The Collected Horrors of Tim Wellman Page 11

  "Yeah, looks like a man from the size of 'im," Tom said.

  "Jerry, you all right?" Steve said. He noticed the other EMT was leaning on his knees as if he were trying to catch his breath.

  "Yeah, dandy," he said. But before he could close his mouth, he vomited. "Sorry."

  "Ain't no thang, partner," Jake said. "This shit ain't no walk through the roses."

  "There's another one over here," Tom said. "No, make that two. Looks like metal rails and springs there, too. Got 'em in bed." He looked over at Steve. "Just how many Perry's was livin' in here?"

  "Well, I don't guess anyone knows," he said. "Zeke and Terry Ann over at the store always told dad they sent enough stuff up here for at least half a dozen, including a couple of little kids."

  "Some weird-ass fuckers, that's fer sure," Jake said. "They was prisoners and paid fer their own jail." He shook his head and then looked around. "Where'd Jerry go?"

  "Jerry!" Steve yelled. "You all right, dude?"

  He stumbled out from behind the side of the house with one hand over his mouth; he had been hidden by a small stone room still standing, a boot-room or something connected to the kitchen doorway. He pointed behind him. "Something fuckin' crazy back here!"

  "Whatcha got, Jer?" Jake said.

  The other men quickly caught up and they all walked back behind the small room, past Jerry who was still standing in the same spot. There was nothing to see, just the burnt out kitchen appliances. On the floor, though, as it remained with its cracked and shattered granite tiles, were two bodies. From the waist down there was nothing left, but above the waist they were mostly intact, barely scorched at all. There was vomit around both of them, a middle-aged man and woman and it seemed apparent they were still alive when they began to burn and had dragged themselves to within only a few feet of the doorway near the little stone room.

  "Damn!" Steve said. "This must be one of the old man's boys and his wife."

  "Wife, or sister," Tom said.

  "Prob'ly both," Jake said.

  "Hey dad," Steve said into his radio. "There's a couple of bodies here that are still identifiable, so you're gonna have to call in the coroner before they can be moved."

  "Dammit!" came the reply. "Okay, I'll get on the horn to Wayne County."

  "So, we got five, then," Steve said as he put his radio back on his belt. "I'm guessing that's the old man in the living room, probably found him asleep on the sofa. One of his kids and his wife in a bedroom, and then these two."

  "So, where are the kids?" John said. "Think they got burned completely up?"

  "Possibility," Steve said. "Might just be too mixed into the rest of the ashes to ever find if they were real little."

  "Did you see them?" Jerry said. He walked around the wall, still pale, but seemed to be feeling better.

  "Yeah," Jake said. "Purdy grizzly!"

  "Are they.... alive?" he said.

  "Alive?" Tom said. "Dude, they been burned in half!"

  "What?" Jerry said. Everyone pointed to the two bodies. He cupped his hand over his mouth again and began gagging.

  "EMT'in' ain't the best career choice fer Jerry, I'm thinkin'," Jake said.

  "No, not them!" Jerry managed to get out. "In the little room!"

  "What?" Steve said. "He stretched his head around the corner and looked through the burnt doorway. "Oh fucking god!"

  The other guys quickly stumbled through the debris and took a look. "The kids?!" Jake said. "Are they dead?!"

  "Don't know!" Steve pushed some timbers out of the way, burning his hands as he quickly grabbed the still-hot framework. The other men were just as attentive, nearly fighting their way into the room. "Little girls! Hey!" As he entered the room, the two young girls, who looked no more than three or four years old, seemed to move. They were snuggled together, huddled down in a corner so closely it seemed they shared the same head of long, stringy red hair. "Girls!"

  Then slowly, as if both had been in a dream, they opened their eyes. They seemed stunned for a moment, and then both began screaming.

  "Hey, hey!" Jake said as he entered the room. "You're okay, now! You're safe!"

  His words of assurance didn't calm them down.

  "Hey dad!" He gripped the radio firmly and shouted. "We got some big news! We got two living little girls!"

  John and Jerry had already pushed past the others and were kneeling by the girls, quickly checking them out. "Get that fuckin' door open!" John yelled. He pointed to the outside door which was still locked, a large brass bolt too high up the frame for the girls to have reached. They had made it to the room, but couldn't get out, and from the position of the two bodies in the kitchen, it appeared they had been carrying the children until the fire caught up with them.

  Jake unlocked the door and pushed his way through it and the two EMT's carried the little girls out onto the grass where they quickly grabbed onto each other again. They had stopped screaming and were simply crying softly to themselves, their tears washing small rivulets through the black soot and grime that covered their faces. Their bright green eyes were frantically searching, looking for a face they recognized, but they seemed completely lost, unable to latch on to anything they saw.

  "You got live bodies?" came over the radio.

  "Two girls," Steve said. "Two little girls. Better let the folks down there know, old man!"

  "Can ya stand?" John said.

  "I'm okay," Jerry said.

  "Not you, fucktard, I'm talkin' ta the girls!"

  The girls didn't seem to hear him, but suddenly they both stopped crying and stood up quickly, so quickly they caused John and Jerry to jump back.

  "Woah!" Jake said. "Well, they're up." He looked at the other guys. "Now what?"

  Steve bent down and grabbed them into his arms, one on each hip and stood up. "Come on, let's get off this hill and get them cleaned up and fed."

  Jake scratched the back of his neck and seemed to be mulling over something. "I reckon no body gets nothin' in town, right?"

  "What d'ya mean, Jake?" Tom said.

  "He means the girls get ownership of all the Perry property," Steve said.

  "That shit just ain't right," Tom said.

  "Sure as hell ain't," Jake said. "A lot a people down there sweat their asses off ta keep them stores and stuff goin'."

  "Hey Steve, hold up a second," Tom said. "Let's think this over."

  Steve kept walking down the hill and made it to the driveway before the others caught up with him and stood in front of him.

  "You guys aren't thinking right," he said. "I've known you guys all my life; you're not murderers." They all shrugged and looked down at the ground, then slowly parted and let Steve walk past. "You just let all this death get to you," he said. "No way any of you were serious." He slowed down. "Come on, let's get home."

  "Sorry 'bout that, bro," John said.

  "We're thinking too far ahead, anyway," Steve said. "We all need to hear from Mister Williams at the bank, see if old man Perry left a will or any instructions about these girls."

  "Yeah, that's right," Jerry said. "Mister Williams is the one who told dad he'd get the deed to the bakery if the Perrys died out."

  They could hear sirens down in the town and the girls seemed to wake up and become more aware of their surroundings. "All dead," one said.

  "Oh, hey," Steve said. "We're going down to town. There's all kinds of good people down there."

  "Do you girls know your names?" Jake said.

  They both nodded. "Kimberly." And the other said, "Tamara."

  "Are you two twin sisters?" Steve said.

  They looked at each other across his chest, then shook their heads. "Cousins."

  "But y'all look just alike," Tom said.

  "Cousins," the other girl said.

  They were close enough to see several town's people gathered at the foot of the driveway now and none of them seemed happy. There was an ambulance waiting, and Steve's dad was walking around nervously, wringing his hands and briefly
chatting with people as he walked.

  "Need to get these kids cleaned up and checked out," Steve yelled. They were close enough to hear some of the people talking as two female paramedics met them on the road and took the girls from his arms.

  "Come on sweeties, let's get y'all checked out, okay?" one said.

  The other looked up at Steve. "They're talkin' a lot a shit over there, you know. Don't come down here thinkin' you're a hero or nothin'."

  "I figured," Steve said. "You take care of those girls."

  "We got Mister Williams to go down to the bank and check Perry's papers," one said. "Ain't none of us a gettin' shit, now!"

  "Yes, well, there was a safety deposit box I was only supposed to open if Mister Perry should die," Mister Williams said. "It's all pretty clear. As long as there are living Perry family members, they get everything he had."

  "And we ain't even gettin' ta keep what we had!"

  "Now, calm down Larry," he said. "That isn't exactly what I said."

  "Just what did ya say," Jake said. "We all got some stake in this, now."

  "As long as the shops make a reasonable profit, everything stays just like it is," the banker said.

  "And that there part's the bullshit," Larry said. "Y'all know half a what gets bought at the hardware store is on credit. Hell, most a y'all right here owes more than ya can pay in a year."

  "Everybody else dead up there, Steve?" his dad said.

  "Yeah, I guess we saw everyone. Five people all together. Two women, two men, and one that looked like an old man."

  "I reckon that's the whole clan then, 'cept the girls," he said. He turned to face the small group that had gathered and cleared his throat. "That's the way it goes, folks. Ain't one damned good reason just a standin' 'round bitchin' like a bunch a old church women."

  "That's 'cause this ain't affectin' you, Chief," one said. "Ya get ta keep what ya got."

  "You wanna go in that ambulance and kill them girls, Tim?" He looked around. "That what any of y'all wanna do?"

  They were all quiet.

  "It just ain't right," Tim said. "That's all the fuck I'm a sayin'."

  "Well now there is something else to think about," Williams said. "It's just what happens with the girls."

  "What do you mean, Mister Williams," Steve Junior said.

  "Well, if those girls get taken or fostered out someplace else, all their possessions go with them. Whoever raises them gets to control their property as long as it's in the girls' best interest," he said. "That's the law." He looked around at everyone, and then patted one older man on the shoulder. "Everything they own here would be sold or just torn down for scrap. This whole town has operated at a loss for the last forty years or more."

  "Don't matter none, now." One of the paramedics stepped out of the ambulance and peeled off her rubber gloves.

  "What do you mean?" Steve Junior said.

  "They didn't make it," she said calmly. "Musta been the smoke 'er somethin'."

  "What?!" He ran to the back of the vehicle and looked inside. The other paramedic was leaning over one of the girls. "You killed them?!"

  She turned around. "No," she said. "They died. Smoke inhalation. Autopsies will show that. Just stopped breathin'."

  He shook his head and walked away. They had seemed fine, even spoke. It just didn't make sense. "I guess you all got what you wanted," he said. He didn't look at any of them. No one really spoke much. Everyone simply walked away without looking at anyone else as the ambulance doors slammed shut and it pulled way. "Hey Jerry, Jake," he said. "Did they seem bad off to you?"

  "Them girls was near dead when we found 'em," Jake said. "We all saw that."

  "You can tell yourself that, but I held them, talked to them, they were fine," he said. "And now they're dead. Doesn't take a genius to figure it out, does it?"

  Everyone shrugged and kept walking toward town, their conversation lightened by the news.

  The chief walked to his police car and grabbed the microphone. "Chief Wilson here," he said. He listened closely through the door, and then got in the car. "Say that again?"

  "What is it, dad?" Steve Junior said.

  He climbed out of the car and adjusted his hat. "Hey!" Everyone who had walked away stopped and turned to see what he wanted. "Y'all need ta get back here fer this."

  "What is it, dad?" Steve said again. "What's going on?"

  "There was just an accident about a mile out Route Sixty. The ambulance went off the road and hit a phone pole," he said. "Killed the two medics."

  Everyone picked up the pace and gathered around the chief. "That... that's terrible news!"

  "I knowed them girls pretty good," Jake said. "Went ta school with Becky."

  "Been a lot of death today," Steve Junior said. "A lot of needless death."

  "Steve, ya listen to me, boy," the chief said. "You all listen to me!" He leaned against his car, took off his hat, and then wiped the sweat off his forehead. "They didn't find no little girls."

  "What?" Jerry said. "They was thrown from the ambulance?"

  "Doors were open, but them girls had been strapped down in the stretchers," he said. "Ain't no way they was thrown out."

  "What are you saying, dad?" Steve said.

  "I don't know what I'm sayin'," he said. "But there weren't no little girls in that ambulance when the deputy found the wreck just now. The driver is fine and he said there was no way they were thrown from the vehicle. The straps were still fastened."

  "Well, that makes no sense," Mister Williams said. "But as far as the town and all your deeds go, it doesn't matter. As far as I'm concerned, they're dead. The paramedics said so. Doesn't matter if they're missing now."

  "Thank ya, Williams," one man said.

  "Did ya tell the deputy anythang 'bout what was a goin' on, Chief?" Tom said. "Was it Don's boy, Jeff?"

  "He don't know nothin' he ain't s'posed ta know."

  "That's good," Larry said. "I thank we can all move on and get back ta bein' a normal town full a good people again."

  Steve looked up at the smoldering house on the hill and shook his head. "I don't think the town will ever get back to normal, fellers." He turned around and looked at everyone. "Got two people involved in killing those girls already dead. Now, maybe it ends there because they were the ones who did the actual killing, or maybe not. All of you might as well have put those women up to it."

  "Ya talkin' complete bullshit, Steve," Jake said. "Like this is some fuckin' horror movie or somethin'."

  "I carried those girls down the hill," he said. "They were as healthy as I am. I can't pretend I don't know what I know." He smiled. "I think you had all best be worrying about where those little girls are."

  "Here comes the deputy," John said.

  "Y'all just keep quiet about this, now," Jake said as he motioned the car into a spot near the driveway. He pounded on the hood and smiled through the windshield. "Whatcha doin' Jeffy!"

  The deputy had his door open before the car stopped, then killed the engine and hopped out. "Y'all had a hell of a time, ain't cha?"

  "I reckon it's gonna get better," the chief said.

  "I reckon," Jeff said. "I got ya a couple of your citizens in the back."

  "What? Who," he said. He looked through the window, and then backed away.

  "Ya act like ya's seen a ghost, Chief," Jeff said. He opened the door and everyone stepped back. The two girls were sitting in the back seat, very much alive. They turned their heads at the same time and looked at everyone. "Found these two little ladies walkin' b'side the road."

  Jake pushed the door closed. "Ya can take 'em back!"

  Jeff chuckled. "What you talkin' about, Jake?" He opened the door again and motioned the girls to get out. They slid across the seat, and then one after the other, hopped down and stood for a moment looking at everyone, then walked over to Steve Junior and hugged him around his legs. "See there! Ain't all bad news."

  The chief shook his head as he looked at everyone. "I think it mighta j
ust got a whole lot worse than bad."

  "Y'all's plume crazy over here," Jeff said. "Ya'r livin' too close ta Kentucky. Anyway, they're takin' them women from the ambulance wreck over to the hospital in Huntington. We got freezer problems out at our morgue. That's why they need ta wait a while b'fore comin' out ta get the bodies up on the hill." He tipped his hat. "Y'all have a nice day."

  Everyone watched him leave. They watched until the car was out of sight and continued to watch a while longer. None of them wanted to look at the little girls. "Hey chief, it ain't breakin' the law ta kill somethin' that's already dead, is it?" Jake said. "I mean, it ain't murder."

  "I guess ya'd be desecratin' a corpse," he said. He finally looked over at Steve Junior and the girls. "But they ain't dead, Jake. Sure as shit livin' an' breathin'."

  "I don't know what happened," Steve Junior said. "But I know I'll fight anyone who tries to hurt these girls again." He shook his head and took a deep breath. "I don't know what the hell is wrong with you people! Since when is money worth more than a human life? None of you guys was raised like that. These girls lost their entire family, their entire world!"

  Everyone started to walk away. Some threw their hands in the air, others looked back with hateful glances, but every one of them seemed angry, confused, and at a loss for words. "We..."

  "Y'all go on home, I guess," the chief said. "Mister Williams, you got anything ta pull outa your ass on this one?"

  "Not a clue, chief," he said. "We're back to step one: these girls own the town and nearly everything in it."

  "So, whoever them girls is a livin' with purdy much gets control, right?" Tom said. "Then I want 'em!"

  Everyone stopped.

  "Hey, I saw 'em first," Jerry said.

  "And then puked on 'em," Jake said.

  "You're all fucking nuts if you think I'm letting them out of my sight," Steve Junior said.

  Both girls loosened their grip, and then stepped behind Steve and held on to the waist band of his pants. They had chosen, it seemed.

  "The instructions are plain as vanilla puddin'," the banker said. "They own everything and if y'all cain't show a profit, you lose your leases."

  "Some of us been buildin' up our shops fer twenty years er more." Charlie Watts operated the town's farm supply store. He'd seen the town through a painted window sign for forty years, knew everyone and everyone knew him. He'd seen generations grow up, some move on, some die, but he knew all the ones who remained on a first-name basis. "I ain't got shit ta call my own," he said and spit. "Didn't think I'd ever need ta own anything legally, it were as good as mine anyway."