Абрахам Меррит - Burn, Witch, Burn!

her eyes and fury took its place. She threw herself upon McCann, fists beating at his face. He caught her,

pinioned her arms. The child screamed.

The woman's body relaxed, her arms fell to her sides. She crumpled to the floor, her head bent over her

knees. And tears came. McCann would have lifted, comforted her. I stopped him.

"Let her cry. It's the best thing for her."

And after a little while she looked up at McCann and said, shakily:

"You didn't mean that, Dan?"

He said: "No, I know you didn't do it, Mollie. But now you've got to talk to the Doc. There's a lot to be

done."

She asked, normally enough now: "Do you want to question me, Doctor? Or shall I just go on and tell

you what happened?"

McCann said: "Tell him the way you told me. Begin with the doll."

I said: "That's right. You tell me your story. If I've any questions, I'll ask them when you are done."

She began:

"Yesterday afternoon Dan, here, came and took me out for a ride. Usually John does not…did not get

home until about six. But yesterday he was worried about me and came home early, around three. He

likes…he liked…Dan, and urged me to go. It was a little after six when I returned.

"'A present came for the kid while you were out, Mollie,' he said. 'It's another doll. I'll bet Tom sent it.'

Tom is my brother.

"There was a big box on the table, and I lifted the lid. In it was the most life-like doll imaginable. A

perfect thing. A little girl-doll. Not a baby-doll, but a doll like a child about ten or twelve years old.

Dressed like a schoolgirl, with her books strapped, and over her shoulder-only about a foot high, but

perfect. The sweetest face-a face like a little angel. John said: 'It was addressed to you, Mollie, but I

thought it was flowers and opened it. Looks as though it could talk, doesn't it? I'll bet it's what they call a

portrait-doll. Some kid posed for that, all right.' At that, I was sure Tom had sent it, because he had

given little Mollie one doll before, and a friend of mine who's…whose dead…gave her one from the same

place, and she told me the woman who made the dolls had gotten her to pose for one. So putting this

together, I knew Tom had gone and gotten little Mollie another. But I asked John: 'Wasn't there a note or

a card or anything in it?' He said, 'No-oh, yes, there was one funny thing. Where is it? I must have stuck

it in my pocket.'

"He hunted around in his pockets and brought out a cord. It had knots in it, and it looked as if it was

made of hair. I said, 'Wonder what Tom's idea was in that?' John put it back in his pocket, and I thought

nothing more about it.

"Little Mollie was asleep. We put the doll beside her where she could see it when she woke up. When

she did, she was in raptures over it. We had dinner, and Mollie played with the doll. After we put her to

bed I wanted to take it away from her, but she cried so we let her go to sleep with it. We played cards

until eleven, and then made ready for bed.

"Mollie is apt to be restless, and she still sleeps in a low crib so she can't fall out. The crib is in our

bedroom, in the corner beside one of the two windows. Between the two windows is my dressing table,

and our bed is set with its head against the wall opposite the windows. We both stopped and looked at

Mollie, as we always do…did. She was sound asleep with the doll clasped in one arm, its head on her

shoulder.

"John said: 'Lord, Mollie-that doll looks as alive as the baby! You wouldn't be surprised to see it get up

and walk. Whoever posed for it was some sweet kid.'

"And that was true. It had the sweetest, gentlest little face…and oh, Dr. Lowell…that's what helps make it

so dreadful…so utterly dreadful…"

I saw the fear begin to creep back into her eyes.

McCann said: "Buck up, Mollie!"

"I tried to take the doll. It was so lovely I was afraid the baby might roll on it or damage it some way,"

she went on again quietly, "but she held it fast, and I did not want to awaken her. So I let it be. While we

were undressing, John took the knotted cord out of his pocket.

"'That's a funny looking bunch of knots,' he said. 'When you hear from Tom ask him what it's for.' He

tossed the cord on the little table at his side of the bed. It wasn't long before he was asleep. And then I

went asleep too.

"And then I woke up…or thought I did…for if I was awake or dreaming I don't know. I must have been a

dream-and yet…Oh, God, John is dead…I heard him die…"

Again, for a little time, the tears flowed. Then:

"If I was awake, it must have been the stillness that awakened me. And yet-it is what makes me feel I

must have been dreaming. There couldn't such silence…except in a dream. We are on the second floor,

and always there is some sound from the street. There wasn't the least sound now…it was as though…as

though the whole world had suddenly been stricken dumb. I thought I sat up, listening…listening thirstily

for the tiniest of noises. I could not even hear John breathing. I was frightened, for there was something

dreadful in that stillness. Something living! Something wicked! I tried to lean over to John, tried to touch

him, to awaken him.

"I could not move! I could not stir a finger! I tried to speak, to cry out. I could not!

"The window curtains were partly drawn. A faint light showed beneath and around them from the street.

Suddenly this was blotted out. The room was dark-utterly dark.

"And then the green glow began-

"At first it was the dimmest gleam. It did not come from outside. It was in the room itself. It would flicker

and dim, flicker and dim. But always after each dimming it was brighter. It was green like the light of the

firefly. Or like looking at moonlight through clear green water. At last the green glow became steady. It

was like light, and still it wasn't light. It wasn't brilliant. It was just glowing. And it was everywhere-under

the dressing table, under the chairs…I mean it cast no shadows. I could see everything in the bedroom. I

could see the baby asleep in her crib, the doll's head on her shoulder…

"The doll moved!

"It turned its head, and seemed to listen to the baby's breathing. It put its little hands upon the baby's arm.

The arm dropped away from it.

"The doll sat up!

"And now I was sure that I must be dreaming the strange silence the strange green glow…and this…

"The doll clambered over the side of the crib, and dropped to the floor. It came skipping over the floor

toward the bed like a child, swinging its school books by their strap. It turned its head from side to side

as it came, looking around the room like a curious child. It caught sight of the dressing table, and

stopped, looking up at the mirror. It climbed up the chair in front of the dressing table. It jumped from the

chair seat to the table, tossed its books aside and began to admire itself in the mirror.

"It preened itself. It turned and looked at itself, first over this shoulder and then over that. I thought: 'What

a queer fantastic dream!' It thrust its face close to the mirror and rearranged and patted its hair. I thought:

'What a vain little doll!' And then I thought: 'I'm dreaming all this because John said the doll was so

life-like he wouldn't be surprised to see it walk.' And then I thought: 'But I can't be dreaming, or I

wouldn't be trying to account for what I'm dreaming!' And then it all seemed so absurd that I laughed. I

knew I had made no sound. I knew I couldn't…that the laugh was inside me. But it was as though the doll