bottom of the stairs. He ran full out for the exit that would get him closest to the patio.

He stood just inside the tree line. He had already found the old stone circle. The stones lay flat, hiding the old bones that he found bound in iron chains in four separate boxes. In the mouth of each of the dead lay a black crystal. The power that each box contained was enough to turn the tide of any battle.

A movement from outside the house caught his eye. Someone was running. He followed the man with his eyes to see another man carefully walking on a wide dock. He moved as far as he dared, not wanting to be caught out.

“STOP!” Jesse cried. “You can’t in good conscience do this!”

Bridgeton turned around and asked, “What? Walk on my own dock?”

“The keys. Bring back the keys.”

“These keys?” Bridgeton asked. “Do you know what they’re for?”

“I’ve got a good idea. Bring them back. Your mortal soul depends upon it.”

Bridgeton ran towards the edge of the dock. As he did so, he brought his arm back and launched the keys as hard as he could over the frozen lake.

Jesse could just hear above his pounding heart the sound of them landing on the ice.

Bridgeton turned around and walked back towards Jesse. “They’re gone now.”

“Do you know what you’ve done?”

“Secured my power in the house until I escape in this warm body.”

“But you can’t get far.”

“I will bide my time until Gadus is back under my control. She can’t be happy playing benefactress when her heart craves the games we used to play together.”

“Which Atwater are you?” Jesse asked.

“August. You saw my picture over the safe. My stupid grandson Arnold should have changed the combination. Did he think that I wouldn’t have a backup plan when he stole the witch from me? Bridgeton has been my playmate since he was a small child. He and I played together in the house I bought for his family. I was his invisible friend. It was only a matter of time before he would come looking for me.”

The wind picked up. There was a tiny clink as a key settled with the others against the frozen water. Jesse looked at the sun overhead and knew it was only a matter of time before the keys would be lost in the lake as the ice melted beneath them.

“Go ahead and get them. I’m a sporting man. You get the keys, and I’ll let you open the boxes. That is, if my monsters will let you near them,” August said. His laugh was shrill.

“Bridgeton, you can fight him,” Jesse said as he lowered himself over the edge of the dock onto the ice. “Drive as far away from this place as you can get. I’ll send help to you. Kiki flushed that monster from her veins. You can too.”

Bridgeton seemed to shake out of the trance he was in. “I was all-state in college. I expect the keys are ninety-five yards straight out, on ice not thick enough to hold a man,” Bridgeton said, his voice noticeably lower. “Save yourself and leave this place. I’ll make sure you all get paid.”

Jesse moved towards the keys, taking careful steps. The wind was against him. He could see old ice fishing holes that only had the briefest crust still covering the cold water. The nearer he got to the keys, the sound of open water assaulted his senses. He put his hand over his eyes, blocking the glare of the sun. What was ice and what was water? How far did he have to go?

The pounding of feet had him stepping back into the trees as a hooded contractor and a large muscled black man ran in the direction of the dock. The contractor stopped to tie the line around his body. He handed the bulk of the rope to the black gentleman before he too eased himself off the dock.

“JESSE! STOP!” Cid yelled. “I can hear the ice. It’s not sound!”

Jesse eased himself to all fours and then to his stomach as he moved the last few feet to the keys. He didn’t bother to answer Cid because he couldn’t hear him above the pounding of his heart. All he saw were the keys. All he felt was the bitter wind. All he knew was that this was either the defining moment of his life or the most stupid one. He moved closer. His hands were chapped by the cold. There was water on the ice which soaked Jesse’s clothes. He knew that he would have a harder time on his return trip because his wet clothes would adhere to the ice and slow down his progress. He pushed all this away as his fingers curled around the large metal keys.

Jesse pulled the keys to his body as he turned onto his back and lay still a moment. He thought he heard Cid calling him, but he wasn’t sure. He pulled out his prayer beads and looped them through the metal circle holding the keys and then pulled the beads over his head, tucking them down deep into his shirt. If the ice broke under him and he drowned, the keys would be recovered when they found his body. Jesse carefully pivoted around and moved slowly towards the shore. Pulling and pushing his body with his hands and feet.

Cid stopped moving. He feared his weight was doing more damage the closer he got to Jesse. He decided to take a wide arc so he would come up upon the other contractor

Вы читаете Walnut Grove House
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