Cat's Cradle (32 page)

Authors: William W. Johnstone

BOOK: Cat's Cradle

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When Louis Foster got his first glimpse of an Old One, he fell to his knees and began praying, the words pouring out of his mouth in a torrent.

Jerry Hallock and Matt Askins stood and stared in horror. Then they joined Louis in prayer.

One of the linemen puked up his sandwiches and coffee. The crew chief turned his face away from the horrible-looking things.

The OSS doctors stood with Doctor Goodson and stared in disbelief and revulsion.

Then all saw the little girl and the cat.

“We have an audience, Pet,” Anya said. “After all our years of searching and roaming, we have come home to an audience.”

The cat jumped and yowled, sensing victory was very near.

The house cats and alley cats who had followed Anya and Pet milled around for a moment, then crouched down, waiting, watching, silent.

The heat intensified. There was not a dry thread on anyone. The sun rose bubbling out of the east, out of a cloudless horizon.

Dan stood alone in the center of the metal grid. He had made his peace with God, and he was not afraid. He watched the advance of the Old Ones. He had never seen anything so horrible-looking in all his life. Father Denier was driving one of the hideous-looking things, prodding it forward as one might drive a cow.

Anya stood well away from the grid, sensing something was wrong. She looked at Dan and smiled.

Cute kid, Dan thought. Then he shoved that from his mind, replacing it with: Child of Satan. Evil.

Anya said, “You called me to come. I came.”

“End of a long journey, girl,” Dan said.

“Your end. My beginning,” Anya called.

“We’ll see.”

“Where is your God?” Anya shouted. “Why don’t you call on Him to come forward and save you?”

“I’m already saved, girl. And my God is here. I don’t have to see him to know that.”

The Old Ones stamped their feet and laughed. They hooted at Dan, the hooting filled with derision.

“You’re a fool!” Anya spat the words. “Your God has forsaken you, left you to die alone-for nothing! ”

Dan stood in the center of the grid and offered no reply. He cut his eyes as a shape became more distinct near the far edge of the grid. He could recognize the tattered remnants of a uniform. Nothing else about the creature was human. Bowie staggered onto the grid, snarling and snapping like a mad dog.

Dan watched Father Denier as the priest stepped onto the wire of the grid. He held the cross in his right hand.

Denier looked at the six Old Ones. “You have made your boast that the six of you could destroy me,” the priest challenged. “Very well. I am here, with my God holding my hand. Destroy me.”

The air cooled abruptly as dark clouds boiled and surged overhead. The Old Ones glared at Denier. But their powers were blocked.

Denier laughed at them. He walked closer to Dan.

“That’s not fair!” Anya called, her voice shrill. “That’s not the way the game is played. Your God is cheating! He’s breaking the rules.”

“How do you feel, Dan?” Denier asked softly.

“Pretty good,” Sheriff Dan Garrett said. “Slight headache is all.”

“Well, we’ll have to see about that when we get home,” Denier replied.

“What are you two whispering about?” Anya screamed from her position outside the grid.

“Why don’t you join us and find out?” Dan called. “What’s the matter? Are you afraid of us?”

Anya glared her hatred at the men. She stepped closer. But she was still off the grid. She pointed her finger at the men.

The dark clouds dipped closer to the earth. The girl had no powers left in her.

She looked up at the clouds and shrieked her rage. She screamed curses at the Almighty. The clouds began leaking fat drops of rain, dampening the ground.

Anya squalled her outrage as the clean drops of water touched her flesh. “Cheater, cheater, cheater!” she shouted. “You’re not playing fair.”

The temperature cooled even more, the rain picking up, lashing the earth.

Dan rubbed his temples. “I wish this headache would go away.”

“It will,” Father Denier assured him.

The smaller of the Old Ones rushed toward the men, howling in anger and frustration.

Denier held up the large cross. The Old One stopped, putting its paw-like hands in front of its eyes, shielding them from that which it hated.

“Kneel,” Father Denier spoke quietly. “Kneel before the power of God, you filth.”

“Don’t you dare! ” Anya shrieked. “You must not.”

“Kneel!”
Denier said.

The Old One dropped to the grid.

Anya spat and hissed and yelled curses at the men. She stepped onto the grid. She motioned the Old Ones to join her. Pet stepped onto the grid.

Captain Taylor watched, moving his hand closer to the switch. He prayed steadily and softly.

“You’re all mouth, kid,” Dan told the girl, his words just audible over the hard rain. “You’re afraid of our God. You’re afraid of us.”

Anya bared her teeth in a snarl. She came closer.

Denise climbed the fence surrounding the compound and stood for a moment, outside the hard rain. Then she walked toward the small gathering, stepping onto the grid. She could not understand what was happening.

A VHP car slid to a halt, the trooper jumping out and running toward Captain Taylor. All communications were out; everything had to be done person to person.

“We got some sort of ... I don’t know what it is, Captain. Mummy-looking thing trapped inside a barn. What are we supposed to do with it?”

“Burn it,” Taylor ordered. “Burn the barn to the ground and then burn the ashes. Move!”

He had never taken his eyes off Dan and the priest.

“Yes, sir.” The trooper sped away.

“Come on, little girl,” Dan urged. “Destroy me. I don’t think you can. My God is more powerful than yours.”

Anya moved closer to Dan. “Touch me and you die,” she said.

Dan held out his hand. “Then here is my hand. Come on, take it. I think you’re afraid of me.”

Never taking her dark furious eyes from his, Anya stepped closer and stretched out her arm.

Just before their hands touched, Dan looked at Father Denier. “I wish I had had time to tell my wife that I love her.”

“She knows it,” the priest replied.

Anya’s hand was moving closer, the hands only inches apart.

“Going to be one hell of a bang,” Dan said.

“Interesting way of describing it,” Denier said with a smile.

Anya’s small fingers closed around Dan’s.

Dan jerked the girl to him.

“Now!” Dan shouted. “Now, now!”

The metal grid exploded in a shower of sparks, the wet ground actually moving as the heavy voltage fried the wire grid.

One instant the forms on the grid were there, the next instant, they were gone. The impacting current knocked every spectator to the ground. The bypass exploded under more current than it could handle. Clouds of steam rose from the fried wire and the wet, boiled earth.

The rain abruptly ceased. The dark surging clouds blew away. The sun burst forth.

The most beautiful rainbow any present could remember ever seeing arched across the sky, the colors brilliant. The rainbow lifted from the horizon and formed a colored circle.

“A halo,” Captain Taylor said, kneeling on the ground. “It’s a halo!”

The multi-colored halo grew smaller as it soared into the clear blue sky.

Then it vanished into the heavens.

The Reynolds’ kids walked out of the old building and began their trek homeward. They had rehearsed their story and would not deviate from it.

They would behave normally and await instructions. They knew they would be contacted. Soon.

* * *

Captain Taylor drove back to his division HQ and tossed his badge on his desk. “That’s it,” he said.

“What are you going to do in retirement, Captain?” he was asked.

“I’m going to a retreat up in the mountains,” Taylor said. “For a long time.”

“What happened over there in Valentine, Captain?”

“God won,” the captain said mysteriously. “I think.”

The thumb-sized worms continued breeding in hiding, devouring the weaker, so only the strongest survived. They ate mice and rats and bugs and dogs and snakes. No cats.

* * *

And Linda was driven home by Vonne.

A cat was waiting for her, sitting on the girl’s dresser. A black cat, with very cold, yellow eyes.

“Hi!” Linda said. “Where did you come from?”

All the cats in town had returned to normal, purring and playing and behaving as ... well, cats.

The cat put its paw on Linda’s left forearm. There was a slight burning sensation. The cat withdrew its paw. Linda looked down at her arm.

There was a very small mark on her arm. She looked closer. The mark was in the shape of a cat.

Linda smiled, looking at the cat on her dresser. “I think I’ll call you Pet.”

The cat smiled.

Look for these other horrifying tales from William W. Johnstone.