61
Opening the front door and sticking her head inside, Loretta found Carlie lying motionless in a fetal position on the living room floor. “Oh my God, Carlie!” Loretta screamed.
Looking up at her friend kneeling at her side, Carlie asked, “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to help. I’ve had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach for days. I knew something was wrong—I just didn’t know what it was.”
Helping Carlie into a sitting position, Loretta picked up the shotgun lying on the floor and stood it in the corner. By the time she was done, Carlie was already standing and moving toward the couch.
Sitting down on the coffee table, Loretta placed her finger under Carlie’s chin and lifted her face until they were looking into each other’s eyes.
Before Carlie could say anything, Loretta put her finger to Carlie’s dry, cracked lips. “Shhhh, I don’t want to hear another word. It’s time you listen to me for a change. This hero crap is not working out at all. I don’t know what’s going on here, but by the looks of the carnage in the front yard, you’re having real problems.”
Carlie couldn’t help but smile. “I really am glad to see you. I just don’t want you hurt.”
“I’m not going to get hurt, and I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you don’t get hurt either. What do you have left to do before you can get the hell out of here?”
“I have maybe a half-dozen children left to identify.”
Taking Loretta’s hand, she led the older woman into the kitchen. As she put on a pot of coffee, Carlie told her about her encounter with the giant black wolf in the cellar.
“We don’t see many wolves around here,” Loretta said. “I can’t remember hearing of a wolf getting this close to the population.”
“This beast was huge—bigger than any wolf I’ve ever seen. It came into the cellar to protect those boxes. I hate to say this, but Edith is on her own. I’m not going to die to help her.”
“That sounds like the best idea you’ve had in months.”
Picking up their coffee cups, the two moved into the living room. Carlie figured it would only take them a couple hours to identify the rest of the children. There just wasn’t that much left to go through.
A little after midnight, Carlie and Loretta loaded the back of her pickup with the finished boxes. They had done all they could to identify the children that Carlie had seen in her dream.
After hearing Carlie’s story, Loretta kept the shotgun leaning against the side of Carlie’s truck. Neither of them moved more than a foot away from it unless the other was there to take her place. It took longer to move all the boxes from the house, but they didn’t intend to allow anyone or anything to get close enough to hurt them.
Loretta wondered if Carlie would survive to see the end of this nightmare.
There was a knock on the front door at exactly 6:45 the next morning. At the sound, Carlie sat straight up in the chair and looked over at Loretta, who was sound asleep under the comforter on the bed. The second knock came almost a minute later and was a little more forceful. It was much too reminiscent of her dream for her liking. When the third knock came, the door chimes followed it immediately. Carlie’s stomach tied itself into a knot.
A soft voice came from under the comforter. “Are you going to answer the door, sweetie, or should I?”
Realizing that she wasn’t dreaming, Carlie felt foolish overreacting to a simple knock on the door. Standing, she pulled on her robe and tied the sash around her waist. “I’ve got it.”
Opening the door, Carlie was surprised to see her entire driveway filled with excavation equipment, pickup trucks, and a dozen men in work clothes. Phillip Bannerman’s assistant was standing on the porch in the gray early morning light. He was dressed in his customary black suit and an expensive black overcoat. Looking down at what she was wearing, Carlie blushed and apologized.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I forgot you were coming so early. Please come in.”
Stepping back, she allowed the man inside the house.
Stopping just inside the threshold, the man extended his right hand. “I’m Harold, Mister Bannerman’s assistant. Phillip will be here a little later, but right now, I will be in charge of the removal of the coffin in your garden. If you will show me its location, my men will get started.”
“Give me five minutes to get dressed. Please have a seat. I’ll be down as quickly as I can.”
Loretta was dressed and tying her boots when Carlie walked into the bedroom.
“It’s the workmen from Bannerman Funeral Home,” Carlie told her.
“I’ll keep them company while you get dressed,” Loretta said as she passed Carlie on her way out the bedroom door.
Carlie listened as Loretta made her way down the stairs. When she heard conversation, she quickly dressed in a pair of jeans and a heavy long-sleeve shirt.
Carrying her boots in her hand, Carlie followed the sound of voices into the kitchen. Loretta was pouring three cups of coffee. Harold had taken off his overcoat and unbuttoned his suit coat. He looked like he was actually comfortable sitting at the breakfast table. Loretta had a way of making people feel right at home.
Carlie took a sip of coffee as she tied her work boots. Her baby’s grave lay underneath at least three feet of new snow, and the drifts were up to six feet deep in places.
Putting on her Uncle William’s old jacket, Carlie looked down at Harold and said, “You might want to stay here. I’ll find the man in charge and show him where the gravesite is.”
“I’ll go out with you; my men will clear a path. I need to get my automobile back there anyway.”
Harold pulled on his overcoat and followed Carlie and Loretta to the front door.
Outside, his men had already plowed a large circle at the end of the drive. When Carlie walked up to the man in charge, he crawled out of the machine and introduced himself. Carlie pointed to where the gravesite was located, but she needed to make sure he wouldn’t fall through the cellar door. Walking across the yard, Carlie stopped and showed him where the door was located. She was surprised to find the door closed. She figured Andrew would leave it open after letting out the wolf and retrieving his boxes.
As three of the crew members dug carefully in the garden, Carlie and Loretta sat in Carlie’s idling pickup.
The blackbirds had returned at sunup. There were more birds today than Carlie had ever seen. They not only lined the edge of the barn, they covered the entire roof of it. Every tree was alive with sound and movement, as were the power lines running from the highway to the house.
Loretta looked at the flock in amazement. “How long have they been here?”
“They started about the time Jon died.”
Just as Carlie caught a glimpse of the larger bird, Bannerman’s silver hearse pulled up behind her truck. Indicating they were ready to go, Carlie backed into the drive and led the convoy out onto the highway.
No one had cleared Breckenridge Road since the beginning of the storm. The snow was almost as deep as a car in places. The crew had brought digging equipment, but only the tiny Bobcat had the capability to clear a path.
It took a little over an hour for the convoy to make it to Grace’s monument.
Once on the property, the little Bobcat immediately started clearing the snow. The rest of the men unloaded the pickups and started laying out tent poles. Harold told Carlie and Loretta that they would be ready to start digging just after lunch. If they wanted to come back then, it would be fine. There was little sense in them waiting in the cold for three or four hours.
Carlie walked through the gate into the tiny cemetery to tell Harold that they would be back later when she noticed movement outside the fence. Someone was watching what was going on. She wasn’t sure if there were any neighbors around, but if there were, they didn’t have to lurk in the shadows; she would be more than happy to explain to them what she was doing.
Harold touched her sleeve, causing Carlie to jump.
While telling him her plans, she kept the location of the movement in her peripheral vision.
Back in the truck, she pointed out the area where she had seen the movement. She and Loretta watched and waited; it took only a few minutes before they both saw two shadows just outside the stand of trees. As they watched, the dark figure led a large dog away into the valley.
Just before they were completely out of sight, the shadowy figures stopped and turned. Carlie was positive they were looking directly at her.