Phantoms

breathless anticipation hung in the air.
     
    Frank Autry huddled under the blanket, his eyes closed, and he thought about Ruth. Tall, willowy, sweet-faced Ruthie. Ruthie with the quiet yet crisp voice, Ruthie with the throaty laugh that most people found infectious, his wife of twenty-six years: She was the only woman he had ever loved; he still loved her.
    He had spoken with her by telephone for a few minutes, just before turning in for the night. He had not been able to tell her much about what was happening—just that there was a siege situation underway in Snowfield, that it was being kept quiet as long as possible, and that by the look of it he wouldn’t be home tonight. Ruthie hadn’t pressed him for details. She had been a good army wife through all his years in the service. She still was.
    Thinking of Ruth was his primary psychological defense mechanism. In times of stress, in times of fear and pain and depression, he simply thought of Ruth, concentrated solely on her, and the strife-filled world faded. For a man who had spent so much of his life engaged in dangerous work—for a man whose occupations had seldom allowed him to forget that death was an intimate part of life, a woman like Ruth was indispensable medicine, an inoculation against despair.
     
    Gordy Brogan was afraid to close his eyes again. Each time that he had closed them, he had been plagued by bloody visions that had rolled up out of his own private darkness. Now he lay under his blanket, eyes open, staring at Frank Autry’s back.
    In his mind, he composed his letter of resignation to Bryce Hammond. He wouldn’t be able to type and submit that letter until after this Snowfield business was settled. He didn’t want to leave his buddies in the middle of a battle; that didn’t seem right. He might actually be of some help to them, considering that it didn’t appear as if he would be required to shoot at people . However, as soon as this thing was settled, as soon as they were back in Santa Mira, he would write the letter and hand-deliver it to the sheriff.
    He had no doubt about it now: police work was not—and never had been—for him.
    He was still a young man; there was time to change careers. He had become a cop partly as an act of rebellion against his parents, for it had been the last thing they had wanted. They’d noted his uncanny way with animals, his ability to win the trust and friendship of any creature on four legs within about half a minute flat, and they had hoped he would become a veterinarian. Gordy had always felt smothered by his mother’s and father’s unflagging affection, and when they had nudged him toward a career in veterinary medicine, he had rejected the possibility. Now he saw that they were right and that they only wanted what was best for him. Indeed, deep down, he had always known they were right. He was a healer, not a peacekeeper.
    He had also been drawn to the uniform and the badge because being a cop had seemed a good way of proving his masculinity. In spite of his formidable size and muscles, in spite of his acute interest in women, he had always believed that others thought of him as androgynous. As a boy, he had never been interested in sports, which had obsessed all of his male contemporaries. And endless talk about hotrods had simply bored him. His interests lay elsewhere and, to some, seemed effete. Although his talent was only average, he enjoyed painting. He played the French horn. Nature fascinated him, and he was an avid bird-watcher. His abhorrence of violence had not been acquired as an adult; even as a child, he had avoided confrontations. His pacifism, when considered with his reticence in the company of girls, had made, him appear, at least to himself, somewhat less than manly. But now, at long last, he saw that he did not need to prove anything.
    He would go to school, become a vet. He would be content. His folks would be happy, too. His life would be on the right track again.
    He closed his eyes, sighing, seeking sleep. But out of darkness came nightmarish images of the severed heads of cats and dogs, flesh-crawling images of dismembered and tortured animals.
    He snapped his eyes open, gasping.
    What had happened to all the pets in Snowfield?
     
    The utility room, off the lobby.
    Windowless, lightless.
    The monotonous ping of water dropping into the metal sink had stopped.
    But there wasn’t silence now. Something moved in the darkness. It made a soft, wet, stealthy sound as it