Page 112 of Stay Buried

My uncle was paler than ever, his eyes looking slightly yellow. He coughed.

We carried her into my bedroom and laid her down in my bed, tucked the covers up around her. Aife came and circled up on the floor in front of the bed.

“You should rest,” I told my uncle. “I’ll sit with Pearl. Aife and I,” I added, smiling down at the shaggy black dog.

Uncle Thomas nodded and was turning to go when there was a pounding at the front door.

“What now?” he growled.

“I’ll go,” I said, terrified that there would be a mob outside, going from house to house, executing the sick or wounded.

I would not let them hurt my uncle. I’d kill them with my bare hands if I needed to.

The pounding continued, louder, more insistent.

“No,” Uncle Thomas said, walking over to his desk, picking up the gun. “We’ll both go.”

Gun in hand, he led the way down the hall and opened the front door.

It was Gerard Pipp, out of breath, looking frantic.

“What is it?” Uncle Thomas asked. “What’s happened now?”

“They’ve found him,” Gerard said. “The knackerman. Up by Garrison Ridge. They’ve brought him back. Got him chained up in Luther’s barn.”

“What’s his condition?” Uncle Thomas asked.

“Can’t say for sure. He’s up and talking. Doesn’t seem all that sick to me. But Luther and the other men—” He shook his head, looked at the ground, not wanting to say it.

“What is it?” Uncle Thomas asked.

“They’re building a pyre.”

Uncle Thomas pulled on his coat and tucked the pistol into his pocket.

FORTY-SEVENASHLEY

October 18, 2016

Ashley grabbed her purse, followed Malcolm out to his old Chevy, jumped up into the passenger seat.

Malcolm turned the key.

Nothing happened, just a barely audible clicking sound.

The eye of the crudely painted horse on the door of Room 1 watched them through the truck’s windshield.

“What the hell?” Mal said.

He tried once more, then leapt out of the cab and popped the hood.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me!” he yelled.

Ashley got out and joined him, looking into the engine.

“They took the battery,” he said, dark eyes blazing with anger.

“Okay.” Ashley took in a breath, trying to slow the waves of panic she felt closing in on her. She tried to think. To make a plan.