Fire at Dusk: Part 38

The light that filled the area dissipated as though controlled by an unseen dimmer. She shielded her eyes from source, which burned like a miniature star. Waves of warmth washed over her and after half a minute or so, all that was left was the glow of the predawn light.

She clicked on her flashlight and began walking toward the rubble. Her heart stopped as the image of Shirley Sue and Buck running into the back of the mill, arms bound behind their backs, flashed through her mind. She scanned the area with her flashlight, but saw no sign of either one.

“Shirley Sue! Buck!” she shouted. She strained her ears, but they were met with silence.

She shouldn't have abandoned them. She should have gotten them to safety and then worried about Mike. Maybe they had ducked under one of the workbenches before the building collapsed. Maybe they were still alive. The deputy's gait quickened into a run.

She paused as she arrived at the rubble. She let out a low whistle as she ran her flashlight beam over the smoldering crater in the ground near the debris. The diameter had to be at least five feet. The largest objects in the crater were a couple of bricks which had fallen into the crater after the explosion. The ground facing away from the building was covered in a fine black soot. There was no trace of either Mike's or the monster's body.

A twinge of sadness plucked at her heart. Mike had been a couple of years younger than her. He had been cheerful and pleasant growing up. Everyone seemed to like him and his older brother. She had even harbored a crush on Parker when she was in eighth grade. How would she break the news to their mother? 'Sorry Dorris, your boys were murderers and cannibals.' She would be heartbroken. Who would even believe what happened here tonight? She doubted that the Sheriff would take her seriously. Hell, she hardly believed it herself

Deputy Smith climbed on top of the rubble and began sifting through the bricks, looking for her companions. She shouted their names but there was no reply. She climbed over the mounds of uneven rubble in the area around where she had seen them last, before the collapse of the building.

“Over here!” she heard a voice yell. She looked around but saw no indication of where the voice had come from. She heard the sound of crunching debris and directed the beam of her flashlight toward the noise. Into her beam walked Shirley Sue followed by Buck. They waved at her as they climbed over the rubble.

“How did you? Where did you come from? I thought you were goners.”

“We found an old saw-blade and managed to use it to cut ourselves free. We climbed out one of the windows just as the building started to crumble. From there we ran down to the riverside and waited until that light faded,” said Buck.

“We- we weren't sure if you made it. We were sneaking back here to see what happened when we heard you calling our names,” said Shirley Sue. “What happened here? Where's Mike and that monster?”

On their journey back to the cabin, Deputy Smith relayed to them the events leading up to the mill collapse. The party fell silent. The only sounds that reached their ears were those of the birds chirping and their feet scuffing against the earth. The early dawn light illuminated their path and provided them with a second wind. Shirley Sue threaded her arm around Buck's and the pair walked arm in arm the rest of the way back to the cabin.