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"So you think-what?-that this adversary isn’t human?"

"Maybe it could be some kind of… animal"

"Anily uncomfortable "No, sir"

"What do you think?" Bryce asked

"Hell, I don’t knohat to think," Frank said in frustration "I’m military-trained, as you know A e blindly into any situation He likes to plan his strategy carefully But good, sound strategic planning depends on a reliable body of experience What happened in comparable battles in other wars? What have other men done in similar circumstances? Did they succeed or fail? But this time there just aren’t any comparable battles; there’s no experience to draw upon This is so strange, I’ of the enee, Bryce said, "What about you? Why did you use the word ’it’?"

"I’m not sure Maybe because Officer Autry used it"

"But you were the one who advanced the theory about a mutant strain of rabies that could create a pack of ho that out now?"

She frowned "No We can’t rule out anything at this point But, Sheriff, I never meant that that was the only possible theory"

"Do you have any others?"

"No"

Bryce looked at Tal, "What about you?"

Tal felt every bit as uncouess I used ’it’ because I can’t accept the homicidal maniac theory any her than usual "Oh? Why not?"

"Because of what happened at the Candle glow Inn," Tal said, "When we came downstairs and found that hand on the table in the lobby, holding the eyebrow pencil we’d been looking for… well… that just didn’t see a hoh to’ve dealt with our share of unbalanced people Have any of you ever encountered one of those types who had a sense of huly, twisted sense of humor? They’re huh at anything, which is probably part of the reason they’re crazy So when I saw that hand on the lobby table it just didn’t see to think of our enemy as a faceless ’it"

"Why won’t any of you ade said softly She was fourteen, an adolescent, on her way to being a lovely young lady, but she gazed at each of them with the unselfconscious directness of a child "Somehow, deep down inside where it really counts, we all knoasn’t people who did these things It’s so strange and disgusting Whatever it is, we all feel it We’re all scared of it So we’re all trying hard not to adirl’s stare; he studied her thoughtfully The others looked away from Lisa They didn’t want to meet one another’s eyes, either

We don’t want to look inside ourselves, Tal thought, and that’s exactly what the girl’s telling us to do We don’t want to look inward and find primitive superstition We’re all civilized, reasonably well-educated adults, and adults aren’t supposed to believe in the boogeyht," Bryce said, "The only e’re going to solve this one- victiinations have free rein"

"I agree," Dr Paige said

Gordy Brogan shook his head "But what are we supposed to think, then? Anything? I mean, aren’t there any lihouls and olves and… and vas we can rule out"

"Of course," Bryce said patiently, "Gordy, no one’s saying we’re dealing with ghosts and olves But we’ve got to realize that we’re dealing with the unknown That’s all The unknown"

"I don’t buy it," Stu Wargle said sullenly, "The unknown, my ass When it’s all said and done, e’ll find is that it’s the work of so pretty s we’ve dealt with before"

Frank said, "Wargle, your kind of thinking is exactly what’ll cause us to overlook i that’ll get us killed"

"You just wait," Wargle told theht" He spat on the sidewalk, hooked his thuive the iroup

Tal Whitle, too Though he was one of the most insensitive men Tal had ever known, Stu was not unaware of the prie had spoken Whether he admitted it or not, he clearly felt the sah all of thele’s ierated, insincere admiration, Frank said, "Stu, by your fine example, you fortify us You inspire us What would we do without you?"

"Without ht down the old toilet, Frank"

With mock dismay, Frank looked around at Tal, Gordy, and Bryce "Does that sound like a swelled head?"

"Sure does But don’t blame Stu In his case," Tal said, "a swelled head is just a result of Nature’s frenzied efforts to fill a vacuue Although Stu enjoyed wielding the needle, he despised being on the pricking end of it; yet even he hing at the joke asin its skeletal face

But when the laughter faded, the night was still dark

The toas still unnaturally silent

Jake Johnson was still e turned to Bryce Hammond and said, "Are you ready to take a look at the Oxley house?"

Bryce shook his head "Not right now I don’t think it’s wise for us to do any oing to lose another h Bryce’s eyes at the ht: Bryce, my friend, you always take too , just like you’re always too quick to share the credit for successes that have been entirely yours

"Let’s go back to the substation," Bryce said, "We’ve got to plan our ot calls tothe route by which they had cole, still deteruard this ti behind them

As they reached Skyline Road, a church bell tolled, startling theain…

Tal felt thein his teeth

They all stopped at the corner, listening to the bell and staring west, toward the other end of Vail Lane Only a little more than one block away, a brick church tower rose above the other buildings; there was one sht at each corner of the peaked, slate belfry roof

"The Catholic church," Dr Paige infor her voice to compete with the bell "It serves all the towns around here Our Lady of the Mountains"

The pealing of a church bell could be a joyousjoyous about this one, Tal decided

"Who’s ringing it?" Gordy wondered aloud