Richard Laymon - Tread Softly

"I, for one, have to go grocery shopping." Alice got up from the table. "Who wants to come along?" She picked up the coffeepot.

"Me," Rose blurted.

"Me, too," said Heather.

"You'd better stay home," Arnold told her, "and keep off your feet."

"Oh, Dad."

"He's right," Alice said, stepping around the table to refill his mug. "The more you stay off that foot, the quicker it'll heal."

"Time heals all heels," Nick said, and smiled. His first real smile of the morning.

Alice poured him more coffee, then refilled her own mug and took the pot back to the counter. "Anything special I need to pick up at the store?"

"Vodka and Dos Equis," Arnold said.

"Of course." She sat down and took a sip of hot coffee, pleased that she'd turned the conversation to a less objectionable direction. "I think I'll pick up a new Ace bandage. The old one's a disgrace."

"I used up the Ben-Gay last night," Nick said.

Arnold sniffed. "So that's what I smell. Thought it was Rose's breath."

The girl make a face at him, and Heather laughed.

"I think I lost my comb," Nick said.

"Better buy him two or three," Flash said. "A young man in love is lost without his combs."

Rose made an O with her mouth. Heather giggled. Nick's face turned as red as a ripe tomato. "Jeez, Dad," he muttered.

Arnold was beaming. "Oh, did I say something wrong?"

"How's your dandruff shampoo holding out?" Alice asked her husband.

"Fine," he said. "A little low on the pit-slick, though."

"May I be excused now?" Nick asked. "I want to air out the sleeping bags."

"Just throw them over the line," Arnold said.

Nick left the kitchen. Arnold met Alice's gaze, and shrugged. "You embarrassed the boy half to death," she said.

"Is he really in love?" Heather whispered.

"Your father was just being his usual obnoxious self."

Arnold chuckled.

"I bet he is," Rose said.

"Regardless," Alice warned. "It's nothing to poke fun at. Being in love is a very serious matter."

"Especially when you're seventeen," Arnold added.

"Come on, Rose, help me clear the table. I want to beat the crowds to the supermarket."

Benny held a plate under the kitchen faucet, and watched the steaming water melt away the clumps of sugar left over from the cinnamon rolls. When the plate looked clean, he handed it to Tanya. She put it into the dishwasher, and he grabbed another plate. "Do you think they'd let a kid use the library?" he asked.

"What library?" his cousin asked.

"At the college."

"What is it you're looking for? Maybe I could find it for you."

"Just some stuff."

Tanya set two coffee mugs upside down in the machine, and stared at him. She raised a dark eyebrow. "Occult stuff?" she asked.

"Yeah," he admitted. "Witches and things."

"Did you try your bedroom?"

"Yeah, last night. I haven't got that much, though. Nothing with the details. And the public library stinks."

"They probably don't want to corrupt the youth."

"Anyway, what I was thinking was that maybe I could go along with you and take a look around while you're in class."

"For two and a half hours? Aren't you afraid you'll get bored?"

"I never get bored. Dad says boredom's a sign of a weak mind."

Tanya grinned, brushed a lock of hair away from her forehead,and took the plate from Benny. "Well, you're welcome to come along, if that's what you want. But you'd better check with your dad first. He might have some chores for you. Go on ahead. I'll finish with the dishes."

"Thanks," he said, and hurried outside. His father, in his faded blue swimming trunks, was down on one knee beside the pool, checking the thermometer. "Hey, is it okay if I go over to the college with Tanya? It's all right with her if it's all right with you."

"Fine with me. What's up?"

"Nothing. I just want to fool around in the library."

Dad's mouth curved in a half smile. "The only known copies of the Necronomicon are said to reside in the Miskatonic University library and — "

Benny laughed. "You know about that?"

"You'd be surprised what your old dad knows. I ain't completely illiterate, boy. Anyway, go ahead if you want. Be warned, though. Karen'll be showing up in an hour or so."

Benny's eagerness faded. He didn't want to miss Karen. On the other hand, this was too important to delay. Maybe he wouldn't find anything helpful in the college library, but he had to give it a try. "Well," he said, "I'd better go anyway. We'll be back around one."

"Karen should still be here. She's staying for supper, I imagine. Good hunting."

They were on a quiet, tree-shadowed lane no more than six blocks from home, Rose fooling with the radio dial to bring in a rock station, when a German shepherd wandered out from behind a parked car. Alice gasped. She threw an arm across Rose's chest, knocking the girl backward as her foot shot down on the brake pedal. The tires shrieked. The dog swung its head around, seemed to glare at Alice, made no move to get out of the way. The hood hid it from view an instant before it was struck. The impact jolted the station wagon. Alice whimpered as the left front tire bumped over the dog.

"Oh, Mom!" Rose cried. She had a look of horror in her eyes.

Alice glanced at the rearview mirror. The shadowy lane was deserted behind them. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to drive on and get far away from it all, but she couldn't do that without a rear tire passing over the dog. The thought of that sickened her. Her right leg, still stretched out and mashing the brake pedal to the floor, started to bounce in a frenzy as if its muscles had all gone berserk.

Rose fumbled with her seat belt.

"Just wait a — "

"We've gotta help it, Mom!" She flung open her door and leaped out.

"Rose! Damn it!"

The girl, paying no attention, was running around the front of the car. With a shaky hand, Alice turned off the ignition. She set the emergency brake, struggled to free herself from the seat belt, and shoved open her door. Her jumpy right leg started to collapse when she put weight on it. She hung onto the door to hold herself up. "Rose!"

It was too late. The girl was standing rigid by the front tire, staring down, her pretty features twisted hideously, palms pressed to her ears as if to block out a terrible noise.

Alice glanced down at the crushed remains of the dog. She raised her eyes quickly to Rose. "There!" she snapped. "Are you happy? I told you not to look!" She hadn't, not really, but she'd tried. "I wish, damn it, just once, you'd listen to me when I tell you something!"

The girl kept staring at the dog. "Oh, Mom," she muttered, and dropped her hands to her sides.

"Did you hear anything I told you?"

"We've gotta help it," Rose said again, and started to cry.

"Oh, Rose, Rose." Alice hugged her daughter fiercely. She started to cry. "I'm sorry, honey. I'm sorry I yelled. I just didn't want you to see. I'm sorry."

"We've gotta help it."

"It's beyond our help, honey. It's with God now."

"No. Please. It can't be dead."

"I'm sorry, honey."

"We've gotta take it to a vet."

"It's dead. There's nothing a vet can do for it."

"Please. If we don't try. We've gotta try!"

"Trouble?" someone called.

Alice spotted a young, bearded man striding down the nearest driveway. Please, she thought, don't let it be his dog. "It ran out," she said. "I couldn't stop in time. It just… ran right out in front of me."

He stepped past the front of the car, and looked down. "You sure creamed it, all right. What a mess."

Alice wiped her eyes. "Do you know who it belongs to?"

"Never seen it before." He crouched down close to the remains. "Doesn't seem to have a collar. A stray maybe."