[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

are left."
"I agree. So what brings the value of the property down? I would consider it a bargain at any price."
The man took a breath. "It's haunted."
"By tax collectors?"
"That too. It has changed hands several times."
It occurred to Josh that the man was not joking. He had seemed so sensible; this new aspect seemed out
of character. "How can land be haunted?"
"Well, that really isn't my department "
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
"Oh you mean there are rumors, a reputation that you can't repeat here? But surely you can tell me, in a
businesslike way, what specifically brought down the value of an excellent piece of land with a fine
standing tree to no more than the amount of its taxes."
"There were awkward occurrences. Look, Mr. Pinson, this is way off the subject, and I have other
business waiting. I'll send an inspector over, and he will explain to you, on the site, what needs doing.
Will that be satisfactory?"
Josh saw that the man wasn't going to tell him any more about the haunted lot. "That will be just fine," he
agreed. "When will he come?"
"This afternoon, if you're at home."
"Excellent! I'll be there." This was a refreshing change from the sort of bureaucracy he had known that
usually managed to insert a delay of weeks between each motion.
Josh had left the office, shaking his head, bemused. A haunted lot! Naturally his uncle had risen to the
challenge and made his residence right there in the shade of the tree.
And died there.
Coincidence, of course.
Allowing for driving time, adding up all his errands, he found himself short about half an hour. That was
the time he had slept in the vicinity of that significant tree. He had it straight now.
Except for that business about the haunting. And a certain barely conscious feeling of being watched.
They did seem to tie in together. Nefertiti, too, seemed to be trying to tune in on something. Perhaps a
faint, subliminal smell.
It was two in the afternoon. The cabin had built up heat again. Josh took the dogs out and put them on
long chains tied to nearby pine trees. He'd have to see about fencing in a yard for them to run in. He
checked the other animals, and realized that someone had put out water for them. If this were a haunt, it
was a beneficial one! Tonight he would watch and discover who it was.
He ate a quick lunch of bread and peanut butter and milk, then set about his main chore. He had installed
a turbine ventilator before, so had a fair notion what he was doing. The hot air inside the building pushed
up and out, making the ventilator vanes move. Wind outside also made it turn, adding to the suction. The
device was a heat pump, constantly cooling the interior, with no electric power needed. Uncle Elijah
would surely have approved.
The main problem was that he would have to cut a hole in the roof and fit the ventilator in. It was one of
those do-it-yourself jobs best left to professional carpenters. But Josh did not intend to wait the week or
so it would take to get a carpenter here; he wanted the ventilator in operation tonight. It should cool the
loft appreciably, bringing the temperature down from swelter to merely hot. The difference between
suffer and sleep.
He needed a ladder. Surely there was one around. Uncle Elijah, by all accounts, had been an independent
cuss who never let others do work he could do himself. Since a ladder was essential to roof work, Elijah
would have had one.
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
Josh looked around. He saw no ladder near the cabin, so walked down to the house. None there either. He
approached the shed, and felt once more its dread. Not there either. At last he came back to the cabin,
intending to bring out the indoor ladder after all and found two fourteen-foot ladders stored underneath
the building.
He hauled one out. It had a metal frame attached to one end; evidently these were the two halves of a
double-length ladder. Good; he'd know where it was if he ever needed to mount the roof of the main
house. For the cabin, one length would do nicely. He wrestled it around and leaned it against the
northeast side of the cabin, where the slope of the ground provided extra height, and mounted to the roof.
The top of the gambrel seemed much less secure from above than it had looked from below. It seemed
perilously easy to slide down it and fall off. He thought about bringing a heavy chain saw up here to cut
the hole, and shuddered; that seemed far too dangerous.
Was he reacting to the insidious notion of a haunted machine, one that might somehow assume life of its
own and turn against the man who wielded it? Elijah, the flesh of his leg ripped apart so that he bled to
death... a victim of a malignant saw. The saw was passive now, but the moment he started it, it would be
alive, in its fashion.
This was ridiculous! Others might be spooked by such beliefs, but he was hardly that credulous. If he
feared something, he would meet it head-on and conquer it; that was his way. Still, he told himself, it
needed no supernatural agency to make rooftop sawing dangerous; common sense advised him to stay
clear.
He climbed down and went inside and up to the loft. The heat was high, already in the 110° range. It
would have been worse, except for the open windows below and the small vents at either end of the
cabin, near the peak. The turbine, of course, would greatly enhance the exchange of air.
From here the roof was readily accessible. The footing was secure, and he could see the nails coming
through, so as to avoid them when cutting. This was definitely the preferred location.
Now for the saw. Josh had used one of these before, but never a monster like this. Elijah had gone first
class on this machine, obviously. That seemed to be the man's way: top quality concealed beneath
superficial indifference. Josh would rather have used a cheap, light chain saw. Still, he had a job to do,
and he wanted to abate the nervousness this machine engendered. So he would master it now, before the
children came home from school. Children around a running chain saw there was a dangerous situation!
Josh nerved himself, opened the shed, and looked at the saw. It sat there somberly, massively, and
passively menacing, like a sleeping rattlesnake. Truly, a thing that could cut off a hand or foot if misused.
Josh fought back his irrational fear and put his hand on the machine. The metal was cool, solid, firm,
hard. The cutting chain projected forward like the snout of a vicious boar, the tusk points gleaming.
"Not dangerous if properly controlled," Josh said aloud, picking it up by the black handle that curved
around side and top. He swung it into the light of day.
The saw was indeed hefty. It weighed a good twenty pounds twice any saw he had used before. The
foot-and-a-half long chain bar now most resembled a serrated sword. A deadly weapon, surely; and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]