Free Chilling Effect by Unknown Page B

her lap and said,
    “I don’t know. I . . . I’m pretty removed from the culture, Boom.
    My visions usually aren’t crystal clear; they’re more like watching a 68
    CHILLING EFFECT
    staticky TV program without cable. Th e only ones that are vivid are portends of danger. I know that much.”
    “You need to sit with it, daughter. Th e message will reveal itself.”
    Joe was tempted to roll his eyes at the hokey shaman talk, but
    judging by Aroostine’s grave expression and wide eyes, she was tak-
    ing it seriously. She’d mentioned her spirit animal to him a few
    times, and she claimed it had helped her fi nd him last year when
    he’d been kidnapped, but she generally avoided talking about any-
    thing mystical or native with him. Now, listening to her conversa-
    tion with Boom, he felt extraneous, almost invisible. Outside.
    “I will,” Aroostine promised the old man.
    Boom gave a somber little nod of the head and then set his tea
    on the side table.
    “I’m glad no one was hurt. I’ll leave you folks to get back to
    sleep. Th e sun won’t rise for a few more hours. You should rest.”
    Joe let Boom out and bolted the door, then joined Aroostine
    on the couch. She was staring at the wall. He didn’t know what to
    say, so he rubbed her shoulders. After several minutes, she leaned
    into him.
    “Let’s go back to bed. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep but
    maybe you can get some rest,” she whispered into his chest.
    He didn’t answer. Instead, he scooped her into his arms and
    carried her into the bedroom like a child, the blanket trailing along the fl oor.
    69

CHAPTER NINE
    Aroostine was sure she wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. And she was half-certain she didn’t want to, not if it meant she might hav want
    e
    another vision. But Joe insisted she try.
    “I don’t want to have another vision,” she fi nally whispered.
    He’d always put more stock into her visions than she had. In
    fact, she had kept the whole spirit animal guide thing a secret when they’d been dating and well into the fi rst few years of their marriage.
    Because, by then, she couldn’t quite fi gure out how to say, “Honey, I’ve been keeping this secret from you.”
    But when she fi nally screwed up the courage to tell him, he
    hadn’t laughed or asked a bunch of ignorant questions. He’d just
    nodded, sat with the news for a while, and then asked one ques-
    tion: “Does it have a name?” And when she told him no, it was an
    unnamed beaver, he’d tilted his head and painted her with a look.
    “If it were my spirit guide, I’d at least name it.”
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    Now he nodded, “I bet. But you have to sleep. Just relax, Roo.
    I’m right here.” He cradled her like a child and stroked her hair.
    After a moment or two, his reassuring words melted into a
    wordless song. He was humming something—a lullaby, maybe. His
    mouth brushed her ear. She closed her eyes.
    She didn’t know how long he’d soothed her like that, it could
    have been minutes or hours. She just knew that at some point he
    succeeded in lulling her to sleep. She knew this because now she was tucked under Joe’s right arm struggling to open her heavy eyelids in response to a hammering noise.
    Joe stirred beside her. He raised himself on one elbow and
    cocked his head to listen to the sound while she blinked herself
    awake, taking note of the sunlight streaming through the curtains.
    She’d slept past sunrise? Her body must have been utterly
    drained for her not to have risen with the fi rst rays.
    She pushed herself upright, too. Th e pounding grew louder.
    “Th at’s the door,” she said.
    “I’ll get it.” He was already on his feet, pale and grim-faced.
    She bet he’d stayed awake all night to watch over her. Th at was
    the sort of thing Joe did.
    “Do you think it’s Boom again?”
    “It better not be. I mean, c’mon. Surely he has a telephone.” He
    stomped toward the front of the house.
    Aroostine raked her fi ngers