Speaks the Nightbird

by Robert R. McCammon

  Matthew stared at the golden glint. Linch had begun to angle the brooch slowly in and out of the sun’s stream, in a regular—and transfixing—pattern.

  “Yes,” Matthew said. “Beautiful.” With a surprising amount of difficulty, he pulled his gaze away from the brooch. “I want to know about the book.”

  “Ahhhh, the book!” Linch slowly raised the index finger of his left hand, which again secured Matthew’s attention. Linch made a small circle in the air with that finger, then slid it down to the brooch. Matthew’s eyes followed its smooth descent, and suddenly he was staring once more at the light…the brooch…the light…the brooch…

  “The book,” Linch repeated softly. “The book, the book, the book.”

  “Yes, the book,” Matthew said, and just as he attempted to pull his gaze again from the brooch Linch held it motionless in the light for perhaps three seconds. The lack of movement now seemed as strangely compelling as the motion. Linch then began to move the brooch in and out of the light in a slow clockwise direction.

  “The book.” This was peculiar, Matthew thought. His voice sounded hollow, as if he were hearing himself speak from the distance of another room. “Why…” The brooch…the light…the brooch…the light. “Why Egyptian culture?”

  “Fascinating,” Linch said. “I find the Egyptian culture fascinating.”

  The brooch…the light…

  “Fascinating,” Linch said again, and now he too seemed to be speaking from a distance. “How they…forged an empire…from shifting sand. Shifting sand…all about…shifting sand…flowing…softly, softly…”

  “What?” Matthew whispered. The brooch…the light…the brooch…

  “Shifting…shifting sand,” Linch said.

  …the light…

  “Listen, Matthew. Listen.”

  Matthew was listening. It seemed to him that the room around him had become darkened, and the only glint of illumination came from that brooch in Linch’s hand. He could hear no sound but Linch’s low, sonorous voice, and he found himself waiting for the next word to be spoken.

  “Listen…Matthew…the shifting sand…shifting…so so beautiful…”

  The voice seemed to be whispering right in his ear. No, no: Linch was closer than that. Closer…

  …the brooch…the light…the brooch…

  Closer.

  “Listen,” came the hushed command, in a voice that Matthew now hardly recognized. “Listen…to the silence.”

  …the light…the shifting shifting sand…the brooch…the so so beautiful light…

  “Listen, Matthew. To the silence. Every. Thing. Silent. Every. Thing. So so beautiful. The shifting shifting sand. Silent, silent. The town…silent. As if…the whole world…holds its breath…”

  “Uh!” Matthew said; it was the panicked sound of a drowning swimmer, searching for air. His mouth opened wider…he heard himself gasp…a terrible noise…

  “Silent, silent,” Linch was saying, in a hushed, slow singsong voice. “Every. Thing. Silent. Every. Till—”

  “No!” Matthew took a backward step and collided with the doorframe. He jerked his eyes away from the glinting brooch, though Linch continued to turn it in and out of the sunlight. “No! You’re not…going to…”

  “What, Matthew?” Linch smiled, his eyes piercing through Matthew’s skull to his very mind. “Not going to what?” He stood up from his chair…slowly…smoothly…like shifting shifting sand…

  Matthew felt terror bloom within him unlike anything he’d ever experienced. His legs seemed weighted in iron boots. Linch was coming toward him, reaching out to grasp his arm in what seemed a strange slow-motion travesty of time. Matthew could not look away from Linch’s eyes; they were the center of the whole world, and everything else was silent…silent…

  He was aware that Linch’s fingers were about to take hold of his sleeve.

  With all the effort of will he could summon, Matthew shouted, “No!” into Linch’s face. Linch blinked. His hand faltered, for perhaps a fraction of a second.

  It was enough.

  Matthew turned and fled from the house. Fled, though his eyes felt bloodshot and swollen. Fled though his legs were heavy and his throat as dry as shifting sand. Fled with silence thundering in his ears, and his lungs gasping for breath that had seemed stolen away from him only a few seconds before.

  He fled along Industry Street, the warm sunlight thawing the freeze that had tightened his muscles and bones. He dared not look back. Dared not look back. Dared not.

  But as he ran, putting precious distance between himself and that soft trap he had nearly been snared by, he realized the enormity and strange power of the force that Linch wielded. Such a thing was unnatural…monstrous…such a thing was shifting sand…shifting…sorcery and must be silent silent of the very Devil himself.

  It was in his head. He couldn’t get it out, and that further terrified him because the contamination of his mind—his most dependable resource—was utterly unthinkable.

  He ran and ran, sweat on his face, and his lungs heaving.

  thirty-two

  MATTHEW SAT, shivering in the sunlight, in the grass beside the spring.

  It had been a half hour since he’d fled Linch’s house, and still he suffered the effects of their encounter. He felt tired and sluggish, yet frightened to the very core of his being. Matthew thought—and thinking seemed more of an effort than ever in his life—that Linch had done to his mind what he had done to Linch’s dwelling: entered it without permission, poked about, and left a little smear of mud to betray his presence.

  Linch had without a doubt been the winner of their duel.

  But—also without a doubt—Matthew now knew Linch was the owner of the shadowy hand that could reach into the human mind and create whatever fiction it pleased. Matthew considered himself intelligent and alert; if he had been so affected by the ratcatcher’s trancing ability, how simple a task it must have been to overwhelm the more rustic and less mentally agile Buckner, Garrick, and the other targets. And indeed Matthew suspected that the persons in whose minds Linch had planted the scenes of depravity had been carefully chosen because of their receptivity to such manipulation. Linch had obviously had a great deal of experience at this bizarre craft, and most surely he could recognize certain signals that indicated whether a person was a likely candidate for manipulation. Matthew thought that in his own case, Linch had been probing his line of mental defense and had been unsuccessful in breaking the barrier. Linch would probably have never even attempted such a thing if the man hadn’t been desperate.

  Matthew offered his face to the sun, trying to burn out the last vestiges of shifting sand from the storehouse of memory.

  Linch, Matthew believed, had underestimated Violet Adams. The child was more intelligent than her timidity let her appear. Matthew believed that the house in which she described seeing Satan and the white-haired imp was not the Hamilton house, but the house of her own mind. And back there in the dark room was the memory of Linch trancing her. Surely the man had not actually sung that song as he’d done the work, but perhaps the recollection of the event had been locked away from her and so the song—which Violet had heard when Linch had come ratcatching at her house—was an alternate key.

  The question was: where and when had Violet been entranced? Matthew thought that if Buckner and Garrick could remember correctly, they might supply the fact that Linch had also come ratcatching—or simply spreading poisoned bait as a “precaution”—to their own houses. Matthew could envision Linch asking either man to step out to the barn to look at evidence of rodent infestation, and then—once away from the sight of wives or other relatives—turning upon them the full power of this strange weapon that both erased reality and constructed a lifelike fiction. What was particularly amazing to Matthew was the fact that the effects of this power might be delayed some length of time; that is, Linch had given some mental command that the fiction not be immediately recollected, but instead recalled several nights later. And the
memory of being entranced was erased from the mind altogether…except in the case of Violet Adams, whose mind had begun to sing to her in Linch’s voice.

  It was the damnedest thing he’d ever heard of. Surely it was some form of sorcery! But it was real and it was here and it was the reason Rachel was going to be burned on Monday morning.

  And what could he do about it?

  Nothing, it seemed. Oh, he could go to Bidwell and plead his case, but he knew what the result of that would be. Bidwell might arrange shackles for him and put him in a cushioned room where he would be no danger to others or himself. Matthew would fear even mentioning such a theory to the magistrate; even if Woodward were able to hear and respond, he would believe Matthew to be so severely bewitched that the stress might sink him into his grave.

  The ratcatcher, it seemed, had done much more than winning a duel. Linch had demonstrated that the war was over and declared himself its absolute and cunning victor.

  Matthew drew his knees up to his chin and stared out over the blue water. He had to ask the question that seemed to him the most basic query in existence yet also the most complex: Why?

  For what reason would Linch put forth such an effort to paint Rachel as a witch? And why, indeed, was a man of his vile nature even in Fount Royal? Had he murdered Reverend Grove and Daniel Howarth? If Rachel was only a pawn in this strange game—if, for the sake of conjecture, Bidwell was the real target—then why go to such extremes to destroy Fount Royal? Was it possible Linch had been sent from Charles Town to do these dark deeds?

  It seemed to Matthew that the jealous watchdogs in Charles Town might encourage the burning of a few empty houses, but they wouldn’t stoop so low as to subsidize murder. Then again, who could say what reigned in a man’s heart? It would not be the first time that gold coins were spent on a spill of crimson blood.

  Matthew narrowed his eyes slightly, watching the surface of the spring ripple with a passing breeze.

  Gold coins. Yes. Gold coins. Gold and silver, that is. Of the Spanish stamp.

  Taking shape in Matthew’s mind was a theory worth chewing on.

  Say that, even though he’d found nothing last night, there was indeed a fortune of pirate coins down at the bottom of the fount. Say that somehow Linch—whoever he really was—had learned of its presence, possibly months or even years before he’d arrived on the scene. When Linch got here, he discovered a town surrounding the treasure vault. What, then, could he do to get the coins for himself and himself alone?

  The answer: he could create a witch and cause Fount Royal to wither and die.

  Perhaps Linch had gone swimming on more than one occasion, late at night, and discovered…Oh, Matthew thought, and the realization was like a punch…discovered not only gold and silver coins…but a sapphire brooch.

  What if there was not just coinage in that treasure vault, but also jewelry? Or loose gemstones? If indeed Linch had brought that brooch up from the depths, then the ratcatcher was aware of how necessary it was to clear the town away before a real attempt at salvage could be undertaken.

  Yes, Matthew thought. Yes. It was definitely a reason to kill two men and create a witch. But wait…Was it not in Linch’s best interest that Rachel not be burned? With the removal of the “witch,” Fount Royal would likely start to grow healthy again. So what was he going to do to make sure the town’s decline continued? Create a second witch? That seemed to Matthew to be a task requiring a great deal of risk and months of planning. No, Rachel had been the perfect “witch,” and the more reasonable action would be to somehow capitalize on her death.

  Perhaps…with another murder? And who might find himself throat-slashed by the vengeance of “Satan” in a dimly lit room or hallway some evening hence?

  Matthew suspected that this time Linch would go for Fount Royal’s jugular. Would it be Dr. Shields lying in a pool of blood? Schoolmaster Johnstone? Edward Winston? No. Those three men, though vital, were replaceable in the future of Fount Royal.

  The next victim would be Bidwell himself.

  Matthew stood up, his flesh in chillbumps. Near him a woman was dipping two buckets while conversing with a man who was filling a keg. Their faces, though lined by their lives of difficult labor, were free from concern; in them was the statement that all was right with Fount Royal…or soon to be right, with the execution of the witch.

  Little did they know, Matthew thought. Little did anyone know, except Linch. Especially little did Bidwell know, for as Rachel died writhing in the flames the plan would be set in motion to cut his throat in the same manner as the other victims.

  And what could be done about it?

  Matthew needed evidence. One sapphire brooch would not do; besides, Matthew was certain Linch would now hide it in a place even a rat couldn’t discover. To expose the coins that Goode had found would be beneficial, but would also be a betrayal of Goode’s trust. Obviously Linch was the thief who had entered Bidwell’s house that night and taken the gold coin from Matthew’s room, probably in an effort to ascertain if it was part of the treasure and where it might have come from. That was another question, however: how had an Indian gotten hold of a Spanish coin?

  Matthew was feeling more like himself now. He wouldn’t return to Linch’s house alone for a barrel full of gold coins. But if he could find some piece of evidence that might implicate Linch…some hard proof to show Bidwell…

  “There you are! I was just on my way to see you!” That voice, high-pitched and waspish, struck him with fresh dread.

  He turned to face Lucretia Vaughan. She was smiling brightly, her hair contained under a stiff white bonnet, and she wore a lilac-colored dress. In her arms was a small basket. “I hoped to find you in good spirits this day!”

  “Uh…yes. Good spirits.” He was already edging away from her.

  “Mr. Corbett, please allow me to present you with a gift! I know…well, I know our dinner last night was difficult for you, and I wished to—”

  “It’s all right,” Matthew said. “No gift is necessary.”

  “Oh, but it is! I realized how much you enjoyed your food—in spite of my daughter’s display of willful misbehavior—therefore I wished to bake you a pie. I trust you like sweet yams?” She lifted the golden-crusted pie from the basket to show him. It was held in a pie dish of white clay decorated with small red hearts.

  “It…truly looks wonderful,” Matthew told her. “But I can’t accept it.”

  “Nonsense! Of course you can! And you may return the dish the next time you come to dinner. Say…Tuesday evening at six o’clock?”

  He looked into her eyes and saw there a rather sad combination of voracity and fear. As gently as possible, he said, “Mrs. Vaughan, I can’t accept the pie. And I can’t accept your invitation to dinner, either.”

  She just stared at him, her mouth partway open and the pie dish still offered. “It is not in my power to help your daughter,” Matthew continued. “She seems to have her own mind about things, just as you do, and there lies the collision. I regret you have a problem in your household, but I can’t solve it for you.”

  The woman’s mouth had opened a little wider.

  “Again, thank you for the dinner. I truly did enjoy it, and the company. Now, if you’ll excuse—”

  “You…ungrateful…young…bastard!” she suddenly hissed, her cheeks flaming red and her eyes half-crazed with anger. “Do you realize what effort was expended to please you?”

  “Uh…well…I’m sorry, but—”

  “You’re sorry,” she mimicked bitterly. “Sorry! Do you know how much money and time I spent on Cherise’s gown? Do you know how I worked over that hearth and cleaned that house for your pleasure? Are you sorry about that, too?”

  Matthew noticed that several citizens who’d come to the spring for water were watching. If Lucretia noticed, it made no difference to her because she kept firing cannonades at him. “Oh, but you came in our house and ate your fill, didn’t you? You sat there like a lord at feast! You even took bread awa
y with you! And now you’re sorry!” Tears of rage—misguided rage, Matthew thought—wet her eyes. “I thought you were a gentleman! Well, you’re a right sorry gentleman, aren’t you?”

  “Mrs. Vaughan,” Matthew said firmly, “I cannot save your daughter from what you perceive as—”

  “Who asked you to save anybody, you self-righteous prig? How dare you speak to me as if I’m a milkmaid! I am a person of esteem in this town! Do you hear me? Esteem!”

  She was shouting in his face. Matthew said quietly, “Yes, I hear you.”

  “If I were a man you wouldn’t speak to me with such disrespect! Well, damn you! Damn you and Charles Town and damn all you who think you’re better than other people!”

  “Pardon me,” he said, and began walking toward the mansion.

  “Yes, go on and run!” she hollered. “Run back to Charles Town, where your kind belongs! You city dog!” Something in her voice broke, but she forced it back. “Playing in your ludicrous gardens and dancing at your sinful balls! Go on and run!”

  Matthew didn’t run, but his walking pace was brisk enough. He saw that the window of Bidwell’s upstairs study had opened and there was the master himself, looking out upon this unfortunate scene. Bidwell was grinning, and when he realized Matthew had seen him he put his hand to his mouth to hide it.

  “Wait, wait!” the brazen woman shouted. “Here, take your pie!”

  Matthew looked back in time to see Lucretia Vaughan hurl the pie—dish and all—into the spring. Then she fired a glare at him that might have scorched iron, turned on her heel, and stalked away, her chin lifted high as if she had put the Charles Town draggletail in his fly-blown place.

  Matthew entered the mansion and went directly up the stairs to the magistrate’s room. Woodward’s shutters were closed, but Matthew thought the woman’s enraged vocals must have frightened birds back in the swamp. The magistrate, however, still slept on, though he did shift his position to the side as Matthew stood next to his bed.

  “Sir?” Matthew said, touching his shoulder. “Sir?”