Mary Elizabeth Counselman

“ The archaeologist jerked his head away savagely, the monkey skull bumping hollowly to the ground as he glared up at Murika.
"Get out of here!” he grated, sweat popping out on his forehead, and upper lip. "What are you trying to do to me, lying here trussed up? Are you trying to drive me crazy? Get out!”
He wrenched himself up again, panting and cursing. The Chavante boy dodged behind his trunk again, but the old Brujo merely bowed slightly and backed toward the tent opening.
"Jealousy,” he said in his soft mellow Portuguese, "is like a poison, Capitao. The Senhor stands where the trail forks. ”

“ The two members of the posse stood by, wide-eyed and amazed, as they heard Reverend Adkins repeat the familiar words of the marriage ceremony. Heard Florella’s sobbing replies. And then heard— was it only wind in the great tree towering above them? Or was it—? Both men later swore that what they heard sounded like a whispering voice. A man’s voice, Joe Ed’s, coming from the depths of those thick green branches. But (as Hettie remarked dryly) it had been a hysterical night, and hysteria can play weird tricks on the human senses numerous times. ”

“ Cantrell grinned. "We can try vitamin therapy right away," he said happily. "Take, say, ten of the kids and feed them a test-diet for the forty days we're here, loading up sola. May take years of treatment to get them looking like people again, but—we can sure try!"
They glanced back over their shoulders in unison, two splendid young giants from another solar system, their eyes warm and bright with a thing called "brotherly love"—which it had taken their own small planet many centuries to learn. Together they disappeared into the rocket ship. ”

“ A little girl in a frilly pink dress, her white face turned up in sudden horror, picked out by the headlights glare.
Bob’s cry was instinctive as he stamped on the brakes, and wrenched at the steering wheel. The car careened wildly, skidding side-wise and striking the child broadside. Then, in a tangle of wheels and canvas top, it rolled into a shallow ditch, miraculously right-side up. Bob felt his head strike something hard—the windshield. It starred out with tiny shimmering cracks, but did not shatter. Darkness rushed over him; the sick black darkness of the unconscious ”

“ The Dabneys (Hettie related) had built their cabin and begun to wrest a living out of the side of Bald Mountain about the time of Daniel Boone. Six generations of underfed, overworked mountaineers had lived therein, planting a little, hunting a little, and raising a batch of children as wild as the foxes that made inroads on their chicken supply. Florella was the youngest daughter, a shy willowy child of fifteen, with flowing dark hair and big luminous dark eyes like a fawn. ”

“ When the body broke down, was his opinion, it simply stopped like a good watch that has ticked its last tick. Sometimes, rather wistfully, he wished that he did believe in a life after death; for it seemed to him that far too many people died before they were half finished living. ”

“ But there was something scornful in
⁠The way she held her head.
They burned a witch in Bingham Square;
⁠Her eyes were terror-wild.
She was a slight, a comely maid,
⁠No taller than a child.
They bound her fast against the stake
⁠And laughed to see her fear... ”

“ All the Evil Ones that crowd about someone who is dying, she had summoned to that spot—-it was their fetid breath, she explained, that clouded the glass panes. But there was only one trick of dark magic in her power: to make a mirror of that opaque window, in which could be seen the dim reflection of the room where her master lay dying. ”

“ Mr. Sproull said hurriedly. "For each spoon. . . . Now, I'm sure you wouldn't care to pay so much for a . . . a whim! Let me just show you . . ."
Bob set his jaw stubbornly, giving the old dealer an oblique look.
"Mr. Sproull, don't you want to make this sale? Look. If you're trying to run up the price," he snapped, "just because my fiancee has taken such a fancy to . . ." He broke off, grinned abruptly, and spread his hands in rueful defeat. "All right, you old pirate! Fifteen hundred it is!" He smiled indulgently at the girl beside him, who was shaking her head violently. ”

“ HARBIN did not share her mirth. His gray eyes iced over, and narrowed. "The devil!” he exploded. "Did he really say that to you? Insolent half-breed swine! Send him in here; I’ll sack him right now!”
"You’ll do nothing of the kind!”' his wife laughed, kissing him on the forehead. "Cedric, don’t be absurd. All Brazilians make passes at every North American girl they meet. It’s—it’s part of the Good Neighbor Policy!” She gave him another sip of the nutritious tea, looking fondly amused. "Mario,” she pointed out, "is a very efficient guide. ”

“ No death had occurred in the house for seventy-two years— a fact I believe people resentfully accused our family of arranging, just for spite.
As a matter of fact, none of my generation believed in the hoodoo. We grinned about it fondly, the way others smile at myths about Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. Mark, Jeb, and I—children of the Depression and the Second World War— were not inclined to believe in anything we couldn’t see and touch. Jeb took over his father’s meagre law practice in Stuartsboro, and managed to support himself and his widowed mother. ”

“ Sir Cedric glanced about wildly for something to throw at him. But the Chavante whirled and darted out of the tent, followed by the explorer’s angry curses...
HARBIN fell back on his cot, breathing hard. Pain clutched at his chest under the strapping; he had probably torn loose those half-mended ribs again. The fury of complete helplessness wracked him for a moment. That Indian was lying; of course he was lying! Diana would no more desert him in this condition than—than...
Or, would she? Could a middle-aged husband ever really be sure of a young and beautiful wife? ”

“ And just as, centuries ago, an old Dutch patroon, one Schuyler Van Grooten, had died—clawing and screaming and gasping for breath in his coffin, awakened from one of his cataleptic trances to find that his greedy heirs had deliberately buried him alive . ”

“ Cantrell reached down gently and picked it up, shuddering at the little face so close to his own. Moonstone eyes. Gargoyle mouth with crumbling teeth. Round scabrous head that was almost hairless. Stumps of feet and hands that had no fingers, no toes. The child squirmed frantically in his embrace, uttering a small shrill whistle that seemed to be the only sound it could make.
"God, it's human, isn't it?" Harris, standing beside him, muttered in pity and revulsion. "Put it down, Rob! It's ... diseased!"
More of the men from Terra crowded closer, peering at the struggling child. ”

“ He moved quickly, and no eyes in the room, except the pictured eyes over the stove, saw his gesture.
A FEW hours later, riding back toward Washington on the bus, Mr. Hapworthy was annoyed with himself. He had not only failed to acquire the object that he coveted most in the world, but he had given way to a maudlin impulse to help some stupid ignorant people he had never seen before and would certainly never see again. ”

“ You’d think a guy twenty-two years old, in combat three years and got his feet almost frozen off, didn’t know the score! What’s the matter with everybody?” Bob’s anger was mounting. "Listen! I got a medal last year for killing fourteen North Koreans. For gunning ’em down! Deliberately! But now, just because I’m driving a little too fast and some old creep can’t get his wagon across the highway..."
"Bob!"
"... now, all at once, I’m not a hero, I’m a murderer! I don’t know the value of human life! I don’t give a hoot how many people... ”

“ Hettie nodded with a smug grin. “It’s a strange case—almost a legend up around Bald Mountain. Although,” she added, blatantly climbing into my car, “it’s not without precedent, in the old Greek legends. Zeus was forever turning some girl into a spring or a flower, or some inanimate object, so his wife Hera wouldn’t find out about his goings on. Even as late as the fifteenth century, there were proxy weddings, where some queen or other married her knight’s sword because he was off at war. Then, there’s an African tribe in which the men are married, at puberty, to some tree.” ”

“ The old man's eyes widened suddenly. "Ah! Now I understand! It's true! It all ties together . . . Listen to me!"
Bob Milam had turned unsteadily toward the door, but Mr. Sproull sidled after him like a small persistent crab and seized him by the arm.
"No, no! Wait! You must listen!" he gasped. "The diary mentioned that Schuyler Van Grooten was subject to 'sleeping fits'—a cataleptic. His intimate friends and relatives must have known that, but . . . but they . . . wait!" he begged. "Your monkey spoon, where is it? You must give it away! At once!" the old dealer insisted excitedly. ”

“ The Chavante boy hissed sharply, shaking his head and making a silencing gesture. On the opposite side of Harbin’s cot, he whispered in obvious awe:
"Senhor—do not espeak! Brujo esmoke the ayahuasca. The drug of second sight—”
"Oh!” Sir Cedric snorted, impatient. “I’ve heard of that—damned lot of nonsense. Or,” he smiled wryly, "maybe it isn’t. Maybe it works something like sodium pentothal. Releases the subconscious mind. ”

“ A picture began to take shape in its shadowy frame, like a dim movie. My cousin Mark raised his head, holding his dead wife in his arms and watching the pattern of the future unfold in those green panes'.
The day before the funeral, Jeb left Stuartsboro abruptly. Even Aunt Millicent could not explain his sudden departure, following a decision to join a law firm in New York. I was there, standing beside Mark as a loving sister might uphold a bereaved brother. ”

“ Throwing an arm around Cantrell's shoulders, he locked step with him as they walked up the gangplank. "Easy enough. If it's a vitamin deficiency, like Jim says, why—it'll be a cinch for us to help these poor joes! We can ship chemicals from Terra, every return-trip. Teach 'em to grow food by hydro-vat methods. We could make a new world for them!"
The pilot nodded eagerly, his pleasant, alert face full of plans for those pitifully stunted creatures, now melting back into the pale jungle in obedience to the crewmen shooing them from the vicinity of dangerous—and valuable—machinery. ”

“ Hettie said cheerfully. “All I know' is, the lower branch of that big white oak kept Florella supplied with meat. Rabbits, doves, once a possum. They—they got choked, someway. Got their necks caught in the twigs. She’d find them there, all ready to be cooked and eaten. The way any good mountaineer might trap to feed his family. So she got to believing—that he caught them. Joe Ed had quite a reputation as a hunter and trapper.” ”

“ Backing out of the parking space in a bitter rush, Bob drove the convertible south, out of Gareyville on 31, headed for Oak Grove. Accidents! Anybody could be involved in an accident! Was a guy supposed to be lucky all the time? Or a mind-reader, always clairvoyant about the other driver?
AS THE white ribbon of highway unreeled before him, Bob’s anger cooled. He smiled a little, settling behind the steering wheel and switching on the radio. ”

“ Sherry looked at him, temper sparkling in her eyes. She compressed her lips, fighting for self-control, then burst the dam:
"Maybe you're not going. But I sure am! Jeb will take me, and Liz can go with that drip of a Joe Kimball who keeps trying to marry her off. She’s too smart, though! Marriage is... a bog hole! Ours is, anyhow!... Come on, Liz!” she whirled and swept out of the room to run upstairs. "I'll take some clothes, and dress at Jeb’s with you. Mark can sit here and drown in his cheap rye. I’ll spend the night at Aunt Millicent’s!" ”