Erik was now fully convinced that Todd and Vickie were in serious trouble. He couldn’t think, couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t keep still in his hiding place in the brush.
“This is driving me crazy,” he said. “I can’t just sit here any longer. I have to do something.”
“You’ll get your chance soon enough,” Dovecrest said. “I have the feeling the demon is heading our way.”
“And I have a feeling that my family is in trouble! I’ve got to help them! I can’t just hang around here waiting for something that might happen. I never should have left Vickie.”
Erik stood up from his hiding place in the brush and Dovecrest was beside him, holding him back.
“No, you can’t leave.”
“Why not?”
“First of all, where are you planning to go?”
“I’ll find a phone and call the hospital. Then I’ll know if Vickie made it there or not.”
“And if she’s not there? Then what do you do?”
“I’ll…I’ll go find her. I’ll retrace her steps.”
Dovecrest shook his head. “You don’t know which way she went. She could have gotten turned around and gone anywhere. The military might have evacuated her. She might have even gone to a different hospital. You wouldn’t know where to begin and you wouldn’t be doing her or Todd or yourself any good.”
“You just don’t understand,” Erik said. “You don’t have a family….”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I did have a family.” The Indian dropped his head and looked at the ground. “But that was a long time ago.”
“I…I didn’t realize….”
“Well what did you think? Of course I don’t have a family now. I’m over 200 years old, for God sakes.”
“Don’t you have…grandchildren? Some connection to them?”
Dovecrest sat down on the ground and was silent for awhile.
“I had a wife and a daughter,” he said. My wife was beautiful. Running Moon. Long, dark hair. Big eyes. Slender and trim. A wonderful cook. We loved each other like no one else. And my daughter, Little Dove. So small and timid. And very smart.”
Dovecrest was silent again. Erik thought the story was over, and then he spoke again.
“My daughter was just six years old when she and her mother were killed.”
“What happened?” Erik asked, sitting beside him.
“I haven’t told this story in over a hundred years. No one would believe it. Although maybe now they would.
“It happened when the devil worshippers tried to call to the demon the first time, and tried to bring it here. They didn’t really know what they were doing, thank God. But they had learned some rituals that would attract spirits in the underworld.
“It was the beginning of August. My wife and daughter were out gathering blueberries. The blueberries here used to be as big as cherries, and Running Moon would mix them up with white corn flour to make journey cakes. They were out in the forest when they were taken.
“The tribe formed a search party, but we could not find them. There were no traces. That night I went out again-many of the men did. That’s when I first saw the altar. The devil worshippers were around it. They had my wife and my daughter. I tried to save them, but I was caught. They forced me to watch while they were sacrificed. They planned to kill me, too, but I later escaped. That’s when I spoke to the chief and he spoke to Roger Williams and his men. The colonists had lost women and children too.
“So we joined forces and put a stop to it. The colonists had laws that they could use. And we had our own set of laws. We killed them and the colonists burned the leader at the stake. When he cursed the land, my people made me the watcher. It was my job to wait and watch in case the demon should try to reappear.”
“And you’ve been waiting for over 300 years.”
“That’s right. I did not know I would live so long. I thought I would pass the job on to someone else, but it seems I outlived all of my apprentices. And so here I am.”
“So that thing got your family.”
“Yes. That’s why it’s personal. That’s why I have to get rid of it for good. I cannot move on as long as this thing can come back. I’m trapped here in this old body, and I can’t join my family.”
Erik nodded. For the first time, this was beginning to make sense, in a weird sort of way.
“Thanks,” Erik said. “Then I need to wait with you and help you destroy it.”