I know I'm in her daddy's tobacco barn seein' heaven.

She waited six weeks before tellin' me she was in the family way. I figgered it wasn't like we were in the old days—hell, this here's the twentieth century and she can go about her own way and she'd be all right. I'd give her money, food, whatever she needed, but there ain't no way I was gonna marry her. Then she told her pa.

Donny LeConte was a big man, but more'n that. He was the seventh of the seventh and had been born with a death mask on his face. He could speak to the trees and could tell you why your crops died or your horse was ailin'. And, Lord, he could talk to ghosts and they'd lissen. He gave me a chance to set things right, holding my coondog by the scruff as I looked out from my window, Momma standin' behind me with her prayer beads cryin'. And as he tore my dog apart, I still swore I'd never marry her. Later, the 'lectric and phone was gone, and town bein' too far away, me and momma figgered on holin' up with a shotgun and a batch a chicken in the house to wait 'em out. That night we hear noises and shufflin' outside…

I never thought he'd take my momma, his own sister n'law. But that mornin' she was gone, blood and swampwater mixin' with the eggs still cookin' on the stove. That night looking outa my window, I seen her, standin' next to Granddaddy and Uncle Arnie, who had a bad day with a chainsaw nigh on two years ago. Nearly a dozen of 'em circlin' the house, starin' up at me with those damned milky eyes. Tried shootin' 'em a couple of times, but they paid it no mind. And seein' my pappy dead five years this past Christmas with his face half gone was 'nough to keep me screamin' for hours up in the attic. They was waitin' for something…

Then a couple weeks ago, Lottie joined 'em, holding a gray-green gurgling infant to one breast, her innards pourin' out from between her legs. 'Parrently, I'm a daddy after all.

Soon as the moon went down this evenin' I knew they was coming, only this time, I hear them tear down the back door.

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