Абрахам Меррит - Burn, Witch, Burn!

his pistol pointed toward me. At her table sat the nurse, head bent upon her breast-unconscious or

asleep. The bed was empty. The body on the floor was Ricori!

The guard lowered his gun. I dropped at Ricori's side. He was lying face down, stretched out a few feet

from the bed. I turned him over. His face had the pallor of death, but his heart was beating.

"Help me lift him to the bed," I said to the guard. "Then shut that door."

He did so, silently. The man at the window asked from the side of his mouth, never relaxing his watch

outward:

"Boss dead?"

"Not quite," I answered, then swore as I seldom do-"What the hell kind of guards are you?"

The man who had shut the door gave a mirthless chuckle.

"There's more'n you goin' to ask that, Doc."

I gave a glance at the nurse. She still sat huddled in the limp attitude of unconsciousness or deep sleep. I

stripped Ricori of his pajamas and went over his body. There was no mark upon him. I sent for

adrenalin, gave him an injection and went over to the nurse, and shook her. She did not awaken. I raised

her eyelids. The pupils of her eyes were contracted. I flashed a light in them, without response. Her pulse

and respiration were slow, but not dangerously so. I let her be for a moment and turned to the guards.

"What happened?"

They looked at each other uneasily. The guard at the window waved his hand as though bidding the other

do the talking. This guard said:

"We're sitting out there. All at once the house gets damned still. I says to Jack there, 'Sounds like they

put a silencer on the dump.' He says, 'Yeah.' We sit listening. Then all at once we hear a thump inside

here. Like somebody falling out of bed. We crash the door. There's the boss like you seen him on the

floor. There's the nurse asleep like you see her. We glim the alarm and pull it. Then we wait for

somebody to come. That's all, ain't it, Jack?"

"Yeah," answered the guard at the window, tonelessly. "Yeah, I guess that's all."

I looked at him, suspiciously.

"You guess that's all? What do you mean-you guess?"

Again they looked at each other.

"Better come clean, Bill," said the guard at the window.

"Hell, he won't believe it," said the other.

"And nobody else. Anyway, tell him."

The guard Bill said:

"When we crash the door we seen something like a couple of cats fighting there beside the window. The

boss is lying on the floor. We had our guns out but was afraid to shoot for what you told us. Then we

heard a funny noise outside like somebody blowing a flute. The two things broke loose and jumped up on

the window sill, and out. We jumped to the window. And we didn't see nothing."

"You saw the things at the window. What did they look like then?" I asked.

"You tell him, Jack."

"Dolls!"

A shiver went down my back. It was the answer I had expected-and dreaded. Out the window! I

recalled the tremor of the vine when I gripped it! The guard who had closed the door looked at me, and I

saw his jaw drop.

"Jesus, Jack!" he gasped. "He believes it!"

I forced myself to speak.

"What kind of dolls?"

The guard at the window answered, more confidently.

"One we couldn't see well. The other looked like one of your nurses if she'd shrunk to about two feet!"

One of my nurses…Walters…I felt a wave of weakness and sank down on the edge of Ricori's bed.

Something white on the floor at the head of it caught my eye. I stared at it stupidly, then leaned and

picked it up.

It was a nurse's cap, a little copy of those my nurses wear. It was about large enough to fit the head of a

two foot doll…

There was something else where it had been. I picked that up.

It was a knotted cord of hair pale ashen hair with nine curious knots spaced at irregular intervals along

it…

The guard named Bill stood looking down at me anxiously. He asked:

"Want me to call any of your people, Doc?"

"Try to get hold of McCann," I bade him; then spoke to the other guard: "Close the windows and fasten

them and pull down the curtains. Then lock the door."

Bill began to telephone. Stuffing the cap and knotted cord in my pocket, I walked over to the nurse. She

was rapidly recovering and in a minute or two I had her awake. At first her eyes dwelt on me, puzzled;

took in the lighted room and the two men, and the puzzlement changed to alarm. She sprang to her feet.

"I didn't see you come in! Did I fall asleep…what's happened?…" Her hand went to her throat.

"I'm hoping you can tell us," I said, gently.

She stared at me uncomprehendingly. She said, confusedly:

"I don't know…it became terribly still…I…thought I saw something moving at the window…then there was

a queer fragrance and then I looked up to see you bending over me."

I asked: "Can you remember anything of what you saw at the window? The least detail-the least

impression. Please try."

She answered, hesitantly: "There was something white…I thought someone…something…was watching

me…then came the fragrance, like flowers…that's all."

Bill hung up the telephone: "All right, Doc. They're after McCann. Now what?"

"Miss Butler," I turned to the nurse. "I'm going to relieve you for the balance of the night. Go to bed. And

I want you to sleep. I prescribe-" I told her what.

"You're not angry-you don't think I've been careless-"

"No, to both." I smiled and patted her shoulder. "The case has taken an unexpected turn, that's all. Now

don't ask any more questions."

I walked with her to the door, opened it.

"Do exactly as I say."

I closed and locked the door behind her.

I sat beside Ricori. The shock that he had experienced-whatever it might have been-should either cure

or kill, I thought grimly. As I watched him, a tremor went through his body. Slowly an arm began to lift,

fist clenched. His lips moved. He spoke, in Italian and so swiftly that I could get no word. His arm fell

back. I stood up from the bed. The paralysis had gone. He could move and speak. But would he be able

to do so when consciousness assumed sway? I left this for the next few hours to decide I could do

nothing else.

"Now listen to me carefully," I said to the two guards. "No matter how strange what I am going to say

will seem, you must obey me in every detail! Ricori's life depends upon your doing so. I want one of you

to sit close beside me at the table here. I want the other to sit beside Ricori, at the head or the bed and

between him and me. If I am asleep and he should awaken, arouse me. If you see any change in his

condition, immediately awaken me. Is that clear?"

They said: "Okay."

"Very well. Now here is the most important thing of all. You must watch me even more closely.

Whichever of you sits beside me must not take his eyes off me. If I should go to your chief it would be to

do one of three things only-listen to his heart and breathing-lift his eyelids-take his temperature. I

mean, of course, if he should be as he now is. If I seem to awaken and attempt to do anything other than

these three-stop me. If I resist, make me helpless-tie me up and gag me-no, don't gag me-listen to

me and remember what I say. Then telephone to Dr. Braile-here is his number."

I wrote, and passed it to them.

"Don't damage me any more than you can help," I said, and laughed.

They stared at each other, plainly disconcerted. "If you say so, Doc-" began the guard Bill, doubtfully.

"I do say so. Do not hesitate. If you should be wrong, I'll not hold it against you."

"The Doc knows what he's about, Bill," said the guard Jack.