The Little Guy Page 3
Iggy saw it too; Brian could see his friend’s shoulder muscles cringe at exactly the point when he expected a collision with the oak.
And then the oak’s shadow was gone. The only shadows now were of the scrub between the two of them and the big tree. It looked for all the world as if the car had driven through the gigantic trunk.
And still the car roared forward, its engine grumbling, sputtering and echoing out across the lake, its headlights cruising directly over the water now, illuminating curls of steam that were rising up off the surface. The twin headlights burned into the boys’ retinas, bearing down on them now, headed straight for them, lights large as wrecking balls, seeming to fill their minds with their blinding bright, the boys’ fear melding with the engine’s animal growl.
Straight for them. Feet away, almost to the shore.
And then the headlights and the engine simultaneously cut off.
Dead.
Gone.
The engine didn’t chug to a stop. The headlights didn’t fade. It was sudden and final and without question, like an ax thwacking into wood or a prison cell door slamming shut. The car – its engine, its lights – had been there, out over the water, headed directly toward Iggy and Brian. A collision had been imminent as they’d stood there, paralyzed with fear.
And then it was gone.
Brian was still on the Jeep hood, lying prone, but his muscles weren’t responding to any command. He found his fingers had attempted to claw into the hood. He saw Iggy was still standing, rooted to the sand, palms spread at his sides as if he were a gunslinger getting ready to draw. Iggy’s knees were bent – the gunslinger was also ready to flee – but he was staring fixedly at the spot where the car had been, apparently unwilling to turn away should the spectral vehicle suddenly reappear.
“Ummm,” Brian heard himself say. “I think we should maybe leave.”
“Right,” Iggy said, but neither of them moved at all for a second. They could hear the small, lapping waves reaching the shore and, it seemed, the wind touching each individual twig and leaf in the vegetation.
In the next instant, they were both scrambling for their seats in the Jeep.
Gray Lake is available
at http://bit.ly/GrayLake
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