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streaming down his dirt-smudged face. |
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Ferris put his gnarled old hand on Jake's shoulder. "Give him a minute," the doctor said softly. |
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"I started . . . started runnin' back toward town . . . and all of a sudden like, Luke was yellin' to let go. When I turned around, this big black thing had Luke by the arm. He . . . he took one of them weird-lookin' paws and put one against Luke's head and held onto Luke's arm with the other. It . . . it just ripped his arm right out of the socket . . . like it was a chicken wing." |
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In the background I heard Brenda shudder; she turned away and began to cry. Madden put his arm around her. |
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"Then . . . then the thing shoved Luke away and . . . and squatted down and started eatin' Luke's arm. . . . " The words trailed off, and Benny stared silently into our faces. |
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Jake didn't waste any time. We huddled briefly, and the decision was made to implement the still somewhat sketchy Madden-Wages plan. He was convinced it was pointless to go back to the spot where the two boys had witnessed the Kendall atrocity. He had bought my theory, and he was determined now to find access to the caves. |
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Ferris seemed to be evolving as one of the few rational voices in the rapidly developing |
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