Brian Keene - Ghost Walk

“See? I knew I didn’t bury it too deep.”

“I’ll be thankful when I get what we need,” Levi said.

Adam started to dig again, but Levi gently pushed him back.

“Allow me.”

“I can help.”

“I know you can. But trust me, it’s for the better. With all the pain this book has caused you, do you really want to touch it again?”

Adam shook his head, then stood up and wiped his dirty hands on his hospital smock. Levi clawed at the dirt feverishly, throwing it to the side until he could slip his fingers around the edge of the box. Then he hauled it upward and brushed the soil from the lid. He ripped the duct tape away and then opened the box. Inside, just as Adam had told them, was a slim, brown leather book wrapped in a plastic freezer bag. Levi unzipped the bag and held up the book. Maria leaned forward, reading the tiny gold lettering on the front cover: The Long Lost Friend A Collection

of

Mysterious & Invaluable

Arts & Remedies

For

Man As Well As Animals

With Many Proofs Of their virtue and efficacy in healing diseases and defeating spirits, the greater part of which was never published until they appeared in print for the first time in the U.S. in the year of our Lord 1820 . By John George Hohman

I N R I

“Wow,” she whispered. “That looks really old.”

Levi flipped it open and glanced at the bottom of the title page.

“It’s a 1916 edition. Not the complete translation, but not as bad as some of the later editions. Certainly better than the abridged versions available on the Internet.”

“Is it worth anything?”

“Quite a bit, actually. An antiquarian book collector would pay several hundred for this. A powwow practitioner would pay even more.”

Holding the book by the front and back covers, he turned it upside down and fanned the pages. Six folded sheets of paper fell out. Levi closed the book and picked them up. He glanced through them quickly, then settled on the final sheet. His eyes glinted in the darkness as he scanned it. Then he smiled.

Maria tried to read over his shoulder, but the words were in another language. She tried to figure out what it was, but couldn’t. The words weren’t typeset. They’d been written by hand. There were also several hand-drawn diagrams and figures. When Maria focused on the drawings, her vision blurred. She chalked the occurrence up to her lack of sleep, and rubbed her eyes. When she opened them again, Levi was folding the sheets of paper again. He tucked them carefully in his shirt pocket.

“The book is valuable,” he repeated. “These pages from Nelson LeHorn’s Daemonolateria are priceless.”

“Can we go now?” Maria asked, shivering in the damp air. “Do we have everything we came for?”

“Oh, yes. This is exactly what we needed. We’ve got one more stop to make, but it will be quick.” Levi stuck his hand out to Adam. “Thank you, Mr. Senft.”

Maria groaned upon hearing of yet another stop.

Adam stared at Levi’s hand for a moment, his expression timid. Then he shook it.

“So this really will help you?”

“You’ve helped me a great deal,” Levi said. “I’ve got one more thing I’d like you to do for me, but we’ll talk about that later. For now, this is enough.”

“What is it?”

Levi walked out into the alley and headed for the car. “Something small. Just some closure. But not now. Like Maria, I’m exhausted. We all are. Let’s talk about it in the morning, after we’ve all had some sleep.”

“But it is morning,” Adam said. “It’s just not light out yet.”

Levi glanced up at the sky. The moon was shrouded in clouds again. The stars seemed dim and cold, and the darkness between them was vast and impenetrable. He turned back to them. His expression was grave, his eyes bloodshot.

“Then let’s just hope that when the dawn arrives in a few hours, it’s not for the last time.”

Levi had Maria drive him back across the river to his home in Marietta. She’d protested. It didn’t make sense, driving all the way to Lancaster County at this time of night, especially when they were currently at the far southern end of York County. But Levi said there were items he needed for the confrontation. Reluctantly, she conceded. When they finally arrived, Levi grabbed his wicker basket and got out of the car. He asked her to wait while he went inside. She’d wondered aloud why they couldn’t just sleep at his place and then go to the Ghost Walk. He didn’t explain his reasons, but Levi was adamant that she and Adam couldn’t come inside. He offered to let her wait outside on the porch, but insisted that they not cross the threshold. Fuming, Maria told him to hurry up.

They waited in the car. Maria seethed, fighting to stay awake. Adam snored softly in the backseat, still dressed in his sweat-soaked hospital clothes, now covered with dirt and grass clippings. She was amazed. In the space of a few hours, he’d escaped from a mental hospital, seen a black magic spell almost backfire, tasted freedom, been confronted with his past, and had a near nervous breakdown in his former hometown. Despite this, he’d fallen asleep soon after they’d retrieved the book, and had slept undisturbed ever since. Like a baby—innocent and carefree.

Levi’s home was unremarkable—bland and perfunctory, and smaller than she’d imagined. In the backyard, visible from the car, were a small dog house and a two-car garage. The buggy was parked next to it. One half of the garage had been converted into a stable. She saw Dee peering out the door. Maria rubbed her eyes, struggling with fatigue. She rolled down the window, hoping the chilly, damp air would wake her up.

If I fall asleep now, she thought, I’m not waking up again. Still need to drive home .

Levi emerged from the house twenty minutes later, carrying a small canvas bag with the drawstrings pulled tight. Maria noticed that he’d changed clothes. Wet curls stuck out from beneath the brim of his hat. He opened the passenger door and sat the bag on the floor.

“I won’t be much longer. Just need to get one more thing, and then check on Dee and Crowley. Give me five minutes.”

“Okay,” Maria sighed.

He went around the side of the house and disappeared into the garage. Then he emerged again, fed the dog and the horse, and then returned to the garage. When he came back out, he was carrying a bag of something over his shoulder. It was heavy, judging by his posture.

“Can you open the trunk?” Levi asked as he neared the car.

Maria pulled the lever at her feet and heard the trunk latch click. Levi loaded the bag into the back. The car sagged on its shocks and then bounced back up. Levi closed the lid and then got into the car.

“There,” he said. “All finished. Now we can go back to your place and get some sleep.”

Maria didn’t reply. She just stared at him.

“What?” Levi asked her. “Are you okay to drive?”

“I’m fine. Just wondering if you were going to tell me what’s in the trunk?”

He shrugged. “Salt. You know, like what you put down on your driveway in the winter. It’s just a bag of salt.”

“We drove all the way out here for a bag of salt?”

“Yes…”

Shaking her head, Maria drove away.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Levi.”

“I do,” he said. “I only pray that it actually works. The Lord fed hundreds with one loaf of bread. I’m hoping He will do something similar with one bag of salt.”

“What? Like a dump truck load?”

He shrugged.

“If it’s that important, why don’t we get more?”