Part 58 (2/2)

”You're getting warm.”

Charlie yelped in terror at the sound of the little-girl voice behind him. He dropped his shovel and snapped around so quick his feet got tangled and he sprawled onto his back.

”No!” he cried as he lay in the cool dirt and looked up at the blond girl in riding clothes standing over him. He knew who she was and what was pretending to be her. ”Demon! Sweet Jesus, save me!”

”From me?” she said, smiling and twirling a strand of her golden hair. ”Don't be silly.”

”Stay away!”

Charlie's heart was a boot kicking inside his chest. He dug in his heels and palms and scrabbled away like a backward crab.

The little girl's face crinkled up and her blue eyes danced as she giggled. Her laugh was sweet and musical. ”You look funny!”

”You can't fool me! I know what you are!”

She stepped closer. ”You do?”

Charlie kept backing away, and then he banged his dome against a wall and that was it. Nowhere to go.

”You-you a demon!”

She laughed again. ”Now you're really being silly!”

His mind screamed, What do I do? What do I do do?

He couldn't think. He hadn't expected this, wasn't prepared, never believed that the demon would appear to him. Shoulda listened to the rev, shoulda took his advice and packed his gear and geesed.

Pray! Of course! Words from the Twenty-third Psalm jumped into his brain.

He raised his voice. ” 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of death I shall fear no evil. Thy rod and thy staff they-'”

”'Valley of death',” she said, looking around and nodding. ”Yes. That's where we are.” She pointed to the hole he'd been digging. ”You're only seven inches from my head. If you keep digging you'll find me.”

Charlie slashed the air with his hand. ”No! You can't fool me! You're not Tara Portman!”

The child frowned. ”Then why are you digging?”

The question took Charlie by surprise. Why was was he digging? Because he'd made a deal with Lyle. And because... he digging? Because he'd made a deal with Lyle. And because...

”Because Tara Portman may be buried here, but you're not her.”

Her blue eyes turned cold. ”Oh, but I am. And I'm not the only one down here. There.” She pointed to a hole Jack had dug half a dozen feet to Charlie's left. ”Another foot deeper and you'd have found Jerry Schwartz. He was only seven. Right where you're sitting, five feet down, is Rose Howard. She was nine, like me.”

Charlie wanted to jump off the spot but couldn't bring himself to move.

Suddenly she disappeared, but immediately flashed back into view in a far corner.

”Jason Moskowski is here.”

Charlie blinked and she was in another corner of the cellar.

”Carrie Martin is here.”

She flashed to three more locations, naming another child each time. And with each name her eyes grew icier and the cellar colder.

Suddenly she was in front of him, not three feet away.

”Eight of us,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Lord forgive him, he was starting to buy her line. Maybe the rev was wrong. Maybe this wasn't no demon. Maybe this was the furilla ghost of a murdered child.

Or maybe that was just what the demon, kin to the Father of Lies, wanted him to believe.

Real cold in here now. His puffing breaths were smoking the air. He rubbed his bare arms. His sweaty T-s.h.i.+rt was freezing his spine. He saw his sweats.h.i.+rt balled up by the junk pile.

He rose uncertainly. ”I'm gonna get my s.h.i.+rt, okay?”

”Why are you asking me?” she said.

Good question. She hadn't threatened him or nothin', but just seeing her had turned him into a scrub.

He grabbed the hoodie and pulled it on. Better, but still cold.

”You want us to find your body and the others. That it, ain't it? That why you back, right?”

She shook her head.

”Then why?” Sudden fear slammed Charlie like a truck. ”You want my soul!”

She laughed like that was such a wack idea, but the sweet sound didn't match up with her ice eyes.

Charlie's hand brushed against the pin on his s.h.i.+rt. He looked down at it. wwjd-what would would Jesus do in a case like this? Jesus do in a case like this?

Simple: He'd tell this spook or demon to get back where it belonged. But Charlie didn't have Jesus' power. Still... it was worth a try.

”Go back where you came from!” he cried.

The little girl blinked. ”But I don't know where I came from.”

<script>