Mystery Walk

by Robert R. McCammon

  He thought about this for a minute, his brow furrowed. He loved his grandmother’s place—a white house on three thickly wooded acres with plenty of meandering trails to follow—but what would his father say? “When would we go?” he asked.

  “Why not in the morning? We could catch the bus down at the grocery store and be there by early afternoon. But we’ll go only if you want to.”

  “What kind of things do I have to learn?”

  “Special things,” Ramona said. “Things you won’t learn anywhere else. Some of it will be easy and fun, and some of it…won’t be; some of it may even hurt. You’re standing on the edge between being a child and being a man, Billy, and maybe there are things you can understand better this summer than you could in the next.”

  There was a darkly luminous look in Ramona’s eyes that both unsettled Billy and sparked his curiosity; it was like seeing something sparkle down along a forest path he’d never dared explore before. He said, “All right. I’ll go.”

  “Then you’re going to need to get some clothes together, ’cause we might be staying at Gram’s for a while. Why don’t you get some of your underwear and socks out of your desk, and while you’re doing that I’ll get my clothes ready too. Then we’ll eat supper. All right?”

  In the lamplight, Billy opened one of his desk drawers and laid a few pair of Fruit-of-the-Looms out on his bed. Then he rummaged for some socks, his T-shirts, and—his favorite—his Lone Ranger suspenders. His shirts and jeans were hanging in his mother’s closet, so he’d have to get to them later. He leaned down and reached under the cot, pulling out a large paper sack; in it was a Dutch Masters cigar box he’d found on the roadside last summer, and contained within the box—which still smelled vaguely of cheroots—were Billy’s earthly treasures.

  He could use the paper sack to carry his clothes in, he decided, and now he sat on the cot with the cigar box on his lap and opened the lid.

  Inside were several green cat’s-eye marbles, smooth brown creek stones, a rock with the faint impression of a skeletal leaf pressed on it, a Duncan yo-yo that whistled, twenty-five Civil War bubble-gum cards with gory battle pictures on them, and…

  Billy tilted the cigar box toward the light. He stared into the box, his eyes slowly widening; then he turned the lamp’s wick up, because suddenly the room had seemed too dark by far.

  A small piece of coal, glittering in the orange light, lay half buried under the Civil War cards. I didn’t put that in there, Billy thought; or did I? He couldn’t remember; no, no he was sure be hadn’t. At first it looked only like a bulbous black lump, but as he stared at it he found himself recalling Will Booker’s face in great detail, and he could remember the good times they’d had together. He picked it up and held it close to his face, studying the dark ridges.

  He didn’t know how the coal had gotten there, but he knew there was a purpose behind it. Will was dead, yes, Billy knew, but something of the boy lived on in Billy’s memories; and if you could remember—truly remember; Billy thought—then you could stop time, and nothing ever died. His fist slowly closed around the coal, a sensation of warmth spreading up his arm to his elbow.

  His mind went back to the night before. He frowned, recalling the way that young evangelist, Wayne Falconer, had stared at him. He didn’t understand what his mother had said about the healing being “akin to murder,” but he knew she’d sensed something strange about them as he had, something that he couldn’t fully perceive.

  Nightsounds pressed in on the house. Billy sat listening for the sound of his father’s car pulling up in front, but it didn’t come. The image of a beast in a truck’s headlights came at him with no warning. He shuddered, then finally replaced the piece of coal in the cigar box and put his clothes down into the paper sack, getting ready for tomorrow’s journey.

  15

  JIMMY JED FALCONER AWAKENED in the soft blue light before dawn, brought out of sleep by Toby’s barking in the meadow. He lay awake, his pretty blond wife Camille sleeping at his side, and listened to Toby. Chasin’ rabbits, he mused, as the barking faded in the direction of the woods. When he thought of the dog, he naturally thought of the miracle.

  It had happened on that day in April. Cammy had been washing dishes in the kitchen when she’d heard Wayne scream, and she’d raced out of the house to see what had happened. Wayne was running toward her with the bloody bag of dogflesh in his arms, and his mouth was open and straining to cry out again. He’d stumbled and fallen to the ground, and when Cammy had reached him she’d seen that Toby was already almost dead, the breath coming in whining hitches from its crushed chest. The big dog’s sinewy body was a mess of shattered bones, its head crooked at an awful angle and blood dripping from its floppy ears. Wayne had screamed, “Truck hit him, Momma! I saw it happen! Get somebody to make Toby well!”

  But Cammy hadn’t known what to do, and all the leaking blood had repulsed her. She’d stepped back, dazed, and her son—the tears streaming down his livid, dusty face—had shrieked at her, “GET SOMEBODY!” in a voice that had shaken her to her soul. She’d started running for the phone to call Jimmy Jed in Birmingham at his advertising meeting, but she knew that Toby wouldn’t last more than a few minutes longer. At the front door she’d looked over her shoulder and seen Wayne bent down over the dog, his new jeans filthy with dust and blood.

  The long-distance operator had just answered when she’d heard Wayne’s voice rise in a blood-curdling shout that stretched on for several seconds: “TOOOOOBBBBBYYYYYY!” She’d dropped the receiver, and was so startled her hair had almost stood on end. She had gone to calm Wayne down, then stopped on the porch, watching Wayne lift Toby, stumble and almost fall again, and then come walking slowly toward her, dust puffing off the driveway around his shoes.

  And he was grinning. Ear to ear. His eyes were red and tear-swollen, but they’d burned with an electric power that was like nothing Cammy had ever seen before. She’d actually felt herself shrinking backward, against the white porch railing. He’d said in a hoarse voice, “Toby’s all better now…”

  Wayne had put Toby down, and Cammy had almost swooned. The dog’s bones had been mended as if by a mad scientist…or a frantic child. The head was frighteningly crooked, the front legs splayed and the back ones turned inward, the spine twisted and humped like a camel’s. It was something that had stepped out of a freak show; but the dog’s breathing wasn’t labored anymore, and though it staggered for balance and its eyes were dazed, Camille could see that Toby was no longer near death. Then she’d gotten her feet uprooted from the porch floor, and somehow she’d made that call to Birmingham.

  Falconer grinned to himself. He’d seen the X rays Dr. Considine had taken; the bones were a mess, jigsawed together haphazardly, but they were firmly cemented and showed only faint signs of having been snapped or crushed. The vet was frankly amazed at Toby’s condition, telling Falconer that this was beyond science…way beyond. Toby’s movement was limited, so his legs had to be rebroken and properly set, but now the dog had gotten used to its crimped spine and crooked neck and could run through the meadows of the Falconer estate like blue blazes again. And the question had begun ticking in Falconer’s brain: if his son could heal an animal, what could he do for human beings?

  The answer came in the shape of a beatup blue Ford pickup, carrying a grim-faced man and woman and a little girl with the perfect face of a doll. Their names were Gantt, they lived on the other side of Fayette, and they’d heard talk about J.J. Falconer’s son from a friend, who’d heard the story in a direct line from the mouth of a certain veterinarian. The little girl couldn’t walk; her father had told Falconer that her legs had “gone to sleep and never woked up.”

  Falconer had gone upstairs to Wayne’s room, where model airplanes hung on thin wires from the ceiling. The boy was at his desk, patiently gluing together the fuselage of a Revell P-38. Falconer had pulled up a chair and watched him work for a minute in silence. The boy was very good with his hands, and was in love with airplanes. �
��There’s somebody downstairs who wants to meet you,” the evangelist had said finally.

  “Who, Daddy?”

  “A man and woman and their little girl. She’s seven, and her name’s Cheryl. Do you want to know why they’re here?”

  He nodded, carefully gluing a wing into place.

  “Because of how you fixed Toby. Remember what you told me, that when you saw Toby about to die your head started aching so bad you thought it was going to explode, and then you felt that you had to lay your hands on Toby, and you wanted Toby to be fixed more than anything in the world?”

  Wayne had put down his work and stared at his father, his eyes bright blue and puzzled. “Yes sir.”

  “And you said that in your mind you thought very hard of Toby’s bones coming back together again, that your hands were tingling like they do when they’ve gone to sleep, and everywhere you touched you could feel the bones move?”

  Wayne had nodded.

  Falconer had gingerly touched his son’s shoulder. “Cheryl and her folks have come here to ask for you help, son. Her legs are asleep, and they need to be fixed.”

  Wayne looked bewildered. “Did a truck hit her?”

  “No. I think this is a sickness in her mind and her nerves. But she needs…whatever it is you used before, to fix Toby. Do you think you can do that again?”

  “I don’t know. It’s…it’s different. Maybe I can’t ever do it again, maybe I used all of it up the first time because I thought so hard. It made my head hurt so bad, Daddy…”

  “Yes, I know. But didn’t it make you feel good too? Didn’t it set you on fire, couldn’t you hear the voice of God and feel His Power at work inside you?”

  “I guess, but…”

  “You’re a healer, son. A living, breathing miracle-working healer!” He’d placed one of his large rough hands over his son’s. “You’ve got the power in you, and it’s been given to you for a very special purpose. Cheryl and her folks are waitin’ downstairs, right now. What shall I tell ’em?”

  “I… I did it because I love Toby so much, Daddy. I don’t even know this little girl!”

  Falconer had leaned close to him, and lowered his voice. “Do it because you love me.”

  A sheet was draped over the dining-room table, and Cheryl Gantt was laid on her back by her father. The little girl trembled and clutched at her mother’s hand as Wayne stood over her, seemingly not knowing what to do. Falconer nodded encouragement to him; Cammy, overwrought by the whole thing, had to leave the house and sit on the porch until it was finished. When Wayne finally touched the little girl’s legs, he shut his eyes and rubbed the knobby knees as a vein slowly beat at his temple. Cheryl stared at the ceiling, whimpering softly.

  The boy tried for over an hour until his face was shiny with sweat and his hands cramped into claws. The Gantts were as kind as they could be, lifting their daughter off the table and taking her back out to their pickup truck. Wayne stood on the porch until the truck was out of sight, his shoulders slumped in defeat; when he met his father’s eyes a sob rattled deep in his chest, and he hurried upstairs to his room.

  Falconer went to his book-lined study, closed the double oak-paneled doors, and sat at his desk staring into space. He decided to turn to his Bible for comfort, and wherever it opened would be a message for him. He found himself looking at the thirteenth chapter of Matthew, at Christ’s parable of seeds sown on rocky soil, in thorns, and on fertile earth where they yielded fruit; it took three slow readings before he grasped the message. It hit him like a thunderbolt; of course! he thought, newly excited. Just as the word of the Lord was lost on some folks, so were the Lord’s miracles! If that little girl wasn’t healed, maybe it was because her parents didn’t have enough faith, or they were deep sinners who’d strayed far from the light. The problem hadn’t been with Wayne, but with either the little girl or her folks! And he was about to go up to talk to Wayne when the telephone rang.

  It was Mr. Gantt, calling from a Texaco station on the other side of Fayette. His little girl had started shaking all of a sudden, and she’d said she felt sick so they’d pulled the truck into the station. Mrs. Gantt had held her while the little girl had thrown up in the ladies’ room. Suddenly Cheryl had screamed that she felt the blood circulating in her legs, and her startled mother had let her go. Cheryl had collapsed to the floor, but had pulled herself slowly up and staggered out under her own power to the pickup truck, where her father had hugged her in his arms and started shouting about how Little Wayne Falconer had healed his Cheryl.

  And three days later an envelope came, addressed to the Falconer Crusade. It was from the Gantts, and inside was a ten-dollar bill wrapped up in tissue paper. The telephone calls and letters began landsliding in, and Falconer had known it was his responsibility to teach Wayne everything he knew about public speaking, getting up in front of a crowd and making them feel the love of God in their hearts. The boy was a natural, and at the last minute Falconer had added Wayne’s name to the posters for the summer tent-revival circuit.

  Falconer rose up out of bed, careful not to awaken Cammy, and went across the hallway to Wayne’s room. He silently opened the door; weak shards of first light glinted off the dozen or so airplane models—a B-52, a pair of navy Hellcats, a British Spad, a Constellation, and others—dangling down from their wires.

  Wayne was sitting in a chair drawn up to the window, the curtains luffing in a faint morning breeze. Beyond the window stretched the meadows of Falconer’s thirty-six-acre estate.

  “Wayne?” The boy’s head swiveled around. “You’re up awful early, aren’t you?” Falconer stepped into the room, ducking his head under a green Spitfire.

  “Yes sir. I had something on my mind, is all.”

  “Is it something so important you couldn’t get a good night’s sleep? You know, we’ve got to be in Decatur this evenin’.” He yawned and stretched, feeling that long drive already. “What’s on your mind?”

  “I was thinkin’ about what happened in Hawthorne, Daddy. I was thinkin’ about that boy and his momma.”

  “Oh?” Falconer ran a hand through his hair and sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, where he could see his son’s face. “You heard what was said about them. They’re strange people, and that woman came to the revival just to cause trouble. But you shouldn’t concern yourself.”

  “Is she a witch, like they said? And is the boy a demon?”

  “I don’t know, but it seems like everybody in Hawthorne thinks so.”

  The boy stared at him for a few silent seconds. Then he said, “Then why don’t we kill them?”

  Falconer was startled. “Well… Wayne, that would be murder, and murder’s against the law…”

  “Thought you said that God’s laws were above the laws of Man? And if that woman and the boy are Evil, then they shouldn’t be allowed to live, should they?”

  “Uh…” Falconer felt himself slipping in over his head. “The Lord’ll take care of them, Wayne. Don’t you worry.”

  “She said what I did was murder,” Wayne said.

  “Yes, she did. And that goes to show you just how twisted she is, doesn’t it? She tried to wreck your work, Wayne, and she used that boy to get things stirred up.”

  “Am I doing right, Daddy?”

  The question had come like a thunderclap. Falconer blinked. “What do you mean, son?”

  “I mean… I know I’ve healed a lot of people this summer, but…the first time, with Toby, I felt something happen deep inside me, like my blood was boiling and…it was kind of like that time when I was little and I stuck a fork into that electric socket. It hurt, and after it was over I could still feel it in my bones. I don’t feel it like I did that first time, Daddy; sometimes I get tingly, or my head aches, but…it’s not the same. And remember in Sylacauga last week? That blind man who came up to the front? I tried hard, Daddy, but I couldn’t make him see. And there have been others, too, that I don’t think I really touched…maybe I pretended to, but…” He paused, his fa
ce an uneasy mask of deep concerns.

  “I think you’re lettin’ that Creekmore woman make you doubt yourself, is what I think. And that’s what she wanted, all along! When you doubt yourself, you make yourself weak. And I’ve thought about that blind man too, and others like him; it could be you can’t heal some people because God has a plan for them just as they are. Or it could be there’s a sin in their lives that keeps them apart from the Light, and until they confess it they can’t receive a healing. But don’t you doubt yourself, Wayne; if you do, the demons win. Do you understand?”

  “I…guess I do.”

  Falconer patted his shoulder. “Good. You going to be ready for Decatur tonight?”

  Wayne nodded.

  “Is there something else on your mind?”

  “Yes sir. There was…something in that boy that made me afraid, Daddy. I don’t know what it was, but…when I looked in his eyes I felt scared right down in my stomach…”

  Falconer grunted softly and gazed out the window. “If you felt fear,” he told his son, “it was because you sensed the sin in his heart and mind. Wayne, you’re going to have a fine full life, and you’re going to meet a lot of good people; but you’ll meet people with Satan in their souls too. You’ll have to stand up to ’em, and face ’em down. Understand?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Good. Breakfast is still a couple of hours away. Want to catch some more winks?”

  “I’ll try.” Wayne left the chair and climbed into bed. His father smoothed the sheets and kissed him on the forehead.

  “You just rest easy now, big buddy,” Falconer said. “I’ll come wake you up for breakfast. Okay?” He smiled and then started toward the door.

  Wayne’s voice stopped him. “I am doing right, aren’t I, Daddy?”

  “Yes. I promise you. Get some sleep now.” And Falconer closed the door.