Read Online Godspeed by Charles Sheffield - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Charles Sheffield
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thrown open, and someone had probed with a knife into the layer of snow sitting on the outside sill.
I rummaged helplessly in the debris for a minute or two, then went across and closed the window. I headed back to the main bedroom, where mother was now sitting up.
"Uncle Duncan—" I began.
"He's all right," Doctor Eileen said. "He went soon after you, to try to get other help. He left long before they got here."
Mother nodded, and gave me a lopsided smile.
"Mr. Enderton?" I said. "Is he—" I found I could not finish the question.
"Dead, I'm afraid." Doctor Eileen was helping mother to her feet. "Of natural causes, just a few minutes after you left. Whatever he'd been doing today, the strain was too much for his heart." She must have seen my guilty expression. "Don't feel bad, Jay. I couldn't have saved him, you know, even if I'd been here. He wouldn't look after himself, even after he was warned. Come on now, take your mother's arm and let's get out of here. The two of you are going to spend the night at my house."
"Do you think they'll come back?" I didn't know who "they" might be, but I was mortally afraid of them. They had spitted Chum for no reason at all. He had been the most harmless pet in the world, a goofy ball of fur who would never attack anybody.
"Since we don't know who they were," replied Doctor Eileen, "we can't say they won't be back. But they were certainly looking for something, and they searched hard, and they didn't find it. There were four of them, and I don't know if one or more may want to try again."
"I don't think they will." Mother's voice was a whisper as we helped her into her coat and out of the door. I noticed a big red blotch I hadn't seen before on her throat. "They were arguing among themselves when they left. They had—changed the subject."
She glanced down at her own ripped dress, and then at Eileen Xavier.
"You were damn lucky, Molly," said Doctor Eileen. "Lucky they had a lot on their minds and were pressed for time."
"Give me some credit, Eileen." Mother was sounding more like herself. "I made a few unkind comparisons, just to make them mad at each other."
"But where could they have gone?" I turned to the doctor, as she opened the door of the cruiser for us to climb in. "We saw their tracks coming, but nothing went back."
She said nothing, but pointed down the hill. Multiple footprints, half-covered with snow, led toward the dark lake water.
Apparently I was not the only one with the idea that travel by boat was easier than struggling along through soft, clinging snow.
But as I settled into the cruiser's comfortable seat, and felt my eyes closing almost before my weary head touched the cushioned headrest, it occurred to me that the mystery attackers perhaps had a different motive. One thing was sure: Deep water, unlike deep snow, left no trail to follow.
CHAPTER 7
I slept through all the next morning and the early part of the afternoon. So in spite of Doctor Eileen turning up her nose at the idea of anybody passing on "hearsay" to posterity, that's all I can offer for the day, at least until I was sitting in the Xavier kitchen working my way through a stack of sorghum cakes and scrambled phalarope eggs.
Uncle Duncan lolled opposite me, yawning and stretching and complaining of lack of sleep. It seemed he had finally gone back to our house in the middle of the night, bringing with him a vet—the nearest thing he could find to a physician without going all the way to Toltoona. What they encountered at the house had left them baffled: the whole place ransacked, Paddy Enderton dead on the floor, Mother vanished, and the building deserted.
Rather than heading out again into the snow, they built up the fire and stayed there for the rest of the night. The intruders had not returned, and finally Duncan had decided to make for Doctor Eileen's.
Mother was not much more helpful. Four men had burst into the house without warning, while she sat alone with Enderton's body. The
I rummaged helplessly in the debris for a minute or two, then went across and closed the window. I headed back to the main bedroom, where mother was now sitting up.
"Uncle Duncan—" I began.
"He's all right," Doctor Eileen said. "He went soon after you, to try to get other help. He left long before they got here."
Mother nodded, and gave me a lopsided smile.
"Mr. Enderton?" I said. "Is he—" I found I could not finish the question.
"Dead, I'm afraid." Doctor Eileen was helping mother to her feet. "Of natural causes, just a few minutes after you left. Whatever he'd been doing today, the strain was too much for his heart." She must have seen my guilty expression. "Don't feel bad, Jay. I couldn't have saved him, you know, even if I'd been here. He wouldn't look after himself, even after he was warned. Come on now, take your mother's arm and let's get out of here. The two of you are going to spend the night at my house."
"Do you think they'll come back?" I didn't know who "they" might be, but I was mortally afraid of them. They had spitted Chum for no reason at all. He had been the most harmless pet in the world, a goofy ball of fur who would never attack anybody.
"Since we don't know who they were," replied Doctor Eileen, "we can't say they won't be back. But they were certainly looking for something, and they searched hard, and they didn't find it. There were four of them, and I don't know if one or more may want to try again."
"I don't think they will." Mother's voice was a whisper as we helped her into her coat and out of the door. I noticed a big red blotch I hadn't seen before on her throat. "They were arguing among themselves when they left. They had—changed the subject."
She glanced down at her own ripped dress, and then at Eileen Xavier.
"You were damn lucky, Molly," said Doctor Eileen. "Lucky they had a lot on their minds and were pressed for time."
"Give me some credit, Eileen." Mother was sounding more like herself. "I made a few unkind comparisons, just to make them mad at each other."
"But where could they have gone?" I turned to the doctor, as she opened the door of the cruiser for us to climb in. "We saw their tracks coming, but nothing went back."
She said nothing, but pointed down the hill. Multiple footprints, half-covered with snow, led toward the dark lake water.
Apparently I was not the only one with the idea that travel by boat was easier than struggling along through soft, clinging snow.
But as I settled into the cruiser's comfortable seat, and felt my eyes closing almost before my weary head touched the cushioned headrest, it occurred to me that the mystery attackers perhaps had a different motive. One thing was sure: Deep water, unlike deep snow, left no trail to follow.
CHAPTER 7
I slept through all the next morning and the early part of the afternoon. So in spite of Doctor Eileen turning up her nose at the idea of anybody passing on "hearsay" to posterity, that's all I can offer for the day, at least until I was sitting in the Xavier kitchen working my way through a stack of sorghum cakes and scrambled phalarope eggs.
Uncle Duncan lolled opposite me, yawning and stretching and complaining of lack of sleep. It seemed he had finally gone back to our house in the middle of the night, bringing with him a vet—the nearest thing he could find to a physician without going all the way to Toltoona. What they encountered at the house had left them baffled: the whole place ransacked, Paddy Enderton dead on the floor, Mother vanished, and the building deserted.
Rather than heading out again into the snow, they built up the fire and stayed there for the rest of the night. The intruders had not returned, and finally Duncan had decided to make for Doctor Eileen's.
Mother was not much more helpful. Four men had burst into the house without warning, while she sat alone with Enderton's body. The
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