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Authors: Graham Masterton
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chances. I’m going to let Doc Crowder take a look at that wardrobe, and
then first light tomorrow I’m going to take it outside and I’m going to burn it
to ashes.”
Toby looked up
at his father with wide eyes. He whispered, “You mustn’t do that, daddy. You
mustn’t burn it.”
Neil pulled out
a chair and sat down beside him. “Mustn’t? What do you mean, tiger?”
Toby licked his
lips, and he began to pant a little, as if he were short of breath. “ He says-he says that-”
“Who?” asked Susan. “Who says?”
Toby’s eyes
flickered, and then the pupils rolled upward, so that his naked whites were all
that they could see. His small fingers, spread on the pine kitchen table, began
to clench and scratch at the wood. Susan reached out for him, reached out to
hold and protect him, but then he said in a hoarse, accented voice: “He says
you mustn’t disturb the gateway. He says you will die if you disturb it.”
“Toby?”
demanded Neil, leaning forward. “Toby?”
Toby opened his
eyes, and for a fleeting second Neil saw again that dead, flat, menacing
expression. There was a cold sourness about Toby’s breath, and when he spoke it
seemed as if a freezing, fetid wind blew from his mouth.
“You must disturb
nothing. You must not interfere. You are dust in the storms of time. I care
nothing for you, but if you interfere you will be destroyed, even as you
destroyed my brothers.”
Susan was
screaming, but Neil hardly heard her. He took Toby by the shoulders and
shouted,
“Who are you? I
want to know who you are! Who are you?”
Toby smiled. It
was an uncanny, unnatural, poisonous smile. In the same grating voice, he said:
“The prophecy
that is still buried on the great stone redwood is about to come to pass. It is
almost the day of the dark stars.”
Neil said,
“Prophecy? Dark stars? What are you talking about?”
But then Toby
abruptly vomited Coca-Cola and half-digested cookies, and fell off his chair
like a rag doll.
Doctor Crowder took
Neil out onto the boardwalk veranda and lit up his briarwood pipe. It was
almost ten o’clock now, and a cool wind was flowing in from the sea. Neil was
calmer, as a dose of Valium began to take effect, and he sat down on the rail
and faced the doctor with a serious, concerned face.
The old doctor purled away for a while, listening to the night birds and
the rustle of dry grass.
He was a short,
white-whiskered man with a bald, tanned dome and a bulbous nose. He’d been
practicing in Sonoma County most of his life, except for a spell during the war
when he served on Guadalcanal as a senior medical officer. He’d delivered Toby,
but he didn’t know the Fenners too well. They were a
young, hardworking family, and most of the time they kept to themselves.
After a few
minutes’ silence, Neil said, “I get the feeling you don’t believe me. You think
I’ve been hallucinating.”
Doctor Crowder
studiously examined the bowl of his pipe. “I wouldn’t say that. Not
hallucinating, exactly.”
“But you don’t
believe that what I saw was real? You don’t believe that a wooden man came out
of that wardrobe door?”
The doctor
glanced at him. “Would you?” he asked. “If I told you that
story?”
Neil scratched
the back of his neck. “I guess not. The only difference is , it’s true. I saw it as plain as I can see you now.” “That’s what most people
say, when they’ve seen an unidentified flying object-or a ghost. There used to
be a woman who lived up at Oakmont, and she swore blind that she’d seen phantom
riders crossing her backyard, not just once, but every once in a while.”
Neil said,
“Doctor, you have to admit that some of this is spooky. What about all these
schoolchildren having the same nightmare? There has to be something in that.”
“Well,” said
Doctor Crowder, “I think that Mrs. Novato put her finger on it when she talked
about mild collective hysteria. Children are open to any kind of silly idea,
and it
then first light tomorrow I’m going to take it outside and I’m going to burn it
to ashes.”
Toby looked up
at his father with wide eyes. He whispered, “You mustn’t do that, daddy. You
mustn’t burn it.”
Neil pulled out
a chair and sat down beside him. “Mustn’t? What do you mean, tiger?”
Toby licked his
lips, and he began to pant a little, as if he were short of breath. “ He says-he says that-”
“Who?” asked Susan. “Who says?”
Toby’s eyes
flickered, and then the pupils rolled upward, so that his naked whites were all
that they could see. His small fingers, spread on the pine kitchen table, began
to clench and scratch at the wood. Susan reached out for him, reached out to
hold and protect him, but then he said in a hoarse, accented voice: “He says
you mustn’t disturb the gateway. He says you will die if you disturb it.”
“Toby?”
demanded Neil, leaning forward. “Toby?”
Toby opened his
eyes, and for a fleeting second Neil saw again that dead, flat, menacing
expression. There was a cold sourness about Toby’s breath, and when he spoke it
seemed as if a freezing, fetid wind blew from his mouth.
“You must disturb
nothing. You must not interfere. You are dust in the storms of time. I care
nothing for you, but if you interfere you will be destroyed, even as you
destroyed my brothers.”
Susan was
screaming, but Neil hardly heard her. He took Toby by the shoulders and
shouted,
“Who are you? I
want to know who you are! Who are you?”
Toby smiled. It
was an uncanny, unnatural, poisonous smile. In the same grating voice, he said:
“The prophecy
that is still buried on the great stone redwood is about to come to pass. It is
almost the day of the dark stars.”
Neil said,
“Prophecy? Dark stars? What are you talking about?”
But then Toby
abruptly vomited Coca-Cola and half-digested cookies, and fell off his chair
like a rag doll.
Doctor Crowder took
Neil out onto the boardwalk veranda and lit up his briarwood pipe. It was
almost ten o’clock now, and a cool wind was flowing in from the sea. Neil was
calmer, as a dose of Valium began to take effect, and he sat down on the rail
and faced the doctor with a serious, concerned face.
The old doctor purled away for a while, listening to the night birds and
the rustle of dry grass.
He was a short,
white-whiskered man with a bald, tanned dome and a bulbous nose. He’d been
practicing in Sonoma County most of his life, except for a spell during the war
when he served on Guadalcanal as a senior medical officer. He’d delivered Toby,
but he didn’t know the Fenners too well. They were a
young, hardworking family, and most of the time they kept to themselves.
After a few
minutes’ silence, Neil said, “I get the feeling you don’t believe me. You think
I’ve been hallucinating.”
Doctor Crowder
studiously examined the bowl of his pipe. “I wouldn’t say that. Not
hallucinating, exactly.”
“But you don’t
believe that what I saw was real? You don’t believe that a wooden man came out
of that wardrobe door?”
The doctor
glanced at him. “Would you?” he asked. “If I told you that
story?”
Neil scratched
the back of his neck. “I guess not. The only difference is , it’s true. I saw it as plain as I can see you now.” “That’s what most people
say, when they’ve seen an unidentified flying object-or a ghost. There used to
be a woman who lived up at Oakmont, and she swore blind that she’d seen phantom
riders crossing her backyard, not just once, but every once in a while.”
Neil said,
“Doctor, you have to admit that some of this is spooky. What about all these
schoolchildren having the same nightmare? There has to be something in that.”
“Well,” said
Doctor Crowder, “I think that Mrs. Novato put her finger on it when she talked
about mild collective hysteria. Children are open to any kind of silly idea,
and it
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