CHAPTER 89 SHERIFF ELLIE

89

Sheriff Ellie

BUCK'S GAZE FELL TO the floor, and there was a quiver in his lips. Even after all these years, it was clear he still loved Emily Pridham. His voice cracked when he finally spoke. "I suppose you heard the same story everyone else did—Emily went off into the bushes to go to the bathroom, stepped too close to a cliff, and vanished. Probably fell."

Ellie nodded. "That's what's in the report."

"Emily grew up on this mountain, same as me. She knew every inch. Could probably walk it with her eyes closed. Hell, sometimes I think she knew it better than me. We were hiking and came across the damnedest thing not far from Legion's Gully, back behind the Pickerton house. Crows. A lot of them. At first, there were only two or three. They were up in the trees. We heard 'em but didn't see them. The numbers grew and the sound of 'em became deafening. I figured a flock had settled up there for a spell, resting on their way to who-knows-where."

"A murder," Robby said quietly. "A group of crows isn't a flock. It's a murder."

"A murder," Buck corrected, with a nod to the boy. "We kept moving along the path. I made some joke about it raining bird shit if we didn't get out of there quick enough, and we picked up the pace. That's when they started showing themselves, and they weren't shy about it. First in the branches up ahead, then standing in the path. A dozen. Then fifty. Then maybe a hundred or more. They were everywhere. So many we couldn't see the ground. It was like this breathing blanket of black at our feet. And loud. So damn loud. Got to the point where I wanted to turn around, but not Emily, no ma'am, she wanted to figure out what was going on. We were holding hands and she pulled me forward, into the thick of 'em. The birds let us through, reluctantly. They closed the space behind us. Some pecked at our shoes. Got more aggressive with each step, but Emily wouldn't stop. She had to know. It felt like we walked an hour before we came up on the tree, but in reality, it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. Time didn't seem to be moving right. It was moving like it does in dreams, and I remember thinking I'd nodded off and found myself in the middle of some crazy dream."

Ellie's brow furrowed. "What tree?"

"Just an oak tree. Nothing special about it. Old enough to tower over us, thick with gnarled, arthritic-lookin' branches." Buck licked his lips. "Every inch of that tree was covered by the birds. Being late in the year, most of the leaves were gone, but I'm pretty sure even if it had been in full leaf, I wouldn't have seen them under all those damn birds. I'm not gonna lie, I froze. My legs just stopped working, refused to move. Not Emily, though. She had to see. Had to get close."

Buck's voice fell away, and his eyes grew glossy. "She was wearing this sundress and moved with such grace. It was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever witnessed, watching her slip through the birds to that tree. She glided more than walked, and I had the strangest thought—the birds wanted her to get closer, wanted her but not me. They'd pecked at my ankles to the point of drawing blood, yet hers were bare and without a scratch. When she reached the tree, her back was to me. She stood there for the longest moment. I said her name, called it out, but between all the noise and whatever held her, she didn't hear me. I barely heard me. She reached out and touched the bark. The birds moved, let her do that. Wanted her to do that . I got no doubt 'bout that. When she touched the tree, everything went silent. I got no doubt about that, either. The birds, the wind, everything. I heard nothing but my own breathing. Time froze, then my Emily said my name— Buck —this hushed whisper, akin to a gasp, and …"

Ellie wasn't sure if the children had heard this story from him before she arrived, but they were riveted, all eyes locked on him. All but Robby, who was still studying the maps, lost in his own head.

Buck's voice dropped low. "The ground … opened up beneath her. Swallowed her. One second she was standing there, then she was falling, then she was gone. I tried … I tried to get to that tree, but the birds wouldn't let me, they swarmed, attacked, drove me back. I took shelter in the Pickerton place, and when I came out they were gone. Not a trace of them. My Emily was gone, too. I ran for that tree. Combed the ground. There was no hole, no place for her to go. There was blood, though. I found a rock at the base of the tree covered in it. Bunch of dead birds around it."

"Did you tell my dad?"

"Hell yeah, I told him. But you think he believed me? I drug him out there, to that very spot. Showed him the tree right where she vanished. He gave it one look, then went about thirty more feet into the woods to the edge of the cliff, that nasty one out behind the Pickerton house. He stood there for the longest time, looking down. When he turned back to me, something had changed. I realized he thought I'd done something to her or figured I was covering up what really happened. I started digging at the base of the tree with my bare hands. The dirt was packed hard. I hit granite not very far down. I wasn't exactly sure what I'd seen at that point. Maybe it had been some kind of dream. I told myself that. Convinced myself. When your dad suggested Emily had just gone off into the bushes on her own, maybe slipped on that cliff and fell, I wasn't so sure he was wrong. I just didn't know what was real and what wasn't. I kept my mouth shut. I searched with everyone else. But deep down, I had the truth, even if I didn't want to believe it. I'm certain now, have been my whole life since." He nodded up toward the map of Hollows Bend, at the single red thumbtack marking the spot where Emily vanished. "Something took her. Took her right there. Something bad." He gestured at the other maps. "Whatever it is, it's been here long before us, and today it decided it ain't hiding no more."

Ellie didn't know what to make of all this. Maybe Buck was telling the truth, at least his version of it. Or maybe the decades of drinking had rotted his brain. She didn't have time to humor wild theories. She needed to get back to town before that meeting started, because her gut told her if she didn't, everything would become far worse. She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I know you're hurting, Buck. I get it. But I need to get these kids back to my house and get in front of this mess before it gets worse. I promise, when it blows over, you and I can dig into this deeper. I have all my dad's old files. The photos, videos, statements, we can go through—"

As she spoke, Robby Harper reached into the red backpack at his feet and pulled out a dead bird. The largest crow Ellie had ever seen. The bird's neck swiveled loosely, most likely broken. Its black eyes held the same dead stare they had in life. He set the bird on the card table, picked up a pen, and stabbed it in the chest.

Ellie knew she'd never be able to articulate what happened next, but the image of the bird crumbling into dust would be etched into her mind until the day she died.

Robby blew the black powder from his hand and pointed up at the single red tack. "That's ground zero. If you want to stop what's happening, we need to go there. You won't solve anything going back to town."