Heckel Casey (8 page)

"They're gone," I said confidently.

"They're never gone," Sela replied with a worried tone. "If they smelled food, they'll be back. Shit. This isn't good."

I tried to assure her that everything would be fine and that she definitely scared them off. My efforts at calming her down didn't work. She stood in front of that window for hours. I cleaned up the kitchen and peeked into the front room every so often.

Sela remained vigilant. Finally, toward noon, Sela stood up, opened the front door and went outside, still carrying the rifle. She walked around the whole house. I was amazed at how focused she was.

For some odd reason, Jerky didn't seem too upset about the commotion earlier. She discovered a well-used porch swing and was settled in for a nap. It was a warm, sunny day. The temperature was undoubtedly in the low 80s, but a cool breeze swept lightly across the porch. At first, I was nervous about being outside, but after being assured by Sela that all was well, I sat next to the cat and dozed off. When I woke up, Sela was sitting next to me with a rifle lying at her side and Jerky curled up in her lap.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yup. I am now. Good nap?"

"Yeah, I slept like a log. I never get a chance to have a good nap."

We sat in silence for a while just staring out at the front yard. An occasional large black bird would perch on one of the crosses. That pleasant breeze slowed down and it was getting hot.

"Do you always get this…um…scared?"

"Not scared, just cautious."

I nodded my head slowly and smiled at her. We sat there in silence for the longest time as the afternoon sun started to ease its way onto the porch. It seemed as though she were deep in thought. I tried to initiate several conversations and each time she just grunted, that is, until I asked, "Do you believe…um…in evil?"

Sela looked at me as if I had sprouted a third eye in the middle of my forehead. "Come again?"

"Evil. Do you believe in an evil force or existence?"

"Absolutely. We've been up to our asses in evil for a very long time. Why do you ask?"

"I believe that evil is at the root of this shit we are in, and it has a name." I went on to explain about Madeline, and how I discovered what she has been doing.

She nodded her head deliberately and with much assurance she said, "I know that person. As a kid, I remember her being at my school for a while."

"Go on," I urged.

Sela recounted a story of Madeline working at her school for only about a few weeks. She explained that she was visiting all the schools in the area under some pretense. "I think she was giving demonstrations or something. I have no memory about what it was except that she was left alone with us and—"

"All the kids in your class were…um….hypnotized or something," I said interrupting her.

"Exactly. I remember looking at my classmates and they all had their eyes rolled up into their heads. Madeline was speaking softly. I couldn't understand what she was saying and didn't know if she was speaking English. I think my basic survival instinct kicked in and I ran out of the room to the nurse's office. When I got there, I threw up, which bought me a ticket home. I never said anything to anyone. I've kept that memory firmly locked away."

I put my arm around her neck to comfort her. For the next two hours, I narrated all the information I had on Madeline Blackwell, all the way up to the death of Leonard.

Quietly, Sela said, "We need to go tonight."

"Why?"

"Those men. What if she sent them?"

I stared out across the front yard, noticing how ominous those spears and crosses looked. Suddenly, Jerky sat up, looked out toward the road, sniffed and hissed.

"We need to pack and go," Sela demanded.

"So, now I've got two warning systems, you and Jerky."

Sela grabbed my arm and led me into the front room. She rushed into her bedroom, appearing a few minutes later with a large pack as well as the two Glock pistols and large hunting knife.

"Here," she said, handing me another handgun. Quickly, she opened a front closet door and pulled out two rifles and three shotguns. "Take your pick."

"Did your Dad do a lot of hunting?"

"Yes, he did, but he was also very protective of his family," Sela said proudly as she went into the kitchen.

By now, the sun was beginning to shut itself off for another day. Shadows lengthened and the temperature was falling.
Great
, I thought,
tonight we'll have our first freeze and we'll be running in the dark.

Jerky stood by the front door and gave a blood-curdling meow. I looked out, gasped and terror slid up my spine as if it were running a marathon.

"What's wrong?" Sela asked as she came out of the kitchen.

"Madeline," I said catching my breath. A bead of sweat formed on my brow.

Standing in front of the crosses were three small girls dressed in dirty white nightgowns. Their feet were clearly a good foot off the ground. A pack of wolves or maybe dogs milled around behind them. A sardonic grin slowly stole across each creepy little girl. They shouted something that made my flesh instantly transform into chicken skin.

"Heckel, come out and play with us," the three demons beckoned simultaneously.

"All three of them are Madeline?" Sela asked. "I don't understand."

"It's the same Madeline that I saw with Leonard. Only now, there are three of them."

An earsplitting shot rang out. A bullet hole appeared dead center in the forehead of the middle Madeline. All three laughed. Two more shots echoed across the yard.

Jerky sank her claws into my worn jean pant leg and yanked on them repeatedly.

"I have a little defensive trick left that should slow them down." Sela went to the side of the front porch. She pulled open a small wood door on the ground and pushed a button on a black box. From the sound, I could tell it was a piezo lighter. About a foot away after a whoosh of sound, a flame burst forward and raced down a small ditch that extended out past the spears and crosses. It made its way to the front, where Madeline and the dogs patrolled.

"Let's go now," Sela said, pulling my arm. "Out the back door."

We ran through the front room, out the kitchen and toward a barn. "In here," Sela yelled.

Once in the barn, I heard the sound of two horses. "Have you ridden before?" Sela asked as she threw one of the saddles on the back of a large black stallion.

"Once, when I was in college," I muttered. "It was fun."

Sela grunted, finished saddling the first horse and quickly prepared a beautiful pinto. "Here, you take Hope. She's really gentle, but very fast. She can keep up with her mate, Tempest." Sela finished securing our packs and rifles to the horses, making sure the straps were tight. The sounds of barking and loud calls from the demons intensified. We looked at each other and practically jumped onto the horses.

Sela led the way out the back of the barn. Thank God, there was a large harvest moon stealing its way over the treetops. The barking grew even louder. I was sure the dogs had discovered that we went out the back of the house.

A horrific roar broke the tranquil autumn night.

Sela rode faster and I followed. We didn't let up the pace for a good hour. I looked back and saw the orange glow of the fire fading in the distance.

"Let's ease it back for a bit to give the horses a chance to catch their breath," Sela said quietly. We had crossed several farm fields. She told me that she knew the area well and that by the next afternoon we'd be crossing into the eastern corner of Nebraska. "We should be coming up to one of the main roads. From there, I'll get my bearings."

The night sounds returned to just your normal crickets singing, frogs croaking and occasional owl hooting. Sela picked up the pace slightly. At least, we weren't sprinting. However, my insides still felt like they had been shaken, not stirred, and violently rearranged.

At one point, we crossed a stream and Sela stopped so the horses could get a drink. "I can't believe you had horses. I'm surprised that they didn't end up on someone's table for dinner."

"Oh, I could never do that. They have been family for a while. Besides, for the longest time, I've had this strange feeling that I'd be taking this trip."

Leaning down to pet Hope, I said, "I am certainly grateful you had them."

"Care for something to drink?" Sela said handing me a bottle of water.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Huh, that just reminded me of something," I said, passing the bottle back to her.

"What?"

"Do you remember the Today show? I think it was on NBC."

"Yeah, I used to watch it every morning when I was getting ready for work. Why?" Sela answered.

"I remember a segment that they did for several mornings on the loss of civility. All these experts were brought on to comment about the various problems that our society was manifesting."

"Oh, sure. I do remember that one. It really made an impression on me. If you look back to that decade, there were definite signs, events, ideals, and people trying to wake us up to our downfall. It was just awful the way people treated each other. Rudeness and callousness escalated to the point where you trusted no one."

"Madeline's little handiwork, I'm sure. She planted those seeds of mistrust, rudeness and anger. We both know that now."

Sela gently kicked Tempest and started to walk. "The big question is how do we stop her evil harvest?"

I whispered, "We destroy her crops and plant new seeds. Ones that show the good in our world."

Chapter 9

The first rays of the morning sun slid across the pavement and turned it orange. Jerky had been riding on my saddle in front of me for the last couple of hours. It was pretty funny the way she got up there. Sela gave Hope a command and the horse knelt down, allowing Jerky to have a short jump up into my arms. I caught her and she settled down immediately, nestled between the horn and me. There was no fear on either animal's part. I was amazed. Sela grinned. Tempest snorted.

"Are you hungry?" Sela asked.

I started to give her my usual reply. "I've been—"

"I know, you've been hungry for a year," she said interrupting me. After a few minutes, she stopped, dismounted and tied the horse to a tree. It looked like we were on the outskirts of a small town. "At this point, I think it's best to stay out of small towns. You never know what's lurking around."

"Agreed. For that matter, it's probably best to stay away from cities, towns, villages and…"

Sela started to cry.

"What's wrong?" I said, dismounting from Hope and walking over to Sela.

"What you just said. It's horrible that we can't trust anyone. I just hate it. How did we get like this?"

"I know," I said putting my arm around her. "When we lose trust, civility, common courtesies and…basic love for each other, I guess we've lost everything."

Sela leaned her head on my shoulder and hugged me. My pulse quickened as I hugged her back. Slowly, she lifted her head, met my eyes and kissed me. It was a gentle kiss, a warm kiss that made me feel comforted. The kiss lasted for what felt like a week. When Sela broke the embrace, she continued to hug me and placed her head next to mine. She whispered, "I trust you and I'm so glad you came into my life."

My heart pounded in my chest. With a cracking voice that seemed to skip up an octave making me feel like I was in junior high, I replied, "Me too."

She giggled and hugged me harder. "I have some jerky. Would you like some?"

"Yes, please."

Sela pulled out a large bag of hard jerky. "It's made out of chickens. I had a couple of old birds that gave their lives for this jerky."

"May they rest in peace, or should I say pieces."

Sela's laugh resounded off the trees. "I didn't know you did stand-up comedy."

We found an old log to sit on. Conversation drifted from the weather to favorite fall foods and old movies we enjoyed. When we stopped talking, Jerky jumped down from Hope and took off. However, it wasn't too long before she came sauntering back, begging.

"She's going to bug you until she gets a piece of that Jerky," I said, biting off a chunk of the meat.

"Well, she deserves it. It's obvious that she is a fine connoisseur of prepared meats," Sela said, giving Jerky a piece. The cat hunkered down, chomped on the dried morsel and purred.

"Ya know what makes all this difficult?" Sela asked.

"What?"

"Not knowing what's happening in the rest of the world. I mean…I just wonder what's going on. Is everyone dead? How many people are in hiding? Can we fix this mess?"

I sat in silence as she asked question after question. It seemed suffocating. Finally, I assured her that something or someone would turn things around, bring humanity back.

"Like a savior?" she asked.

"I suppose so. I mean…um…we know, at least you and me figured it out, that evil by the name of Madeline instigated this collapse, so there must be someone who can destroy her. There's got to be a leader out there who can bring her down and send her back to hell."