Wetbones: The Authorized Edition

by John Shirley

  Lonny drove the old Datsun off the highway, and up onto the dirt road. The road led through the horse pasturage, over the hill, down into the brushland, and up another hill to Drax's shack. Eurydice grabbed onto the dashboard to steady herself as the car bounced from rut to rut.

  It was about ten in the morning. Lonny came early, so there was no chance they could be caught out here after dark. It was safe after dark, it wasn't that. But Eurydice couldn't handle it here at night. And neither could he.

  Lonny glanced at her, checking out the work the surgeon had done on the side of her face. The burn scars weren't so bad, but she still looked patchy. He wondered if he should tell her she looked better, since she'd just come out of the second round of plastic surgery. Might make her feel better. But it might just make her think about the scars that were still there.

  Better keep his mouth shut about the scars. The idea in bringing her out here was to heal a few wounds, not open old ones.

  He stopped at the wooden gate to the horse pasture and got out, opened the gate, swung it to one side for the

  car. Hurriedly got back in the car and moved it through. Have to close the gate before the horses decided to check out the big world.

  But the horses were more interested in the car. Eurydice smiled when he pulled the car up, and the three apaloosas trotted up to the Datsun. "They hoping for a treat," she said reaching out a window to pat a soft muzzle.

  "Next time we'll bring an apple or something," he said. He got out again and closed the gate before the horses could get out. This is stupid, he thought, I should have asked her to get out and close the gate after I drove through.

  But you felt like never asking her to do anything. That's the way it was with her now.

  They drove on along the tracks that passed for a road, then down the other hillside. From here they could just make out, about a half mile away, the hilltop where the burnt-out ruins of the Doublekey ranch stood. Lonny had come back and torched it, in the wet season when it wouldn't start a big wild fire. It was probably unnecessary, but it made him feel better. It had been funny to watch the cops scurry around there, after the fire: The second time they'd been out there in droves and had gone away completely confused.

  Lonny glanced at Eurydice to see if she were staring at the Doublekey. She was looking somewhere else.

  They drove down and over the hills, and then up to Drax's place. He wasn't there anymore, of course. Not exactly.

  They pulled up out front, near the ring of posts and the fetish dolls, which had been carefully maintained.

  Lonny cut the engine and waited, the metal under the Datsun's hood ticking as it cooled. Eury looked at him

  and he made a "wait a minute" gesture. She shrugged and settled back in her seat to wait.

  Lonny could feel him watching them from inside the house. After a full ten minutes, the door of the shack opened and Prentice came out.

  "Okay," Lonny told Eurydice. "We can get out now."

  They climbed out of the Datsun. Lonny shook Prentice's hand. Prentice smiled at Eury and patted her arm. His hair and beard was almost as long as Drax's had been, after only a year. His face was haggard; his eyes hidden in sunglasses. He wore a pair of Drax's old overalls and boots, an Iggy Pop t-shirt. Jerry, Drax's dog, snuffled up from behind Prentice, looking them over. Jerry looked around as if hoping they'd brought Drax with them.

  "How you doin', dude?" Lonny asked.

  Prentice nodded. "Good, good. Real good. Good. You bring my stuff?"

  "Sure."

  They went to the trunk and pulled out the crate of coffee, another with some groceries. Lonny carried them to warping planks that passed for a porch. He knew that Prentice didn't like anyone to come inside. They stood in the shade of the perilous porch roof for a few minutes. Prentice glanced nervously at Eury, then looked quickly away; looked at her again.

  Lonny took an envelope from the pocket of his Levi jacket. Passed it and a pen to Prentice. Eury watched with a frown as Prentice opened the unsealed envelope, took out the cheque, signed the back, and gave it all back to Lonny. Prentice hadn't even looked at the amount. Lonny put the cheque and pen back in his pocket.

  "You need anything else?" Lonny asked.

  "No, no, not right now, no. I'm good. Good."

  Prentice glanced at Eury. She hadn't been out to the shack before and he seemed to think she wanted something of him.

  Lonny prodded her gently, "Anything you want to ask, Eury?"

  She licked the scarred flap that was the remains of her lower lip. "I . . ." She looked at the hilltop, some distance away but always looming over them, where the blackened bones of the Doublekey stood.

  "Nothing," Prentice said. Nodding reassurance to her. "Nothing there. Nothing's come out, and nothing's there."

  She smiled with relief, then went to sit in the car.

  "You sure you don't want anything else?" Lonny asked.

  Prentice shook his head. "I got electricity here now. I'm good. Great." He looked at the car. "Listen. Half that money - she gets it."

  Lonny smiled. "Okay" He took his car keys out of his pocket. "Well . . ."

  "Sure." Prentice smiled back at him. "See you next time."

  He waved once, shyly, at Eurydice, and went back into the shack, the dog trotting behind him.

  Lonny got back in the car and drove back the way he'd come. Eury closed the car windows against the dust.

  After they'd got to the highway, Eurydice asked, "What that cheque about?"

  "Money from the movie. They started shooting it, so he gets more money. He doesn't want to mess with postmen."

  'But how come he signed it for you?"

  "He doesn't like banks any more either. And he trusts me. I never take anything except what we agreed on to do his errands and shit."

  "He sold a movie, huh?"

  "A horror movie. I guess he got some inspiration somewhere. I don't know where."

  She laughed, as she was supposed to, and that was good. But then she said, "They should put me in the movie. A horror movie. I wouldn't need no makeup."

  "Hey! Come on. No way."

  Her mouth buckled and he thought she'd cry, but she didn't, not quite. Instead she changed the subject. "He going to build a house out there, now he got money?"

  "I don't know. Seems to like it the way Drax had it. He got a lot of money for that horror movie. They seemed to be sure it was gonna hit big I guess. He bought the land the shack is on, you know. And the Ranch land too. He owns it."

  "No shit? He - how come you do this job, Lonny? Just to be nice?"

  He was a little embarrassed that she'd figured him out. "No. I like to help him out, but - I need to go out there, too. I don't sleep too good, if I don't see him out there now and then." He thought he'd take her someplace to eat. It was good to have someone to go to dinner with. He liked being with Eury because she knew the things he knew, and because she didn't expect him to touch her, the way some other girls did. Like him, she didn't like to be touched any more.

  And at dinner he'd tell her about the money Prentice gave her. Money for a better place to live. And better plastic surgery.

  They were silent for awhile. Then she said, "Yeah. I'm glad he's there. But I feel bad for him. He's . . . just him and that odd dog. He must be lonely, all by himself out there."

  Lonny shook his head. "Oh, no. He's not lonely out there. Not at all. He's got Amy with him . . ."

  John Shirley is the author of 14 novels including the horror classics Dracula In Love, In Darkness Waiting, Cellars, and, of course, Wetbones, as well as a screenwriter (The Crow). His most recent collection, Black Butterflies: A Flock on the Darkside, contains his International Horror Guild Award-winning story, "Cram." The father of three sons, he lives near San Francisco with his wife, Michelena. Find out more about the author and his work at the John Shirley Web Site:

  http://www.darkecho.com/JohnShirley/

  Table of Contents

  Start

  bsp;

  John Shirley, Wetbones: The Authorized Edition