Finally, Eric understood his apparent fondness for the cars. They were just like him: long forgotten.
Pulling the phone from his pocket, he snapped a picture of the old man, just to see what would happen. He examined the picture and then watched as Edgar strolled off between the vehicles.
Turning away and pushing into the brush that had overrun the driveway, Eric wondered if he, too, would eventually become one of these many forgotten things.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Eric had only walked about a hundred paces beyond the edge of the salvage yard when his cell phone rang again. It was Paul.
“How’s the standoff?”
“Over,” replied Paul. “Stupid thing ran off as soon as it heard Kevin’s truck.”
“Anticlimactic.”
“No shit. It would’ve been nice if it’d stuck around long enough to make it look like I wasn’t just imagining the damn thing.”
“You got pictures at least.”
“I did… But pictures can be faked. I would’ve rather had Kevin run the little freak over. Then I’d have real proof.”
“Someone would’ve argued that it must be endangered. Then there’d be hell to pay.”
“I guess. But it bit me! How do I know I don’t have rabies or something?”
“I don’t think it was rabid.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I’m pretty certain.”
“Fine. Can’t believe I wasted almost my whole day sweating in a stupid cabin.”
“Well I told you not to go.”
“I think we already covered that.”
“Just making sure I made my point.”
“You made your point.”
“Good.”
“What about you? Where are you?”
“Northern Minnesota, somewhere, I think.” Technically, he was most likely still in Northwestern Wisconsin, since he’d only just left Edgar behind. But at any moment he could jump forward.
“Damn, you’re moving.”
“I know.”
“Do you know how much farther you have left to go?”
“I should be arriving at the cathedral soon…”
“Then what?”
“No idea. I’m flying by the seat of my pants here.”
“You’re doing considerably better than I did.”
“Well, I was chosen for this.”
“Oh aren’t you special.”
“Apparently I am.”
“Right.”
Eric grinned. “I’ll probably be something of a legend around here… You’ll be the dumb brother who got chased by a mutant baby rhino.”
“Nice.”
“Over time it’ll probably evolve, like legends do. I’ll be all buff and manly, spouting cool one-liners as I battle all the monsters with my bare hands. Instead of a cabin, you’ll be hiding in a tree. Crying. It’ll make a great bedtime story.”
Paul chuckled. “That sounds like just my luck.”
“I may start the tree rumor myself.”
“Shithead.”
Eric laughed. It was a humorous thought. He could almost imagine that all those epic heroes of literature were really only awkward people like him who stumbled along strange paths just like this one.
Paul laughed too. It was hard not to. It had been such an odd day for them both. “I’m going to hang up and try to sleep a little. I’m exhausted and I still have to drive my truck home.”
“Lucky. I’m going to go find this probably terrifying cathedral and try not to die.”
Paul didn’t find this funny. “Be careful,” he said.
“I intend to.”
“Let me know you’re okay.”
“I will.”
Eric said goodbye and hung up. It was a relief knowing that Paul was no longer in the fissure. It was one less thing for him to think about as he made his way through the trees toward his goal.
The cathedral.
He kept thinking of Father Billy and his prediction that he would “die screaming in the festering asshole of the almighty cathedral.” It was funny how the most vulgar of descriptions were the ones you remembered most clearly. And Father Billy had obviously possessed a talent for turning vulgarity into poignant honesty.
He claimed that no one who entered the cathedral would survive. He said the gas station attendant told him that it would claim anyone who went looking for its secrets. And the gas station attendant had admitted to saying as much.
Yet he was still urged onward, a lamb to slaughter.
Eric pushed on, ignoring the hot dread he felt growing deep in his belly.
The cell phone rang again. It was Karen.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m not dead so I can’t complain.”
“Don’t even joke about that.”
“Sorry.”
“Hey, I did a search for Taylor Parlorn in some family tree databases and I got a hit in the same county as Gold Sunshine Resort. It might be a relative.”
“Let me guess, the guy died in the sixties?”
“Um… Yeah. How did you know?”
“It wasn’t a relative.”
“I don’t understand.”
Eric told her about Edgar and the revelations that their conversation had spawned.
“Wait… So you’re telling me these people were all ghosts?”
“I’m pretty certain of it.”
“That’s crazy. You don’t even believe in ghosts.”
“I didn’t. Now… Well, things change.”
“Maybe they were lying to you. Maybe it’s all a trick.”
“I don’t think so.”
“How can you be sure?”
“I took a picture of Edgar before I left.”
“Really…?”
“I’ll send it now.”
“Okay.”
Eric hung up and sent the picture to her. A moment later, she called him again.
“That’s so weird. Is that where he was standing?”
“It was.” The picture showed clearly the salvage yard and the dozens of rusted vehicles. But where Edgar had been walking away from him, there was nothing more than a faint blurring, as if the lens had been dirty.
“But that picture of Isabelle wasn’t like that.”
“Isabelle isn’t dead. She’s… Well… Something else.”
“I guess so…”
“You don’t really believe it.”
“I do,” she argued.
“Not really.”
“I… Well… I don’t know. It’s hard. It’s all so…”
“Weird. Yeah. I got that.”
“I’m sorry. It’s hard. But I don’t not believe you. I know you’re not lying to me.”
“Well that’s a start.”
“I just…”
“I know. The alternatives aren’t very appealing. Either I’m telling you the absolute truth and it’s going against everything you’ve ever believed possible, or it’s all a lie, in which case either I’m completely insane and making this all up as I go, or somebody’s totally screwing with my head. Believe me, I’ve considered the possibilities.”
“I don’t think you’re crazy.”
“That’s good.”
“I just wish you were home already.”
“Me too. But it looks like I’ve got one more stop to make.”
“The cathedral.”
“Yeah. It’s up ahead somewhere. And I’m sure I’ll be losing my connection soon.”
Looking around, he realized that the landscape was already changing. The brush was thinning out, the grass beneath his feet quickly thinning to bare earth. The trees were receding, the terrain growing rocky again.
“I’m going to have to go. I doubt you’ll hear from me again before I get to the cathedral.”
“I’m scared,” she confessed, finally letting out the words that she’d been bottling up all day.