Richard Laymon - Tread Softly

The choking startled her awake. She spit out a mouthful of water as she lurched upright. The washcloth peeled away from her face. She curled forward, muscles afire as a lit of coughing racked her body.

Gasping and coughing, she thrust herself out of the water. She swept an arm toward the shower curtain, then crabbed a wet fold as her right foot skidded out from under her. The curtain yanked taut, ripped free. Her legs shot out and she was falling. She heard a heavy splash an instant In-fore her head-seemed to explode. She slid down. Water covered her eyes, and then she saw nothing at all.

Kneeling on his bedroom floor, Nick unstrapped his sleeping bag from his pack frame and rolled it aside.

Right now, he thought, he would be lying next to Julie high in the mountains, if only. "Damn it," he muttered.

He opened his pack and began to empty it, tossing his dirty clothes into a heap for the laundry hamper, setting aside his cook kit, utensils, and water bottle for a trip to the kitchen, making a third pile of equipment — compass, first-aid kit, rope, toilet articles — that would need no attention and could simply be returned to the pack for the next time.

The next time?

After what had happened at Mesquite, he doubted he would ever want to go backpacking again. But you never know. Always in the past, when he stayed away from the mountains too long, he'd been hit with a longing to return, a strong aching need like homesickness. Maybe he wouldn't get that feeling anymore.

Maybe nothing would ever be the same again.

He'd killed a man. He knotted up at the thought of it. Everyone — even the sheriff deputy after hearing the story — had told him it was all right, that the guy had it coming, that Nick had performed a service by ridding the world of him. Nick had told himself the same thing, over and over, and part of him was glad he'd done it — avenged Karen and Julie, stopped the man from attacking Julie's father with the rock, made it so he would never hurt anyone again.

Hut deep inside he felt a steady tight sickness at the knowledge that he had ended a life. The man was dead. Dead. He would never again feel the sun on his face, or.

Or rape another woman.

If he'd been dead a week ago, he couldn't have attacked Karen or Julie. He couldn't have messed up their lives, and my life.

And if he'd gotten away, there might've been campers tonight or next week or next year to terrorize, maybe kill.

I did the right thing, Nick told himself. I shouldn't have to feel like shit. It's not fair.

"Nick?"

He looked over his shoulder. His father, dressed in a bathrobe, was standing in the doorway.

"Phone call."

He felt a cold edge of panic. From the look on Dad's lace, though, he realized he had nothing to fear. "Who is II?"

"A certain Miss O'Toole."

Nick got to his feet, wincing with the ache of sore muscles, and hobbled down the hallway behind his father.

"You can take it in the den, but stay off the couch in those jeans or your mother'll throw a fit."

"Right," he said.

Dad limped into the master bedroom, and Nick hurried ahead to the den. He snatched the phone off its cradle and aid, "I've got it." The bedroom extension went dead.

Hello?" he asked.

"Hi." Her voice sounded slightly different over the phone, but familiar enough to send a warm rush through Nick.

"Hi, Julie. How are you?"

"Long time no see, huh?"

"Yeah."

There was a long pause. Nick tried to find something to say, and wondered if Julie were having the same trouble, Even with the silence, he liked the feel of being close to her "I just thought I'd call," she finally said, "and make sure you got home okay."

He smiled. "Afraid the curse might've got us?"

He heard her quiet laughter. "Pardon me while I barf," she said.

"Benny still at it?"

"We had about two hours of peace after we left the hospital. That's because he fell asleep. Then Dad had to stop at Denny's so we could feed our faces, and Benny spent the rest of the time trying to convert us. The kid's warped."

"We're not allowed to talk about it. I brought it up once, and Mom nearly went through the ceiling. You know the first commandment?"

"Whose?"

"God's. You know, to Moses? The stone tablets?"

"Oh, those commandments. I know the eleventh is, 'Don't get caught.' "

Chuckling, Nick started to sit on the couch. He stopped himself in time, and sat on the carpet instead. "Anyway, the first commandment says, 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me' — something like that. According to Mom, that means it's a sin to believe in occult stuff."

"Like curses?"

"Like curses, ghosts, Ouija boards, palm reading, astrology, witches and goblins and gremlins."

"What the hell's a gremlin?"

"I don't know, a fairy."

"Something that lives in San Francisco and lisps?"

"And eats quiche."

"We oughta go on Letterman," Julie said.

"It hurts to laugh."

"Me, too. Gets my stomach muscles."

"Yeah. So stop laughing."

"You, too."

"Right. Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah, Mom and the curse."

That brought a snort and gales of laughter through the phone. "Oh," Julie finally gasped. "I'm sorry. I" — she giggled — "I think I'm… a bit giddy. No sleep." He heard her take a deep breath. "Okay. I'm all right. Continue."

"I think I was done."

"Oh. All right. So. What've you been up to?"

"Just unpacking."

"I'm saving that for tomorrow morning. I don't even want to look at that junk. The first thing I did was get in the shower." He pictured her naked under a hot spray, rubbing her breasts with soap. "Man, it sure feels good to be clean again. Now I've got Ben-Gay from head to foot."

"Bet you smell terrific."

"The fumes make my eyes water. And my nightgown's sticking to me." He pictured her in a flannel nightgown. Of course, it probably wasn't flannel. Not in the middle of summer. Something light and transparent, and clinging to her breasts. He wondered if she'd put any Ben-Gay on her breasts.". like a real person again," she said. "The Long Hike almost did me in."

"Almost did us all in."

"How's Heather getting along?"

"Not bad. The doctor says she'll be sore for a couple of weeks, but it's nothing to worry about. Mom's got her in the kitchen, soaking it."

"Maybe she oughta try some Ben-Gay."

"Yeah. Couldn't hurt."

"At first it's pretty hot, but you get used to it."

"Maybe I'll try some. After my shower."

"You're still yucky, huh?"

"Yeah. I got last shot at the bathtub. I'm still waiting tor Rose to get done. She takes forever."

"Just as well. What if I'd called while you were in the shower?"

"I would've called back."

"I might've been in bed by then."

"Wouldn't you have waited up?"

"Maybe, maybe not. A girl's gotta get her beauty sleep." "Good thing I wasn't in the shower, then."

"A very good thing."

There was a long silence. Nick suspected she was getting ready to hang up. He clutched the phone tightly.

"Well. "she said.

His heart was thudding and his mouth was parched.

"… I guess I'd better let you — "

"Julie?"

"Yes?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Look, I want to see you." There. It was out.

"That would be nice," she said.

"Tomorrow? Tomorrow night? Maybe we could go to a movie or something."

"I'd really like that."

"Great." He let out a nervous laugh. "This is so weird."

"What's weird?"

"Asking you for a date. I mean, like we were almost strangers or something."

"We're the same people who were in the mountains, Nick."

"I know. I guess so."

"You guess so?" She laughed softly.

"It's just that, you know, now we're back. It's strange."