Witch's Canyon
Authors: Jeff Mariotte
™
WITCH’S CANYON
Jeff Mariotte
Based on the hit CW series SUPERNATURAL
created by Eric Kripke
This novel is dedicated to Major John Wesley Pow-ell, Clarence Dutton, Ed Abbey, Katie Lee, and everyone else who has gone into the Grand Canyon and Colorado Plateau country and described it for the rest of us. The river fl ows, the earth abides.
Contents
From various houses along the block, Mike Tyler
could
hear…
1
“That’s a big hole.”
5
Ralph McCaig had been born over in Dolan Springs,
to…
16
Main Street proved to be everything Juliet Monroe
had
promised.
22
“Run! Run! Run! Go go go!”
35
Juliet Monroe watched Stu Hansen from her kitchen window, where…
43
Sam and Dean found Canyon Regional Mall just
where
they’d…
49
“Is he wearing a costume?” Carla Krug asked. 58
“If Mayor McCheese there has his way,” Dean groused, “the…
65
Mrs. Frankel, the silver-coiffed librarian, wore perfume just musky enough…
76
In order to let Ross realize his ranching dream,
Juliet…
84
The bear had loped around the house, headed for
the…
92
Since the mall’s food court wasn’t open yet, Sam
and…
98
A siren pierced the quiet of Main Street.
110
Juliet and Stu were still standing in the carport, debating…
117
As it had the night they first came in—just last…123
“An Indian,” Dean said. They were back in he
car—Sam…
135
Heather had driven to the motel in a red compact…
144
“We’re completely cut off,” Sheriff Beckett had
said.
153
They were a couple of blocks from the motel, heading…
160
Juliet Monroe woke up with a nagging headache and the…
167
The deputy’s SUV was pulled off to the side
of…
172
“Lower your weapon, Grampa,” Dean said.
“We just want to…
184
As Dean had directed, Sam waited downstairs.
Coming back down,…
194
Howard Patrick unlocked the door to his realty office
on…
204
When he opened his eyes again, the light seemed
way…
213
The sound of gunfire helped Sam and Dean find
Harmon…
222
“We are not postponing the opening,” Mayor Milner insisted. He…
231
“Where did he teach?” Sam asked. “Here in town?”
239
“I guess we start digging,” Dean said. “Wish I
brought…
247
“I think these books have told us what we
need…
256
“Elizabeth Claire Marbrough. That was the witch’s name, right?” Dean…
264
Covering the short distance to the mall, Sam saw
evidence…
273
“Dude, you do know where the witch’s cabin was,
right?”…
283
“Sam?” 290
“What we don’t want to do,” Dean said softly,
“is…
297
Unable to see what people were reacting to, Sam
raced…
306
An occasional raven flew past them, but no more
than…
314
Sam outpaced Sheriff Beckett before they had gone ten yards…
323
The parking lot had become a war zone.
Most
of…
332
“Ross always called it the ‘dead zone,’” Juliet said. She…
341
Cedar Wells, Arizona
December 5, 1966
From various houses along the block, Mike Tyler could hear the opening theme to
The Monkees
TV
show. Its insistent notes made him hurry his step.
He’d been at the Cedar Wells library doing research for an eighth-grade history report, and consumed by the books, had lost all track of time.
Now he had to rush home, and he’d still miss at least half of the program. It wasn’t his favorite show—that particular honor fell to
Batman
—but it was his favorite show on Monday nights. His mom complained that he watched too much TV these days, but he didn’t understand what that even meant.
How could someone watch too much TV when great shows like
Star Trek
,
Green Acres
,
Lost in Space
,
Combat!
, and
The Rat Patrol
were on every night?
2 SUPERNATURAL
Not to mention the cool spy shows, like
Get Smart
and
Mission: Impossible
and
The F.B.I.
What bothered him was when his favorites were stacked up against each other, like
The Green Hornet
and
The
Time Tunnel
on ABC Friday nights, while
Tarzan
and
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
were on at the same time on NBC. He tried to flip back and forth sometimes, but his mom complained that he’d wear out the dial on their big Zenith. If he could figure out a way to watch one channel and then another, maybe Mom would have a legitimate complaint.
The Monkees
was definitely catching on with Mike and his buddies at school. They could tell him at school tomorrow what the story was about, but he didn’t want to miss the songs. When it ended, he’d leave the set on NBC for
I Dream of Jeannie
, then switch over to
The Rat Patrol
for a little army action before getting ready for bed.
He would have been home already if he’d taken his bike, but the streets had been a little icy, and he wasn’t sure how many books he might end up checking out. As it happened, he had done more of his reading at the library than he expected, and he could have managed the books in his bike’s basket.
He only had another two blocks to cover. He’d be home in time for the second song, if not the fi rst. If his little sister Becky had claimed the set for
Gilli-gan’s Island
, he would have to come up with a way to bribe or threaten her. He could almost see the house from here—would be able to, except for the Johnsons’ Christmas decorations, which created a Witch’s
Can
3
yon
glow around their house from Thanksgiving night until the Saturday after New Year’s, obstructing his view of everything beyond it on their side of the street.
He was about to step off the curb to cross the last street before home when he saw—almost sensed—a blur of movement out of the corner of his eye. Something near the back of Mrs. Izzi’s house. The guys at school usually called her the creepy old lady, because she wore lots of black, sometimes with a shawl over her head, like she was in mourning. One rumor was that she’d had a son who was killed in Vietnam, but if so, it happened before she had moved onto Mike’s street, and he’d never had a conversation with her to find out if it was true. Neither had his mom, who wasn’t a widow but was divorced from his dad, and he lived in Virginia now so it was practically the same thing.
Mike turned to see what had caught his eye. It was just a guy, not much older than him. A teen-ager, maybe, dressed like he was coming home from a costume party. He had on a military-style coat.
The street lamp didn’t reach quite far enough, but it looked like the coat was dark blue, with gold braids on it. A gold stripe ran down the outside seam of his pants, which were tucked into high boots. On his head was a cowboy-type hat that looked to be the same dark blue. A saber hung from his belt, and he carried a rifl e.
If it was a costume, it was a heck of a good one.