Read Online The Shimmer by David Morrell - Free Book Online
Authors: David Morrell
Tags: Fiction, Suspense, Thrillers, Action & Adventure, Suspense fiction, Espionage, supernatural, Texas, Military Bases, Spectators
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the dark makes me scared."
"Mommy, I'm hungry," the little boy said.
"Okay," the father told them, sounding defeated. "I guess we'd better go after all. Nothing's out there anyhow. Tomorrow morning, maybe we can see where they made that James Deacon movie. The set's supposed to be around here, and I hear the big old ranch house is still standing."
As the parents carried the fidgeting children to the car, two other vehicles pulled in. One was a pickup truck, and when it stopped, three teenagers got out. The other, to Page's annoyance, was a bus labeled TEXAS TOURS, from which about thirty people emerged. A clamor arose as they all felt the need to say whatever flitted through their minds.
Who are all these people? Page wondered. He had come here hoping to talk with his wife and to find out what had possessed her to leave. With every new arrival, a quiet reunion became more and more impossible.
To the woman on the bench, however, none of the other people seemed even to exist. She just kept staring at the horizon, never once moving her head toward the growing distractions.
Page realized that he was hesitating, that despite his effort to get here and his impatience with Costigan for making him wait, he was actually afraid of the answers he might get.
Bracing his resolve, he walked through the darkness toward his wife.
Chapter 18.
She had her head tilted back so that it was leaning against the shadowy wooden wall. Her gaze was straight ahead.
Page stepped up to the side and watched her.
"Tori."
She didn't reply.
In the background, the jabbering conversations of the people who'd gotten off the bus filled the night.
Maybe she didn't hear me, Page thought.
"Tori?" he repeated.
She just kept staring toward the horizon.
He stepped closer. The reflected headlights from another car showed him that her eyes were wide open, and she didn't even seem to be blinking. It was as if she were spellbound by something out there.
Again he turned in the direction she was looking, but all he saw were the dark grassland, the brilliant array of the stars, and another set of headlights off to the right on the road from Mexico.
"Tori, what are you looking at?"
No response.
Stepping closer, Page came within five feet of her and noticed in his peripheral vision that Costigan moved protectively closer, then leaned against another post. The smoke from his cigarette drifted in the air.
Suddenly Page heard her voice.
"Aren't they beautiful?" Tori asked.
"They?" Page turned toward the dark grassland and concentrated.
"What do you see?"
"You can't see them?"
"No."
With the noise of the annoying conversations behind him, Page almost didn't hear what Tori said next.
"Then you shouldn't have come."
Baffled, he sat beside her.
Corrigan shifted again.
She still didn't look at him.
"What did you expect me to do?" Page asked, working to keep his voice calm. "You left without telling me. You disappeared for two days. I was afraid something had happened to you. When I found out you were here, surely you didn't expect me to stay home."
A half-dozen people stepped onto the observation platform, their feet thunking on the wood, their voices echoing in the enclosure.
"Don't see a thing," one of them said. "What a crock."
"Wait!" someone in the crowd at the fence shouted. "There!
"Where?"
"Over there! Look! Four of them!"
"Yes!" a woman exclaimed.
"I don't see a friggin' thing," a teenager said.
"There!" someone said. With each exclamation, the crowd shifted and turned. The murmur died away as people focused all of their attention, then rose again when some--Page among them--saw nothing.
"You've gotta be shitting me. There's nothing out there," another teenager complained.
The crowd's comments went back and forth. Some people were rapt, while others were frustrated. A few became angry.
Page heard Tori's voice next to him.
"The interruptions go on for a couple of hours," she said.
Bewildered, he studied her. They sat silently for a
"Mommy, I'm hungry," the little boy said.
"Okay," the father told them, sounding defeated. "I guess we'd better go after all. Nothing's out there anyhow. Tomorrow morning, maybe we can see where they made that James Deacon movie. The set's supposed to be around here, and I hear the big old ranch house is still standing."
As the parents carried the fidgeting children to the car, two other vehicles pulled in. One was a pickup truck, and when it stopped, three teenagers got out. The other, to Page's annoyance, was a bus labeled TEXAS TOURS, from which about thirty people emerged. A clamor arose as they all felt the need to say whatever flitted through their minds.
Who are all these people? Page wondered. He had come here hoping to talk with his wife and to find out what had possessed her to leave. With every new arrival, a quiet reunion became more and more impossible.
To the woman on the bench, however, none of the other people seemed even to exist. She just kept staring at the horizon, never once moving her head toward the growing distractions.
Page realized that he was hesitating, that despite his effort to get here and his impatience with Costigan for making him wait, he was actually afraid of the answers he might get.
Bracing his resolve, he walked through the darkness toward his wife.
Chapter 18.
She had her head tilted back so that it was leaning against the shadowy wooden wall. Her gaze was straight ahead.
Page stepped up to the side and watched her.
"Tori."
She didn't reply.
In the background, the jabbering conversations of the people who'd gotten off the bus filled the night.
Maybe she didn't hear me, Page thought.
"Tori?" he repeated.
She just kept staring toward the horizon.
He stepped closer. The reflected headlights from another car showed him that her eyes were wide open, and she didn't even seem to be blinking. It was as if she were spellbound by something out there.
Again he turned in the direction she was looking, but all he saw were the dark grassland, the brilliant array of the stars, and another set of headlights off to the right on the road from Mexico.
"Tori, what are you looking at?"
No response.
Stepping closer, Page came within five feet of her and noticed in his peripheral vision that Costigan moved protectively closer, then leaned against another post. The smoke from his cigarette drifted in the air.
Suddenly Page heard her voice.
"Aren't they beautiful?" Tori asked.
"They?" Page turned toward the dark grassland and concentrated.
"What do you see?"
"You can't see them?"
"No."
With the noise of the annoying conversations behind him, Page almost didn't hear what Tori said next.
"Then you shouldn't have come."
Baffled, he sat beside her.
Corrigan shifted again.
She still didn't look at him.
"What did you expect me to do?" Page asked, working to keep his voice calm. "You left without telling me. You disappeared for two days. I was afraid something had happened to you. When I found out you were here, surely you didn't expect me to stay home."
A half-dozen people stepped onto the observation platform, their feet thunking on the wood, their voices echoing in the enclosure.
"Don't see a thing," one of them said. "What a crock."
"Wait!" someone in the crowd at the fence shouted. "There!
"Where?"
"Over there! Look! Four of them!"
"Yes!" a woman exclaimed.
"I don't see a friggin' thing," a teenager said.
"There!" someone said. With each exclamation, the crowd shifted and turned. The murmur died away as people focused all of their attention, then rose again when some--Page among them--saw nothing.
"You've gotta be shitting me. There's nothing out there," another teenager complained.
The crowd's comments went back and forth. Some people were rapt, while others were frustrated. A few became angry.
Page heard Tori's voice next to him.
"The interruptions go on for a couple of hours," she said.
Bewildered, he studied her. They sat silently for a
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