The Servants of Twilight

For a moment Charlie didn't know what the boy was talking about, and then he remembered the television show, and he smiled.

Joey took a long drink of his Coke, studying Chaflie over the rim of the glass. Finally he said, "I guess you'll be okay."

Charlie almost laughed." You won't be sorry you came to us, Joey. Now… what did the woman on the phone say to you?"

" She said. "You can't hide from me." "

Charlie heard fear ooze into the boy's voice, and he quickly said,

"Well, she's wrong about that. If we have to hide you from her, we can.

Don't you worry about that. What else did she say? "

"She said she knew what I was."

"What do you think she meant by that?"

The boy looked baffled." I don't know."

"What else did she say?"

" She said. she'd cut my heart out."

A strangled sound came from Christine. She stood, nervously clutching her purse." I think I ought to take Joey away somewhere."

"Maybe eventually," Charlie said soothingly." But not just yet."

"I think now's the time. Before… anything happens. We could go to San Francisco. Or farther. I've never been to the Caribbean. This is a good time of the year for the Caribbean, isn't it? "

"Give me at least twenty-four hours," Charlie said.

"Yeah? Twenty-four hours? And what if that hag catches up with us? No.

We should leave today."

"And how long do you intend to stay away?" Charlie asked.

"A week? A month? A year?"

"Two weeks should be long enough. You'll find her in two weeks."

"Not necessarily."

"Then how long?"

Understanding and sympathizing with Christine's concern, wanting to be gentle with her, knowing that he had to be blunt instead, Charlie said,

"Clearly, she's got some sort of fixation on Joey, some sort of obsession about him. It's Joey that keeps her motor running, so to speak. Without him around, she might

pull in her horns. She might evaporate on us. We might never find her if Joey isn't here to bring her out. Do you intend to go on vacation forever?"

"Are you saying you intend to use my son as bait?"

"No. Not exactly. We'd never put him right in the jaws of a trap.

We'll use him more as a lure."

" That's outrageous!"

"But it's the only way we'll get her. If he's not around, there'll be no reason for her to show herself." He went to Christine and put a hand on her shoulder." He'll be guarded at all times. He'll be safe."

"Like hell he will."

"I swear to you-"

"You've already got the van's license number," she said.

"That might not be enough. It might not lead anywhere."

"You've got the name of the company that owns it. The True Word."

"That might not be enough, either. And if it's not enough, if it doesn't lead us anywhere, then Joey has to be around so the old woman has a reason to risk exposing herself."

"Seems like we're the ones taking the risks."

"Trust me," he said softly.

She met his eyes.

He said, "Sit down. Come on. Give me a chance. Later, if I see any indication-the slightest indication-that we might not be able to handle the situation, I'll send you and Joey out of town for a while. But please. not just yet. II

She looked past him at her son, who had put down his glass of Coke and was sitting on the edge of Charlie's big chair. She seemed to realize that her fear was directly transmitted to the boy, and she sat down and composed herself as Charlie requested.

He sat on the edge of his desk again." Joey, don't worry about the witch. I know just how to deal with witches. Leave the worrying to me.

Now. you were on the phone, and she said she wanted to cut.

cut you. What did she say after that?"

The boy screwed up his face, trying to remember." Not much. just something about some judges."

"Judges?"

"Yeah. She said something like… God wants her to bring some judge men to me."

" Judgment?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah," the boy said." She said she was bringing these jude men to see me. She said God wasn't gonna let me escape from her." He looked at his mother." Why does God want that old witch to get me?"

"He doesn't want her to get you, honey. She was lying. She's crazy.

God has nothing to do with this."

Frowning, Charlie said, "Maybe, in a roundabout way, He does. When Henry said the van was owned by a printing company called The True Word, I wondered if maybe it was a religious printing company. "The True Word'-meaning the holy word, scripture, the Bible. Maybe what we've got on our hands here is a religious fanatic."

"Or two," she said, glancing at the window, obviously remembering the man with the white van.

Or more than two, Charlie thought uneasily.

During the past couple of decades, when it had become fashionable to distrust and disparage all of society's institutions (as if there had been no wisdom at all in the creation of them), a lot of religious cults had sprung up, eager to fill the power vacuum. Some of them were honest, earnest off-shoots of longestablished religions, and some were crackpot organizations established for the benefit of their founders, to enrich them, or to spread their gospels of madness and violence and bigotry.