WATCHERS by Dean R. Koontz

say, ‘Oh, how awful,’ but they really get off on it. That’s human nature.”

“I . . . I’ve got things to do in the kitchen,” she said nervously. “Call me

when you’ve fixed the set.” She left the room and went down the hall through the

swinging door into the kitchen.

She was trembling. She despised herself for her weakness, for the ease with

which she surrendered to fear, but she could not help being what she was. A

mouse.

Aunt Violet had often said, “Girl, there are two kinds of people in the

world—cats and mice. Cats go where they want, do what they want, take what they

want. Cats are aggressive and self-sufficient by nature. Mice, on the other

hand, don’t have an ounce of aggression in them. They’re naturally vulnerable,

gentle, and timid, and they’re happiest when they keep their heads down and

accept what life gives them. You’re a mouse, dear. It’s not bad to be a mouse.

You can be perfectly happy. A mouse might not have as colorful a life as a cat,

but if it stays safely in its burrow and keeps to itself, it’ll live longer than

the cat, and it’ll have a lot less turmoil in its life.”

Right now, a cat lurked in the living room, fixing the TV set, and Nora was in

the kitchen, gripped by mouselike fear. She was not actually in the middle of

cooking anything, as she had told Streck. For a moment she stood by the sink,

one cold hand clasped in the other—her hands always seemed to be cold—wondering

what to do until he finished his work and left. She decided to bake a cake. A

yellow cake with chocolate icing. That task would keep her occupied and help

turn her mind away from the memory of Streck’s suggestive winking.

She got bowls, utensils, an electric mixer, plus the cake mix and other

ingredients out of the cupboards, and she set to work. Soon her frayed nerves

were soothed by the mundane domestic activity.

Just as she finished pouring the batter into the two baking pans, Streck stepped

into the kitchen and said, “You like to cook?”

Surprised, she nearly dropped the empty metal mixing bowl and the battersmeared

spatula. Somehow, she managed to hold on to them and—with only a little clatter

to betray her tension—put them into the sink to be washed. “Yes. I like to

cook.”

“Isn’t that nice? I admire a woman who enjoys doing woman’s work. Do You sew,

crochet, do embroidery, anything like that?”

“Needlepoint,” she said.

“That’s even nicer.”

“Is the TV fixed?”

“Almost.”

Nora was ready to put the cake in the oven, but she did not want to carry

the pans while Streck was watching her because she was afraid she would shake

too much. Then he’d realize that she was intimidated by him, and he would

probably get bolder. So she left the full pans on the counter and tore open the

box of icing mix instead.

Streck came farther into the big kitchen, moving casually, very relaxed, looking

around with an amiable smile, but coming straight toward her. “Think I could

have a glass of water?”

Nora almost sighed with relief, eager to believe that a drink of cold water was

all that had brought him here. “Oh, yes, of course,” she said. She took a glass

from the cupboard, ran the cold water.

When she turned to hand it to him, he was standing close behind her, having

crept up with catlike quiet. She gave an involuntary start. Water slopped out of

the glass and splattered on the floor.

She said, “You—”

“Here,” he said, taking the glass from her hand.

“—startled me.”

“Me?” he said, smiling, fixing her with icy blue eyes. “Oh, I certainly didn’t

mean to. I’m sorry. I’m harmless, Mrs. Devon. Really, I am. All I want is a

drink of water. You didn’t think I wanted anything else—did you?”

He was so damned bold. She couldn’t believe how bold he was, how smart-mouthed

and cool and aggressive. She wanted to slap his face, but she was afraid of what

would happen after that. Slapping him—in any way acknowledging his insulting

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *