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  Harry eyed an old pecan tree near the edge of the meadow. A pine thicket behind the tree seemed to be on the verge of overtaking the large tree. He made his way to the base of the tree and was pleasantly surprised to find that the signal on the phone picked up to three bars. He smiled as he took note of the time. He was beginning to worry that he was going to miss the call he was expecting, but fortunately, he had five minutes to spare.

  Lacey kept her feet planted right where Harry had left her. Her eyes darted back and forth between her husband and her daughter. Each of them was on opposite sides of the meadow, but each of them required her attention at present. She wanted to tell Alice to move on the side of the meadow where her father was standing, beside the pecan tree. However, she was afraid if she did, Harry would potentially lose focus on his phone. She believed he was about to call someone but hoped fiercely that she was wrong. Harry paced back and forth for at least three minutes when suddenly, Lacey heard the phone begin to ring. Her shoulders slumped as she watched him answer. The conversation seemed serious. Lacey tried to picture what the woman he was talking to looked like and then, with a sense of painful dread building inside her gut, she reluctantly turned away to check on Alice.

  CHAPTER 2

  Lacey watched Alice play for almost half an hour before calling her into the house. Harry’s phone call had only taken about ten minutes before he moped back. She couldn’t help but notice how miserable he seemed, and she fought back the urge to cry. He literally moped up the steps that led to the front porch, his head hung low. She imagined the young, attractive woman that he’d been speaking to doing her best to coax him to leave her. As she considered this, her sadness turned into anger. She felt her face flush with heat and if it weren’t for giving Alice a few minutes of play time, she probably would’ve barged in the house behind him and started World War 3.

  When she finally did go inside, her cooler head prevailed and no sooner had the movers brought in the last piece of furniture did she announce that she was going to go into Dunn for a few groceries. Harry was sitting in the recliner, which had been placed at the end of the hallway. It was just one of many pieces of furniture resting in a temporary spot until Lacey could decide where everything would go. When she declared her intentions to drive into town, Harry looked at her, a clear sadness in his eyes. He mumbled a response though she could not fully understand it.

  “Your daughter is upstairs playing,” she said as he grabbed the car keys from the kitchen counter. “Try not to forget she’s here,” she added, annoyed.

  Harry stared at her, somewhat curiously but said nothing. He just watched as she disappeared through the door. Once outside, she took note of the position of the sun and realized by the time she returned, it would probably be dark. She pulled the car onto the dirt road that led away from the house. As she drove through the dust that was still settling from the moving truck that had come before her, for the first time she realized how dirty her car would stay almost constantly. A dirty car was a pet peeve of hers and the thought of spending weekend after weekend washing the car made her head hurt.

  When she rolled into the city limits of Dunn, she couldn’t help but smile at the charming little town. The town square looked like something straight out of a novel or old television show. In the center of the square was a small park and she counted a grand total of four people and one dog currently enjoying the last bit of daylight. They waved at her and she waved back. As she continued, Lacey encountered other people walking along the sidewalks and every single one of them waved. The hospitality she experienced seemed to have a positive effect on her headache as the pain began to subside.

  The grocery store wasn’t hard to find and when she found it, she was a bit surprised at how many people were there. When she got out of the car to retrieve a shopping cart, she overheard two older ladies discussing an upcoming band of bad weather headed their direction.

  “It’ll be here late tomorrow,” she heard one of the ladies say as the other shook her head, a look of worry etched on her face.

  “Oh dear, I’ll have to bring in my cats,” the other lady replied.

  Lacey smiled at them and moved into the store. She studied each face as she knew being in a small town she would encounter these people over and over. If they stayed there any length of time, she’d begin to learn their names and soon after she’d pick up on gossip. This was the nature of the beast in a small town, and Lacey thought she could get used to it…no matter how hard it was to keep the car clean.

  The first thing she noticed when she got inside was an old man, resting against the counter that was usually reserved for a pharmacy that was currently closed. He had been looking at a newspaper stretched out across the countertop but paused to look at her when she moved past. His face was weathered, his eyes gray and watery. He wore a red baseball cap, and tufts of white hair poked out from underneath it in all directions. He turned his whole body to watch her as she strolled toward the bread aisle. Lacey could feel his eyes watching her. It made her uncomfortable.

  There were only four loaves left. She grabbed one and then did what was customary for the townsfolk of a small town to do when threatened with a storm: she moved on to get a gallon of milk. From there she moved down each aisle, picking up a wide variety of items. On the cereal aisle, she caught a glimpse of the old man watching her…seemingly following her. She snapped her head around to look at him. It was her hope that if she “caught” him following her around, he would become embarrassed and back off. To her surprise, he instead smiled at her and seemed anything but embarrassed.

  “Can I help you?” she asked, unable to hide her annoyance.

  Fortunately, a young stock boy was nearby, and he’d momentarily stopped, straightening the shelf containing pancake mix to see what the matter was. His presence made Lacey feel safe to confront the old man.

  “Me?” the man replied, and he literally glanced to either side of him as if he were expecting to see someone else.

  Lacey glanced at the stock boy. He shrugged in response. “Yes you,” she said to the man, her tone softening a bit. “I’m sorry, I thought you were following me.”

  “I’m sorry,” he answered, shifting his feet a bit. “I just haven’t seen you before…and I know everyone in this town.”

  Lacey smiled and sighed. Of course, she thought. It’s a small town…I’m an outsider…

  “I’m new here,” she told him. “Me and my family just moved in today.”

  The old man’s face brightened substantially, and he moved closer. Lacey noticed he had a pronounced limp when he walked. “Well, welcome to Dunn,” he said, beaming. “We’re so glad to have you here.”

  “Well, thank you,” Lacey replied, and she reached for a box of cereal.

  “Where are you and your husband living?” he asked.

  The stock boy drew near Lacey. “Ma’am, is he bothering you?”

  She smiled at him and shook her head. “No, of course not,” she answered. “But thank you.” She turned to the old man and said, “We moved to the old antebellum home at the end of Isley Road.”

  The mention of where she lived made the old man stop dead in his tracks. The warmth in his face disappeared instantly and seemed to be replaced with something much cooler…something like fear. Lacey was confused, and she looked to the stock boy for some sort of clarification regarding the old man’s reaction. She was dismayed to find that he too looked a bit uncomfortable.

  “Umm…what’s wrong?” she asked, her attention moving back and forth between the two men.

  The stock boy took a deep breath and smiled. “Nothing…nothing at all,” he said. “Welcome to Dunn.”

  “You’re going to die,” the old man said very flatly.

  The stock boy’s smile disappeared. His brow tightened. “Please do not frighten our customers.”

  “What? I’m going to die?” Lacey asked. “What are you talking about?”

  “Your whole family will die…you need to get out of there…fast!”


  “Sir, that’s enough,” the stock boy said. “If you can’t stop frightening our customers, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” He then leaned close where only Lacey could hear him. “He’s a bit nutty,” he whispered. “He’s known as the town crazy.”

  Lacey met the stock boy’s eyes and she nodded. Suddenly, she felt a mixture of pity and sorrow for the old man. “I see,” she said, returning her attention to the old man. “Well, thank you for the warning.” She turned back to her cart and began to move away.

  “Didn’t someone tell you what happened to the former owners?” the old man said, and he took a step toward her again.

  Lacey attempted to ignore him and moved in the direction of the checkout lines.

  “They are dead!” the man said, his voice loud and powerful.

  Lacey glanced around and could see other people in the store were now watching her. It was as if time had stopped and everyone else had their attention focused solely on her.

  “If you don’t get out of there, your family is going to die too!” the man added. He now made an attempt to chase after her, but his limp prevented him from moving very fast.

  “Leave her be,” the stock boy snapped. “Sir, you need to leave, right now!”

  The old man paused and glanced at the stock boy and then to the other patrons in the store. “You all know it to be true,” he said. “You all know she and her family is in danger…why don’t you tell her?”

  Lacey glanced around again at the other shoppers. They were all staring at her but said nothing. For a brief, awkward moment, Lacey stood in line behind a middle-aged man that was ahead of her checking out. He looked at her sadly as the cashier scanned one item after another. Lacey could feel the eyes of everyone watching her intensely. She could feel sweat beading up on her forehead. Her heart pounded in her chest. Her hands gripped the handle of the shopping cart so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

  “They’ll all die,” the old man said again, and though she didn’t look back at him, she could tell by the sound of his voice that he was moving closer to her. “Do you understand what I’m telling you, young lady?”

  Suddenly, Lacey let go of the shopping cart, and snatched up her purse. She locked eyes with the cashier. “I’m terribly sorry,” she said, moving toward the exit. “I feel sick, I need to leave.”

  The cashier nodded at her but said nothing. Lacey rushed through the exit and took a big gulp of the cool night air. She wasn’t lying. She really did feel sick. She rushed to her car, her hands shaking. She heard the old man calling to her from across the parking lot. He seemed to be pleading with her to wait. Lacey ignored him and cranked the car.

  CHAPTER 3

  Harry wanted to chase after Lacey. He wanted to grab her by the arm, look her in the eyes and tell her the truth. The truth was killing him—and ironically it was the truth that was literally killing him. His biggest and most important concern was seeing the pain and hurt in her eyes—and then not being able to do anything about it. When she’d flashed in front of him and told him she was going into town, he could see a mixture of anger and hurt brewing behind her blue eyes. If he was going to tell her, he didn’t want it to be in a moment where there was any hint of anger between them. No, he’d bide his time and wait for the right moment.

  She hadn’t slammed the door when she left, but she’d closed it with purpose. It was clear that she wanted Harry to know she was unhappy and she’d succeeded. For a few minutes, he sat there in near silence. The only sounds came from upstairs where Alice played. He contemplated going up to spend a few minutes with her, but truthfully, he didn’t want to be around anyone. He shot a quick glance out the window closest to him and eyed the meadow. There was still an hour of daylight left so he decided to go outside and take a walk.

  With the movers gone, the entire place had become unnervingly quiet. Harry moved across the tall green grass just as a gentle breeze blew across it. A terrible smell carried with the wind, so vile it almost made him wretch. He coughed and did his best to wave the horrible odor away from his face with his hand but to no avail. Harry turned in the direction from which the wind came and on the far side of the meadow he could see buzzards circling. Though he knew it was silly, he couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching him.

  The recent changes in his life had given Harry a newfound sense of fearlessness. He ignored the tiny voice in his head that screamed at him to return to the house, and instead casually strolled across the meadow toward the swirling birds. As he drew closer, the awful smell became worse. Harry pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and held it over his nose and mouth. His heart rate began to increase slightly as he began to seriously contemplate the possibility that he was about to discover a dead body on his new property.

  Harry’s thoughts again returned to Lacey as he walked. He considered their marriage, and all the happiness they had experienced over the past twelve years. In a matter of weeks, things had changed drastically. But had things gone too far? When Harry considered the things he could control, he didn’t think so. No matter what his wife currently thought of him, he didn’t want to lose her. He didn’t want to lose Alice either.

  When he was only twenty feet away, he began to hear the flies. The buzzing sound reminded him of the sound of high voltage at a power station. He slowed his pace…he wasn’t sure why, but he still felt as if he was being watched. The dead thing—or what was left of it—was lying right where the meadow met the forest. Harry stopped within six feet of it, unable to get any closer due to the unbearable stench. He squinted his eyes, a desperate attempt to make sense of what he was seeing. Whatever he was looking at appeared to be nothing more than the innards of…something.

  He didn’t know a lot about the internal organs of humans, but he easily picked out many of the larger ones with ease. He could see lungs, a stomach, and even a heart. Suddenly, he felt lightheaded and momentarily thought he was going to pass out. His first day at his new home was seemingly turning from bad to worse. Again, he felt the nagging sensation that someone was watching. Harry whipped his head in all directions for any sign of life. Except for the buzzards and flies, he found none.

  He began to feel the prickle of gooseflesh on his arms and neck. Harry turned away and headed back toward the house. Before he even realized it, he was running. After racing up the steps and through the front door, he headed straight for his cell phone. Alice came trouncing down the stairs, a doll in her hands.

  “Daddy, I can’t find Julie’s clothes,” she said, referring to the doll.

  Harry glanced up after snatching his phone. “It’s just packed up somewhere, hun,” he replied. “We’ll find it later.” He began moving toward the door again. “Go back upstairs…I have to make a phone call.”

  Alice looked at him, bewildered, and then begrudgingly returned to her bedroom. Harry raced down steps and headed for the old pecan tree near the edge of the meadow. The sun would be gone in mere minutes and as he dialed the number, he suddenly wished he’d brought some sort of weapon out with him. The phone only rang twice before he got an answer.

  “Baker County Sheriff’s Department, what is your emergency?” an older woman said. She reminded Harry of his third grade English teacher Mrs. Turnbow.

  “Yeah, I uh…I’m Harry Schrader, I just moved here today, and I found something strange on my property I think someone should come and take a look at.”

  “Where are you located, Mr. Schrader?” the woman asked flatly.

  “I live at the end of Isley Road,” he answered.

  There was a pause.

  “Are you there?” he asked.

  “Yessir,” the woman replied, and there was a change in her tone. Though it was slight, she seemed to be more concerned. “I’m familiar with the property. I’m sending the sheriff right over.”

  “Thank you,” he answered. He again surveyed his surroundings for anything unusual.

  “Would you like to remain on the phone until he arrives?” the lady a
sked.

  “No, that won’t be necessary,” Harry said. “I’ll be watching for him…thank you for your help.”

  He hung up the phone and returned to the front porch. He decided he’d wait there, in the old rocking chair the previous owners had left behind. Darkness had now fallen and there was a chill in the air that seemed to be compounded by the strangeness of the last several minutes. In total, it probably only took the sheriff ten minutes to arrive, but it certainly felt longer.

  When the patrol car came to a stop in his front yard, a man stepped out of the vehicle dressed in uniform…a tan shirt and dark brown pants. He wore a cowboy hat adorned with a gold star that matched the one on his chest. He appeared to be similar in age and build to Harry. There was a thick mustache under his nose.

  “Good evening,” the man said cheerfully.

  “Good evening,” Harry replied. He went down the steps to meet the man and extended his hand. “I’m Harry Schrader.”

  “Travis Horne,” he replied, shaking his hand. Harry noticed Sheriff Horne look past him to the old antebellum house. “You just moved in?”

  Harry nodded. “Just got here today,” he answered.

  “Well, welcome to Baker County,” Sheriff Horne said. “We’re glad to have you. Barb tells me you’ve got something here to show me.”

  “Yeah, I thought it best to have someone else look at this,” he replied. “Come on…I’ll show you.”

  As they moved across the meadow, Sheriff Horne pulled a flashlight from his belt and illuminated their path ahead. It wasn’t long before he noticed what had drawn Harry to the site in the first place.

  “Whew…something out here is dead,” he said, waving his free hand in front of his face.

  Harry said nothing and continued to lead the way. When they got close enough, he stopped and pointed.