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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/29623-h.zip b/29623-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6884aff --- /dev/null +++ b/29623-h.zip diff --git a/29623-h/29623-h.htm b/29623-h/29623-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cca1db2 --- /dev/null +++ b/29623-h/29623-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1132 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Cuckoo Clock, by Wesley Barefoot + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;} + h1,h2 {margin: 0 auto; font-weight: normal;} + h1 {text-align: left;} + h2 {text-align: right; margin-top: -1em;} + hr {width: 45%; margin: 2em auto; visibility: hidden;} + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin: 1em 0 1em 1em; padding: 0; width: 335px; text-align: right;} + img {border: none;} + a:link,a:visited {text-decoration: none;} + p.cap:first-letter {float: left; margin-right: .05em; padding-top: .05em; font-size: 300%; line-height: .8em; width: auto;} + .bk1 {margin: 2em 0 2em auto; width: 26em;} + .figt {float: left; clear: left; margin: 15px; padding: 0; width: 144px;} + .trn {border: solid 1px; margin: 3em 15%; min-height: 230px;} + .trn p {margin: 15px;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Cuckoo Clock, by Wesley Barefoot + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Cuckoo Clock + +Author: Wesley Barefoot + +Illustrator: Ernie Barth + +Release Date: August 6, 2009 [EBook #29623] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CUCKOO CLOCK *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>THE<br /> +<big>CUCKOO<br /> +CLOCK</big></h1> + +<h2><small>BY WESLEY BAREFOOT</small></h2> + +<div class="bk1"><p><i><big>You know a murderer preys on your household—lives +with you—depends on you—and you have no defence!</big></i></p></div> + +<p class="cap"><span class="smcap">Death</span> wore the seeming of a +battered Chevrolet.</p> + +<p>The child's scream and the +screech of rubber on concrete +knifed through two seconds of +time before snapping, like a celery +stalk of sound, into aching silence. +The silence of limbo, called into +being for the space of a slow +heartbeat. Then the thud of running +feet, the rising hubbub of +many voices.</p> + +<p>"Give her air!"</p> + +<p>"Keep back. Don't try to move +her."</p> + +<p>"Somebody call an ambulance."</p> + +<p>"Yeah, and somebody call a +cop, too."</p> + +<p>"I couldn't help it." It was the +driver of the ramshackle Chevvie. +"She fell off the curb right in +front of me. Honest to God, it +wasn't my fault."</p> + +<p>"Got to report these things +right away," said the grey-haired +man beside him. "No cause to +worry if you ain't to blame."</p> + +<p>"Probably no brakes," said a +heavily accented voice, and another +spoke as if on cue, "Probably +no insurance, neither."</p> + +<p>"Let me through! Oh, please—" +The woman's voice was on the +edge of hysteria. She came through +the crowd like an automaton, not +seeing the people she shoved and +elbowed aside.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>"D.O.A.," said the woman +heavily. Her face was no longer +twisted with shock, and she was +almost pretty again. "D.O.A. +Dead on arrival, it means. Oh, +Jim, I never knew they said that." +Suddenly there were tears in her +blue eyes. There had been many +tears, now.</p> + +<div class="figright"><small><b><i>Illustrator</i>: Ernie Barth</b></small> +<img src="images/001.png" width="335" height="500" alt="" title="" /></div> + +<p>"Take it easy, Jean, honey." +Jim Blair hoisted his lank six feet +out of the old rocker, and crossed +the room, running a nervous hand +through his cornshuck hair. <i>She's +only thirty</i>, he thought, <i>and I'm +three years older. That's awfully +young to have bred three kids and +lost them.</i> He took her in his arms. +"I know how tough it is. It's bad +enough for me, and probably +worse for you. But at least we're +sure they'll never be bomb fodder. +And we still have Joanna."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>She twisted away from him, her +voice suddenly bitter. "Don't +give me that Pollyanna stuff, Jim. +'Goody, goody, only a broken leg. +It might have been your back.' +There's no use trying to whitewash +it. Our kids, our <i>own</i> kids, +all gone. Dead." She began to sob. +"I wish I were, too."</p> + +<p>"Jean, Jean—"</p> + +<p>"I don't care. I mean it. Everything +bad has happened since +Joanna came to live with us."</p> + +<p>"Darling, you can't blame the +child for a series of accidents."</p> + +<p>"I know." She raised her tear-stained +face. "But after all— Michael, +drowned. Then Steve, +falling off the water tower. Now +it's Marian." Her fingers gripped +his arm tightly. "Jim, each of +them was playing alone with +Joanna when it happened."</p> + +<p>"Accidents, just accidents," he +said. It wasn't like Jean, this talk. +Almost— His mind shied away +from the word, and circled back. +Almost paranoid. But Jean was +stable, rational, always had been. +Still, maybe a little chat with +Doctor Holland would be a good +idea. Breakdowns <i>do</i> happen.</p> + +<p>They both turned at the slamming +of the screen door. Then +came the patter of childish feet on +the kitchen linoleum, and Joanna +burst into the room.</p> + +<p>"Mommy, I want to play with +Marian. Why can't I play with +Marian?"</p> + +<p>Jean put her arm around the +girl's thin shoulder. "Darling, +you won't be able to play with +Marian for—quite a while. You +mustn't worry about it now."</p> + +<p>"Mommy, she looked just like +she was asleep, then they came and +took her away." Her lips trembled. +"I'm frightened, Mommy."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Jim looked down at the dark +eyes, misted now, the straight +brown hair, and the little snub +nose with its dusting of freckles. +<i>She's all we have left, poor kid, and +not even ours, really. Helen's baby.</i></p> + +<p>He looked up as the battered +cuckoo clock on the mantel clicked +warningly. "Time for little girls +to be in bed, Joanna. Run along +now like a good girl, and get +washed." Even as he spoke the +miniature doors flew open and the +caricature of a bird popped out, +shrilly announcing the hour. It +cuckooed eight times, then bounced +back inside. Joanna watched entranced.</p> + +<p>"Bed time, darling," said Jean +gently. "School tomorrow, remember? +And don't forget to +brush your teeth."</p> + +<p>"I won't. Goodnight, Mommy, +goodnight, Daddy." She turned up +her face to be kissed, smiled at +them, and was gone. They listened +to her footsteps on the stairs.</p> + +<p>"Jim, I'm sorry about the +things I said." Jean's voice was +hesitant, a little ashamed. "It <i>is</i> +hard, though, you know it is— Jim, +aren't you listening? After +all, you don't have to watch the +clock now." Her smile was as +labored as the joke.</p> + +<p>He smiled back. "I think I'll +take a walk, honey. Some fresh +air would do me good."</p> + +<p>"Jim, don't go. I'd rather not +be alone just now."</p> + +<p>"Well." He looked at her, keeping +his expression blank. "All +right, dear. How about some coffee? +I could stand another cup." +And he thought: <i>Tomorrow I'll go. +I'll talk to Holland tomorrow.</i></p> + +<hr /> + +<p>"Let me get this straight, Jim." +Holland's pudgy face was sober, +his eyes serious. "You started out +by thinking Jean was showing +paranoid tendencies, and offhand +I'm inclined to agree with you. +Overnight you changed your mind +and began thinking that maybe, +just maybe, she might be right. +Honestly, don't you suspect your +own reasons for such a quick +switch?"</p> + +<p>"Sure I do, Bob," Blair said +worriedly. "Do you think I +haven't beaten out my brains +over it? I know the idea's monstrous. +But just suppose there <i>was</i> +a branch of humanity—if you +could call it human—living off us +unsuspected. A branch that knows +how to eliminate—competition—almost +by instinct."</p> + +<p>"Now hold on a minute, Jim. +You've taken Jean's reaction to +this last death, plus a random association +with a cuckoo clock, and +here you are with a perfectly wild +hypothesis. You've always been +rational and analytical, old man. +Surely you can realize that a perfectly +normal urge to rationalize +Jean's conclusions is making you +concur with them against your +better judgment."</p> + +<p>"Bob—"</p> + +<p>"I'm not through, Jim. Just +consider how fantastic the whole +idea is. Because of a series of accidents +you can't accuse a child of +planned murder. Nor can you further +hypothesize that all orphans +are changelings, imbued with an +instinct to polish off their foster-siblings."</p> + +<p>"Not <i>all</i> orphans, Bob. Not +planned murder, either. Take it +easy. Just some of them. A few of +them—different. Growing up. +Placing their young with well-to-do +families somehow, and then +dropping unobtrusively out of the +picture. And the young growing +up, and always the natural children +dying off in one way or another. +The changeling inherits, +and the process is repeated, step +by step. Can you say it's impossible? +Do you <i>know</i> it's impossible?"</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't say impossible, +Jim. But I <i>would</i> say that your +thesis has a remarkably low index +of probability. Why don't others +suspect, besides you?"</p> + +<p>Jim spread his hands hopelessly. +"I don't know. Maybe +they do. Maybe these creatures—if +they do exist—have some +means of protection we don't +know about."</p> + +<p>"You need more than maybes, +Jim. What about Joanna Simmons' +mother? According to your +theories she should have been +well off. Was she?"</p> + +<p>"No, she wasn't," Jim admitted +reluctantly. "She came here and +took a job with my outfit. Said +she was divorced, and had lived +in New York. Then she quit to +take a position in California, and +we agreed to board Joanna until +she got settled. Warrenburg was +the town. She was killed there +quite horribly, in a terrible auto +accident."</p> + +<p>"Have you any reason for suspecting +skulduggery? Honestly, +Jim? Or for labelling her one of +your human—er—cuckoos?"</p> + +<p>"Only my hunch. We had a +newspaper clipping, and a letter +from the coroner. We even sent +the money for her funeral. But +those things could be faked, Bob."</p> + +<p>"Give me some evidence that +they <i>were</i> faked, and I'll be happy +to reinspect your views." Holland +levered his avoirdupois out of his +chair. "In the meantime, relax. +Take a trip if you can. Try not to +worry."</p> + +<p>Jim grinned humorlessly. +"Mustn't let myself get excited, +eh? Okay, Bob. But if I get hold +of any evidence that I think you +might accept, I'll be back. The +last laugh and all that. Pending +developments you take it easy, +too. Don't let yourself get overworked. +Stay out of the sun. So +long now."</p> + +<p>"So long, Jim."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>It was cool in the Warrenburg +city hall, though outside the +streets were sizzling.</p> + +<p>"Sorry, Mr. Blair," said the +stout, motherly woman with the +horn-rimmed glasses. "We've no +record of a Helen Simmons. Nothing +whatever." She closed the file +with resolute finality.</p> + +<p>Jim stared at her. "Are you +sure? There must be something. +Mightn't there be a special file for +accident cases? She was here in +Warrenburg. She died here."</p> + +<p>The woman thinned her lips, +shook her head. "If we had any +information, it'd be right where +I looked. There isn't a thing. +Have you tried her last address? +Maybe they could tell you something. +We can't."</p> + +<p>"I'll try that next. Thanks a +lot."</p> + +<p>"Sorry we couldn't help you."</p> + +<p>He went out slowly.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>872 Maple was a rambling +frame house dozing on a wide +flower-bordered lot. There was +nothing sleepy about the diminutive +woman who opened the door +to Jim's knock. Snapping black +eyes peered at him from a maze of +wrinkles. A veined hand moved +swiftly to smooth down the white +hair that framed her face.</p> + +<p>"Looking for someone, young +man?"</p> + +<p>"Just information, Mrs.—"</p> + +<p>"Collins, and it's Miss. Don't +give out information about guests. +You a bill collector?"</p> + +<p>"No, Miss Collins. As a matter +of fact, I'm trying to check up on +an old friend I lost track of. Helen +Simmons. She lived at this address +for a while."</p> + +<p>"Sure did. Well, come on in. +Mind you, I don't usually do this, +Mr.—"</p> + +<p>"Blair." Without any fanfare a +bill changed hands.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Blair. Well, I can't tell +you much. Try that green chair +for size. What do you want to +know?"</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Jim studied the toe of his right +shoe. His eyes were veiled. "I +heard she was hurt, and hard up, +and I was worried. My wife and I +were friends of hers back east."</p> + +<p>"Hurt, hard up? Humph! Not +likely, spendin' all her time drivin' +that English car around. Takin' +trips. I'm not sayin' she didn't +mind her manners, though."</p> + +<p>"Did she have any close +friends?"</p> + +<p>"She was chummy with Edith +Walton, the girl that works for +Doc Mendel. He's county coroner +in his spare time. No men. Didn't +fool around at all. I'd a known."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Behind Jim's stony eyes the +pattern took clearer form, as if a +mosaic approached completion. A +mosaic of carefully planned events +that totalled horror. He shivered +as the outlines of his hunch filled +in. Helen—what creatures were +these? Helen—not dead, not +poor,—carefully planting ostensible +proof of her death and going +on to a new role, a new life, in +London or Paris or Rome. A free, +untrammelled life. And her child—if +child was the word—in his +home, repeating the pattern. +Eliminating competition as her +mother undoubtedly had done. +The competition—his and Jean's +children! Changeling, changeling— No, +not that. Incubus! He +shivered again.</p> + +<p>"Rabbits on your grave, Mr. +Blair?"</p> + +<p>He looked up slowly. "Sorry. I +was just wondering. Did Miss +Simmons have a job while she was +here?"</p> + +<p>"No, she didn't. One thing she +did do was rent a place. Used to +be Blands Hardware. Paid a +month's rent, too. Said some +friends of hers were plannin' to +open a mortuary. Seemed like a +funny way for people to do business, +but then, no affair of mine."</p> + +<p>Funny? No, not funny at all, +but icily, eerily logical. There had +to be an undertaking parlor where +he could send the funeral expenses. +He wondered if Helen had +laughed when she opened the letter. +Everyone his, or her, own +undertaker. And the carefully +cultivated friend in the coroner's +office. For stationery.</p> + +<p>He got to his feet. "Thanks a +lot, Miss Collins. You've been a +great deal of help." He almost +smiled as he asked, "I don't suppose +she left a forwarding address?"</p> + +<p>The old head shook decisively. +"Not a thing. Just packed and +left, one Monday morning."</p> + +<p>All the loose ends tied up tight +on a Monday morning. Nothing +to cause suspicion. Nothing to +worry about. Only a woman's almost +paranoid hysteria,—and a +glance at a clock. Not very much +to unmask—incubus. And what +could he do? What <i>could</i> he do? +Start talking and land in an institution? +Well, there was one thing.</p> + +<p>"Thanks again, Miss Collins."</p> + +<p>He went out.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Swanson didn't look like the +general conception of a small-town +newspaperman. One knew instinctively +that his beard wouldn't +have been tobacco-stained even if +he'd cared to grow one. And he +didn't have a bottle of bourbon in +the file marked Miscellaneous, or +if he did he didn't bring it out.</p> + +<p>"That never came from my +paper," he said precisely. He +handed the clipping back to Jim. +"We don't use that type, for one +thing. For another, Miss Simmons, +so far as I know, wasn't +killed here or anywhere else."</p> + +<p>"You knew her?"</p> + +<p>"I knew of her. I never met +her."</p> + +<p>"What about this report of her +death?"</p> + +<p>Swanson shrugged; tented manicured +fingers. "It's a hoax. Any +job printing shop with a Linotype +could do it. In all likelihood it was +some place in San Francisco. +That's closest. It would be very +difficult to check." His curiosity +was showing.</p> + +<p>"I see. Well, thanks for your +time and trouble, Mr. Swanson."</p> + +<p>"Not at all. Sorry I couldn't be +of more help."</p> + +<p>One thing to do. One thing that +must be done.</p> + +<p>Motors over the mountains. +And riding with them, the numb +resolve. Motors over the salt pans, +the wheat lands, the corn belt.</p> + +<p>The stewardess stops again. +"Coffee, sir? A sandwich, perhaps?"</p> + +<p>"I beg your— Oh, no. No, +thanks."</p> + +<p>She watches him covertly, uneasily, +longing for the end of the +run.</p> + +<p>Motors in the night.</p> + +<p>And the dull determination +growing, strengthening.</p> + +<p>The airport, baggage, the ancient +taxi with the piston slap, +and at last the dark, familiar +street.</p> + +<p>"Jim, you're back! Oh, Jim, +darling. Next time they send you +west I'm going too. I am!"</p> + +<p>"Okay, Jean, sure. Why not?"</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, dear? Oh, +you're tired, of course. I should +have known. Sit down, Jim. Let +me get you a drink."</p> + +<p>"In a minute, Jean." Do it +now <i>now</i> NOW! "Where's Joanna?"</p> + +<p>"She's in bed. Hours ago. Jim, +has something—?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, dear. I just want to +look in on her. And freshen up a +bit, of course."</p> + +<p>"Jim—"</p> + +<p>He smoothed away the worried +frown with his forefinger.</p> + +<p>"In a minute, dear."</p> + +<p>She smiled uncertainly. "Hurry +back, Jim."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>The stairs unwind irrevocably, +slow motion in a nightmare. The +bedroom door opens, the hall light +dim on the bed and the child's +face. Incubus in the half dark.</p> + +<p>For a moment Jim remembered +wondering somewhere, sometime, +what strange powers of protection +might be implicit in such a creature. +As the thought came into his +mind, Joanna stirred. She opened +her eyes and looked at him.</p> + +<p>He took one step toward the +bed.</p> + +<p>The little girl eyes over their +dusting of freckles slitted. Then +they opened wide, became two +glowing golden lakes that grew, +and grew—</p> + +<p>There was the feeling of a great +soundless explosion in his mind. +Waves of cool burning in his +brain, churning and bubbling in +every unknown corner, every +cranny. Here and there a cell, or +a group of cells, blanked out, the +complex molecules reverting, becoming +new again. Ready for fresh +punch marks. Synapses shorted +with soundless cold fire, and +waited in timeless stasis for rechannelling. +The waves frothed, +became ripples, were gone. He +stood unmoving.</p> + +<p>What was it he was supposed +to do? Let's see— Tuck Joanna's +blanket around her. But she was +covered up snugly. Sleeping soundly, +too, and for a few seconds he'd +thought she was awake. And Jean +was waiting downstairs, Jean and +a cool drink.</p> + +<p>Oh, yes, stop in the bathroom.</p> + +<p>The stairs wind up again. It is +good to be with one's family, relaxed +in the well known chair. Not +a worry in the world.</p> + +<p>He sat there, his mind at ease, +not caring much about anything. +He didn't even look up when the +clock on the mantel whirred, and +the ridiculous bird popped out of +its nest to herald a new day.</p> + +<div class="trn"><div class="figt"><a href="images/002-2.jpg"><img src="images/002-1.jpg" width="144" height="200" alt="" title="" /></a></div> + +<p><b><big>Transcriber's Note:</big></b></p> + +<p>This etext was produced from <i>Amazing Stories</i> March 1954. +Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. +copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and +typographical errors have been corrected without note.</p></div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Cuckoo Clock, by Wesley Barefoot + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CUCKOO CLOCK *** + +***** This file should be named 29623-h.htm or 29623-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/6/2/29623/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Cuckoo Clock + +Author: Wesley Barefoot + +Illustrator: Ernie Barth + +Release Date: August 6, 2009 [EBook #29623] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CUCKOO CLOCK *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE + CUCKOO + CLOCK + + BY WESLEY BAREFOOT + + + _You know a murderer preys on your household--lives + with you--depends on you--and you have no defence!_ + + +Death wore the seeming of a battered Chevrolet. + +The child's scream and the screech of rubber on concrete knifed through +two seconds of time before snapping, like a celery stalk of sound, into +aching silence. The silence of limbo, called into being for the space of +a slow heartbeat. Then the thud of running feet, the rising hubbub of +many voices. + +"Give her air!" + +"Keep back. Don't try to move her." + +"Somebody call an ambulance." + +"Yeah, and somebody call a cop, too." + +"I couldn't help it." It was the driver of the ramshackle Chevvie. "She +fell off the curb right in front of me. Honest to God, it wasn't my +fault." + +"Got to report these things right away," said the grey-haired man beside +him. "No cause to worry if you ain't to blame." + +"Probably no brakes," said a heavily accented voice, and another spoke +as if on cue, "Probably no insurance, neither." + +"Let me through! Oh, please--" The woman's voice was on the edge of +hysteria. She came through the crowd like an automaton, not seeing the +people she shoved and elbowed aside. + + * * * * * + +"D.O.A.," said the woman heavily. Her face was no longer twisted with +shock, and she was almost pretty again. "D.O.A. Dead on arrival, it +means. Oh, Jim, I never knew they said that." Suddenly there were tears +in her blue eyes. There had been many tears, now. + +[Illustration: _Illustrator_: Ernie Barth] + +"Take it easy, Jean, honey." Jim Blair hoisted his lank six feet out of +the old rocker, and crossed the room, running a nervous hand through his +cornshuck hair. _She's only thirty_, he thought, _and I'm three years +older. That's awfully young to have bred three kids and lost them._ He +took her in his arms. "I know how tough it is. It's bad enough for me, +and probably worse for you. But at least we're sure they'll never be +bomb fodder. And we still have Joanna." + + * * * * * + +She twisted away from him, her voice suddenly bitter. "Don't give me +that Pollyanna stuff, Jim. 'Goody, goody, only a broken leg. It might +have been your back.' There's no use trying to whitewash it. Our kids, +our _own_ kids, all gone. Dead." She began to sob. "I wish I were, too." + +"Jean, Jean--" + +"I don't care. I mean it. Everything bad has happened since Joanna came +to live with us." + +"Darling, you can't blame the child for a series of accidents." + +"I know." She raised her tear-stained face. "But after all-- Michael, +drowned. Then Steve, falling off the water tower. Now it's Marian." Her +fingers gripped his arm tightly. "Jim, each of them was playing alone +with Joanna when it happened." + +"Accidents, just accidents," he said. It wasn't like Jean, this talk. +Almost-- His mind shied away from the word, and circled back. Almost +paranoid. But Jean was stable, rational, always had been. Still, maybe a +little chat with Doctor Holland would be a good idea. Breakdowns _do_ +happen. + +They both turned at the slamming of the screen door. Then came the +patter of childish feet on the kitchen linoleum, and Joanna burst into +the room. + +"Mommy, I want to play with Marian. Why can't I play with Marian?" + +Jean put her arm around the girl's thin shoulder. "Darling, you won't be +able to play with Marian for--quite a while. You mustn't worry about it +now." + +"Mommy, she looked just like she was asleep, then they came and took her +away." Her lips trembled. "I'm frightened, Mommy." + + * * * * * + +Jim looked down at the dark eyes, misted now, the straight brown hair, +and the little snub nose with its dusting of freckles. _She's all we +have left, poor kid, and not even ours, really. Helen's baby._ + +He looked up as the battered cuckoo clock on the mantel clicked +warningly. "Time for little girls to be in bed, Joanna. Run along now +like a good girl, and get washed." Even as he spoke the miniature doors +flew open and the caricature of a bird popped out, shrilly announcing +the hour. It cuckooed eight times, then bounced back inside. Joanna +watched entranced. + +"Bed time, darling," said Jean gently. "School tomorrow, remember? And +don't forget to brush your teeth." + +"I won't. Goodnight, Mommy, goodnight, Daddy." She turned up her face to +be kissed, smiled at them, and was gone. They listened to her footsteps +on the stairs. + +"Jim, I'm sorry about the things I said." Jean's voice was hesitant, a +little ashamed. "It _is_ hard, though, you know it is-- Jim, aren't you +listening? After all, you don't have to watch the clock now." Her smile +was as labored as the joke. + +He smiled back. "I think I'll take a walk, honey. Some fresh air would +do me good." + +"Jim, don't go. I'd rather not be alone just now." + +"Well." He looked at her, keeping his expression blank. "All right, +dear. How about some coffee? I could stand another cup." And he thought: +_Tomorrow I'll go. I'll talk to Holland tomorrow._ + + * * * * * + +"Let me get this straight, Jim." Holland's pudgy face was sober, his +eyes serious. "You started out by thinking Jean was showing paranoid +tendencies, and offhand I'm inclined to agree with you. Overnight you +changed your mind and began thinking that maybe, just maybe, she might +be right. Honestly, don't you suspect your own reasons for such a quick +switch?" + +"Sure I do, Bob," Blair said worriedly. "Do you think I haven't beaten +out my brains over it? I know the idea's monstrous. But just suppose +there _was_ a branch of humanity--if you could call it human--living off +us unsuspected. A branch that knows how to eliminate--competition--almost +by instinct." + +"Now hold on a minute, Jim. You've taken Jean's reaction to this last +death, plus a random association with a cuckoo clock, and here you are +with a perfectly wild hypothesis. You've always been rational and +analytical, old man. Surely you can realize that a perfectly normal urge +to rationalize Jean's conclusions is making you concur with them against +your better judgment." + +"Bob--" + +"I'm not through, Jim. Just consider how fantastic the whole idea is. +Because of a series of accidents you can't accuse a child of planned +murder. Nor can you further hypothesize that all orphans are +changelings, imbued with an instinct to polish off their +foster-siblings." + +"Not _all_ orphans, Bob. Not planned murder, either. Take it easy. Just +some of them. A few of them--different. Growing up. Placing their young +with well-to-do families somehow, and then dropping unobtrusively out of +the picture. And the young growing up, and always the natural children +dying off in one way or another. The changeling inherits, and the +process is repeated, step by step. Can you say it's impossible? Do you +_know_ it's impossible?" + +"I wouldn't say impossible, Jim. But I _would_ say that your thesis has +a remarkably low index of probability. Why don't others suspect, besides +you?" + +Jim spread his hands hopelessly. "I don't know. Maybe they do. Maybe +these creatures--if they do exist--have some means of protection we +don't know about." + +"You need more than maybes, Jim. What about Joanna Simmons' mother? +According to your theories she should have been well off. Was she?" + +"No, she wasn't," Jim admitted reluctantly. "She came here and took a +job with my outfit. Said she was divorced, and had lived in New York. +Then she quit to take a position in California, and we agreed to board +Joanna until she got settled. Warrenburg was the town. She was killed +there quite horribly, in a terrible auto accident." + +"Have you any reason for suspecting skulduggery? Honestly, Jim? Or for +labelling her one of your human--er--cuckoos?" + +"Only my hunch. We had a newspaper clipping, and a letter from the +coroner. We even sent the money for her funeral. But those things could +be faked, Bob." + +"Give me some evidence that they _were_ faked, and I'll be happy to +reinspect your views." Holland levered his avoirdupois out of his chair. +"In the meantime, relax. Take a trip if you can. Try not to worry." + +Jim grinned humorlessly. "Mustn't let myself get excited, eh? Okay, Bob. +But if I get hold of any evidence that I think you might accept, I'll be +back. The last laugh and all that. Pending developments you take it +easy, too. Don't let yourself get overworked. Stay out of the sun. So +long now." + +"So long, Jim." + + * * * * * + +It was cool in the Warrenburg city hall, though outside the streets were +sizzling. + +"Sorry, Mr. Blair," said the stout, motherly woman with the horn-rimmed +glasses. "We've no record of a Helen Simmons. Nothing whatever." She +closed the file with resolute finality. + +Jim stared at her. "Are you sure? There must be something. Mightn't +there be a special file for accident cases? She was here in Warrenburg. +She died here." + +The woman thinned her lips, shook her head. "If we had any information, +it'd be right where I looked. There isn't a thing. Have you tried her +last address? Maybe they could tell you something. We can't." + +"I'll try that next. Thanks a lot." + +"Sorry we couldn't help you." + +He went out slowly. + + * * * * * + +872 Maple was a rambling frame house dozing on a wide flower-bordered +lot. There was nothing sleepy about the diminutive woman who opened the +door to Jim's knock. Snapping black eyes peered at him from a maze of +wrinkles. A veined hand moved swiftly to smooth down the white hair that +framed her face. + +"Looking for someone, young man?" + +"Just information, Mrs.--" + +"Collins, and it's Miss. Don't give out information about guests. You a +bill collector?" + +"No, Miss Collins. As a matter of fact, I'm trying to check up on an old +friend I lost track of. Helen Simmons. She lived at this address for a +while." + +"Sure did. Well, come on in. Mind you, I don't usually do this, Mr.--" + +"Blair." Without any fanfare a bill changed hands. + +"Mr. Blair. Well, I can't tell you much. Try that green chair for size. +What do you want to know?" + + * * * * * + +Jim studied the toe of his right shoe. His eyes were veiled. "I heard +she was hurt, and hard up, and I was worried. My wife and I were friends +of hers back east." + +"Hurt, hard up? Humph! Not likely, spendin' all her time drivin' that +English car around. Takin' trips. I'm not sayin' she didn't mind her +manners, though." + +"Did she have any close friends?" + +"She was chummy with Edith Walton, the girl that works for Doc Mendel. +He's county coroner in his spare time. No men. Didn't fool around at +all. I'd a known." + + * * * * * + +Behind Jim's stony eyes the pattern took clearer form, as if a mosaic +approached completion. A mosaic of carefully planned events that +totalled horror. He shivered as the outlines of his hunch filled in. +Helen--what creatures were these? Helen--not dead, not poor,--carefully +planting ostensible proof of her death and going on to a new role, a new +life, in London or Paris or Rome. A free, untrammelled life. And her +child--if child was the word--in his home, repeating the pattern. +Eliminating competition as her mother undoubtedly had done. The +competition--his and Jean's children! Changeling, changeling-- No, not +that. Incubus! He shivered again. + +"Rabbits on your grave, Mr. Blair?" + +He looked up slowly. "Sorry. I was just wondering. Did Miss Simmons have +a job while she was here?" + +"No, she didn't. One thing she did do was rent a place. Used to be +Blands Hardware. Paid a month's rent, too. Said some friends of hers +were plannin' to open a mortuary. Seemed like a funny way for people to +do business, but then, no affair of mine." + +Funny? No, not funny at all, but icily, eerily logical. There had to be +an undertaking parlor where he could send the funeral expenses. He +wondered if Helen had laughed when she opened the letter. Everyone his, +or her, own undertaker. And the carefully cultivated friend in the +coroner's office. For stationery. + +He got to his feet. "Thanks a lot, Miss Collins. You've been a great +deal of help." He almost smiled as he asked, "I don't suppose she left a +forwarding address?" + +The old head shook decisively. "Not a thing. Just packed and left, one +Monday morning." + +All the loose ends tied up tight on a Monday morning. Nothing to cause +suspicion. Nothing to worry about. Only a woman's almost paranoid +hysteria,--and a glance at a clock. Not very much to unmask--incubus. +And what could he do? What _could_ he do? Start talking and land in an +institution? Well, there was one thing. + +"Thanks again, Miss Collins." + +He went out. + + * * * * * + +Swanson didn't look like the general conception of a small-town +newspaperman. One knew instinctively that his beard wouldn't have been +tobacco-stained even if he'd cared to grow one. And he didn't have a +bottle of bourbon in the file marked Miscellaneous, or if he did he +didn't bring it out. + +"That never came from my paper," he said precisely. He handed the +clipping back to Jim. "We don't use that type, for one thing. For +another, Miss Simmons, so far as I know, wasn't killed here or anywhere +else." + +"You knew her?" + +"I knew of her. I never met her." + +"What about this report of her death?" + +Swanson shrugged; tented manicured fingers. "It's a hoax. Any job +printing shop with a Linotype could do it. In all likelihood it was some +place in San Francisco. That's closest. It would be very difficult to +check." His curiosity was showing. + +"I see. Well, thanks for your time and trouble, Mr. Swanson." + +"Not at all. Sorry I couldn't be of more help." + +One thing to do. One thing that must be done. + +Motors over the mountains. And riding with them, the numb resolve. +Motors over the salt pans, the wheat lands, the corn belt. + +The stewardess stops again. "Coffee, sir? A sandwich, perhaps?" + +"I beg your-- Oh, no. No, thanks." + +She watches him covertly, uneasily, longing for the end of the run. + +Motors in the night. + +And the dull determination growing, strengthening. + +The airport, baggage, the ancient taxi with the piston slap, and at last +the dark, familiar street. + +"Jim, you're back! Oh, Jim, darling. Next time they send you west I'm +going too. I am!" + +"Okay, Jean, sure. Why not?" + +"What's the matter, dear? Oh, you're tired, of course. I should have +known. Sit down, Jim. Let me get you a drink." + +"In a minute, Jean." Do it now _now_ NOW! "Where's Joanna?" + +"She's in bed. Hours ago. Jim, has something--?" + +"Nothing, dear. I just want to look in on her. And freshen up a bit, of +course." + +"Jim--" + +He smoothed away the worried frown with his forefinger. + +"In a minute, dear." + +She smiled uncertainly. "Hurry back, Jim." + + * * * * * + +The stairs unwind irrevocably, slow motion in a nightmare. The bedroom +door opens, the hall light dim on the bed and the child's face. Incubus +in the half dark. + +For a moment Jim remembered wondering somewhere, sometime, what strange +powers of protection might be implicit in such a creature. As the +thought came into his mind, Joanna stirred. She opened her eyes and +looked at him. + +He took one step toward the bed. + +The little girl eyes over their dusting of freckles slitted. Then they +opened wide, became two glowing golden lakes that grew, and grew-- + +There was the feeling of a great soundless explosion in his mind. Waves +of cool burning in his brain, churning and bubbling in every unknown +corner, every cranny. Here and there a cell, or a group of cells, +blanked out, the complex molecules reverting, becoming new again. Ready +for fresh punch marks. Synapses shorted with soundless cold fire, and +waited in timeless stasis for rechannelling. The waves frothed, became +ripples, were gone. He stood unmoving. + +What was it he was supposed to do? Let's see-- Tuck Joanna's blanket +around her. But she was covered up snugly. Sleeping soundly, too, and +for a few seconds he'd thought she was awake. And Jean was waiting +downstairs, Jean and a cool drink. + +Oh, yes, stop in the bathroom. + +The stairs wind up again. It is good to be with one's family, relaxed in +the well known chair. Not a worry in the world. + +He sat there, his mind at ease, not caring much about anything. He +didn't even look up when the clock on the mantel whirred, and the +ridiculous bird popped out of its nest to herald a new day. + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + This etext was produced from _Amazing Stories_ March 1954. Extensive + research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on + this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical + errors have been corrected without note. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Cuckoo Clock, by Wesley Barefoot + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CUCKOO CLOCK *** + +***** This file should be named 29623.txt or 29623.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/6/2/29623/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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