شبی با عروسک زنده فصل 09

Night of the Living Dummy - Chapter 9

The dummy glared at Kris, its grin ugly and evil.

“I—I can’t make him stop. I’m not doing it,” Lindy cried. Tugging with all her might, she pulled Mr. Wood out of Kris’ face.

Cody and Alice flashed each other bewildered glances.

Frightened, Kris raised herself from the folding chair and backed up against the tree trunk. “He—he’s talking on his own?” She stared hard at the grinning dummy.

“I—I think so. I’m… all mixed up!” Lindy declared, her cheeks bright pink.

Barky yipped and jumped on Lindy’s legs, trying to get her attention. But she kept her gaze on Kris’ frightened face.

“This is a joke—right?” Cody asked hopefully.

“What’s going on?” Alice demanded, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

Ignoring them, Lindy handed Mr. Wood back to Kris. “Here. Take him. He’s yours. Maybe you can control him.” “But, Lindy—” Kris started to protest.

Lindy glared at her watch. “Oh, no! The party! I’m late!” Shaking her head, she took off toward the house. “Later!” she called without looking back.

“But Lindy—” Kris called.

The kitchen door slammed behind Lindy.

Holding Mr. Wood by the shoulders, Kris lowered her eyes to his face. He grinned up at her, a devilish grin, his eyes staring intently into hers.

Kris swung easily, leaning back and raising her feet into the air. The chains squeaked with every swing. The old back yard swingset, half covered with rust, hadn’t been used much in recent years.

The early evening sun was lowering itself behind the house. The aroma of a roasting chicken floated out from the kitchen window. Kris could hear her mother busy in the kitchen preparing dinner.

Barky yapped beneath her. Kris dropped her feet to the ground and stopped the swing to avoid kicking him. “Dumb dog. Don’t you know you could get hurt?” She looked up to see Lindy come running up the driveway, holding Slappy under her arm. From the smile on Lindy’s face, Kris knew at once that the birthday party had been a triumph. But she had to ask anyway. “How’d it go?” “It was awesome!” Lindy exclaimed. “Slappy and I were great!”

Kris pulled herself off the swing and forced a smile to her face. “That’s nice,” she offered.

“The kids thought we were a riot!” Lindy continued. She pulled Slappy up. “Didn’t they, Slappy?” “They liked me. Hated you!” Slappy declared in Lindy’s high-pitched voice.

Kris forced a laugh. “I’m glad it went okay,” she said, trying hard to be a good sport.

“I did a sing-along with Slappy, and it went over really well. Then Slappy and I did our rap routine. What a hit!” Lindy gushed.

She’s spreading it on a little thick, Kris thought bitterly. Kris couldn’t help feeling jealous.

“The kids all lined up to talk to Slappy,” Lindy continued. “Didn’t they, Slappy?”

“Everyone loved me,” she made the dummy say. “Where’s my share of the loot?”

“So you got paid twenty dollars?” Kris asked, kicking at a clump of weeds.

“Twenty-five,” Lindy replied. “Amy’s mom said I was so good, she’d pay me extra. Oh. And guess what else? You know Mrs. Evans? The woman who always wears the leopardskin pants? You know—Anna’s mom? She asked me to do Anna’s party next Sunday. She’s going to pay me thirty dollars! I’m going to be rich!” “Wow. Thirty dollars,” Kris muttered, shaking her head.

“I get twenty. You get ten,” Lindy made Slappy say.

“I have to go tell Mom the good news!” Lindy said. “What have you been doing all afternoon?”

“Well, after you left, I was pretty upset,” Kris replied, following Lindy to the house. “You know. About Mr. Wood. I—I put him upstairs. Alice and Cody went home. Then Mom and I went to the mall.” His tail wagging furiously, Barky ran right over their feet, nearly tripping both of them. “Barky, look out!” Lindy yelled.

“Oh. I nearly forgot,” Kris said, stopping on the back stoop. “Something good happened.”

Lindy stopped, too. “Something good?”

“Yeah. I ran into Mrs. Berman at the mall.” Mrs. Berman was their music teacher and organizer of the spring concert.

“Thrills,” Lindy replied sarcastically.

“And Mrs. Berman asked if Mr. Wood and I wanted to be master of ceremonies for the spring concert.” Kris smiled at her sister.

Lindy swallowed hard. “She asked you to host the concert?”

“Yeah. I get to perform with Mr. Wood in front of everyone!” Kris gushed happily. She saw a flash of jealousy on Lindy’s face, which made her even happier.

Lindy pulled open the screen door. “Well, good luck,” she said dryly. “With that weird dummy of yours, you’ll need it.”

Dinner was spent talking about Lindy’s performance at Amy Marshall’s birthday party. Lindy and Mrs. Powell chatted excitedly. Kris ate in silence.

“At first I thought the whole thing was strange, I have to admit,” Mrs. Powell said, scooping ice cream into bowls for dessert. “I just couldn’t believe you’d be interested in ventriloquism, Lindy. But I guess you have a flair for it. I guess you have some talent.” Lindy beamed. Mrs. Powell normally wasn’t big on compliments.

“I found a book in the school library about ventriloquism,” Lindy said. “It had some pretty good tips in it. It even had a comedy routine to perform.” She glanced at Kris. “But I like making up my own jokes better.” “You should watch your sister’s act,” Mrs. Powell told Kris, handing her a bowl of ice cream. “I mean, you could probably pick up some pointers for the concert at school.” “Maybe,” Kris replied, trying to hide how annoyed she was.

After dinner, Mr. Powell called from Portland, and they all talked with him. Lindy told him about her success with Slappy at the birthday party. Kris told him about being asked to host the concert with Mr. Wood. Her father promised he wouldn’t schedule any road trips so that he could attend the concert.

After watching a video their mother had rented at the mall, the two sisters went up to their room. It was a little after eleven.

Kris clicked on the light. Lindy followed her in.

They both glanced across the room to the chair where they kept the two dummies—and gasped.

“Oh, no!” Lindy cried, raising one hand to her wide open mouth.

Earlier that night, the dummies had been placed side by side in a sitting position.

But now Slappy was upside down, falling out of the chair, his head on the floor. His brown shoes had been pulled off his feet and tossed against the wall. His suit jacket had been pulled halfway down his arms, trapping his hands behind his back.

“L-look!” Kris stammered, although her sister was already staring in horror at the scene. “Mr. Wood—he’s…” Kris’ voice caught in her throat.

Mr. Wood was sprawled on top of Slappy. His hands were wrapped around Slappy’s throat, as if he were strangling him.