Faces pale on one side, dark on the other. Faces that seemed to have holes instead of eyes. She supposed she must look just as strange.
‘Look at all those stars,’ Cora said.
‘I know I’m thrilled,’ Finley said.
‘Bet you don’t see stars like this in L.A.’
‘Maybe we should go back inside,’ Vivian suggested.
‘It’s much nicer out here.’
‘We’re so exposed.’
‘With moonlight like this,’ Abilene said, ‘I could probably read a book by it.’
‘Anybody could be out there. Watching us.’
‘Still worried about that kid,’ Cora said.
‘Maybe he’ll come over and join us,’ Finley said, if he does, I call firsties.’
Abilene realized that they all had their heads turned, were gazing out at the moonlit grounds as if expecting someone to creep out of the forest.
‘What if someone does come along?’ Helen asked, her voice hushed.
‘Stop it,’ Vivian said.
‘We’ll just let Finley keep him busy,’ Abilene said, ‘while the rest of us skedaddle.’
‘My pleasure.’
‘Nobody’s gonna come along,’ Cora said. ‘Why don’t you all just settle down and enjoy yourselves. Helen, you’ve got a story to tell us, don’t you? About the murders?’
‘Maybe this isn’t the best time to tell it.’
‘I’ll second that,’ Vivian said.
‘This is the perfect time for it. Just pretend we’re sitting around a campfire.’
‘This is like sitting around a campfire,’ Abilene said. ‘You know? Supper’s over. Nothing else to do before bedtime. It’s warm and cozy. We’re all gathered here, surrounded by the dark.’
‘Campfires are bright and cheerful,’ Helen pointed out. ‘Finley’s bright and cheerful. She can get in the middle and make crackling sounds.’
‘Cracks is more like it,’ Cora said.
‘I’m hot enough. I just might burst into flame.’
‘People do, you know,’ Helen said. ‘Sometimes, they just bum up for no apparent reason. I’ve read accounts of that happening. I read where some guy went up in smoke, and it happened so fast that his clothes didn’t even get burnt. All they found were ashes and charred bones inside his clothes.’
‘They were probably flame retardant,’ Abilene said.
‘Maybe the guy was a vampire,’ Finley suggested. ‘We made this movie where a guy - one of your basic Dracula types - just crumpled to crap right inside his duds.’
‘Night Fang,’ Helen said.
‘Yeah, that’s the one.’
‘You were script supervisor?’ Abilene asked.
‘Right. It was my last big epic before I moved up to assistant director.’
‘I saw it,’ Helen said. ‘The sunlight got him. But that’s different from spontaneous combustion.’
‘I feel like I’m gonna spontaneously combust.’ Finley stood, turned around, and climbed onto the submerged shelf. She sat on the edge of the pool and crossed her legs. And sighed. ‘Ahhh. This is much better.’
‘Are you sure you want to be sitting up there?’ Vivian asked.
‘Yep.’ She stretched, folding her hands behind her head, arching her back, twisting slightly from side to side. ‘Nice breeze.’
‘You really do stick out,’ Helen said.
‘Do I? Thanks.’ Lowering her arms, she gazed down as if inspecting her breasts. ‘Not as much as I’d like, actually.’ Helen chuckled. ‘Not them. You.’
‘You are awfully visible,’ Abilene said. ‘You look like a snowman up there.’
‘Gee, I should’ve brought my camouflage makeup.’
‘You stick out like a sore thumb,’ Helen told her.
‘Why don’t you get back in,’ Vivian said, ‘before somebody sees you?’
‘Nobody’s gonna see her,’ Cora said.
‘Ah, the voice of reason. You’d think we were in a war zone, the way these babes are carrying on. We’re in the middle of nowhere. Wishful thinking aside, that kid showing up was a fluke. There’s probably nobody but us around for miles.’
‘That’s telling ’em,’ Cora said.
‘It’s not true, though,’ Helen said. ‘There really are people who live in these hills.’
‘The dreaded Hill People,’ Finley said. ‘Who prowl the woods by night.’
‘I’m not joking. I read about them.’
‘Are these the same people who spontaneously combust?’ Finley asked.
‘These are the same people who invaded the Totem Pole Lodge twelve years ago and slaughtered everyone.’
‘All right]' Finley pumped a fist beside her face. ‘We get to hear the story, after all.’
‘Lucky us,’ Vivian muttered.
‘I guess so,’ Helen said. ‘Since Fin wants to insist nobody’s around for miles. The fact is, half a dozen families live within a few miles of here. Or did, anyway. I don’t know if they’re still around. But back at the time of the murders, there were the Sloanes, the Hacketts, the Johnsons…’
‘The Hatfields and McCoys,’ Abilene interrupted.
Finley laughed. ‘You’ve got your geography screwed up, Hickok.’
‘Well, it was never my strong suit.’
‘Let’s shut up and listen,’ Cora said.
‘Anyway, there were these families. They lived near here and they were hill people. They lived in shacks. They didn’t have much to do with the outside world. They hunted and fished and kept to themselves.’
‘Probably some terrific banjo players,’ Abilene said. ‘Apparently, there was a lot of inbreeding.’
‘Halfwits and harelips,’ Cora said.
‘I thought we were supposed to shut up and listen,’ Finley reminded her.
‘And don’t you forget it,’ Cora said.
‘I was behaving.’ Finley leaned back and braced herself up with stiff arms. ‘Go on, Helen.’
‘Well, Cora’s right. The inbreeding did result in some abnormalities. The book didn’t go into much detail about it, just that some of them were retarded and some looked kind of freakish. But they minded their own business, and generally tried to keep their distance from the lodge. They were in the woods all around here, though. So when guests from the lodge would go out fishing or hunting, sometimes they’d spot one or two off in the distance. They used to make jokes about bagging one. How they could have the head stuffed, and hang it up in the lodge along with the other trophies.’
‘These lodge guests sound like charming people,’ Abilene said.
‘Hunters are all like that,’ Vivian said. ‘Macho bastards.’
‘You’ve known some?’ Abilene asked.
‘Hell, my father was one.’
‘I thought he was a neurosurgeon.’
‘He was that, too.’
‘I thought doctors only played golf.’
‘My dad played Daniel Boone. He made me help him dress out a deer when I was ten years old.’
‘What did you dress it in?’ Finley asked.
‘A Tipton shirt,’ Cora said, and laughed.
‘I didn’t dress it in anything. I had to cut off its head and gut it and…’
‘Jesus,’ Helen muttered.
‘I can’t picture you doing something like that,’ Abilene said.
