by Dale Young
Suddenly the entire scene disappeared in swirl of light. Logan had to squint as the kaleidoscope of light returned. But after a few seconds, the brilliant lights disappeared and Logan was once again staring out into a moonlit tobacco field. The harvest moon had now moved farther above the distant tree line. Logan knew he was now looking at the present-day version of the fields.
Logan took a step backwards and slowly turned around. Then he let out a gasp.
Standing in the doorway was the little girl. Logan instinctively moved backwards until he felt his back touch the window. But suddenly the little girl turned and ran down the hallway, disappearing from sight. Logan listened to her footsteps as they moved quickly away.
Logan walked slowly to the bedroom door. Then he leaned out and looked down the hallway towards the attic door. He turned and looked in the other direction but there was no sign of the little girl.
The attic door was still cracked open and Logan knew right then what he had to do. He felt his heart pounding in his chest as he stepped out of the bedroom and into the hallway. Once at the attic door, he reached down and grasped the cold doorknob and slowly pulled the door open.
He could see up the narrow staircase to the attic above. The light of the moon was streaming in through the dormers as Logan slowly climbed the stairs. He stopped when his eyes were level with the attic floor.
He felt every nerve ending in his body fire in unison when he saw the old woman sitting on the floor in the middle of the attic. He thought for a moment that his legs were going to give way and that he would fall back down the stairs. But he held onto the edge of the attic floor as he kept his head low. He finally regained his composure enough to study the woman’s face. It was then he realized that he was looking at his great-grandmother Rosemary. She was sitting in the middle of the attic floor surrounded by porcelain dolls. The dolls reminded him of the one that was sitting on the dresser in his bedroom.
Logan watched as Rosemary picked up a doll and began to stroke its dress with her hands. She then ran her fingers through the doll’s hair before pulling the doll close to her chest. Then Logan watched in horror as Rosemary held the doll with one hand and used her other hand to twist off the doll’s head. She then took the head and placed it beside her on the floor. Rosemary then dropped the headless doll and picked up another one lying close to her legs. Logan watched as she repeated the same actions with the new doll, placing its head in the pile with the others.
Just as Logan was about to call out Rosemary’s name, she suddenly became aware of his presence. He watched as she lifted her face and looked directly at him. When their eyes locked Logan felt the blood drain from his face. He knew right then that Rosemary could see him and knew who he was.
“Rosemary?” Logan’s voice rattled through the attic breaking the silence.
He could see tears running down her cheeks as she sat in the middle of a swath of moonlight pouring in from a dormer. After a few seconds she returned her attention to the doll in her lap. She stroked the hair, adjusted the dress and then slowly twisted the head off and placed it in the pile like she had done before. It seemed as if she wanted Logan to watch what she was doing.
Suddenly the light from the dormers flared and the walls were awash once again in brilliant colors. Logan brought his hand over his eyes and once the light died down he dropped his hand and scanned the attic.
Rosemary was gone. Left in her place was the pile of doll heads. The bodies of the dolls were gone as well.
He summoned what courage he had left. He took a step up, then another. His eyes slowly scanned the attic as he rose to the top step. But Rosemary was gone and he was now in the attic alone.
He walked slowly over to the closest dormer, continuing to scan the attic around him as he went. The dormer was on the rear of the house and looked out over the backyard and the fields. As Logan stepped up to the window glass, he had to squint to adjust to the daylight outside. When he looked down onto the fields he noticed that the tobacco was gone. In its place he could see freshly plowed rows of sandy dirt.
Outside several young men were plowing rows on the far side of the field, each one walking being a single plow pulled by a mule. The sun was high overhead and Logan could tell that the weather was hot. He watched as the men behind the plows wiped the sweat from their foreheads underneath their brim hats.
Logan knew the scene he was seeing had to be very old. The presence of the mules proved this. On the far edge of the field, through an opening in the tree line, Logan could see the banks of the Skeleton River, its surface shining brightly in the noonday sun. To the left of the Shaw Fields Logan could see the adjoining fields. He could see other workers busy plowing those fields as well, each one guiding their plow behind a mule.
He noticed a man sitting on a horse at the edge of the field closest to the house. He had to look down at an angle to see the man who seemed to be watching the laborers plow the fields. He was holding something in one of his hands but Logan could not make out what it was.
He studied the man and then got the feeling that he had seen him before. Just then the man turned and looked up at the dormer as if he knew Logan was watching him. As the man’s eyes looked up at Logan from underneath the brim of his hat, Logan noticed the leather strap hanging from the man’s hand. It was at that moment that Logan recognized the man. It was the man that had hit him across the chest in the hallway.
Before he could study the man further, the lights flared and an instant later Logan found himself once again staring out into the moonlit tobacco fields. The harvest moon was now higher above the tree line and its light was illuminating the fields bright enough to cause the tobacco plants to cast shadows between the rows.
Logan was about to step away from the window when movement in the tobacco field caught his eye. He strained to see through the window glass as his eyes followed the rows of tobacco to the far tree line. But whatever he had seen was gone, if he had seen anything at all. After a few more seconds of scanning the field he gave up and turned away from the window and then made his way across the attic and down the stairs to the hallway.
He realized at that moment that if he wanted to find Colby the first place he needed to look was at the McPhale house. He knew that it would be almost suicidal to drive onto the McPhale land and pick a fight with Chip and his brother, but Logan knew that he had to find Colby and he was certain that Chip McPhale had to be behind her disappearance. Logan knew that Chip wanted revenge for being hit with the two by four at the old train station and that the best way to get it was to take Colby and force Logan to come to him and fight him on his terms.
The thought of doing that terrified Logan but he knew he had no other choice. He knew at that moment that he loved Colby and that nothing would stop him from finding her. He felt a hot flash of anger blaze across his forehead when he thought about Chip McPhale harming her. Logan knew that if he had to kill Chip McPhale in order to save Colby, then that’s exactly what he would do.
23
Chip McPhale leaned back against the old table and turned the knob on the Coleman camping lantern until the flame grew bright enough to cast sharp shadows around the room. His brother Ethan sat across the room on the stone hearth of the old fireplace. Colby sat tied to a chair in the middle of the room. She had long since given up on struggling against the ropes that bound her hands and legs to the chair. It hadn’t taken her long to realize that it brought Chip pleasure to see her squirm and twist against the ropes.
“Come on, baby. Struggle for me. Be a good little whore and try and free yourself.”
Hatred flared in Colby’s eyes as she glared at Chip but she refused to pull against the ropes. The last thing she wanted to do was give Chip McPhale what he wanted. When she didn’t obey Chip’s command to struggle, he pushed himself off of the table and walked slowly over to her. When he bent down close to her, Colby could smell the bourbon on his breath. Then he touched her chin with his finger causing her to jerk her chin away in revulsion.
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br /> “I said struggle, you little hussy.”
Colby knew better than to anger Chip. With what strength she had left, she pulled at the ropes that held her hands behind the back of the chair. Then she watched as a look of pleasure washed over Chip’s face.
“That’s a good girl. Things will go better for you tonight if you do as you’re told.”
After Chip said this he stood up and took a step backwards from Colby. The sight of her tied to the chair with a rag crammed in her mouth to keep her quiet excited him. But he wanted to savor every moment. He had waited for this for a long time and he was in no hurry to rush. But before he could have his way with Colby, he knew he had to get rid of his brother. Chip knew Ethan wouldn’t have the stomach to go much further and that his brother might even try to stop him once things got physical.
“Ethan, you run along back to the house. Keep an eye out for that city fuck in case he comes snooping around.”
Ethan looked at Chip with surprise. “He ain’t gonna come around our house.”
Chip shot a look at Ethan. It was enough to terrify Colby as she looked at Chip’s face. The hatred boiling in the man was unbelievable. Colby knew that he was accustomed to getting his way with no backtalk from anyone.
“I said run back to the fucking house. I have some business to take care of with my little kitten here.” Chip stepped beside Colby and put his hand on her shoulder.
Ethan looked at Colby and knew that he shouldn’t leave her alone with his brother. But Ethan also knew that even though Chip was his younger brother that he would stand little chance against him in a fight. And if Ethan did manage to outfight his brother he realized that it would not be the end of it. Ethan was well accustomed with his brother’s taste for revenge and he knew that his brother would win eventually. Ethan realized he could never go to sleep if he got on his brother’s bad side.
“Come on, little brother. Let it go. Let’s go back to the house and finish off that bottle.”
“I said go back to the house and keep an eye out for the city boy. You know he’s gonna come looking for his little whore. It won’t take him long to figure out where she’s at.”
Ethan balked at this and continued to try and reason with his brother.
“He might know where we live but he damn sure ain’t gonna come down here, little brother. He believes that bullshit story about the killer and the moon and there’s no way his pussy ass is gonna cross his field at night to get down here. And why would he? How would he know we’re down here?”
Chip was growing impatient with his brother. And he didn’t like Colby seeing Ethan stand up to him. He knew in her eyes it undermined his image of authority.
“I’m not going to tell you again, Ethan. Run along.” When Chip said this he lifted his shirt and tucked it behind the small revolver stuck in the front of his pants. Colby’s eyes grew wide when she saw the gun.
When Ethan saw the handle of the gun sticking out from behind Chip’s belt, he knew he had lost the fight and that Colby was on her own. Ethan knew that when it came to his brother Chip that nothing meant more to him than getting his way, not even family.
Ethan gave Colby a wary look as he crossed the room to the front door. He knew what was going to happen to her and he felt bad about it, but not bad enough to do anything about it. He knew Chip wasn’t going to kill her, but he knew that what Chip had planned for her would probably make her wish that he did.
“Come on, Chip. Turn her loose and let’s get out of here.” This was Ethan’s last attempt to change his brother’s mind.
“I said go the fuck back to the house, Ethan. This is your last warning.”
Ethan glared at his brother. Then he decided that the battle was lost.
“Suit yourself, Chip.” Ethan then let out a long sigh and looked at Colby one more time. Then he stepped through the front door of the old sharecropper’s house and closed it behind him. Once outside he cut through the woods following the trail that would lead to the house his parents had left him and his brother after their mother had died and their father had been put in a nursing home.
Ethan knew that the Shaw land and his family’s land met somewhere in the thick stand of woods that formed a border between the fields. As he walked through the woods along the trail he looked up through the canopy of the treetops at the yellow disk of the harvest moon. Then he pulled his bib hat down close over his eyes and quickened his pace. He knew better than to wander off the trail and onto the Shaw land. Even if his brother didn’t believe in the ghost of tobacco road, Ethan had always believed in the legend of the ghost and because of that he made sure that he didn’t cross over into the Shaw Fields.
Ethan wanted to get as far away from the old sharecropper’s house as he could. To his left through the woods he could see the lights of the Shaw house. He knew at this very moment that Logan Shaw was probably pacing in the house worried sick about the whereabouts of Colby but Ethan was confident that Logan would never think to check the old sharecropper’s house. In fact, Ethan was sure that Logan would probably try to find Colby by following Harmon’s directions to their house. This had been the primary reason behind taking Colby to the abandoned sharecropper’s house. Logan would never think to look there.
Ethan realized that the best thing to do now was to make his way home and wait for Logan to show up. He tried to put the thought of what was happing to Colby out of his mind as he moved through the woods and then out into the open field behind his house. He could see his house in the distance, a welcome sight bathed in the yellow glow of the harvest moon.
24
The house was small and sat well off the road. Logan pulled slowly down the gravel road towards the house watching for a sign that would show him that someone was home. But the lights were off in all of the rooms and the windows were dark. Logan stopped near the halfway point to the house and pulled off into the tall grass that lined the gravel driveway. He decided to walk from this point on.
It had taken him less than fifteen minutes to find the house of Ethan and Chip McPhale. Harmon had told him roughly where their house was located and he had used common sense to fill in the gaps. There weren’t that many roads that branched off the main road towards where he knew the house had to be and before long Logan had found it. He was still unsure if it was the right house when he had first pulled into the driveway but now he was close enough to see Chip’s old pickup truck sitting in front of the house. Once he saw this, Logan knew he was in the right place.
Driving to the house had been Logan’s only choice. He could see the distant McPhale house from his own house but he would have had to cross his fields on foot to get to it. He had promised Colby that he would never go into his fields at night and tonight he felt like the least he could do was to honor the promise he had made to her.
The trees that lined the gravel drive to the house cast large shadows under the light of the harvest moon. Logan thought about the stories Colby had told him about the ghost but she had also told him that the killings were random and followed no set pattern other than they always occurred under the kind of moon that now hung overhead. But Logan knew he was on McPhale land and not Shaw land so he tried to convince himself that he was safe. He wasn’t sure if he believed it or not.
Logan wished he had a gun, but he was painfully aware that taking a gun onto someone’s property in the middle of the night and then killing them with it would hardly look good in the eyes of the law, no matter how well-intentioned his motives were. But he knew he had to find Colby and he was sure she had to be in Chip and Ethan’s house. He would just have to fight for her the old fashioned way and hope that the McPhale brothers would face him in the same manner. Hopefully one of them wouldn’t cut him down with a shotgun the minute he entered the house and later claim that they thought he was a burglar.
The McPhale house was an old brick rancher with a dark carport. Logan moved slowly up the driveway past Chip’s truck before stepping into the cave-like carport. He felt his nerves calm a bi
t as he was swallowed by the darkness. Somehow it made him feel more protected to be in the shadowy carport than out in the bright moonlight. The carport was empty, which led Logan to believe that either Ethan was gone or the two brothers only owned the one pickup truck.
His heart was thundering in his chest as he moved close to the door that led into the house. He could feel the adrenaline rushing through his veins. Logan thought he had to be crazy. Here he was about to break into someone’s home in the middle of the night to try and rescue a girl that he wasn’t even sure was in the house. He wished he could count on Sheriff Patterson to take care of this but he had his doubts as to what kind of lawman Patterson really was. Logan knew that not only could he not trust Patterson, he had no time to call him and try to explain the situation. Logan had a good mind as to what the McPhale brothers would do with Colby and he knew the time to save her was right now.
Logan slowly put out his hand and placed it on the doorknob. Then a thought hit him. What was he doing trying to sneak into the house? Maybe the direct approach would work better. With this in mind, he let go of the doorknob and took a step backwards. Then he balled up his fist and gave the door several hard knocks.
“Open up Chip! Ethan! I know you two are in there. Open this fucking door!” Logan was so scared that he felt like his bowels were going to empty into his pants. Openly trying to pick a fight with two men like Chip and Ethan McPhale was the most insane thing he had ever done. But he loved Colby, and Logan knew he was her only hope of rescue.
Before Logan could knock on the door again, Ethan McPhale came up behind him in the darkness. He raised the baseball bat in his hands and brought it down violently across Logan’s shoulders, just barely missing the back of his head. Ethan’s miscalculation in the darkness had saved Logan’s life. Had the baseball bat found the back of Logan’s head instead of the top his shoulder blades, the blow would have split his head open and killed him instantly.
