using all his strength.
'Henry!' She howled. 'Henreeeee!'
She came again, head first this time, like a charging bull. Henry
caught her head in both hands, feeling the tight, wiry cap of her
curls squash under his palms. He Pushed. And then, over Wilma's
shoulder, he saw something that might have been the gold-glinting
eyes of a small owl. Eyes that were infinitely cold and hateful. The
yammering became louder, reaching a crescendo. And when it
struck at Wilma, the vibration running through her body was
enough to knock him backwards.
He caught one glimpse of her face, her bulging eyes, and then she
was dragged back into the darkness. She screamed once more.Only
once.
'Just tell it to call you Billie,' he whispered.
Henry Northrup drew a great, shuddering breath.
'It went on ... for quite a while,' he said. After a long time, maybe
twenty minutes, the growling and the... the sounds of its feeding...
that stopped, too. And it started to whistle. Just like you said, Dex.
As if it were a happy teakettle or something. It whistled for maybe
five minutes, and then it stopped. I shone my light underneath
again. The crate had been pulled out a little way. Thre was... fresh
blood. And Wilma's purse had spilled everywhere. But it got both
of her shoes. That was something, wasn't it?'
Dex didn't answer. The room basked in sunshine. Outside, a bird
sang.
'I finished cleaning the lab,' Henry resumed at last. 'It took me
another forty minutes, and I almost missed a drop of blood that
was on the light globe ... saw it just as I was going out. But when I
was done, the place was as neat as a pin. Then I went out to my car
and drove across campus to the English department. It was getting
late, but I didn't feel a bit tired. In fact, Dex, I don't think I ever felt
more clear-headed in my life. There was a crate in the basement of
the English department. I flashed on that very early in your story.
Associating one monster with another, I suppose.'
'What do you mean?'
'Last year when Badlinger was in England--you remember
Badlinger, don't you?'
Dex nodded. Badlinger was the man who had beaten Henry out for
the English department chair... partly because Badlinger's wife was
bright, vivacious and sociable, while Henry's wife was a shrew.
Had been a shrew.
'He was in England on sabbatical,' Henry said. 'Had all their
things crated and shipped back. One of them was a giant stuffed
animal. Nessie, they call it. For his kids. That bastard bought it for
his kids. I always wanted children, you know. Wilma didn't. She
said kids get in the way.
'Anyway, it came back in this gigantic wooden crate, and
Badlinger dragged it down to the English department basement
because there was no room in the garage at home, he said, but he
