A Stranger's Touch by Roxy Boroughs Read Free Book Online Page A

have imagined that last phrase. But she’d clearly heard the ache in his voice. The pain between them grew into an uncomfortable silence.
    Maggie reached for the volume on her radio and eased it up as she merged onto Highway 2, North. She tried to catch Stafford’s eye, hoping for some kind of reassurance. But he kept staring out the window, looking at the night sky.

Chapter Five
    D avie opened his eyes. All around, long, thin shadows reached out—monster fingers ready to grab him. He screamed, but the noise stuck in his throat. Trapped.
    The car’s motor was suddenly quiet, making his wheezing sound as loud as Darth Vader’s. He tried to breathe slower but he couldn’t control his heart. It jumped around like a cricket in a glass jar, as he gazed into the darkness at the ghost-world beyond the backseat of the car.
    They’d parked near a little store, with two gas pumps out front. There were no other cars. No other people. Just the man in the store. He was sitting at the counter reading a newspaper.
    Davie wanted to throw himself against the car window and wave his arms so the man would see him. But he was too scared to move. Except for his eyes. He kept them busy, lookingall around.
    Big signs hung everywhere. And Davie could read. Real good. Even his teacher said so.
    O...pen. Gas. Air.
    He heard a voice and shrunk back. He wished he could make himself really tiny. Small enough to slip out of the rusted hole in the door and disappear.
    When the driver leaned over the front seat toward him, he couldn’t cry. Couldn’t even breathe. He froze, flat against the hard door, the armrest poking into his ribs.
    “I have to go inside. You wait here for me.” She pointed a bony, white finger at him then jabbed him with it. “Don’t move. This is a dangerous place. There’s lots of creatures around here that eat little boys.”
    Davie nodded, the rest of his body shaking, too.
    The woman got out of the car and leaned in through the half-open door. Her dark hair fell past her shoulders in greasy strips. “I’ll be watching you from the store window, so be good.”
    She stood there for a moment, looking at him. Davie scrunched down in his seat. He hated those eyes—small and cold, like two black beads.
    She stared at him and smiled. Not a happy smile but one that looked like she was hurting. She kept showing her teeth until her lips twitched. Then she pulled away, shut the car door behind her and walked toward the store.
    Davie squeezed some air into his lungs and waited until he’d stopped shivering. Then he went back to his reading, hoping one of the signs would help him find his mommy.
    “Sand...wich...es. Cof...fee. Tel...e...phone.”
    He gave a yelp of joy. If he could get to the phone, he could call his mom.
    With a sick feeling, he remembered he didn’t have any money. It was in his knapsack. He’d dropped that when the woman yanked him into the car.
    Trembling, he checked his pockets—jacket and pants—and came up with a nickel. Not enough to use a payphone.
    He searched the dark floor with his fingers. His daddy always dropped change in the car—nickels, dimes, quarters. Once or twice, Davie found enough to buy a chocolate bar.
    There was a ton of change on the carpet of this car. Probably a dollar’s worth, or more. But all in pennies. His mom had shown him silver money when they’d talked about payphones. Did the brown coins work, too?
    Then something his mommy said came back to him. If ever he was in trouble, he could dial 911 for free.
    If he could get out of the car.
    The backseat, where he sat, didn’t have any doors. He checked the front. The little knobs at the top of the doors on both sides of the old car were pushed down. Locked.
    The back of his neck prickled. Someone was watching him. He looked up at the store. The woman stood at the window, staring at him with hollow eyes.
    Skeleton eyes.
    Davie lurched back. The cracked upholstery dug into his shoulders. The smell of stale cigarettes and