Читать книгу Small Town Monsters - Craig Nybo - Страница 25

Small Town Monsters

7

having their first babies. The tourists came for the summer season to dip in the lake. The loggers worked the countryside, putting in good honest days of work for good honest days of wages. That’s the way it was, at least, when Doris Hendrickson was found in the middle of Winston Park wrapped around a tree and torn to bacon.”

“Oooooooooo,” Kurt said.

“Hey, kid,” Hugh said, raising one eyebrow sarcastically. “This is serious stuff.”

“Fine, fine,” Kurt said. “I’ll keep my mind wide open.” He took a deep pull on his bottle and settled against the back of the bench, smiling, and waited for more of Hugh’s silver words to issue forth.

Hugh went on. “The whole county went into shock. Nothing like the ignominious death of Doris Hendrickson had ever happened before in DePalma Beach; people here were used to a relaxed way of living. They felt then just like we feel now. Sure, there are a few who see our little community as backward, a few who want to leave the roost.”

Kurt thought about Lucy Cadano with her waitress uniform and dreams of a bigger life outside DePalma Beach.

“But those of us in the know, we keep this little slice of paradise locked up in a small box that we carry in our hip pockets. We don’t want those fancy city slickers from Los Angeles poking around these parts.” Hugh fixed Kurt with a sideways glance.

Kurt rolled his eyes again.

Hugh looked off into the woods between the two houses across the street and went on with his tale. “Young Doris wasn’t killed using the traditional tools of your average psychopath. She was chewed up by animals. Her bowels were eaten out along with most of her flesh. The police could hardly recognize her when they found her.

“People were stunned, but it wore off in time. Then another girl was found tossed to the side of the road like a sack of discarded trash. Nobody knew her. She was a drifter or a tourist. But you know what they say, once bitten, twice