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The Gate and the Way

last update Last Updated: 2021-09-06 16:19:37
THE GATE AND THE WAY

The woods behind Bassler House stank worse than anything Jesse Kretch had ever smelled. He looked up to bitch about it to Scott, but a tree branch smacked him in the face before he could speak.

“Ow! Dammit! Watch it, Scott!”

Small lines burned his cheeks. Scott looked back as he pushed through brush and more branches. “Sorry. You okay?”

“Yeah. Guess so. Stings like a motherfucker, though.”

“Pussy.”

“Ass.”

“Whatever. Just keep movin. We don’t have all day. Gotta have Mrs. Wilkins’ yard mowed by dinner.”

Jesse scowled but said nothing as he followed Scott through the woods behind old Bassler House. They could’ve taken the easier way along Bassler Road, but that started off the end of South Main Street and looped around town. Way too long. This shortcut—through the woods behind the Commons Trailer Park—was quicker.

But smellier, way smellier. The air reeked of bad milk and old piss. Mounds of bulging white plastic bags dotted the ground, some split open like
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  • Things Slip Through   14.

    14.“By the time I arrived on the scene that night you were nearly inconsolable, hysterical at Timmy’s disappearance, insisting something had taken him away. But then you called us three days later and changed your story, telling us to end our search because Timmy was ‘safe and in a better place.’”I lean forward, hands clasped before me, trying to be gentle because I can see that recounting her ordeal is hard for her, can see it in her wet and glimmering eyes. “Why did you tell us that, Mrs. Danvers? What was that . . . thing you saw? Where is this ‘better place?’ I can’t report any of this, can’t ever speak of it to anyone. But I need to know.”so the Guardian may protect the ThresholdShe nods, sniffing, and wipes both eyes with the heels of her palms. Composing herself, running a hand through her hair, she whispers, “I . . . I wasn’t in a good place after that. I’d lost Timmy, lost everything. With Timmy gone there was nothing left to live for and I almost . . . ”She sucks do

  • Things Slip Through   Mr. Nobody

    MR. NOBODY“Mommy! Noooo!”Laughter echoed through Ellen Danvers’ small kitchen as she knelt and bent her son Timmy backward over her knee. He giggled while she pretended to lose her grip.“Jeez, you’re heavy! What’ve you been eating? Hippos?”His face split into a toothy grin. “N-no! Just p-puppies!”“PUPPIES!” She shook him in mock fury. “That’s it! You’re gonna get it!”His blue eyes widened in anticipation. “No!”“Too late!”She raised clenched fingers, her fake scowl threatening to break into a grin. “Now. You. Die!”“Noooo!”With an exaggerated downward thrust, she planted her hand into his belly and tickled him. He laughed and jerked, and alarm shivered through her as her grasp slipped. Timmy was only six, but he was so big for his age. If she wasn’t careful, he could squirm free, hit the floor . . .Worry crept in, spoiling the moment and she stopped, gently grasping his shirt, tipping him up. She hugged him tight, closed her eyes, breathing deep. His speeding heart

  • Things Slip Through   13.

    13.The Commons Trailer ParkEllen Danvers opens her trailer’s screen door and smiles sadly, as if she’s expected me this whole time and has been wondering what’s taken me so long.“Evening, Sheriff,” she whispers. “What can I do for you?”For a moment, the absurdity of my intentions strikes me speechless. We’ve gotten everything we can from Ellen. She’s got no more information to give, past her wild tale.So why am I here?In Gavin’s mind, I’m here so Ellen Danvers can tell me what really happened to her son. In mine . . . well, at this point I really can’t say. But I can’t stand here on the porch forever so I smile and lie. “Just stopping by to see how you’re doing, Ellen, let you know the State Police and my men are still searching for Timmy.”The last part is true, at least. Even though Ellen now claims there’s no need to search for Timmy, the initial report of a missing child set off a chain reaction that can’t be called back so easily. With the wheels turning on a missing

  • Things Slip Through   12.

    12.Ambiguities. Shadowy, surreal ghosts seen out of the corner of the eye, like hallucinations dreamed during a fever, things that can neither be confirmed nor denied. These are the things I’ve been reading about.Though Webb Community College is ten miles out of town, between Clifton Heights and Old Forge, Bradley Sanders lives here in town. I’ve seen him around a few times, been introduced to him twice. And he does have an impressive train layout in his basement. Every Christmas he opens his home to the neighborhood for tours. I had night patrol this Christmas and missed it but luckily Meg convinced Grace—our sitter—to take her. She gushed for days about its meticulous detail in copying nearly every facet of Clifton Heights. I’d hated missing that and had vowed to make sure I was free next year to go see Bradley’s layout with Meg.Not so sure I’ll be doing that, now.A resigned weariness settles over my shoulders. “I suppose if I called Web Community College, asking after Ned Si

  • Things Slip Through   On A Midnight Black Chessie

    ON A MIDNIGHT BLACK CHESSIENowBradley again turns onto the strange road bathed in the moon’s phosphorescent glow. He understands this place now. Understands what it is, where it came from, and how it came to be.Ned sits on the passenger side, still drunk, forehead pressing the window as he gazes at the glowing scenery. “Wow. Am I awake or dreamin?”“Neither,” Bradley whispers. “Or maybe both.”Toward Ned he feels a resolved sadness. Bradley no longer hates him so much but rather pities him, for he’s caught up in something much larger than himself, much larger than Bradley or anything else, and is completely helpless in the face of it.As Bradley is.And as they drive down this softly glowing road, Ned continues to stare. “Geez. Don’ recognize this at all. You lost?”“No,” Bradley says as he slowly pulls up to the glowing church at the road’s end. “Not at all.“I’m home.”Three Days AgoFriday afternoonBradley Sanders had just pulled shut his office door at Webb County C

  • Things Slip Through   11.

    11.Gavin is talking about researching Wendigoes and old Native American myths, something along those lines but I’m not listening too closely, not really. I can hear the words coming from his mouth, can recognize them as English but I can’t distinguish one word from the other as they flow along into a steady stream of babble . . .Because I’m too busy staring at this damn book open before me, at its script—Gavin’s flowing script—which still seems to quiver and tremble and even undulate across the page. I’m starting to wonder what will happen if I keep staring at these words, what will happen if I keep reading them, what will happen to them, to me? Will they slide off the page, down onto the dull and scuffed Formica tabletop, slither over to my hand, melt into my skin, ride my blood to my brain and burn themselves forever there?Okay.Hell.That’s enough of that.So I close my eyes, hold a hand up to pause Gavin’s talk as I try to sort things out in my head, too many things, stran

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