The big man snarled at her, an animal sound, a deep, throaty growl that brought Wraith right up into her throat, so close to breaking free she could see the tiger striping of his wolfish face and feel the thick, coarse fur of his powerful body. She backed away, trying to keep him in check. If she failed to do so, everyone would discover the truth about her. Whatever else happened, she could not permit that.
“Joy to the world!” the big man howled as he lumbered toward her. “Joy to the world!”
“Twitch!” a voice shrilled.
The big man stopped as if he had been reined in by invisible wires, jerking upright, his strange, misshapen head lifting like a startled bird’s.
“You come right into this house!” the voice ordered. “You are so bad! I mean it! Right now!”
On the porch stood a solitary figure bundled in a heavy coat and scarf, frizzy red hair sticking out all over. It was the young woman who had introduced herself at church that morning, the one called Penny. At the sound of her voice, the giant slowly turned away and trudged back toward the old house. Nest took a deep, calming breath as the screaming behind her died away into hushed whispers and sobs.
The young woman stood aside as the giant lumbered past her sheepishly and disappeared inside. Then she came down the porch, shaking her head in exasperation.
“Nest, I’m really, really sorry about this.” She came up and took Nest’s gloved hand in her own and held it. “That’s my brother. He isn’t right in the head. He doesn’t mean any harm, but he doesn’t know how strong he is.”
She looked over at Allen, who was finally climbing back to his feet. “Are you all right, mister? Did he hurt you at all?”
Allen Kruppert looked as if he had just climbed out of a working cement mixer. He tried to speak, coughed hard, and shook his head.
“I think he’s okay,” Kathy offered quietly, bracing him against her with both arms wrapped tightly about his bulky form. “That was a very scary thing your brother did, miss.”
Penny nodded quickly in agreement. “I know. I should have been watching him more closely, but I was upstairs working. My grandmother answered the door, but she is so old and feeble she can’t do anything with him. He just pushed her aside and came out.” She looked quickly from Nest to the Krupperts. “He just wanted to play. That’s what he thought all this was about. Playing.”
Nest gave her a brief, uncertain smile. She had the oddest queasy feeling. Penny seemed sincere in her apology, but there was just a hint of something in her voice that suggested maybe she wasn’t.
Nest glanced up at the house. “Do you live here, Penny?” she asked conversationally.
“Sometimes.” Penny’s red hair gave her the look of something that had shorted out. Her green eyes glittered. “Right now I’m just visiting.”
“With your brother?”
“Yeah. With Twitch. We call him Twitch.”
“Is it your grandmother who belongs to the church?”
Penny shrugged. “I suppose.”
“What is your grandmother’s name?”
Penny smiled. “I better get back inside, Nest. I don’t like leaving Twitch alone after an episode. You know how it is. Thanks for coming by with the church group, though. It was really nice of you.”
She walked back up the steps and through the broken door, closing the windowless frame carefully behind her. Nest watched until she was gone, then gave the windows a casual sweep as she swung back toward the others.
The interior of the house had gone completely dark.
-=O=-***-=O=-
She helped Kathy get Allen back in the Suburban, settling him into the passenger seat and buckling him in. He insisted he was all right, and it seemed he was. The youth group was noticeably subdued, and there was talk of calling it a night. But Allen wouldn’t hear of it. There were four more names on the list, including the Northway Nursing Home. All those people were counting on them. Allen wasn’t the sort to let anyone be disappointed on account of him. He insisted they finish what they started.