Adam's Thorn (33 page)

He stiffened behind her.

“Oh, they’re sweet!”  Mrs Hubble swept
into the room and picked one up.  “I had one of these when I was a girl, passed
down to me from my mother.  I treasured that doll.”  She beamed at Barbie.

Old Man Parker looked at her like
she’d lost her mind.  “Clare, that damned thing is
sitting
on the
floor.”

“It fell off the broken shelf.” 
She turned and pointed to the shelf.  “Oh…it’s not broken.”

“And those dolls were on the
shelf,” Barbie repeated with a shiver.

“And those dolls, including the one
you’re holding, are on the floor.
Sitting
on the
floor
.” Old Man
Parker pointed to the sightless porcelain dolls facing him.

Mrs Hubble looked from the dolls
to the shelf, to the doll she cradled in her arm.  Uncertainty crossing her
lined features, she stepped back.  “Oh.  Um…”  She placed the doll hurriedly on
the shelf.  “Yes.  I see.”

“Probably the carpenters,” Barbie
managed a sickly smile.

“Who haven’t been here since
Friday,” Old Man Parker muttered.

“Really, Percy.”  With a huff, Mrs
Hubble regained her composure along with her no-nonsense attitude, and
proceeded to pick the dolls up and set them on the shelf.  “Barbie, you must have
forgotten to put them back or someone is playing a joke on you.  Probably that
young Bruce, or Shane.  After all, they’re up here and you’re downstairs.  It
wouldn’t take much for them to slip back in here and set this up.”

Of course
.  Relieved at what
was an obvious explanation, Barbie squared her shoulders.  “You’re absolutely
correct, Mrs Hubble.  Thank you.”
It doesn’t explain the noises, that loud
bang.

“No worries, dear.  Now, Percy.” 
Mrs Hubble almost glared at him.  “No more scaring the poor child.  Penny was a
little addled, and this is an old a house.  Some of the workers are young and
would get a kick out of playing a joke on Barbie.  Let’s go back downstairs and
enjoy another cup of tea.”

Not looking completely convinced,
Old Man Parker followed them down the stairs.

Fred and Barney were flopped in
the hallway near the front door, their tails twitching, gazing lazily around.  That
was a good sign, Barbie assured herself.  The cats would be freaked if there
was anything supernatural happening in the house.

Apart from someone playing a joke
on her.

She kept telling herself this as
she sat in the lounge sipping tea, trying to ignore the soft thud from the
floor above.  Old Man Parker didn’t appear to hear, and Mrs Hubble chatted on
about her youth and what she remembered of the Declan family, which wasn’t a
lot.  It seemed that once Penny’s parents didn’t mix much with the townsfolk, 
and even when her father died, Mrs Declan and Penny lived quietly, only
venturing out to buy food and a few items.  They stayed on their block and
didn’t mix, and that didn’t change when Penny’s mother had died.

Another soft thud had her heart
leaping.  Half listening to Mrs Hubble, she kept her ears strained to hear any
further noise, but there was nothing.  It remained blessedly silent.

It was late afternoon when Mrs
Hubble and Old Man Parker finally took their leave, Mrs Hubble trying to cajole
Barbie into visiting her, while Old Man Parker stood to one side.

He settled Mrs Hubble into the
passenger seat of his car before turning to Barbie.  “You shouldn’t be in that
house alone.”

“It’s just an old house, Mr
Parker,” she assured him, more for her own sake.  “Just old house noises.”

Concern was plain in his eyes. 
“There’s something weird in that house, love.  You should stay elsewhere.’

“No, look, I’m certain it’s fine. 
I-”

“Then ask the police to look
around.”

“Mr Parker, I do appreciate your
concern, but-”

Old Man Parker leaned closer,
dropping his voice so Mrs Hubble couldn’t hear.  “Penny saw and heard things.  I
believe her.”

Seeing the sincerity in his
wrinkled face, the steadiness of his gaze, Barbie shifted uneasily.  “Have you
seen anything here?”

“You mean apart from what I saw
and heard today?”

That wasn’t comforting.  “Uh…yes.”

He glanced around, looked back at
her.  “There was alight once.”

“Where?”

“In the lounge room.”

“When Penny was there?”

“No.” His jaw tightened.  “After
she died.  When the house was empty.”  He paused.  “Before you came.”

“Someone broke into the house?”

Old Man Parker frowned slightly. 
“More like a lamp light.  An
old lamp light
, one not used nowadays.”

Oh shit
.  Folding her arms,
Barbie shivered.

“Percy!”  Mrs Hubble leaned across
the seat and fixed him with a stern stare.  “Stop scaring the child and get in
the car.”

  He cast the house a last look. 
“Don’t stay here.”  With a nod, he climbed into the car.  “Don’t get your
panties in a knot, Clare.  I’m coming.”

“Really, Percy, your language!” 
Mrs Hubble spoiled the whole shocked affect by giggling.

Old Man Parker started the car and
drove away, but not before giving Barbie a meaningful look.

When his car pulled onto the road
out of sight, Barbie turned back to the house.  With the sun still up, it
looked harmless enough until one looked up at the vacant windows staring down
at her like eyes.

And especially when one of the
curtains swayed.  The curtain in the boy’s room this time.

She froze, several thoughts at
once tumbling through her head.

Ghosts.

No such thing as ghosts.

Someone is playing a trick. 
Check out the back, see if there’s a car there.

If it’s Shane or Bruce, they
could have walked.

It could be Fred or Barney
playing around in the room.

This was followed by the
realisation that the cats were alone in the house.  The memory of the dolls
sitting in a line facing the door - Barbie’s gaze flashed back up to the window
of the girl’s room.

“Oh
no
!”  Horrified, she
stared at where Fred was in the window, his front paws scrabbling at the glass before
he fell back out of sight.

Terrified for her cat, Barbie ran
into the house and up the stairs, yanking the door of the girl’s room open.

She screamed as something spat and
ran past her, brushing against her legs.  Startled, scared stiff, she looked
over her shoulder to see Fred disappearing down the stairs.

Oh God, he’s safe. Thank
goodness.
  Sagging with relief, Barbie turned back to the room, only to
freeze as pure, unbridled fear coiled through her.

The dolls were back on the floor,
sitting in a line facing the door, eyes sightless, porcelain arms reaching up.

Heart pounding, terror clawing at
her, Barbie stared at the dolls before slowly, slowly stepping back, shutting
the door so slowly, expecting any minute to see them move.

Finally it was shut, and she
gripped the doorhandle, shaking. 
Something wasn’t right, something wasn’t
- she screamed as something thudded against the door, followed by another thud
and another.

Taking the stairs two at a time,
stumbling once and gripping onto the banister, Barbie screamed the cats’ names
as a bang rang through the house.

Wanting to flee, needing to stay
to find the cats, refusing to leave them alone in the house, she grabbed the
phone, tears blurring her vision as another huge bang echoed, a door slamming.

Standing in the lounge room,
shaking uncontrollably, Barbie heard Adam’s voice.  “Hello?”

“Oh God, Adam!  Adam!  There’s
something in the house! 
There’s something in the house!
”

“What?  Barbie?”

“The house, Adam.”  She was
sobbing by now, whimpering and cringing as another loud bang rang through the
house. 
“There’s something in the house!”

“Barbie.” Adam’s voice rang in her
ear, loud and reassuring.  “Get out of the house.  Hang up the phone and get
out now.”

“No, I can’t, the cats-”

“Barbie-”

“I can’t.”  She gasped as a thud
came from overhead. 
“Adam!”

“I’m coming.”  She could hear his voice
uneven as he obviously ran from wherever he was.  “Get out of the house
now
.”

“No, the cats-” She screamed as
something smashed overhead.

“Barbie-”

Seeing Barney pelting past the
door, she dropped the phone.  “Barney!  Barney!  Fred!”  Sobbing, gasping for
air, her heart hammering, she dropped to her knees to coax Barney out from
under the hall table, grabbing him by the scruff and dragging him out when he
wouldn’t come.

Hissing, he swiped at her arm. 
Ignoring the pain and the blood, adrenaline driving her onward, she ran into the
kitchen and through into the laundry, shoving a growling, spitting Barney into
one of the cat cages.

Hauling it beside her, she picked
up the empty cage and dropped it into the hallway before running to the front
door and shoving Barney in his cage out onto the veranda.  Without hesitation,
terrified beyond belief, she nevertheless swung back around and ran into the
house.

Something scraped on the second
floor, a screeching of wood as something tipped over, followed by a fast, tinny
beat, and she looked towards the staircase, knowing instinctively what was
sounding.  The toy monkey’s cymbals.

“Fred!
Fred! 
Oh God, Fred,
come on, please! 
Please!
”   Terrified, but refusing to leave her cat
alone in the house, Barbie ran into the bedroom, frantically searching for him.

Spying his tails ticking out from behind
the curtains, she grabbed him and lugged him into the hallway, shoving him into
the cage after a struggle which left her with bloody arms and hands.

Just as she fastened the cage
door, she heard something on the staircase.  Looking around, too scared not to,
she saw one of the dolls come hurtling down through the air to smash onto the
floor.

Screaming, she grabbed Fred’s cage
and ran out the door, picking up Barney’s cage on the way and jumping down off
the veranda into the yard.

As she did so, two cars came
roaring into the driveway, a police patrol car and Adam’s car.  Both stopped in
a cloud of dust, two cops getting out and running for the house, while Adam ran
for Barbie.

Dropping the cages on the ground,
she threw herself into his arms, sobbing and shaking.

“Barbie!”  He hugged her to him
tightly, pressing a kiss to her forehead, tipping her head back to look into
her face.  “Oh Christ, you’re bleeding.  Baby, what happened?  Who did this to
you?”

Clinging to him, she could only
shake her head and cry.

Another siren, an ambulance turning
into the driveway.  Matt jumped out, his gaze assessing her.  Sally, his
offsider, jumped out the other side, running around to the back of the
ambulance to open the doors.

Before Barbie knew it, she was sitting
in the back of the ambulance, shaking and crying, refusing to settle until Adam
put the cats in his car.  Only then did she allow Matt and Sally to check her.

“What happened, love?” Matt
asked.  “Are these from the cats?”

She could only nod, wiping at her
eyes and dragging in deep, shuddering breaths.

“Did anyone touch you, sweetie?”
Sally asked softly.

Barbie shook her head.

“You’re scared stiff.”  Matt
started cleaning her arms, wiping antiseptic on her scratches.  “Take deep
breaths, Barbie. Nice and slow.  Breath with me.”  He looked at her quietly,
reassuringly. “Nice and slow.  In and out.  In and out.  Good girl.  Keep
looking at me.”

By the time she’d calmed down a
little, she realised that Adam wasn’t at the back of the ambulance. 
Immediately she tried to get up, tried to get out, wanting to warn him not to
go into the house.

“Sshh.” Sally placed a firm but
gentle hand on her shoulder.  “He’s in there with Sarge and Brandon.  Three big
cops, sweetie.  They’ll be fine.”

“No, you don’t understand.”  She
wrung her hands, eyes wide.  “There’s something in the house.’

“They’ll find him.”

“No,
something
is in the
house.  The monkey started playing the cymbals and the dolls were all there-”
Her breath hitched, caught, and then she started hyperventilating.

Immediately Matt shoved a bag into
her hands.  “Breath into this, Barbie.  Nice and slow, love.  Calm down. Just
calm down.”

It worked, her breathing
regulating, the grey edges and panic pushing back.

It finally sunk in that she was
safe, the cats were safe, there were people around.  She was outside the house. 
Safe.

Matt moved out of the ambulance,
disappearing from sight.  Male voices sounded, neared, and she recognised the
deep tones of Adam.

Getting up, she jumped from the
ambulance, and without caring who saw or what they thought, she met Adam as he
rounded the door and threw herself into his arms.

Strong, safe, he drew her against
him, drew her into the shelter of his arms, leaning over her and pressing
kisses on top of her head.

“It’s all right, baby,” he
soothed.  “There’s nothing in the house except a bit of a mess upstairs.
Whoever was there has gone.”

Her teeth chattered as adrenaline
started to seep away. “Not someone.  Some
thing
.”

Brandon came up behind Adam,
frowning.  “Barbie, the house is empty.”

“The dolls…you don’t understand,
the monkey…”  She shuddered.  “The toy monkey from the boy’s room started
playing near the staircase, I could
hear
it.”  She looked up in time to
see Adam and Brandon exchange glances.  “What?  What is it?”

“Barbie, baby, there’s no need to
go into this right now.  I’ll take-”

“What is it?”  She looked from him
to Brandon and back.  “Adam, what did you find?”  Before he could do more than
open his mouth, she whispered, “Please, don’t lie to me.  I know what I heard.”