Southern Fried Rat and Other Gruesome Tales by Daniel Cohen Read Free Book Online Page A

orchestras. And enough food to feed two towns this size, and so much drink that several men were heard to remark that they felt as if they had died and gone to heaven.
    In the middle of all of this celebration were the bride and groom. Mary in her white satin gown, looking more beautiful and more tragic than ever. And Bruce, whose usual high spirits now soared beyond all bounds.
    It was undoubtedly Bruce who had the idea of playing hide-and-seek. Party games were very unusual for a wedding celebration, but Bruce was passionately devoted to them, and everybody, at least all of the young people, were ready to follow him.
    The Sanderson house with its many rooms and extensive grounds was a perfect setting for a game of hide-and-seek. Bruce and his friends had played the game at the house many times. Bruce said that Mary should have the honor of hiding first. She shook her head and said no in her soft voice. Bruce insisted, and as usual he overwhelmed all opposition by his sheer enthusiasm. Reluctantly Mary agreed that she would hide.
    All of the guests covered their eyes and started counting, as Mary, still in her long white wedding dress, walked from the room. They gave her to the count of one hundred, and then everyone fanned out for the
    search. Practically everyone thought the game would not take more than a few moments, because Mary didn't really ever put her heart into a game. She would just pick an obvious hiding place and be found easily. At least that's what people thought at first.

    All of the obvious hiding places were searched and Mary could not be found. Some of the less obvious places were checked, and then the places that no one would ever think of. Still she remained hidden. Bruce was very pleased. Mary had gotten into the spirit of the game for the first time in her life—and she had won.
    He called for her to come out, come cut, wherever she was. There was no answer. Others began calling. Still no answer. People went all through the house and the grounds calling for Mary to come out, with an increasing sense of puzzlement shading into anxiety and even panic.
    After an hour of searching and calling, everyone in the wedding party realized that the new bride very definitely was missing. The police chief and several members of the force were already at the wedding, and they began an official investigation immediately. Nothing turned up.
    Bruce maintained a veneer of optimism, but as the days, weeks, and finally months dragged on, even his heroically cheerful spirit cracked. And he finally began to realize that Mary wasn't coming back.
    The town speculated—gossiped would be a better word—endlessly over what might have happened. The general consensus was that whatever the secret sorrow was that Mary suffered from, it had driven her to run away from her own wedding. The more ghoulish thought she ran off and killed herself at some lonely spot, while the more worldly insisted that she had a boyfriend somewhere and just took off with him.
    Bruce was broken by the ordeal, as were his parents. They determined to close up the house and go away, at least for a while. They wanted to put some distance between themselves and the scene of the disastrous wedding and the town gossip.
    All the furniture in the house was to be covered with sheets to prevent it from becoming dusty while they were away. But there was a shortage of sheets. One of the maids was told to look in the attic to see if any sheets had been stored there.
    She found an old trunk. It was locked, but with the aid of a hairpin she easily picked the lock. Inside was what first appeared to be a pile of white satin sheets. But when she reached in to pull out the sheets, she realized that there was something else in the trunk, and her scream brought everyone rushing to the attic.
    The maid had found Mary, or what was left of Mary after having been locked in a trunk for six months. Actually, she was remarkably well preserved for someone who had been dead so long.