Cries of the Children(10)

Rachel’s tone was almost begging. It was so unlike her that Eric frowned. Rachel had never made such a snap decision before.

“What about Tati and Olivia?” he asked. “Have you thought what they’ll feel like, having a perfect stranger enter our home?”

“Oh, Eric, stop it,” Rachel snapped. “He’s a ten-year-old boy. Nina thinks we can help him, and if you ask me, it’s high time we shared some of our good fortune.”

Nina was silent, looking from one to the other. She could tell Eric wasn’t at all happy with the idea, but there was a steely determination in Rachel’s eyes that promised she’d win in the end. It was almost as if someone else had come here to prepare her for Steven’s arrival.

“Okay, okay,” Eric said. “If it’s only for a few days, I suppose I can put up with it.”

“Thank you!” Rachel said, throwing her arms around him.

“Thank you, Mr. Freleng,” Nina said, relief in her tone. “I’ll be in touch.”

Nina drove through Columbus in a sort of fugue, some inborn homing device keeping her eyes on the road when her mind was elsewhere. She’d been like this for several days now, losing bits and pieces of time. Nina was a mousy-looking woman, but she’d always been an efficient one. Blacking out was devastating, and embarrassing. It was not until she was in downtown Columbus, passing the relatively congested area of One Nation Plaza, that something snapped. The blare of a horn behind her made her realize she hadn’t moved when the light turned green.

She gripped the steering wheel and forced her eyes on the road ahead. She had to get hold of herself!

Well, she reasoned, she probably had a lot on her mind. After all, placing Steven with the Frelengs had been her idea, and if it went wrong, it would cost her her job.

Nina had lived on a farm outside the city limits since childhood. She had been alone there ever since her mother had died. When she got home, she was grateful to be in comfortable, familiar surroundings. She parked her car and looked around at the barn and silo, the rusting old tractor, the broken-down hay wagon. None of these things had been in use for fifteen years. Her father had done most of the farmwork, and when he died her mother had not kept up with it. None of the fields bore crops, and all of the animals had been sold through the years. All but one—Nina’s Appaloosa horse.

She went to Miracle’s stall now, took down a brush, and began to stroke his spotted hide.

“Let’s take a ride, Mir,” she said. “I need to clear my head.”

Usually nothing would have worked better to get her thoughts in order than a brisk ride over the grass that grew tall and wild on her land. But she was no more than halfway across the acreage when Miracle suddenly reared up, whinnying in panic. Nina gripped the reins and called to him.

“Whoa! Easy, Miracle! Whoa!”

But the horse kept backing away in fear.

“What is it? Is it a fox?”

Nina steered the horse around and galloped away. Almost at once the animal calmed down, as if it knew it was out of danger. Nina left him in his paddock, then headed back across the field to see if she could find out what had frightened him so much.

The grass was waist-high in places, the result of her having neither the time nor the desire to trim it down. Nina followed the path her horse’s hooves had made until she came to the spot where Miracle had panicked. There was nothing to be seen. But when she walked about four yards farther, she came across something half-buried in the ground. Nina walked over to it and knelt down. It was a box shaped something like a canoe, and she was certain she had never seen it before. She stared at the jagged surface of the wood.

Something was staring back at her.

She gasped, and the odd black eyes that had locked with hers were instantly gone.

“A field mouse,” she told herself.

Nina ran her hands over the rough wood. Instantly an image of Steven came to her mind. She sensed this thing had something to do with that little boy. Perhaps, if she looked carefully, she would find an explanation for what had been happening to her these past few days.

She noticed a little door on the front of the box. Maybe there was something inside that would help. She worked at it until, finally, it popped open. Something dark and green came oozing out.

Nina pulled her hand back with a cry of disgust, slightly shaking the box. The action caused another panel to come off. This time, there was nothing inside that she could see. She looked into the small black void. In a few moments something within it began to glow bright and orange. The light drew her to itself, as unrelenting as a magnet pulling steel. Nina leaned closer to the newly opened panel, peering in at the orange glow. It smelled strangely, at first like almond extract, then flowery, and finally like nothing she’d ever experienced. She felt very warm all of a sudden.