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Authors: Linwood Barclay
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retired now.”
“Don’t even tell him,” Dad said. “He’ll just make something of it.”
“Arlen, I’m just telling you what I saw,” Betty said.
“What did you see?” I asked. I remembered how Betty and her husband had gone back into the woods alone, how he’d held up the tarp for her so she could get another look. I’d branded them ghouls at the time.
Dad shook his head, gazed down at the table, realizing it was pointless trying to keep Betty from telling me whatever it was she wanted to.
“I worked in Emerg for years,” she said. “Off and on, but I was down there a lot. In a lot of different hospitals, too. Most of that time, down in the city, but when we first got married, Hank and I, we lived up in Alaska.”
“No kidding?” I said. “I’ve never been up there, but have always wanted to see it. Ever since I saw that movie, with Pacino and Robin Williams, he’s the killer, and Pacino can’t get to sleep because the sun never goes down.”
“It’s beautiful,” Hank said. “You should go.”
“Sarah would love it, I bet. Can’t you take one of those cruises, see whales or something?”
“Can I tell my story?” Betty said. Hank and I shut up. Betty continued, “So I’ve seen the whole gamut, you know? From guys who’ve fallen off their fishing boats to teenage gang members who’ve been knifed in the head.”
“Yuck,” I said.
Betty shrugged. “A few times, in Alaska, I helped treat people who’d been attacked by bears. Maybe you saw that documentary, the one about the guy who lived with grizzlies, got killed by one? Remember how they brought bits of him back in garbage bags? I’ve seen that kind of thing. I’ve seen what bears can do, when they attack, which is still very rare.”
“I read that on the net,” I said. “They’d just as soon avoid people as have a run-in with them.”
“But when they do,” Betty went on, paying little attention to me, “they maul their victims, swat them about, and they’ve got these huge paws, with claws. Person gets swiped with one of those, they’ve got scratches a couple inches apart. And bears got big jaws. They take a bite out of you, you notice something’s missing.”
“Okay,” I said, getting interested.
“I took a long look at that body, of Morton Dewart. And you know, I could be wrong, but he didn’t look to me like someone who’d been killed by a bear.”
Dad said, “It could have been a wolf, you know. Maybe a cougar. They’ve got cougars up here, I’m pretty sure of that.”
“Dad,” I said. “Let her tell it.”
“And when I’ve worked in ERs in the city, I’ve seen things there, too, that reminded me of how this Dewart guy looked. He was torn apart, in a frenzy, by an animal, or animals, with jaws a lot smaller than a bear’s.”
A tiny shiver went down my spine. “Let me guess,” I said. “Dogs.”
Betty nodded. “Like I say, it’s not like I did an autopsy out there in the woods or anything, but based on what I’ve seen over the years, and believe me, I’ve seen a lot, I’d say so.”
Suddenly, we were interrupted.
Leonard Colebert stepped into the cabin, threw his arms proudly into the air, like he’d scored a touchdown. “I’ll bet you can’t tell, to look at me, what I’ve just done.”
8
I TURNED IN SOON AFTER THAT, but didn’t sleep very well in my bed in cabin 3. The mattress sagged a bit in the middle, but that wasn’t the problem. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Betty had to say, that the death of Morton Dewart might not be as straightforward as it looked, plus there was something else that was gnawing at me in the middle of the night. I kept wanting the sun to come up so I could go outside and look for something I thought should be there, but which no one had found.
So when it got to be six, the time I’d hoped to wake up to join Bob to go fishing, I was already awake. I sat up in bed, tired and logy-headed.
The sun was streaming into my bedroom window
“Don’t even tell him,” Dad said. “He’ll just make something of it.”
“Arlen, I’m just telling you what I saw,” Betty said.
“What did you see?” I asked. I remembered how Betty and her husband had gone back into the woods alone, how he’d held up the tarp for her so she could get another look. I’d branded them ghouls at the time.
Dad shook his head, gazed down at the table, realizing it was pointless trying to keep Betty from telling me whatever it was she wanted to.
“I worked in Emerg for years,” she said. “Off and on, but I was down there a lot. In a lot of different hospitals, too. Most of that time, down in the city, but when we first got married, Hank and I, we lived up in Alaska.”
“No kidding?” I said. “I’ve never been up there, but have always wanted to see it. Ever since I saw that movie, with Pacino and Robin Williams, he’s the killer, and Pacino can’t get to sleep because the sun never goes down.”
“It’s beautiful,” Hank said. “You should go.”
“Sarah would love it, I bet. Can’t you take one of those cruises, see whales or something?”
“Can I tell my story?” Betty said. Hank and I shut up. Betty continued, “So I’ve seen the whole gamut, you know? From guys who’ve fallen off their fishing boats to teenage gang members who’ve been knifed in the head.”
“Yuck,” I said.
Betty shrugged. “A few times, in Alaska, I helped treat people who’d been attacked by bears. Maybe you saw that documentary, the one about the guy who lived with grizzlies, got killed by one? Remember how they brought bits of him back in garbage bags? I’ve seen that kind of thing. I’ve seen what bears can do, when they attack, which is still very rare.”
“I read that on the net,” I said. “They’d just as soon avoid people as have a run-in with them.”
“But when they do,” Betty went on, paying little attention to me, “they maul their victims, swat them about, and they’ve got these huge paws, with claws. Person gets swiped with one of those, they’ve got scratches a couple inches apart. And bears got big jaws. They take a bite out of you, you notice something’s missing.”
“Okay,” I said, getting interested.
“I took a long look at that body, of Morton Dewart. And you know, I could be wrong, but he didn’t look to me like someone who’d been killed by a bear.”
Dad said, “It could have been a wolf, you know. Maybe a cougar. They’ve got cougars up here, I’m pretty sure of that.”
“Dad,” I said. “Let her tell it.”
“And when I’ve worked in ERs in the city, I’ve seen things there, too, that reminded me of how this Dewart guy looked. He was torn apart, in a frenzy, by an animal, or animals, with jaws a lot smaller than a bear’s.”
A tiny shiver went down my spine. “Let me guess,” I said. “Dogs.”
Betty nodded. “Like I say, it’s not like I did an autopsy out there in the woods or anything, but based on what I’ve seen over the years, and believe me, I’ve seen a lot, I’d say so.”
Suddenly, we were interrupted.
Leonard Colebert stepped into the cabin, threw his arms proudly into the air, like he’d scored a touchdown. “I’ll bet you can’t tell, to look at me, what I’ve just done.”
8
I TURNED IN SOON AFTER THAT, but didn’t sleep very well in my bed in cabin 3. The mattress sagged a bit in the middle, but that wasn’t the problem. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Betty had to say, that the death of Morton Dewart might not be as straightforward as it looked, plus there was something else that was gnawing at me in the middle of the night. I kept wanting the sun to come up so I could go outside and look for something I thought should be there, but which no one had found.
So when it got to be six, the time I’d hoped to wake up to join Bob to go fishing, I was already awake. I sat up in bed, tired and logy-headed.
The sun was streaming into my bedroom window
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