It can’t be, he thought, blinking hard.
Trailing but a few paces behind the pack of deer, and gaining fast, was a brown bear, his toothy mouth open, tongue lolling, its breath huge puffs of warm air.
The bear should have been hibernating—had been hibernating, Cody presumed, based on its thin frame and the loose, hanging brown fur.
What is it doing? Is it… is it hunting the deer?
Cody didn’t get a chance to mull the odd question over in his mind before the parade of animals once again distracted him.
Frozen in fear, he watched a pack of wolves come next, their considerably more nimble and lithe bodies making better, albeit not great, progress through the thick snowdrifts. The first of the wolves passed the bear, the much larger animal not even taking notice, and then the entire pack closed in on the deer. There were at least a dozen wolves, moving quickly, determined, more than enough to take down the deer even with the two large bucks. But to Cody’s amazement, they ran right past what must have looked to them like a gluttonous meal. And like the bear that they had just overtaken, their thin bodies suggested that they could have done with one. He had expected the deer to dart, to spread out as best they could in the deep snow as the wolves approached, but they too seemed not to notice.
“Get inside!” someone yelled, the sound carrying on the wind, which was starting to pick up again.
“Get the fuck inside!”
Oxford. It was Oxford. Cody had forgotten that the youngest Lawrence brother was out there in the white somewhere, brandishing a shovel.
Then there was another sound, one that amidst the heavy breathing and snorting of the wild animals that trudged across their lawn shouldn’t have raised much concern. But the sudden crack—a splintering, deafening sound that came from above, followed by a whoosh of displaced air—was equally as terrifying. Somewhere through the layer of cold snow that again covered Cody’s face and ears, he heard Corina scream.
Chapter Three
Deep Freeze
1.
For Almost A Day and a half now, Deputy White and Deputy Coggins had been trying to contact Sheriff Dana Drew. The sheriff wasn’t answering his radio, his cell phone, pager, smoke signals, fucking carrier pigeon—nothing. At first they had thought that he had just cut off early, gone straight home after dealing with the old hag out east—it had been his last day before he was scheduled to take his holidays—but it wasn’t like the sheriff not to call. They had heard nothing from Alice or the sheriff’s wife, either, and the former had Coggins worried—really worried. It was Christmas Day, and Alice should have stopped by the station; she had promised she would come visit him.
“We have to go out there,” Coggins said, and despite cringing at the thought, Deputy White could see no way around it.
The two deputies had been fielding calls all morning, and now that it was well into the afternoon and the snow still hadn’t stopped, the volume was increasing; like an incessant drone, the ringing seemed to never stop. Both deputies wanted to unplug the phones; wanted to block out the ringing and the prattling on the other end of the lines. The only reprieve that Coggins had had was when he had gone home to get a few hours of sleep, and had forced himself—despite all that was going on and all of the people he needed to contact—to shut his cell phone off. And now his reception was sporadic at best. He had extended the same courtesy to Paul, but the big man had declined. A stickler for rules, that one—never leave the station during a crisis.
Coggins looked away from Deputy White and stared out the window. Although the plow had come by and cleaned out their lot and most of the streets downtown, based on the calls they had been receiving that was probably the extent of their work. He had thought that most of the townsfolk would have been content with just spending time with their families on Christmas, cuddled and huddled up close like they were supposed to—but no, most of the calls had to do with restoring power, getting their precious television and internet back up and working.
“You think we could get Johnny out here with his pickup to lead the way?” Deputy White asked, his eyes, like Deputy Coggins’, trained on the snow that continued to fall.
Paul fought the urge to lick his lips; the cold had started to seep into the station, drying everything out.
“Johnny? You mean Johnny over at Johnny Mech’s Autobody?”
Paul nodded.
“He’s got a plow?”
Again, Paul nodded.
“Yeah,” he replied. “Just a pickup, but it has a plow extension he puts on sometimes. Probably out already, making some extra cash.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about that—if he has a plow, I’ll get him to come out here.”
Something in Deputy Coggins’ voice made Paul turn. The pale man was smiling widely, revealing his small teeth. There was a gleam in his eyes, and staring down his pointy nose, he looked almost sinister.
“I’ll call him,” Coggins said. “Johnny will come.”
Paul nodded for a third time and turned back to the snow. The wind had picked up and the windows started to rattle.
“Who’s going out there?”
The answer was immediate.
“Not me.”
“Well, fuck, not me either.”
There was a pause—an impasse.
“I’ll tell you what,” Coggins began, breaking the silence, “if you can answer a hockey trivia question, I’ll go. If you get it wrong, you go.”
Deputy White didn’t answer, but in their small, petty world of sports arguments and useless factoids, that was as good as spitting in his palm and shaking hands.
Coggins breathed deeply.
“Which two brothers have the most points in NHL history?”
Coggins saw Paul’s reflection in the glass twist as the man’s wide nostrils flare. He smiled.
Then Paul’s eyes suddenly widened and he swiveled quickly in his chair to face Askergan County’s other deputy.
“Wayne and Brent Gretzky,” he said, barely able to squeeze the words through his wide grin.
Deputy Coggins swore.
2.
Oxford, Jared, And Cody had been so concerned with Corina’s injured leg that it wasn’t until much later that they realized that the branch that had smashed her leg had first glanced off the window. Even though the smashed pane was up near the roof, the air that whistled through the broken glass dropped the temperature inside the house, already in the low sixties as it was, even lower.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” Cody repeated, trying to comfort his crying daughter. “Once we get this boot off, we’ll get you all fixed up.”
He turned and looked back into the house.
“Ma, get some warm washcloths and some clean towels, okay?”
Corina whimpered.
“Ma!” Cody shouted again.
A moment later, the thick woman stepped through the mudroom doorway, a large pot of warm water in her hands, two damp washcloths hung over the edge.
Cody grabbed the pot of water from his mother and placed it on the ground beside the bench. Henrietta suddenly appeared in the doorway, squeezing her small body through the tiny space between the frame and Mama Lawrence’s wide hips. Her crying had become intermittent as of late, which was at least something positive to hold on to. And it appeared as if the wails were currently in a downswing.
“Wanna see!” the little girl shouted in her high-pitched voice. “Wanna see! Wanna see!”
Instinctively, Cody stood to go to her, to guide her out of the room, but in doing so his hand slipped from behind Corina’s calf, and with the support gone, she screamed long and loud. Cody immediately adjusted his hand.
“Wanna see!” Henrietta said again, ignoring her sister’s reaction and forcing her way further into the room.
Marley followed closely behind, first-aid kit in hand. There were thick, dark circles around her eyes, and her face, usually soft and round, looked unusually narrow. Neither of them had slept well since the power had gone out, and Henriet
ta’s crying had kept them up ever since they had arrived. At first they had thought that she was getting her molars, but they couldn’t see anything cutting through her gums. Her temperature was fine, too, and aside from the mucous generated by her constant crying, she didn’t seem to be coming down with anything, either. It was just so odd, and their efforts to calm her so futile, that both Cody and Marley were an emotional wreck. And now this.
There were six of them in the small mudroom now—Mama, Cody, Jared, Corina, Marley, and Henrietta—and despite the plummeting temperatures, it was suddenly hot and hard to breath.
“Give the first-aid kit to Mama and get Henrietta out of here,” Cody instructed Marley.
His wife looked at him then, her hazel eyes blazing, accusatory. But before Cody could say something that he would likely regret, a hand came to rest on his arm and he turned to see Jared staring back at him.
I’ve got this, the man’s eyes said, and Cody reluctantly yielded.
In a soft, calm voice, Jared took over, saying, “Seth, please come get Henrietta and play with her in the other room.”
Henrietta whined in protest and Cody squeezed his eyes tightly closed.
Please don’t start crying again.
He didn’t know how much more he could take.
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Jared continued, “Seth is going to let you open a few presents—maybe even all of them.”
The young girl’s face lit up with the word presents, her mood changing instantly. A moment later, Seth poked his head into the mudroom and without a word—and consciously avoiding looking anywhere near Corina’s injured leg—he scooped up the toddler and whisked her away.
“Mama,” Jared said, “see if you can get a hold of Sheriff Drew, or the station, or—” He paused. “—or any of the neighbors.”
Mama nodded and also left the room. With her, Seth, and Henrietta gone, the air was suddenly easier to breath.
“Okay,” Jared continued, turning his attention to Corina. His voice was soft but direct. “We are going to pick you up now and lay you on the bench.”
Corina’s wet eyes widened, but she nodded.
Jared turned to Oxford first.
“You grab her left side, under her arm, and I’ll take the right.”
Jared moved around Cody to prepare himself.
“You take her legs,” Jared instructed Cody next. “Keep them as straight as possible.”
This time it was Cody who nodded.
“On my count: one, two... three.”
On three, they hoisted Corina up as smoothly as they could without a flat board. A small gasp escaped the young girl’s lips, but Cody fought the urge to look up, determined to keep his eyes locked on her leg. Although her snow pants were dark from the melted snow, he could see another more viscous liquid starting to stain the material around the girl’s shin.
A moment later, Corina was lying on her back, her legs completely stretched out on the length of the bench, her mouth wide in a painful moan.
“Good,” Jared said, leaning away from Corina to get a better look. “Ox, see if you can find some ibuprofen or acetaminophen or something stronger.” Jared hesitated. “There might be something in—”
Oxford waved him off.
“I’ll find something,” he replied before rising and leaving the room.
Of course you will, Cody thought, but then Corina whimpered again and he refocused.
“Okay, sweetie, we are getting to take off your snow pants now, alright?”
Corina nodded, tears silently spilling down her cheeks.
Her pink snow pants were already pulled down to her waist, and Jared managed to wriggle them down over her hips without much effort. But when they got to about mid-thigh, Corina’s breath started to come in short bursts, and when they got to just above her knees, she screamed again.
Jared stopped immediately and exhaled loudly.
“This is not going to work,” he said, and Cody nodded in agreement.
When did he become so calm?
Cody and his younger brother had never been very close, something that he attributed to lifestyle differences. And ever since Dad died and Jared had missed the funeral, they had spoken even less. In fact, Cody thought that it had been nearly a year since he had talked to his brother. Regardless, this man was not the same man that had been prone to losing his temper and yelling until his face went red when he didn’t get what he wanted. Nor was this the same man who had fainted when—it couldn’t have been more than four or five years ago—Cody had broken his pinky finger in a baseball game and had sent him a picture in a text message. A picture, for Christ’s sake. But there was no time for this reverie, not now—not with Corina lying in pain before him.
As if she had been reading their thoughts, Mama suddenly returned to the mudroom with a set of cooking sheers, which Jared took from her. The shears made quick work of the pink snow pants, splitting them easily down the leg. Once the fabric had been peeled away, Cody realized that Corina’s injury was more serious than he, and probably either of his brothers, had first thought.
The girl was wearing a pair of black tights beneath her snow pants that stopped just above her ankle. The thick elastic that held them there looked darker than the rest of her pants, and it looked tacky as well. The smell of fresh blood filled the air.
Shit.
Cody gently worked his hand from the bottom of her ankle up her shin, and as he did he could feel Corina’s entire body begin to tighten. When his hand brushed against something solid and irregular halfway to her knee, the girl yelled and Cody swallowed hard. The stiff protrusion could only be one thing.
“We need to get her to the hospital,” he said, his voice thin and wavering.
He looked up at Marley, who was still standing in the doorway. Her face was as pale as the blanket of snow outside, her hazel eyes as icy and hard.
“Well, that’s not going to happen.”
It was Oxford who answered. At some point, he had reappeared behind Marley and gently pushed his way by the tense woman. In one of his outstretched palms, Cody could see the unmistakable shape of two round white pills.
“Why the hell not?” Cody answered angrily.
Oxford bent down and placed the pills in Corina’s mouth, which was open, her lips twisted in silent agony. Somewhere, the wind blew.
Come Come
Oxford brought the glass of water he carried in his other hand to Corina’s mouth and the girl swallowed.
“Well, why the hell not?” Cody shouted again.
Oxford scratched at his left arm, followed by his neck, which was already red from what Cody assumed was previous scratching.
Jared slowly moved his way down Corina’s body, gently guiding Cody away from her injured leg before things got heated.
“Well?” Cody asked again, his anger building.
“Why do you think?”
Cody frowned. He didn’t like this game.
“The snow? I thought you shoveled.”
“I was—”
“Guys,” Jared interjected.
His plea went ignored.
“If you weren’t out there shoveling, then what the hell were you doing?”
Oxford opened his mouth to answer, but Cody didn’t give him a chance.
“Oh, I think we all know what you were doing out there.”
Again, Oxford tried to answer, but he was cut off.
“You have fleas, Ox? Is that why you are scratching yourself all the time like a mangy dog?”
Oxford’s calm demeanor vanished, and his face contorted in anger.
“I was fucking shoveling, but I can’t shovel an entire street or fucking highway!”
“Guys!” Jared interjected again, louder this time.
“And I almost got raped by a fucking brown bear—”
This wasn’t entirely true: as frightening as the experience had been, the bear hadn’t even noticed him, despite passing within a few feet.
“—or do you not remember the
zoo that passed within inches of my lips?”
“Guys!”
Cody put Corina’s leg down gently on the bench and stood.
“Why were you shoveling, then?” he shouted angrily.
“Guys!” Jared shouted at the top of his lungs.
Somewhere in the other room, Henrietta started to cry again, and Cody lost it. He turned to Jared, his face turning red.
“Oh, fuck you, Jared,” he spat. “You’re no angel. Where the fuck were you at Dad’s funeral, huh?”
Cody shoved Jared’s narrow chest, and the man stumbled backward. There were tears in his eyes.
“Selfish bastard,” he spat.
Cody whipped around, and out of the corner of his eye he caught Marley’s expression change from dread to fear. A sudden realization came over him—a scintilla of reason.
“Fuck,” he whispered, rubbing his eyes. In the other room, Henrietta continued to wail.
When he looked up, everyone in the room was staring at him. He turned his gaze to his fists and breathed deeply, forcing his palms open.
Calm.
The stress of having Marley judge every one of his actions, the evidently poor decision of coming north with the storm on the way, Henrietta’s inconsolable nature, and Corina’s injury compounded—and he had taken it all out on Oxford and Jared. And there was something else, too—something was wrong up here, something that Cody couldn’t quite place. He knew he wasn’t the only one that felt it, either, as they all seemed on edge ever since the wind had started to howl.
Cody shrugged and opened his mouth to apologize when the lights overhead suddenly flickered and the hum of the generator, a noise that they had all become accustomed to, sputtered.
Come
Come
“See?” Oxford said, but the anger and hurt had since fled his voice.
He raised a finger to the lightbulb above, which, while it was again producing steady light, was now emitting a pale yellow glow instead of a bright white.
“That,” Oxford paused, “is why I dug out the cars.”
Insatiable Series Omnibus Edition (Books 1-3) Page 8
