The others ripped loose the fingers, breaking them off and dropping them one by one to the floor. The fingers crawled around like large white worms. One tried to crawl up Tess's leg and she screamed and kicked it away.
"Bum them!" Sam yelled. "Burn them!"
Matt was helped to a chair, the marks on his neck raw and red and turning blue. He struggled for life-giving breath.
Then those in the house felt it.
The silence around them.
They walked to the windows and looked out into the lighted night. The grounds were littered with the bodies of hundreds of cats and dogs. Nearer the house, a line of dogs and cats stood, facing the bloody battleground, guarding those in the house.
"Call the clinic," Romy said. "See about them."
"They need help," Sam said, hearing Nydia's voice in his head. "It's far from being over." He grabbed up an armload of stakes. "Holy Water, Padre?" he asked the priest.
Javotte nodded.
Sam said, "James, Padre, Romy, Tess … let's go."
24
Gangs of wild-eyed men and women and teenagers, some armed with clubs of all kinds, beat at the cars and pickup as the small band fought their way through the night, shattering windshields and side windows as the small team drove past them. Gunfire from the vehicles slashed at the night, rolling thunder boomed from the muzzles of pistols and shotguns.
"It's insanity!" Romy yelled.
"Hang on!" Sam told him. "The worst is yet before us."
Romy crossed himself and in the next instant shot a man between the eyes.
A teenage girl leaped onto the hood of the pickup truck. Her eyes were savage and filth rolled in profane waves from her mouth. She beat at the windshield with a claw-hammer.
Sam slammed on the brakes, sending the girl sliding off the hood. He swerved around her. The car behind him ran over her, crushing her beneath the tires.
"Connie," Sam heard Romy whisper. "I was her softball coach two years ago."
"She just struck out," Sam said shortly.
"I can't take any more of this!" Romy screamed.
Sam's right hand left the steering wheel and struck the man on the mouth, backhanding his head back, bloodying his lips.
"You'll take it or you'll die!" Sam said. "Think about that."
Romy began praying.
The small convoy reached the clinic. The men jumped out, weapons of the Lord in their hands.
The men and women attacking the clinic turned to meet them.
Those inside the clinic rushed out, boxing in the attackers.
It was a quick, bloody, and savage few moments. The night grew eerily silent. Someone vomited on the ground. Others were weeping; some gasped for breath in the hot night. Others were trembling uncontrollably.
Father Javotte, his clothing splattered with blood, walked among the carnage. "The Claverie brothers," he said, his voice carrying through the night. "All three of them."
"This is Mr. Authement," Romy said.
"Earl Morris and his wife," Mike Laborn said.
"Cliff Lester's wife here," another called. "Lucille."
"Mayor Jolevare and Betty here."
Other names were called out. But a lot were missing. And Sam knew they would have to be dealt with at first light. He looked up as Nydia joined his side. He glanced at Father Javotte. "Take care of Little Sam for us, Padre. We have things to do while it's still night."
"All right," the priest said.
Sam glanced at his watch. Just about an hour until dawn. "I think we're going to be too late.
Sam and Nydia drove to the old Dorgenois home, parking in the drive. The gates had been opened, slung back hastily. Weaponless, husband and wife walked through the large old home. The inner foulness was hideously offensive to both of them. They prowled every room, opened every door, looked in every closet, under every stinking bed and pile of filthy clothing. Nothing. The home was deserted.
On the ground floor, Sam found a box of matches and set the drapes blazing. As he did so, a hot, stinking wind picked up outside.
Sam lost his temper. "Do something!" he shouted. "We're only human. We're mortals. Help us!"
The sounds of a hard slap was heard, the sound of it thundering across the skies. The stinking wind ceased. The night was dead calm.
Nydia looked at Sam. "I don't believe I would have had the courage to speak to Him in that tone of voice."
Sam allowed himself a very small and tight smile. "It worked, didn't it?"
Hand in hand, the couple left the burning house and walked out into the now-flame-lit night.
THE LAST DAY
At dawn, the men and women and few teenagers who had been barricaded at the clinic and in the Dorgenois mansion split up into teams. They all carried stakes. They started at the south end of town and worked north, going from house to house, store to store, building to building.
It seemed the awful screaming and the seemingly endless hammering would never end.
But it did, finally. And finally, the population of Becancour changed.
For the better, most thought.
But the searchers, bloody and weary, never found the great black panther. And they never found Mary Claverie.
And Dave Porter had vanished.
They found the orderly from the clinic and returned him to the grave, with a little bit of extra wood in the casket.
But they never found the torn man.
Carl Nichols was in the principal's office at the high school, snarling and spitting and hissing like a cat.
Matt Comeaux ended Carl's life.
Sister Ilene was found by Cliff Lester and Father Javotte. Javotte handed the man a stake.
Half a dozen times the searchers felt eyes on them, silently watching. Sam told them they were probably feeling the dead orderly's eyes.
And probably always would.
It was high noon and very hot when all felt they had found all they were going to find.
Mrs. Wheeler joined them, a shotgun still in her hands. The old woman looked at the blood-splattered men and women.
"Now comes the interesting part," the old woman said.
"What do you mean?" Don Lenoir asked.
"Explaining why we did it."
25
Romy Dorgenois didn't mess around. He went straight to the top.
"Are you serious?" the governor asked.
"Yes, sir," Romy spoke into the phone. "And I would suggest you do something very quickly, for the bodies are going to be presenting quite a health hazard before very long."
"I'll be there just as fast as I can," the governor promised.
Attorney General Millet and Governor Andrews and Colonel Piper of the Louisiana State Police made a flyby of the town before landing at the small airstrip. Colonel Piper had ordered the troop commander of that area to meet him … and bring every goddamned trooper he could find.
"Look at the bodies down there!" Attorney General Millet breathed, gazing down from five hundred feet at the town of Becancour.
"Please God," Governor Andrews muttered. "No press on this. Please?"
On the ground, Colonel Piper met the troop commander. "You say you had a man in here while all this was going on?"
"Yes, sir. Trooper James A. Norris."
"Get him!"
After listening to James for ten seconds, Colonel Piper took off his hat. Twenty seconds later he threw the hat on the ground. A minute later he was jumping up and down on it.
"Goddammit, Norris, you are a Louisiana State Trooper. You do not go around hammering stakes into peoples' hearts." The colonel paused. "Did you read them their rights?" The colonel frowned. "What am I saying!"
"Are you ill, sir?" Norris asked.
"Am I ill? You've been seeing hobgobblins and vampires and zombies and werewolves and, and, God only knows what else, and you're asking me who is ill?"
"Perhaps you'd like to sit down in the shade, sir?" Norris suggested.
Colonel Piper went wandering off, muttering to
himself. He was very, very glad he was retiring that year. Most happy.
A Louisiana State Health officer, who asked to remain anonymous, offered to make a suggestion.
"I wish somebody would," Governor Andrews said.
"A water-borne bacteria, sir. Somebody poisoned the water supply. I would suggest we get the bodies buried as quickly as possible and then seal off the town."
Governor Andrews looked at Father Javotte. "You don't like that idea, Father?"
"Burn them," the priest said.
"Father Javotte!" Governor Andrew said. "This is not the dark ages. I can't give any orders to burn human bodies."
"You'll live to regret it," the priest warned.
The tone of the priest's voice caused the governor to shudder.
Thousands of pictures were taken, of the dead humans, the cats, the Beasts, the bloody stakes, the torn bodies. Senior State Troopers from all over the state were called in to body-bag the dead.
The press was squalling to be allowed in.
They were kept out while helicopters hovered above the town to prevent light aircraft from doing any flybys.
Those residents of Becancour who had been caught in limbo were interviewed. They could remember nothing. They didn't even know what day it was. They were confused and disoriented.
The President of the United States called the governor of Louisiana.
"What's going on down there?" the President asked.
"Voodoo, black magic, devil worship, zombies, werewolves," the governor replied.
There was a long pause from Washington, D. C. Then the President laughed. "Well, that's what you get when you have such a large percentage of registered Democrats."
The governor, a Democrat, said, "I suppose that is as good an explanation as any, Mister President."
26
"Where will you go and what will you do?" Father Javotte asked Sam and Nydia.
Little Sam and Dog were in the car, waiting.
"We will go wherever there is a need for our services," Nydia said. "We will do what has to be done."
"I don't have to tell either of you that it isn't over here."
"It will never be over here, Padre," Sam said. "We didn't get them all. But you will. You and Tony and Sonny and Don and the others. You've got a fight ahead of you."
Javotte nodded his head. "I wish you all would stay. We could use your help."
"You don't need us," Nydia told him. "You all know who they are. They'll surface again."
They were all conscious of Lula and Jules leaning against a building, watching them.
A teenage girl walked over to Lula, holding something in her hand. She spoke to Lula and the three of them laughed. The girl stepped away and held up a can of spray paint. On the bare wall of the building, she spray-painted the outline of a large cat.
And somewhere back in the dark bayous …
… a big panther screamed.
TERROR LIVES!
THE SHADOW MAN (1946, $3.95)
by Stephen Gresham
The Shadow Man could hide anywhere—under the bed, in the closet, behind the mirror … even in the sophisticated circuitry of little Joey's computer. And the Shadow Man could make Joey do things that no little boy should ever do!
SIGHT UNSEEN (2038, $3.95)
by Andrew Neiderman
David was always right. Always. But now that he was growing up, his gift was turning into a power. The power to know things—terrible things—that he didn't want to know. Like who would live … and who would die!
MIDNIGHT BOY (2065, $3.95)
by Stephen Gresham
Something horrible is stalking the town's children. For one of its most trusted citizens possesses the twisted need and cunning of a psychopathic killer. Now Town Creek's only hope lies in the horrific, blood-soaked visions of the MIDNIGHT BOY!
TEACHER'S PET (1927, $3.95)
by Andrew Neiderman
All the children loved their teacher Mr. Lucy. It was astonishing to see how they all seemed to begin to resemble Mr. Lucy. And act like Mr. Lucy. And kill like Mr. Lucy!
Available wherever paperbacks are sold, or order direct from the Publisher. Send cover price plus 50¢ per copy for mailing and handling to Zebra Books, Dept. 2110, 475 Park Avenue South, New York, N. Y. 10016. Residents of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania must include sales tax. DO NOT SEND CASH.
MASTERWORKS OF MYSTERY BY MARY ROBERTS RINEHART!
THE YELLOW ROOM (2262, $3.50)
The somewhat charred corpse unceremoniously stored in the linen closet of Carol Spencer's Maine summer home set the plucky amateur sleuth on the trail of a killer. But each step closer to a solution led Carol closer to her own imminent demise!
THE CASE OF JENNIE BRICE (2193, S2.95)
The bloodstained rope, the broken knife—plus the disappearance of lovely Jennie Brice—were enough to convince Mrs. Pittman that murder had been committed in her boarding house. And if the police couldn't see what was in front of their noses, then the inquisitive landlady would just have to take matters into her own hands!
THE GREAT MISTAKE (2122, $3.50)
Patricia Abbott never planned to fall in love with wealthy Tony Wainwright, especially after she found out about the wife he'd never bothered to mention. But suddenly she was trapped in an extra-marital affair that was shadowed by unspoken fear and shrouded in cold, calculating murder!
THE RED LAMP (2017, $3.50)
The ghost of Uncle Horace was getting frisky—turning on lamps, putting in shadowy appearances in photographs. But the mysterious nightly slaughter of local sheep seemed to indicate that either Uncle Horace had developed a bizarre taste for lamb chops … or someone was manipulating appearances with a deadly sinister purpose!
A LIGHT IN THE WINDOW (1952, $3.50)
Ricky Wayne felt uncomfortable about moving in with her new husband's well-heeled family while he was overseas fighting the Germans. But she never imagined the depths of her in-laws' hatred—or the murderous lengths to which they would go to break up her marriage!
Available wherever paperbacks are sold, or order direct from the Publisher. Send cover price plus 50¢ per copy for mailing and handling to Zebra Books, Dept. 2091, 475 Park Avenue South, New York, N. Y. 10016. Residents of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania must include sales tax. DO NOT SEND CASH.
THE ULTIMATE IN TERROR FROM ZEBRA BOOKS
TOY CEMETERY (2228, $3.95)
by William W. Johnstone
A young man is the inheritor of a magnificent doll collection. But an ancient, unspeakable evil lurks behind the vacant eyes and painted-on smiles of his deadly toys!
SMOKE (2255, $3.95)
by Ruby Jean Jensen
Seven-year-old Ellen was sure it was Aladdin's lamp that she had found at the local garage sale. And no power on earth would be able to stop the hideous terror unleashed when she rubbed the magic lamp to make the genie appear!
NIGHT WHISPER (2901, $4.50)
by Patricia Wallace
Twenty-six years have passed since Paige Brown lost her parents in the bizarre Tranquility Murders. Now Paige has returned to her home town to discover that the bloody nightmare is far from over … it has only just begun!
SLEEP TIGHT (2121, $3.95)
by Matthew J. Costello
A rash of mysterious disappearances terrorized the citizens of Harley, New York. But the worst was yet to come. For the Tall Man had entered young Noah's dreams—to steal the little boy's soul and feed on his innocence!
Available wherever paperbacks are sold, or order direct from the Publisher. Send cover price plus 50¢ per copy for mailing and handling to Zebra Books, Dept. 2091, 475 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y. 10016. Residents of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania must include sales tax. DO NOT SEND CASH.
THE SEVENTH CARRIER SERIES
by Peter Albano
THE SEVENTH CARRIER (2056, $3.95)
The original novel of this exciting, best-selling series. Imprisoned in a cave of ice since 1
941, the great carrier Yonaga finally breaks free in 1983, her maddened crew of samurai determined to carry out their orders to destroy Pearl Harbor.
THE SECOND VOYAGE OF THE SEVENTH CARRIER (2104, $3.95)
The Red Chinese have launched a particle beam satellite system into space, knocking out every modern weapons system on earth. Not a jet or rocket can fly. Now the old carrier Yonaga is desperately needed because the Third World nations—with their armed forces made of old World War II ships and planes—have suddenly become superpowers. Terrorism runs rampant. Only the Yonaga can save America and the Free World.
RETURN OF THE SEVENTH CARRIER (2093, $3.95)
With the war technology of the former superpowers still crippled by Red China's orbital defense system, a terrorist beast runs rampant across the planet. Outarmed and outnumbered, the target of crack saboteurs and fanatical assassins, only the Yonaga and its brave samurai crew stand between a Libyan madman and his fiendish goal of global domination.
QUEST OF THE SEVENTH CARRIER (2599, $3.95)
Power bases have shifted dramatically. Now a Libyan madman has the upper hand, planning to crush his western enemies with an army of millions of Arab fanatics. Only Yonaga and her indomitable samurai crew can save the besieged free world from the devastating iron fist of the terrorist maniac. Bravely, the behemoth leads a rag tag armada of rusty World War Two warship against impossible odds on a fiery sea of blood and death!
Available wherever paperbacks are sold, or order direct from . Publisher. Send cover price plus 50¢ per copy for mailing an handling to Zebra Books, Dept. 2091, 475 Park Avenue Sour New York, N. Y. 10016. Residents of New York, New Jersey t Pennsylvania must include sales tax. DO NOT SEND CASH.
The Devil's Cat Page 27