Darkling by R.B. Chesterton Read Free Book Online Page B

of the woodpecker family. And the red hood. Both the male and female are colorful, and both hatch the eggs and feed the young.”
    â€œVery modern,” Margo sniped. “Mommy and Daddy both parent. The baby peckers will be so well adjusted.”
    â€œI’m telling Mother on you.” Erin glared at her older sister. “There’s no reason to be ugly to Mimi. She’s only trying to teach us.”
    â€œI don’t want to learn this shit. I want to be a lawyer. Who cares about woodpeckers?”
    â€œIt’s okay.” I didn’t want the other children reporting that I couldn’t control Margo. I faced her. “I don’t appreciate your conduct, Margo.”
    â€œOh, I’m not perfect like Annie. Too bad.”
    â€œI’m going to tell Daddy now,” Erin threatened.
    â€œTattle-tale.” Margo curled a lip.
    Erin was about to step forward when Donald pushed her aside, sending her stumbling backward and sprawling into me. I caught her. “Hey!”
    He stopped us all and pointed. A huge brown snake coiled on a limb right at head level. Had Erin gone a step farther, the snake could have bitten her right between the eyes. From the musky odor, I knew it was a moccasin.
    â€œI’ve had enough of this Mutual of Omaha wilderness shit.” Margo turned back down the trail. “These woods creep me out. I’m going home.”
    â€œI’d be careful, Margo. Someone is waiting down the trail. He’s been watching us for a while.” Annie pointed down the path.
    â€œSomeone is watching us,” Erin grabbed my arm and pointed where Annie pointed.
    I tore my gaze from the snake to look to the west. The woods were close, the lighting poor. But I saw something. A shadow moving among the darker shadows of the woods.
    â€œIt’s a deer or a stray dog.” I couldn’t allow the children to feel the surge of irrational panic that gripped me. Donald pressed against my side.
    â€œIt’s the girl. She’s watching us all.” He clutched at my shirttail. “She’s hiding in those bushes.”
    For one moment we all stood rooted to the spot. “What a bunch of horseshit. I’m outta here.” Margo pushed Annie out of her path.
    â€œWe will stay together, Margo. We’re all leaving, but we’ll go as a group.” My voice had a quiver and I couldn’t help it. Maybe the earlier talk of ghosts had unnerved me, but I felt a keen sense of danger. Tucked deep in the shadows, I saw something shifting.
    â€œI’m not afraid.” Margo started down the trail. “You’re on your own. I hope the bogeyman doesn’t get you.”
    â€œThere is someone there.” Annie was calm. “Don’t be foolish, Margo. We can all go home together. It’s safer.”
    â€œI’ll take care of myself and you take care of you,” Margo said, plowing ahead. She disappeared around a bend in the path.
    â€œWhat are we going to do?” Erin was truly frightened, and so was Donald.
    â€œWe’re going home. We just spooked ourselves, that’s all. It was just the wind moving the tree limbs.” While I spoke boldly, I couldn’t resist looking back at the place I’d seen the shadow moving. There was nothing there except an old hackberry bush and a dogwood, the blooms long since fallen. “Just a shadow. Let’s go home.”
    â€œLet me gather a few flowers,” Annie said. She ducked beneath the snake without hesitation. Donald started to go after her, but I grabbed him and pulled him back. My authority might not sway Annie to common sense, but I could protect Donald.
    In a moment she was back with a cluster of exotic blooms in her hand.
    â€œI’m not waiting!” Margo called from far ahead. She was out of sight.
    â€œWhy aren’t there perfume factories here?” Annie asked. “Were they built and destroyed?”
    â€œI don’t know.” And