From the novel "A MOMENT OF TERROR"

Chapter 12

"Desperate Search"

The next morning, Nathan, didn't feel all that good so Kathleen gave him a dose of Castor oil. He hated that worse than his headache. A wagon pulled up in the yard. It was Finis Armstrong, a neighbor. Nathan stepped outside on the porch. "Morning, Finis."
"Howdy, Nathan."

"What brings you way out here this morning?"
Finis spit a stream of tobacco juice out of his mouth.
"You recall those Sullivan girls who live over near snake-hollow way?"
"Yes, I know the family."
"That little one who had freckles all over her face, I think her name was Ruth. Cat got her."
Kathleen had overheard and came out on the porch. "Is she dead Finis?"
Finis took off his hat when he saw her. "Morning, Mrs. Plenty. Yep, she's dead alright. Eat her up pretty bad." He looked back at Nathan. "The sheriff's gitting some boys together to try to flush the cat out. Told me to come and git you since you know these hills better than anyone. Thar' all meeting over at Bate's Meadow."
"I've got to go over there Nathan." Sadness lay in Kathleen's eyes as if it had been her own child.
Nathan nodded. "Toby, hitch up the wagon and go with your Ma. Take my shotgun, I'll borrow one from Burt. I'll be right with you Finis."

When Nathan and Finis reached Bate's Meadow, a group of men were milling around, and right in the middle stood the sheriff, Tom Harper. Tom was a big man, and handy with his fists. Not many men stood up to his punches. He was a fair man, but went by the law. If you didn't do anything you had nothing to worry about, but if you broke the law you would answer to him. He had been the sheriff for over twenty years.

Tom held up his gnarled fingers and said, "Alright! Listen up!"
Two men kept talking and Tom pointed at them.
"You boys shut up! I got something to say!" Tom looked out at the crowd. "A little eight year old girl, Ruth Sullivan, has been killed by a cat. Don't know what kind yet but I'm hoping Nathan here can tell me. I do know one thing, he's big. I don't mean dog big, I mean big!"
Someone stepped on a dog's tail, he howled, and everybody looked around.
"Wade! Keep that dog quiet!" Tom's booming voice demanded. "I want you to split up into four men each. We got a large area to cover. If you ran across anything, fire four shots as fast as you can, we'll come running. The brush is mighty thick out there, so stay in sight of each other. And don't be shooting anything until you know what

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

---

Add your voice

Know something about Novel excerpts: Revenge?
We want to hear your view. Write now!