The Drifter (21 page)

22

S
HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT SHE WAS DOING.

Carolyn flew downstairs and out of the house, racing blindly into the fog. She ran until she stumbled and fell, and then she lay on the ground, sobbing and beating her fists in despair.

She lay there for a long time.

Her gown was soaking wet, and she was chilled to the bone. No one came looking for her.

At last she sat up again, rubbing one muddy hand over her tear-streaked face. Her hair was damp and wild, and she was shivering uncontrollably. She thought about the skeleton in her bed, and suddenly she couldn't help it—she laughed out loud—a high-pitched sound that echoed hysterically all around her.

Somehow she knew that when she finally went back to her room, the grisly remains of Carolyn Glanton would be gone.

Gone without a trace … as if it had never been anything more than a dream.

Carolyn walked back to the house.

She climbed the stairs to her room, and she stood in her doorway and gazed silently at her bed.

And she was right.

23

T
HE ROOM WAS HAZY WITH MORNING LIGHT.

Stiff and groggy, Carolyn turned from her window and peeked cautiously out into the hall. Earlier, when she'd checked, Joss's door had been closed, but now it stood open, his room empty. Taking a deep breath, she went down to the kitchen. She sat at the table nursing a hot cup of coffee and concluded that she was indeed losing her mind.

So I dreamed last night, too
—
just like I dreamed the noises and the ghost in the attic and falling down the stairs.…

Except she hadn't been sleeping when she'd found that thing in her bed. And she hadn't slept the whole rest of the night, only sat there in the rocking chair, her mind numb and vacant.

She fingered the chain around her neck. She felt the thin outline of the key beneath her shirt.

But the body was there, and then it wasn't. So somehow I must have dreamed it. Just like I dreamed those footsteps in the hall … and I guess I also dreamed
—

The paper
.

Starting up from the table, Carolyn remembered the torn piece of paper and how she'd put it under her pillow for safekeeping. She dashed back to her room and grabbed the pillow from her bed, running her hand along the sheet.

“Good morning,” said a voice from the doorway.

Carolyn slammed the pillow onto the bed. Joss was standing there watching her, and she'd never even heard him coming. For a long moment he stared at her, and she stared back. Then slowly she straightened.

“Good … morning,” she forced out the words.

“How'd you sleep?”

Carolyn stared at him, her heart thudding.
He knows … he knows everything … he knows I was in his room last night
—
that I heard him out in the hall
—
that I've found his paper
—

“Are you okay?” Joss lifted an eyebrow.

But of course he doesn't know
—
he's not a mind reader
—
how could he possibly know
—

“Yes, I slept fine.”
There's nothing under my pillow
—
the paper's gone
—“Just fine. Thanks.”

He nodded. “You want some breakfast?”

But that's impossible
—
it can't be gone
—
I remember putting it right here last night before I found that
—

She shook her head. “I … I made coffee earlier, but I'm not very hungry right now.”

Did I dream that part about the pillow, too? Or did someone really take the note? Just like someone took that dead thing from my bed
—

“I smelled it when I woke up,” Joss said, and Carolyn jumped.

“Smelled what?”

“The coffee. Is something wrong?”

“No. Of course not.”
Did you sneak into my room and did I really fall asleep in the chair, only I never knew it—
“Why?”

“You look a little funny, is all.”

“No.” She smiled. “No. Like I said, I'm really okay. I'm just … you know. Making the bed.”

Joss gave her a puzzled glance and left. She heard him go down to the kitchen. Standing there in confusion, Carolyn felt as if she was going to start screaming any second and would never be able to stop.

Calm down … calm down … this is crazy … don't jump to conclusions
.

Carolyn went through every piece of furniture in her bedroom … examined every inch of her purse … her clothes … even her shoes. She forced herself to strip the bed and shake out every cover, then she balled everything up for the laundry.

No paper. Nothing.

She stood for a long time gazing out the window into the gray, desolate morning. And then finally she turned around and went downstairs.

Joss was at the kitchen counter sipping from his coffee cup.

“Where's Nora?” he asked as Carolyn walked in. “Isn't she usually here by now?”

“Maybe …” Carolyn took a deep breath. “Maybe she slept in this morning. Maybe she was tired.”

Joss acknowledged this with a vague nod. “Have you called the hospital yet? Talked to your mom?”

Yes, I already called the hospital very early when I first came down
—
or was that yesterday
—
no, I'm sure it must have been an hour or so ago
—
wasn't it?

“She's feeling better. But they still don't know exactly when she can come home. It may be another week yet.”

“Are you going to see her today?”

“She told me not to. She said it wouldn't be worth the long drive there and back again just to be able to stay for an hour.”

Again he nodded. She watched his eyes lift … settle on her face. Two coal black mirrors with no reflections.

“It probably won't be too much longer, though,” she said stupidly. “That she can come home, I mean.”

“Isn't that great,” he murmured.

Carolyn stared at him. His face was expressionless.

“Did …” She swallowed hard and tried to keep her voice casual. “Did you hear any weird noises last night?”

Joss turned his back to her. He seemed to be looking at something out the window, but all Carolyn could see out there was fog.

“What kinds of noises?” he asked softly.

“I don't know. Something woke me. I got up, but you weren't in your room.”

He was silent a moment. “What were you doing in my room?”

Carolyn thought quickly. “I wasn't in your room—the door was open.”

Still he said nothing. She sat at the table and twirled her cup between her palms. Her coffee was ice cold.

“Anyway”—she sighed—”I guess it was just the wind.”

She didn't expect any comment. So it surprised her when he said, “I took a walk.”

“A walk?”

“Yes. Late. That must have been where I was when you tried to find me.”

Again she made her voice casual … so carefully, carefully casual. “In the dark? In the fog?”

“I was”—he smiled faintly—“looking for ghost lights.”

Carolyn watched his back, the set of his shoulders.

“And did you find any?”

Joss didn't answer. He tossed his coffee into the sink.

“I've got work to do,” he said.

The day dragged endlessly. Nora arrived in her usual sullen humor and disappeared upstairs. Carolyn wandered restlessly through the house, starting at every sudden noise. She watched the road and listened for the phone, wishing she and Andy hadn't argued, wishing he'd get in touch with her. She was certain that if she didn't get out of the house soon, she'd explode. She finally decided to drive to the village herself, but when she went out to the car, she found Joss under the hood, where he informed her that the car wouldn't run.

Uneasily Carolyn went back into the house, pausing to gaze at distant clouds. It looked like rain, and the air held that tense expectancy of something unknown about to happen. She decided to tackle the brochure Mom had been planning. She sat down at the kitchen table and tried to think of ways to make Glanton House sound inviting.

The hours crawled by. She realized she hadn't heard sounds of Joss working and wondered nervously where he was. Nora left for the day. The wind blew harder around the eaves of the house, and the rooms grew damp and chilly. Checking the parlor, Carolyn found the fire almost out and the woodpile down to nothing on the hearth.

The house loomed around her, sad and secretive.
I've got to get out of here
—
I can't stand it anymore
.

After slipping on her jacket, she headed off toward the cliffs. The wind reddened her cheeks and tossed her hair, piercing through her clothes with bitter intensity.
Driftwood
, she thought suddenly.
I'll get some driftwood to use in the fireplace
.

She was more careful this time, moving along the rocky overhangs. Out over the water dusk was gathering, the darkening sky churned by angry clouds. Carolyn tilted her face up, wishing for warmth, but feeling only the wet wind of a brewing storm.

She found the path without too much trouble. Far below the beach was still littered with chunks of wood and trails of seashells and clumps of seaweed tangled on the outcroppings of rocks. Carolyn pressed herself against the cliff wall and started down.

She could hear the rhythmic call of the sea, the giant waves rushing and receding, and each time they smashed against the sharp rocks, a fine spray of salt settled around her like a cloud. Wiping her cheeks, she hunched her shoulders against the wind and tried not to think about the awesome power of the ocean.

The steps seemed narrower today—steeper somehow—slimy and slippery with spray. Holding her breath, Carolyn tried to grip the escarpment as she went down, but her fingers slid uselessly away. It was hard to keep her balance, and it seemed to take hours to make the descent. The view down made her dizzy, yet at the same time she felt a peculiar exhilaration as she finally touched bottom.

She came out into the cove and stood for a moment looking around. She could see the little pocket of beach tucked back beneath overhanging cliffs, bordered by a jagged row of rocks which rose several yards out to sea. Waves crashing against the break-front spewed over the barrier and drenched her to the skin. Shivering, she began to pick her way among the driftwood, choosing the biggest pieces she thought she'd be able to carry.

She worked as quickly as she could, moving off along the beach, keeping one eye nervously on the clouds. She hadn't walked this far last time, and as she followed the rugged line of coast, she suddenly realized how quickly the fog was rolling in—not wisps of it, but great gray waves—rapidly cutting her off from the rest of the world.

Carolyn stopped, anxiously scanning the ocean. The waves had been growing more restless as she walked, but now one in particular began to lift itself up to alarming proportions and hurl toward her. Carolyn turned and ran back, scrambling around a jutting section of cliff wall.

She didn't expect to see someone else there on the beach … the figure standing half in shadows, gazing down at something sprawled across the rocks.…

Joss turned around as she came up behind him.

Turned with a quick look of shock and surprise, and then took a step backward, so that she could really see now, the thing lying there at his feet …

The throat was ripped open—flesh and bone and lungs scooped out—a gory, bloody mess …

Yet Carolyn still recognized the face.

She recognized it as it gazed up at her through long silvery hair and clumps of seaweed, and as she turned away, her stomach heaved violently, and she cried over and over again—

“Molly—oh, God—Molly …”

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