Read Online Name of the Devil by Andrew Mayne - Free Book Online Page B

troublemaker just sit back and laugh.”
    â€œSo someone else made the sheriff do these things?”
    â€œI reckon.”
    â€œAnyone around here?”
    â€œNo one here knows about how to use a man’s fears to open the door. Nothing.”
    â€œExcept you . . .”
    â€œExcepting me.”
    â€œYou and the sheriff get along?” I take a cautious step away from Black Nick, wishing I’d brought backup.
    â€œWe get along fine. When those prisoners bust out the lockup, Black Nick help get them. When kids get lost up here because they want to spy on Black Nick, I make sure the sheriff find ’em. When the fools decided to camp out on Lighting Peak and got a taste of the ’tricity, Black Nick carried them down the mountain. Me and Jessup get along fine. I’ve no need to open the door on him. Wouldn’t open it no how, even if I did. You never get it closed.”
    â€œWhat about Reverend Curtis?”
    Nick shakes his head. “He’s a Christian man just like me. No quarrels. I ain’t got none. If you’re trying to ask me polite if Ihad anything to do with what happened to those poor folks, the answer is ‘no.’”
    He reaches into a trouser pocket and pulls out a handful of moss. He drops it into the fire, then tosses a copper penny from his jacket into the middle of the flames. White smoke shrouds the penny and begins to drift upward. Black Nick fans it with his hand. “No one round here knows the magic.”
    Growing up in a family of magicians, I’ve met plenty of people who believe in the ‘real’ kind and have their own rituals. I stop myself from distracting him by asking what he just did. “Can you name someone who might know that kind of magic?”
    â€œLotsa folks. I been a bunch a different places before I came here. Hill folks, like me. Keep to theirselves. Following the old trails. The ones the Indian-folk found when they came here. Trails left back in the days when the angels were all getting along.” He points toward a cluster of trees. “Trails like that.”
    I glance at the thick gnarl of bushes and trees protruding from the edge of the clearing. “It doesn’t look like much of a trail to me.”
    â€œCause you can’t see. Like I said, lotsa folks can. None around here no more, save me.” He stands up and beckons me closer.
    I hesitate.
    â€œCome on. Black Nick ain’t going to bite ya. We need to say a prayer.”
    â€œFor who?”
    â€œFor poor Sheriff Jessup. So his wandering soul will find its way home and he won’t disturb nobody more.”
    I relent and take his hand. He’s more bone than muscle. I’m sure I could take him in a fight, especially since I’ve been spending extra time at the gym these last few months. Maybe too much time.
    Black Nick clasps my other hand. I feel like the root of an oak tree has grown around them. He lowers his head. “Lord, forgivethere Sheriff Jessup for what he’s done. Find him safe passage and protect all them folk.” His grip tightens. I try to pull away gently, but he won’t let go. “See to it this one finds her way. Make sure she don’t get lost in her own long shadow.” He releases me. “All right. I should take you back to your blue car down at the end of the trail. I don’t want you gettin’ lost up here and running into you-know-who.”
    I’m not sure if he means the devil or the sheriff. Neither one would make for an enjoyable encounter. Although with the sheriff I’d be able to do something within my mortal jurisdiction.
    A HALF-HOUR LATER, we reach my car. Black Nick managed to guide me without the use of a flashlight. He said it just invites troubles—it is better to not be seen.
    â€œThings agonna work themselves out. But you gonna keep putting your nose where it don’t have no business.” He takes out a shard of black glass from his