Marie and Dan and Jerry slept in the loft of a barn. Like Will and Judy, they waited for the night.
Logandale lay quiet under the Sunday sun.
Waiting for night.
'Oh, my God!' Viv hissed the words as she stood in the kitchen looking over her husband's shoulder.
A dog lay on the back porch. The animal had been skinned and strange markings cut into its skin. It had been completely disemboweled, the intestines and organs scattered all over the floor of the porch.
Monty heard his wife making choking sounds. He turned in time to see her race toward the half bath just off the kitchen. The sounds of her sickness came to him. Monty fought back his own nausea and used the tablecloth from the nook to cover the animal and the intestines, after he had kicked those into a pile. He stepped back into the kitchen and closed the door.
'You going to be all right?' he called through the closed bathroom door.
'Just fucking dandy,' came her acid reply.
Despite the gravity of the situation, Monty grinned. When Viv got mad, she got stubborn, and she became very profane. Monty felt that Viv wouldn't leave now if someone held a gun to her head.
He heard cars pull into the drive and he walked to the door. Looking out, he saw the two men who had been watching the house were gone. Sam Balon, Joe, and Mille were walking up the sidewalk. He waved them in and briefly told them what had just happened.
'I'll take care of the dog,' Joe said. He left the den.
Monty asked Mille, 'Who's minding the store?'
'No one. I locked the place up.'
'Why not?' Monty said, directing the question at no one in particular.
Viv entered the den. Her face was pale but there was a new set to her chin that silently told Monty she was going to see this thing through. He smiled at her.
'I'll make some coffee,' she said. 'I think we could all use some.' She looked at Sam. 'Have you had breakfast —any of you?'
'No, ma'am.'
'I'll make some breakfast, too.'
Joe walked back into the den. 'Son-of-a-bitch do that to a dog oughta be horsewhipped. I wrapped the poor animal in a garbage bag and stuck that in another garbage bag. Put it in the trunk of the patrol car. I'll get rid of it later. Monty—I think—whatever it is we're facing has got to my wife,' he blurted.
The others stood quietly, frozen in place, looking at Joe. Viv came out of the kitchen to stand in the archway, listening, a spatula in her hand.
Joe told them about Nellie.
'You can't know for sure, Joe,' Viv said. 'You just can't be.'
'No, ma'am,' he replied. 'I can't. But all I got to go on is my feelin's. And I know damn well something ain't right in that house. Don't nobody recover that quickly. And the house was stinkin' like sulphur Put it all together for me, folks. Add it all up and tell me what you think.'
Sam looked at Mille. The young woman looked tired, her face drawn with fatigue. But she was tough; Sam sensed that. She would stand firm. He cut his eyes to Viv. She, too, appeared to be filled with a new resolve. Joe would stand tough; no backup in him. And Sam felt sure Monty wouldn't back up for anything or anybody.
Monty blew out a long breath. 'I think we better start drawing up some battle plans.'
'Against what, Chief?' Mille asked. 'And with what? None of us have been physically threatened. What crimes have been committed? Is it against the law to worship Satan? Not to my knowledge. Me and Joe saw a bunch of people leaving the Giddon place last night, but that sure isn't against the law. While we were patrolling last night, we talked about this thing. I still don't quite believe everything that you all have said, but even if it's all true, what can we do until someone actually breaks a law. The answer is, obviously, nothing.'
'Come on, everybody,' Viv called from the kitchen. 'Let's have some breakfast.'
As they all trouped to the kitchen, the phone rang. Monty jerked it up. He listened for several moments. His face first grew red with anger, and then pale with shock. He said, 'Very well, if that is your final word.'
Monty slowly replaced the receiver. He seemed to have aged considerably.
Viv came to his side. 'Monty? What is it? Why are you so pale?'
'That was Mayor Kowolski,' Monty said slowly. 'The board met last night. Called a special meeting. I have been relieved of duty—'
'Oh, Monty,' his wife said.
'Drop the other shoe, Monty,' Joe said. 'I got a feelin' there's more.'
'Yes,' Monty said. 'And it's coming together, all the pieces fitting, finally.' He cleared his throat. 'Well, Bert Sakall has been named interim chief until a permanent replacement is named. You've been fired, Mille. You, too, Joe. The board is giving us all a month's pay. But the clincher was this: He told me to inform both of you that the best thing we could do was get the hell out of this community and don't come back.'
Mille LaMeade summed up the feelings of all present when she stuck out her chin and said, 'Well—
THREE
Father Daniel Le Moyne stood in the center aisle of his church. He experienced a dozen distinct and different
