Watchers

to live in your closet.”
    “It was sure ugly enough,” the girl said quietly. “But that’s not what it, was, I guess.”
    “Tell me,” Lem said.
    She stared at Walt, at Lem, then sighed. “You tell me what you think I
    should’ve seen, and if you’re close, I’ll tell you what I can remember. But I’m not going to start it ‘cause I know you’ll think I’m looney tunes.”
    Lem regarded Walt with unconcealed frustration, realizing there was no way to avoid divulging some of the facts of the case.
    Walt grinned.
    To the girl, Lem said, “Yellow eyes.”
    She gasped and went rigid. “Yes! You do know, don’t you? You know what was out there.” She started to sit up, winced in pain as she pulled the stitches in her wound, and slumped back against the bed. “What was it, what was it?”
    “Tracy,” Lem said, “I can’t tell you what it was. I’ve signed a secrecy oath. If I violated it, I could be put in jail, but more important . . . I wouldn’t have much respect for myself.”
    She frowned, finally nodded. “I guess I can understand that.”
    “Good. Now tell me everything you can about your assailant.”
    As it turned out, she had not seen much because the night was dark and her flashlight had illuminated The Outsider for only an instant. “Pretty big for an animal . . . maybe as big as me. The yellow eyes.” She shuddered. “And its face was . . . strange.”
    “In what way?”
    “Lumpy . . . deformed,” the girl said. Though she had been very pale at the start, she grew paler now, and fine beads of sweat appeared along her hairline, dampening her brow.
    Walt was leaning on the footrail of the bed, straining forward, intensely interested, not wanting to miss a word.
    A sudden Santa Ana wind buffeted the building, startling the girl. She looked fearfully at the rattling window, where the wind moaned, as if she was afraid something would come smashing through the glass.
    Which was, Lem reminded himself, exactly how The Outsider had gotten to Wes Dalberg.
    The girl swallowed hard. “Its mouth was huge . . . and the teeth . .
    She could not stop shaking, and Lem put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, honey. It’s over now. It’s all behind you.”
    After a pause to regain control of herself, but still shivering, Tracy said, “I think it was kind of hairy . . . or furry . . . I’m not sure, but it was very Strong.”
    “What kind of animal did it resemble?” Lem asked.
    She shook her head. “It wasn’t like anything else."
    “But if you had to say it was like some other animal, would you say it was more like a cougar than anything else?”
    “No. Not a cougar.”
    “Like a dog?”
    She hesitated. “Maybe . . . a little bit like a dog.”
    “Maybe a little bit like a bear, too?”
    “No.”
    “Like a panther?”
    “No. Not like any cat.”
    “Like a monkey?”
    She hesitated again, frowned, thinking. “I don’t know why . . . but, yeah, maybe a little like a monkey. Except, no dog and no monkey has teeth like that.”
    The door opened from the hall, and Dr. Selbok appeared. “You’re already past five minutes.”
    Walt started to wave the doctor out.
    Lem said, “No, it’s okay. We’re finished. Half a minute yet.”
    “I’m counting the seconds,” Selbok said, retreating.
    To the girl Lem said, “Can I rely on you?”
    She matched his gaze and said, “To keep quiet?”
    Lem nodded.
    She said, “Yeah. I sure don’t want to tell anybody. My folks think I’m mature for my age. Mentally and emotionally mature, I mean. But if I start telling wild stories about . . . about monsters, they’re going to think I’m not so mature after all, and maybe they’ll figure I’m not responsible enough to take care of the horses, and so maybe they’ll slow down the breeding plans. I won’t risk that, Mr. Johnson. No, sir. So as far as I’m concerned, it was a loco coyote. But . .
    “Yes?”
    “Can you tell me . . . is there any chance it’ll come back?”
    “I don’t think so. But it would be wise, for a while, not to go out to the stable at night. All right?”
    “All right,” she said. Judging by her haunted expression, she would remain indoors after dusk for weeks to come.
    They left the room, thanked Dr. Selbok for his cooperation, and went down to the hospital’s parking garage. Dawn had not yet arrived, and the cavernous concrete structure was empty, desolate. Their footsteps echoed hollowly off the wails.
    Their cars were on the same