The Legend of Annie Murphy by Frank Peretti Read Free Book Online Page B

in,” Dr. Cooper observed, “but they don’t come out again.”
    Dr. Cooper and Mac clicked on their flashlights. That startled the sheriff. “How do they do that? You have kerosene in there somewhere?”
    Mac tried to explain. “It’s electricity produced through a chemical reaction in disposable power cells . . .” But he could see the sheriff wasn’t following him. “Uh, we’ll explain it later.”
    â€œCome on,” said Dr. Cooper. “Let’s take a look.”
    They ventured into the cliff, flashlight beams searching about, until they came to the narrow room some fifty feet inside.
    â€œThis is where I last saw her,” the sheriff explained. “She was standing right there. I tried to grab her, and the next thing I knew, it was dark and she was gone and so was the town, and there you two were.”
    â€œYour footprints lead out, but they didn’t lead in,” Mac observed.
    Dr. Cooper spotted something in a corner and stooped to pick it up. It was his other camera, the one he’d sent Jay and Lila after. “They were here, all right.” He shined his light all around the room, trying to find any other passage they could have used. There was no other way out. He checked the camera. “Several shots have been taken. If the kids took pictures of what they saw . . .”
    â€œThere’s a one-hour developing service back in town,” Mac said.
    â€œMac.” Dr. Cooper looked directly at Richard MacPherson. “Do you know where my kids are?”
    Mac turned to the sheriff. “Sheriff, can you tell me today’s date?”
    â€œJune eighth, 1885,” said the sheriff.
    Mac nodded very somberly. “Yeah, I think I know where they are.”

FIVE
    D eputy Erskine Hatch returned to the Crackerby Boardinghouse without finding the sheriff. “No sign of him. I found his tracks going into that old crack in the west cliff, but they went in there and just . . . well, that’s as far as they went. He kind of disappeared after that.”
    Mrs. Crackerby gasped. “What if Annie took him, pulled him straight down into hell?”
    â€œHardly,” Judge Crackerby scoffed.
    â€œBut I found two other sets of footprints coming back out of there,” the deputy added. “They were smaller. Maybe some kids were in there.”
    Judge Crackerby’s face brightened as wheels turned in his head. “Two children, you say?” He picked up a calico skirt from the coffee table and handed it to Hatch. “Two children were here only moments ago, and the girl was wearing this.”
    Hatch stared at the skirt. “Uh . . . why isn’t she wearing it now?”
    Judge Crackerby exchanged a brief, knowing glance with his wife, who was still seated in the big chair looking pale. “She slipped out of it as she made her escape.”
    â€œEscape?”
    â€œThey’re strangers, Deputy, and clever practical jokers. I want them found and brought back here. The boy is around five-and-a-half feet tall with blond hair; the girl a little shorter and blond as well. They’re both just entering adolescence and dressed strangely.”
    That rang a bell in Hatch’s memory. “Did the boy have a shirt advertising a Chicago livestock company?”
    The judge raised an eyebrow. “So you’ve seen them?”
    Hatch nodded. “Out on the street. They said they were new in town.”
    The judge laughed derisively. “Well, I think they have an explanation for all this ghost business, and I’m going to get it out of them.”
    Hatch examined the skirt. “Hmm. Still has the Bodine Mercantile’s tag on it.”
    â€œStolen, no doubt.”
    â€œI’ll get to work on it.”
    â€œFind those kids, Deputy!” The judge’s eyes narrowed with menace. “And bring them to me!”
    The kids had managed to slip unseen out of town, and now they were sneaking,