Page 102 of The Haunting of Paynes Hollow
Smits flinches at the “sir” but shakes his head. “I’d like you to stay with Sam. I’m concerned about what’s happening out here, and I trustyouto look after her.”
He waves to Ben. “Come on, cowboy. I’ll have you back by suppertime.”
I don’t want Ben going into the forest, but no one else argues, and I decide I’m overreacting. It’s hours from nightfall, and he’ll be with Smits. The sheriff might not like him, but he’s not going to run off and let Ben fend for himself if…
If what? The horseman makes a daytime appearance to kill Ben for briefly disagreeing with me? Yeah, that didn’t even qualify as an argument, and I’ve already gotten the strong sense Ben doesn’t like physical contact, so he’s barely touched me.
As long as it’s daylight, we’re fine.
And after daylight? Once night falls? Ben thinks I’m safe, since I seem to be bonded to the nekkers, but I keep seeing Austin, the hate in his eyes.
I shiver and push the thought down. I just want Ben here to help us plan for when it’snotdaylight.
After Ben and Smits leave, Josie and I comb through the journal looking for ideas on how to get rid of the nekkers.
“Do youwantto get rid of them?” Josie asks finally.
My brows shoot up.
She flushes. “Sorry. That was insensitive, with your aunt and all. Obviously you don’t want to worry about the horseman trampling anyone who shoves you. But this part”—she flips pages—“suggests the nekkers can be controlled by the bonded one.”
“Maybe, but I don’t understand any of it. Can you?”
“No, but…” She glances at me, almost sidelong, unsure. “What if you could control them, Sam? If they were no danger, but you could reap the rewards?”
I stare at her, and she flushes again, glancing away. “I just thought it wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Fortune and safety. Maybe a little luck for your mom.”
“At the cost of a life every five years?”
Her eyes widen. “Oh, no. I didn’t meanthat.But the life has already been paid, by that camper, and you didn’t have anything to do with it. Maybe you could reap the benefits until the next sacrifice was due and then stop. Put them to rest.”
“Okay, that makes more sense. But whoever wrote the journal couldn’t figure out how to control them either—how to keep them from coming out and hurting people. She just transcribed what her mother-in-law told her, in case someone else could do it. Also, what proof do we have that the nekkers actually confer good fortune?”
I push my seat back. “We know the protection part works, but fortune? Isn’t that why people keep doing magical rituals like this—they tell themselves it worked? Obviously the Paynes got rich. Was that the nekkers or because they were the colonial equivalent of cutthroat industrialists?”
I tap the book. “I don’t think the nekkers did anything. My ancestors weren’t nice people who just happened to make a lot of money. My grandfather was an asshole from a long line of assholes, and by the time it got down to him, the money was already drying up. The bulk of his wealth is here, in land that’s been in the family for centuries.”
She squirms. “Okay, when you put it like that…”
I squeeze her forearm. “It’s tempting. I get it. What if this good fortune could heal my mother? Help me earn the money for her care, insteadof inheriting it from a grandfather I hated? If I knew it could do that?” I shake my head. “Probably better that I don’t, or I’d be tempted—”
Footsteps sound on the steps, and we bolt upright. Josie slaps the book shut and tucks it off to the side as her father walks in.
“Please tell me you’ve seen our Mr. Vandergriff,” he says, taking off his hat.
“Ben?” I say, rising.
“Damn lazy bastard wandered off again. Said he thought he saw something. I waited a few minutes, and when I called out, he didn’t answer. So I went after him, and he was gone.”
My skin prickles, dread creeping through me. “You said he saw something?”
Smits holds out his hand. “Not like that, Sam. He didn’t walk away and get grabbed by your cousin or whatever. He’s just being his usual contrary self. We had words. He didn’t like what I had to say. He stewed about it for a few minutes, and then off he goes, muttering that he thinks he saw something. I figured he needed a moment to cool down. Apparently not.”
I grab my phone. “I’ll call him.”
“You can try. When I did, he answered and hung up on me. Didn’t say a word. Just hung up.” He shakes his head. “I know that boy went through a lot, but there is no excuse for him to keep acting like a sullen teenager.”
We all got stuck in our places.
