Dead Voices (39 page)

“What I mean is — well, this whole thing has me sort of confused,” Elizabeth said, shaking her head. “I don’t understand how — or why — someone like you can be involved in ... in whatever you want to call it.”

Eldon’s face remained impassive as he looked at her. Then he cleared his throat and said gruffly, “It’s called E.V.P. — electronic voice phenomenon. The
how’s
simple. I got the equipment and desire to do it. ‘N’ it works, so I do it. I won’t be makin’ any claims as to how it happens, but I know it does.” He squinted as he looked at her, his eyes asking for her understanding, and although she was still confused, Elizabeth nodded.

“Now as to the
why
of it,” Eldon continued. “Well ... I guess that ain’t so hard to understand. I spoze, just like some folks go to church ‘n’ some folks read astrology or whatever ‘n’ others don’t believe in anything, this is what gives my life meaning.” He folded his rough workman’s hands in front of his face, looking almost as if he were praying. “But unlike a lot o’that stuff, what I do is different ‘cause it works ...
every
time.” A thin smile flickered across his face, then dissolved. “But the best way’s to see and hear it bein’ done, so let’s get a move on.”

“Uh, yeah — okay,” Elizabeth said. Still confused, she looked squarely at Eldon and nodded.

“Al’right, then,” Eldon said. He reached over to the end table beside the couch and picked up a small tape recorder. Placing it in his lap, he cleared his throat again and began, “What I’ve here is an ordinary tape player. You got them two tapes I tole yah to bring, right?”

Elizabeth opened her purse and fished around inside until she produced them. She made as if to give them to Eldon, but he waved his hand in front of her and said, “Nope. Don’t wanna even touch ‘em. Just so’s you can’t say I fudged with things.”

“What exactly do you plan to do?” Elizabeth asked. Her curiosity was rising, even though she thought Eldon was failing miserably if he was trying at all to create any kind of atmosphere receptive to ... whatever he was up to.

“Step by step is how we’re gonna do it,” Eldon said. “Here yah go.” As he handed the tape recorder to her, a smile curled one comer of his mouth. “What I want yah t’do first is take the wrapper off one of them tapes and put it in’ta the machine. “

Elizabeth struggled to catch the opening tab on the cellophane covering, but after a moment got it, pulled it away, opened the plastic case, and shook out the blank tape. She pressed the button marked STOP/EJECT and, after opening the lid, dropped the tape into the slot and snapped the cover shut.

“Fine. Now press the play button,” Eldon said.

“But the tape’s —”

“Just press it. “

Elizabeth did as she was told, and for the next few seconds, both she and Eldon listened to the faint hiss the blank tape made as it played.

“Nothin’ on it, right?” Eldon said. His eyebrows rose into twin semicircles, and the smile on his face widened just a notch.

“I don’t get this at all,” Elizabeth said cautiously. “What did you expect to hear?”

“Why, nothin’a’tall, of course,” Eldon answered. Pointing at the recorder, but being careful not to touch it, he went on, “Okay, you can stop that now, ‘n’ unwrap the other tape.”

Again, Elizabeth did as she was told, even though she was now totally confused by what Eldon was doing. If this had anything to do with contacting her dead daughter, she sure as hell couldn’t see how.

“This time press the play ‘n’ record buttons at the same time,” Eldon said, “‘n’ then hit pause-what’s it say there? Cue. Hit that cue button for a minute while I get set up.”

Elizabeth did what she was told and saw the tiny red recording indicator light come on. Eldon hoisted himself off the couch and went over to the modem-looking component stereo system in the comer of the room. Elizabeth had noticed it when they had first entered the living room because it looked so out of place. He glanced back at her and said, “This here’s somethin’ my boys had when they was teenagers. Now they got them fancy things — what’d’yah call ‘em? Laser disks or whatever! This’ll work just fine for what we want.”

Elizabeth sat and silently watched as Eldon switched on the radio. A burst of loud noise, sounding like the rush of falling water, filled the living room. She jumped involuntarily and almost dropped the tape recorder from her lap as she covered her ears with her hands. Eldon quickly spun the volume dial down, and the noise faded to a low but steady hiss, like the distantly heard surge of waves on a beach.

“That there’s what’s called
white noise
,” he said, as he came back to the couch and sat down. He placed his hands on his knees and nodded with satisfaction.

“Uh-huh. Look, Mr. Cody. this is all very interesting, but I don’t think you understand. The reason I’ m —”

Eldon waved a gnarly finger at her and continued. “I’ve found from experimentin’ that if I set the FM radio in this band area, up near 108, it works purty good. Most times, anyways. So, are’yah ready?”

“Ready for what?” Elizabeth asked, frowning as she shrugged.

“Ready to talk to your daughter, of course, or maybe someone who knows her,” Eldon snapped. “What I want yah t’do is, when I signal yah, unpause the recorder. Then you can ask whatever questions you wanna ask. Just wait a little while between ‘em so there’ll be time enough for you t’get your answers.”

“What — from you?” Elizabeth asked, completely confused by this operation. She had thought Claire DeBlaise was a nut case, but Eldon was easily taking the honor.

“‘
Course
not from me. From the spirit world,” Eldon said, as casually as if he had been talking about a church social. “Yah’ see, this white noise here on the radio acts like a ... like kinda a beacon — a lighthouse. It draws the spirits in, attracts ‘em like a magnet. I can never know who we’re gonna get, but why don’t you start askin’ your questions with that blank tape runnin’, ‘n’ we’ll see what we get?”

“This is —” Elizabeth was about to say
crazy
, but she placed her forefinger on the cue button and watched Eldon expectantly. After a few seconds, he nodded and eased himself back on the couch.

Elizabeth’s finger flicked the button. The tape began to roll behind the transparent plastic housing of the recorder. At first her mind drew a complete blank; the steady hiss of white noise on the radio was distracting; it drew
her
attention, never mind the spirits. Her eyes flicked back and forth between the radio and the red record light, and, after several seconds of silence, Eldon gave her a little “come-along” signal with his hand, and, clearing her throat, Elizabeth spoke.

“Is there ... Is there anyone here?” Her voice was strained, and her eyes darted around the room, desperately seeking an anchor of some kind. The silvery flecks of dust were still spinning in the bar of sunlight, but she tensed when she imagined they were falling flakes of snow.

“I — uh, I’d like to speak with my daughter, Caroline,” she continued haltingly. She cast a glance at Eldon, who held up his hands, indicating that she was to wait. After a moment, he again signaled for her to continue.

Baffled by what was going on and wondering what was supposed to happen, Elizabeth’s awareness was filled by the static hiss coming from the radio. She wondered whether, if it kept drawing her attention, it might not do exactly what Eldon said it would — attract entities from the spirit world. But was that even possible? Or was she indulging in another foolish delusion?

“If my daughter is ... is nearby,” Elizabeth said, “I’d like to speak with her ... I’d like to let her know that I —”

Her voice choked off, and she looked at Eldon with the sinking realization that he probably didn’t know what had happened to Caroline or why she so desperately wanted to contact her. Elizabeth had to fight the impulse to switch off the recorder and explain everything to him before she went any further, but she hesitated, not wanting to do anything that might disrupt the mood of whatever the hell they were doing.

“I want to tell Caroline I ... I’m sorry,” Elizabeth said. Her throat constricted, and a warm rush filled her eyes. “I want to tell her that I ... that I didn’t mean for her to die.”

She stopped, unable to continue as her mind filled with the remembered echoes of the three-syllable chant ...

Car-o-line ... Car-o-line ... Car-o-line ...

She glanced over at Eldon, who was just sitting there silently, watching her with an expression of ...

Is that helpful concern in his eyes? ... Or is he laughing at me? Does he think I’m a damned gullible fool?

Taking a deep breath that felt like fire in her lungs, Elizabeth mentally phrased another question. Each word arose in her mind as sharp and as clear as shiny metal ...

Car-o-line, honey ...

Elizabeth wondered if she would have the courage to say the thought aloud.

Can you forgive me for what happened?

Can you forgive me, Caroline?

Eldon caught her attention with a quick wave of his hand and asked by his expression if she wanted to continue. Making her mouth a straight, hard line, Elizabeth nodded and then said aloud, “Caroline — honey. Can you ... can you forgive me for what ... happened?”

For just an instant, the hiss of radio static varied, roaring louder for a split second, then rapidly fading. It sounded as if someone was over by the controls, wiggling them just a bit to cause a disturbance, but she could see that no one was there. Eldon was still sitting on the couch, watching her with either concern or amusement on his face.

“Can you, honey?” she repeated, her words followed by a silence that lengthened uncomfortably.

“I think that might do it for now,” Eldon said. He shifted forward on the couch but was still careful not to touch the tape recorder in Elizabeth’s lap. Pointing at the recorder, he added, “You can shut that thing off now, if yah’d like.”

Unable to speak, Elizabeth pressed the stop button and, letting her breath out in a rush, slouched back onto the couch while Eldon went over to the radio and turned it off. Elizabeth was grateful for the time he allowed her to compose herself, even as dozens of questions filled her mind.

“So, are’yah ready to listen, or would’yah like to take a break?” Eldon asked, sitting back down on the couch. “I’ll bet’cha Martha could find us something to drink.”

“Water would be fine,” Elizabeth said, surprised that she could even speak; her lips and throat felt desert-parched.

Eldon got up and walked into the kitchen, and again. Elizabeth was grateful for the time alone so she could try to absorb what had just happened. It was obvious to her that Eldon thought something would be on the tape that they hadn’t heard while she was asking her questions. A wave of shivers shook her body when she wondered if anything like that was possible. How could radio static, draw spirits who would then answer her questions? And how could their answers only be heard on a tape? She frowned as she looked around Eldon’s living room, feeling uneasy about even the possibility that there really was an unseen world that could leak into the real world. That unseen eyes might be present, watching her, gave her a bone-deep chill.

From the kitchen, she could hear the sound of running water as Eldon filled a glass for her. The sound was so similar to the white noise on the radio that it sent another wave of chills dancing up her back.

There weren’t any
spirits
around! There
couldn’t
be! She thought — not here; not
anywhere
! And there wasn’t any chance that running a blank tape in a tape recorder could pick up anything except the voice of the fool who thought there was going to be an answer from ... beyond.

“Would’yah care for something t’eat?” Eldon called from the kitchen. “You must be hungry after working’s hard as yah did. Got some cookies here Martha made th’ other day.”

“Uh — no thanks,” Elizabeth replied. “Just water will be fine.”

A moment later, Eldon reentered the living room and handed her a tumbler filled with water and a few ice cubes. She smiled her thanks and took a sip, amazed at how damned good the cold water felt sliding down her throat.

That will put out the fire
, she told herself,
and what I ought to do is put this whole crazy episode out of my mind
!

But that thought was soon cast aside when Eldon asked, “So do ‘yah wanna hear what we got on the tape?”

After another sip of cold water, Elizabeth said, “Before we do, can you — like, could you explain some of this to me? I don’t really know what’s going on with all of this.”

“I already tole’yah,” Eldon said, sounding slightly impatient with her. “The radio noise brings the spirits here. I don’t know who they are or what they’re doin’. Sometimes they say so; sometimes they don’t.”

Elizabeth held the tape recorder on the flat of her hand and put it up in front of Eldon’s face. A smile flickered at the comers of her mouth as she fought the impulse to ask him what kind of a fool he took her to be. Instead, she said, “What you’re telling me is, when we replay this tape —”

“Which I made a point of not touchin’ or tamperin’ with in any way,” Eldon interrupted. “I say that just so’s you won’t accuse me of pullin’ a fast one.”

“I haven’t accused you of anything,” Elizabeth said, “but you’re telling me, when I rewind this tape and play it, I’ll hear answers to my questions — right?”

Eldon smiled widely and said, “More’n likely.”

Elizabeth chuckled aloud, took another sip of water, and then, shaking her head, said, “Okay then — let’s see.” She depressed the rewind button, waited until the tape was rewound all the way, and then hit the play button. The sound of blank tape hiss began, and she fiddled with the volume control to get it to a comfortable level.

“ You’ll need it up higher,” Eldon said, indicating the machine with a wave of his hand, still careful not to touch it. “Lots o’times the voices ain’t much.”

Elizabeth complied by turning the volume up a notch and then sat back to listen. She couldn’t deny the tight, wound-up feeling in her stomach as she waited to hear the recording made just a few minutes ago. It surprised her how sensitive the microphone was; it seemed to have picked up every sound of motion in the room. Maybe we’ll even hear the sound of the dust falling, she thought. After a long pause, Elizabeth heard her recorded voice, echoing in what sounded like a vast, empty room.