"D-E-A-T-H. How it comes so natural," he wrote. "Day in and day out, like a clock that ticks off the bodies instead of the seconds. What secrets do the catacombs hold for us mortals who seek the knowledge of the afterlife? What wonders are there to behold hidden in their bonfires? It is we who must begin the journey and our travels will take us far. Where we go, however, is entirely not up to us. Maybe to some desolate plain or some empty field to face the evils that hide in the shadows. Many days will pass and the hunger will eat us from the inside out. It will take our strength, break our bones, sear our flesh and it will feel good."

  I recall hearing somewhere before the journey is its own reward. Maybe it's the message he's trying to convey. The dark figure, sitting with great posture and nice clothes and neat hair, taps out his plan (tap tap tap) with an idea of sorts sent forth from the gods. Pity how they choose the ones so young. "It isn't all that it's cracked up to be," he concludes aloud, "but it will get their attention."

Part One

  "911 Emergency."

  "I saw these dudes steal this car over here."

  "Hold on sir, I'll redirect your call to an officer."

  Dan (the Man) Stevens looked at his watch. 9:30 on Halloween night and the first report came in. Jaysus, as he would say, they don't wait long do they? The night had just begun and even though it was expected to be a slow one this year that long and arduous task was just set into motion which included vandals and loiterers, but car theft on Halloween wasn't common. Sure someone might get into trouble over something they didn't do (that wasn't uncommon) but for someone to be so bold was a person out of his mind.

  Dan grabbed his jacket and headed scowling out of the police station to find the scene. His search was going to be in vain and he was sure it would end with a costly result whatever it was. Down the backroads he traveled until he got to the out of the way residence that turned out to be more of a junkyard than a home. He stepped out of his car warily to greet an old man inching out of his doorway onto the porch.

  "Just hold it a minute there," was all Dan heard before a bright flashlight was shone at him and he had to take a step back from the blinding beam.

  "Sorry officer. What can I do for you?" The light immediately had gone away and Dan was now trying to remedy his sudden loss of focus. The nighttime surrounding began to come to shape momentarily and sight returned therein.

  "I received a report of a car being stolen form this address. A call stating that a blue Subaru was taken at about 9:15 or so."

  "I don't know nothing about that, I been sittin' up and watchin' for those damned kids that come around ever year and screw with my property. Eggin, toilet paper, whole damned bunch with shavin' cream too."

  "I'm sorry to hear about that, but if you care to take a look around maybe I can find out if this was a prank call or not."

  "Okey-doke. I'll take a look, but I been watchin' out that there front window for the longest time."

  The two men began to walk to the jumble of cars in the overgrown grass of a field beside the house.

  "I'd appreciate it if that bunch you keep going on about don't come at all. Right now --"

  "I'm looking, I'm looking."

  "Thank you, sir. How many cars would you say you have out here?" They began the search, moving between rows of autobodies and sidestepping the rusted chassis of stripped cars.

  "About twenty or so, if I had to guess."

  "Is there any way to get them off your property without you knowing about it?"

  "Nope. Only way is down the driveway you came up unless you'd want to try and squeeze the car between that mess of trees in the back. And a horse can barely get through that nowadays."

  "Mm-hmm."

  "I don't see a thing missin'. Say ya think it was a crank call?"

  "If nothing's missing that would be my guess. Prank 911 calls seem to go up about this time of year."

  The two men idled back towards the house. The moonlight that had been out was now blocked by cloudcover and the silence echoed off the hills. The old man was the first to break the silence.

  "Well, I'm sorry I couldn't help ya," he said.

  "Oh, no! I'm glad you didn't have anything stolen. Between you and me, I hate having to do all that paperwork."

  "I hear ya."

  "Have a good night sir. Thank you for your time."

  "Wa'ant nothing. Ya'll just keep those hooligans away from my property."

  "Will do, sir. Will do. Call if you need any assistance. That's what we're here for."

  "Thank you much, officer."

  Dan Stevens strolled back to his car while the old man waddled back up the few steps to the porch. From the car, Dan looked around and went over the mental notes from the episode. 'Prank call. Over and done for.' He had just came to the decision when he noticed the old man stumble back out the door -- hand clutched to his chest.

  Immediately, Dan rushed across the yard to the house. He reached the old man who was gasping for air and frantically waving the officer inside with his free arm. Dan cautiously went inside, gun drawn, the storm door creaking when he opened it, and confronted the sight which sent the old man stumbling outside.

  On the wall, written in red, was a single taunting word: SURPRISE.

  Kasey sat on the old sofa almost stiff, a beer in one hand, watching the last scene of the horror movie conclude. The maniac killer was suddenly put down and the whole room burst into cheer, including Kasey. The music was turned up so some of the freaks in costume could act like the fools they really were. It started to clear around the television; the revelers needed other things to do.

  "Oh my God, that kicked ass!" Kasey finally said.

  "You can say that again," said her friend Janet on the couch beside her.

  "What's next?"

  "Don't know. Don't care. It couldn't beat that."

  One of the drunken loafs circling the room fell to his knees behind the couch and pushed his head in between the two friends and pronounced: "What do you ladies think about a three-way?" Then he immediately passed out. The girls just looked at each other for a second before they burst into laughter. The party was into a full swing at the house and nothing it seemed could stop it.

  A slow figure wandered through the crowd of costumed drunks. There were several cowboys (which all dressed that way to begin with), a few hippies like Kasey and Janet, and various others that mixed and matched things of their own. Some went all out with eagerness unseen prior to the October month. One in particular had been a nefarious looking clown who was at that moment wandering towards the two girls with his ghastly smile and a sick gleam in his eyes. The unearthly smile produced the sight of yellowed teeth in the large red-painted mouth done with splendor that showed. The bright face and dark eyes were unsettling to say the least.

  When Kasey saw the clown coming towards them her laughter faded and her smile disappeared. Their eyes met each other to form a quick conversation. Slowly she began to understand his unspoken intent and when he pulled a butcher knife from behind his back she completely sobered. Her life was being threatened, her privacy invaded, and all she could do was sit in shock. Janet saw her friend gazing at someone behind her and turned to look but her sight fell short. Suddenly the power died and the drunken crowd shifted uneasily.

  "What the hell happened," commented someone in the total darkness.

  Momentarily, Janet was stunned, and when she felt a leg brush her knee and Kasey hastily leave the couch she thought twice. She felt something warm and wet splatter her face and she reached out for Kasey but it was too late. Her hand landed in a slick fluid were her friend had just been the second before. In her bones she felt the party grind to a halt, everyone still, and her friend being dragged from the house. She couldn't contain herself.

  "Aaahhh!"

  The scream was enough for some to take notice, but for others it was a scary stunt someone was trying to pull. Janet had really freaked out. In the next instant her panic skyrocketed. The power came back on, the lights shone on everything clearly, and Janet saw that she had her hand in blood. She took a double take from the cushion to her clothes to her arm splattered with blood. Several of the partygoers were smudged with the red crimson substance also.

  Janet stood and whirled around to look towards the door. On the doorjamb, almost hidden by the open door, was Kasey's bloody handprint -- left as it slipped away from one last desperate hold for safety. Janet felt lightheaded all of a sudden and hit the floor in a matter of seconds.

  The first thing he was shown inside was the bloody handprint on the door. He studied it for a moment and started to trivialize the situation. Soon after came the couch and a lamp next to it that had also been caught by a gush of blood. On his way outside it became perfectly clear that this night was going to be a bad one after all. The crowd outside was a pathetic looking bunch. They huddled in small groups (the ones that stayed) and quietly turned the events over in their heads. Fear or guilt were likely to be found in most of them.

  A call came in. Another report of a blue Subaru as it nearly ran over some kids rolling a yard. Maybe he'd get lucky with some information, but Dan wasn't counting on it. He exhaled a long, tense breath and sank back into the seat of the car. His colleagues here could handle this. He wasn't needed after all. With one last look around at these dumb creatures Dan started his car and drove off for his next encounter.

  In just a few minutes the cop car slowed to a stop in front of what was looking to be the most vandalized yard around. Toilet paper hung from the trees in long streamers, some nearly thirty feet. The light wind that blew sent some of those streamers waving like the arms of an octopus. Dan just shook his head at the half-finished yard.

  From the corner of his eye he saw movement in the headlights and his complete attention turned to the intruder. Slowly the small frame came forward, arms to his side. A boy of nearly thirteen was walking timidly towards the car. His face was pale with unease.

  "Hold it right there," Dan said out the open window. The boy stopped in the headlights and stood in the middle of the road. Dan opened the door and stepped from the vehicle.

  "Are you the one that called about a blue Subaru nearly running you over?"

  The boy nodded his head.

  "Why don't you tell me what happened."

  "What are you going to do to me?"

  "About what? About the yard?"

  "Yeah."

  "Nothing, as long as you promise me no more of it."

  "Sure. Yeah."

  "Now, what's your name?"

  "Jimmy Haslip."

  "Jimmy, how many of your friends were with you when this happened?"

  "Four."

  "Five of you did this?!" Dan gestured to the yard incredulously.

  "Yeah."

  "Wow." The man was completely in awe. Even in his younger days no one could make such a masterpiece of a yard like this one was turning out to be if they had a large group of people, let alone as few as five.

  "I tell you what," he started again. "Why don't you tell me what happened when you and your friends first saw the car."

  "We were all rolling this yard and someone yelled out that a car was coming so we ducked back into our hiding spot across the road in the ditch. Me and Ja -- I better not say his name -- we were the last ones across and the car was going really fast, as fast as it would go I'd say. We were almost across when it swerved and tried to hit us."

  "That's all?"

  "No, I..." The boy stared around nervously.

  "You what?" he asked encouragingly.

  "I froze when I saw him."

"Saw who? Saw the person driving."

  "I was almost across the road when he came around the curve and surprised us. I looked over and when I saw him I froze."

  "What did he look like, Jimmy?"

  "He was a clown."

  "A clown?"

  "But he was a bad clown, like something out of a Stephen King story. Scary." The boy started to fidget as he spoke more of the encounter.

  "And you froze when you saw him?"

  "Yeah. I couldn't do anything else. I just stood in the road and watched him coming right for me when all of a sudden I was pulled into the ditch by one of my friends."

  Dan stood in front of the boy who had almost brought himself to tears. He digested the story rather quickly. Someone dressed like an evil clown had stolen a blue Subaru and was driving around in it at this moment more that likely. "Probably a drunk partygoer" he thought. But in a flash the connection hit him: the party.

  "You're going to have to come with me Jimmy. Just for a little while."

  "But you said--"

  "I know and nothing's going to happen to you. I just need one of my friends to hear what you have to say. It's very important."

  The boy only nodded his agreement. Dan started to lead Jimmy away when a thought suddenly occurred to him.

  "Where are your friends anyway?"

  "They ran off. When I told them I wanted to call the cops they said I could just walk home."

  "We'll have you home in no time. Just try to relax."

  Dan ushered the boy into the front seat and was soon on his way back to where the party had gone on. On the way back he looked over to the boy and saw him staring blankly out the window into the night.

  "What are you thinking about?"

  "Nothing."

  "Nothing, huh? It might be good to let it out."

  "I was just wondering about that girl who was in the car with him."

  Dan slammed on the brakes and brought the car to an abrupt halt. He looked over to the boy who was as wide-eyed as he was.

  "What did you say?"

  The clown looked back to the road and smiled his ghastly smile. Madness is all too common around this wild time of year. Everyone lets go to their principles and inhibitions to scheme things that others do in the night.

  This year was no exception, but he had it all figured out.

  "Top of the world, Ma!" The clown exclaimed crazily into the night. He is going over the top, to the moon, master of the universe -- all for a chance to become a legend amongst legends, to party with the big boys, and he had some things to show for his hard work: a bloody girl on the seat with him, a party ruined by their abrupt departure no doubt, inevitably a few cops looking for him, and a scared old man too busy looking out for his junk than his house.

  "Surprise," he cooed

  The moon outside was just a day past full and the clear night let the moonlight shine to earth. A beautiful night for celebration. The clown looked up, thinking about the next part of his plan, and decided how wonderfully lit up his decorum would be. Wonderful indeed -- as his mind wandered through whatever clouds surrounded him -- he dreamed.

  A dark red truck backed into the undergrowth off the side of the road sat quietly as the half-a-dozen teens readied their gear. They were filled with relief that a cop hadn't found them yet. The driver leaned towards the open sliding glass window and whispered to his friends in the back.

  "Give it a few minutes and we'll go back and get that morons yard finished." The four boys in the back and one in the cab with him nodded and whispered their agreement. Then they began to recheck their bags, each one bigger than the last and all filled with toilet paper. The driver banged on the steering wheel to the tune stuck in his head.

  The tires screeched to a halt and Dan barely had time to shut the engine off and undo his seatbelt before he was out of the car and on his feet heading for the prime investigator at the crime scene. Jimmy was hesitant to get out of the car until he was pulled out at the last minute and ushered towards the house.

  He looked around to the scene of some terrible crime (judging by the amount of effort that was being put into it), towards the street and the cop cars lined up one after another, and to an ambulance where a girl on a stretcher was coming around. He turned back to the house where an older, balding man was walking out in stride right for them. The man looked at him for a second, then focused on Dan as he held out his hand. Their handshake was fierce but friendly.

  "Danny. How's it going?"

  "Glad to see you here, Greg. Rough night?"

  "Should I answer that, or just leave you guessing? What've you got?"

  "This young man," Dan placed a hand on Jimmy's shoulder, "saw who did this. Driving along by the old Myers' place."

  "Did he?" The older man looked down at him. "Do you mind telling me what you saw?"

  The boy only shook his head.

  "Jimmy," said Dan, "this is Greg Schultz. Greg, this is Jimmy Haslip. He saw someone dressed as a clown driving a stolen blue Subaru I've been trying to find out about."

  "Mm-hmm," Greg nodded.

  "And he had a girl with him."

  Greg's attention immediately piqued.

  "You mean--"

  "Possibly. Do you have a picture?"

  "Just got one from her friend in the ambulance." He pulled a locket from his shirt picket and handed it to Dan. "It's not much but it's all we got right now."

  Dan only agreed and opened up the locket. Inside were pictures of the two friends Janet and Kasey. Something about the girl made his palms sweat. His heart started wildly as he looked at the picture. Quickly, he handed the locket to the boy. Jimmy looked on as it was shown to him and then stared at the pictures inside.

  "Is this the girl you saw in the car?"

  Jimmy looked onward, silent and nervous beyond his own comprehension. His mind was shutting down and all he wanted to do was run. Slowly he conceded the situation was bad and he tried to remember.

  "Is that the girl?" Dan asked again.

  "I-I... I didn't get a good look."

  "For Christ's sake is it?" he pushed.

  Greg could see Dan's willpower being stretched thin and laid a friendly hand on his shoulder drawing his attention.

  "Calm down."

  That was all he needed. He took a deep breath and a moment to collect himself.

  "Sorry."

  "I-I think it was her," Jimmy stated to the men. The adolescent responded at just the right time for them. Their relief was overwhelming and they acted on his answer quickly.

  "Are you sure?" asked Greg.

  "Pretty sure."

  "Okay, let's get moving," Dan ordered. Then he was off and running. Even if it wasn't his investigation he still felt like he had to do this; if not for fellow policemen or the girl, then for himself.

  They were off, leaving Jimmy in the care of a crime scene guard, and heading for the Myers place going south were the blue Subaru was spotted last. The night was tense, the air was cool, the moon was riding high in the sky and Dan wasn't about to let the Halloween he sought to protect be defiled by such a heinous act.

  The gruntwork was almost over. It was hardly something to be done by one's self, but the little finishing touches were to throw that misconception right out the window. The wicked demon stepped back to look at his masterpiece. In the middle of an open field by the light of the moon the figure stood to ponder for a second, his face deathly serious.

  "He-He. HA! HaHaHaHaHa-Whoo-Hoo!" With the last of his maniacal laughter fading, the clown did a cartwheel and stepped off into the night to disappear. Dan sped down the road that led by the old Myers' place at top speed. The curve that the road made before the house was coming up and at Greg's nagging he slowed down. He barely had time to notice the yardrollers before he hit them. Greg, riding shotgun, slapped his hands on the dash to steady himself as the car slid to a halt and the young vandals ran for cover.

  "Get out of the road you little punks!" Dan yelled at them sped on as the three other cruisers followed behind. The driver of the dark red truck looked at two of his friends, frightened by the four police cars that just passed them by.

  "Let's get the hell outta here," he said flatly. They scrambled for their bags and ran down the road to the stashed truck. They piled into the back and headed away from their work without knowing that one of their friends had been left behind. All he could do was walk home.

  "Slow down!" Greg yelled at Dan who was off his rocker, to say the least. Something in him wouldn't stop pushing his body to get this over with. He wanted everything back to normal. It just wasn't right for this to be happening. This chaos was uncalled for. Greg thought it excessive for his friend to be acting in such a manner, but didn't know how or why he would be this obsessive.

  Ahead, in the distant night, a light flashed out to the onlookers. The two men looked at each other and asked the same question: "What now?" Dan floored the pedal and headed over the hills. When they got closer to the source of the flash of light they discovered the blue Subaru. Abandoned on the side of the road, it had been pushed into the ditch by a large open expanse of a field and set ablaze. Greg radioed for a fire truck as they stopped the car.

  With headlights bright and poised on the burning Subaru they hopped from the car to rush the scene. The fire, albeit small, was growing quickly. The two men could see no one inside and then distanced themselves from the burning vehicle. The other men gathered around for briefing.

  "What's going on," asked a skinny fellow named Perkins.

  "This is the suspect vehicle," Greg started, "that may have been involved with the kidnapping we saw earlier. Fire crews are on their way here. Let's keep our distance, this thing could blow."

  The five men gathered in a circle openly debating what to do when Perkins saw the light in the field. A small fire had just been lit and was beginning to burn. Then a second started a few yards away.

  "Fellas," he said. "Guys."

  "What?" a few of them answered simultaneously.

  "What's that?" he asked, eyes never leaving the two growing bonfires.

  "Oh, hell!" was all one of them had time to say before they were all in a run across the field.

  Closer they came to the halfway mark when an explosion behind them sent two of the men stumbling to the ground. As they looked back to see the Subaru that had gone up in a blast the flames reached higher towards the sky. Dan, Greg, and another man were closing on the bonfires when suddenly the scene sent them reeling.

  Upon their arrival at the fires the three men found a gruesome sight placed before them. Set up like a piece of disgusting, perverse artwork was a large crucifix. On that enormous cross was Kasey Matthews -- her clothes bloody, her hands and feet nailed grotesquely to the wood, and her face cloaked with a white hankerchief.

  Greg stared at the sight, the third man stumbled backwards a few paces where he dropped to the ground and promptly threw up, and Dan slowly walked towards the lifeless body. The last two men finally made it to the sight. One fell ill alongside his comrade and Perkins choked the sick back.

  Dan stepped forward cautiously and snapped a tight length of fishing line drawn across the front of the scene. The five men jumped as a radio belted out an oldies tune full volume. The unexpected event sent them to sudden action.

  "We've got to get her down," Greg said in a shaky voice. The three men not sick dawdled up to the crucifix and looked on. It stood twelve feet high, the wood planks fastened together with bolts to make it sturdy, and it was sunk into a hole in the ground. It could be uprooted, but it would take time. Then they found a prop at the ground behind it. Greg held onto the cross with both hands and nudged the prop with his foot. The crucifix immediately started to fall backwards.

  "Help! Help me!" Two pairs of hands rushed in to hold and the cross came down faster than any of them would have liked. The base of the large cross dug up a chunk of earth and the cross itself landed on the ground with a thud. Dan bent down to check the girls condition.

  She was bloody -- her wounds no doubt inflicted deep -- the shoes soaked wet with crimson and all the nails were coated with the sticky substance. The shroud covered her face and fell across her neck. That's when he saw it: a little flap of skin sticking out from underneath the shirt collar.

  Trembling hands reached out to touch but at the last second it fell to her shoulder. The weight of Dan's hand pulled the shirt away from the flap revealing white padding under it.

  "What the...?"

  He felt the shoulder: too soft. He felt the arm: padded. He felt the stomach: exactly the same. Then he ripped off the shroud to see empty eyesockets starring back at him. Empty eyesockets of a latex mask (painted with make-up to look real) covered in a shroud to add an element of surprise, and stuck on a body made by padding inside the girls clothing.

  "It's a dummy! It's not real!" Dan shouted his relief to the other men.

  "What?!" Greg knelt by him.

  "Look." Dan pulled the mask back from the padded dummy.

  "Oh my God." Greg thought a moment more. "Then, where's the girl?"

  "Whoa there. You're a lucky girl, but you don't want to jinx yourself now," she said. "Just lay back, we're going to get you all taken care of."

  Something about that soothing voice made her heel to the commands and lay back. She was on the cold ground at the edge of the field laying under a stand of trees. Near her were a few people she couldn't recognize but knew they wanted to help.

  "All right, let's get her on the stretcher. Gentlemen?"

  A few policemen and the EMT's steadily moved her onto a stretcher and strapped her in. Soon she was on her way across the field -- looking up to the morning sky -- surrounded by a scene she would never know. Walking along behind them were Greg and his friend Dan.

  "Feeling better, Danny?"

  "Yeah, a lot."

  "One hell of a night, wasn't it?"

  "That's an understatement."

  "It's over. You won't have to worry about anything remotely this bad until next year. Until then it'll just be drunk drivers and speed demons."

  Greg looked at his sullen friend again.

  "You need a vacation. All this work is getting to you."

  "I've needed a vacation for the longest time, but do you think I'll take one."

  "You better, or you're going to hear me say it all the time."

  "Don't pester me. I'll think about it."

  "That's what I wanted to hear."

  The two men looked around at the scene in the morning hours of the new day. A large part of the field was burnt from the car fire. I took the fire engines only a short while to put a stop to it. The bonfires and the crucifix were being studied for clues but nothing would likely come from them. All the cops, fire crews, and emergency workers were starting to clear and Kasey Matthews was being loaded into the back of an ambulance.

  Two figures zigzagged their way through the crowd heading for her. Janet was determined to see her friend as she led a young man behind her. She shoved aside one of the EMT's to get to Kasey and after a brief exchange of words that did not go unnoticed by those nearby she stepped into the back of the ambulance towing the young man behind her.

  Kasey looked at her friends entering the vehicle to be with her. The young man started to close the rear doors and received a rude glare from one of the EMT's.

  "Just one minute of privacy, please?" The EMT nodded and the young man closed the doors. Janet hugged her friend and then the young man bent to kiss her. When he pulled away she saw his face was smudged with white and red.

  "Sam?"

  "Yeah baby?"

  "What's on your face?"

  Dan Stevens and Greg Schultz looked at the scene from afar as it broke up.

  After a moment Dan broke the silence.

  "There's one thing that bother me though."

  "What's that?" Greg asked.

  Janet pulled out a compact for Kasey to look at herself in. Her eyes went wide and then she looked down at her body.

  "Why," Dan started, "is she dressed like a clown?"

  Kasey's head sank back into the pillow when she saw the goofy costume and face paint. She looked at her boyfriend Sam with pleading, then angry eyes.

  "You dressed me up as a clown?"

  "It was a good idea. Sort of full circle. You were already out cold from the sleeping pills before I got to ask you about it."

  "I guess," she gave in.

  "It makes you look more pathetic anyway."

  "What?!"

  Janet giggled.

  "To the cops," he added quickly. "They don't have a clue."

  "Just another couple of days and it's all over with, huh?"

  "You bet sweetie. Just ride it out from here on... like we planned. Got it?"

  "Yeah."

  "You think I did good at the party?" Janet broke in.

  "Probably," said Kasey. "Too bad we weren't there."

  "Then it would have ruined the whole night," Janet finished.

  "There's always next year." Sam smiled and winked at the girl. "We better go. Kasey, we'll be at the hospital to pick you up when they're through with the tests."

  "Oh, I'm going to hate this," she moaned.

  "Bye, sweetie."

  "Bye, guys."

  With one last kiss they parted, if only for a little while.

  Perkins approached the two veteran men of the force with the evidence in hand. As he neared, they looked at what he carried and spoke up before he got the chance.

  "What have you got for us?"

  "A computer disk, sir? I thought you might want to take a look at it."

  "Give it here."

  Greg took the evidence bag with the computer disk inside and carefully handled it. Written on the label: ReadMe.

  "Go see if you can scare me up a laptop. I'll be right there."

  "Yes, sir."

  Perkins was off to find the necessary equipment for the veteran. Greg only smiled and looked at Dan.

  "What'll you bet that there's nothing but bullcrap on this disk?"

  "Only one way to find out."

  The older man nodded and walked off towards the cars. Dan turned back to study the field, thinking of the events of the night, and wondering whose mind thought up the events of the night. Now everything was calm and it would all be back to normal soon.

  "Hey Dad!" came a voice much like his own from behind him. "Hey!"

  Dan turned back to the voice and sound of boots clomping across the burnt field. He saw the boy, wiping white facepaint from his cheek, coming closer.

  He called back: "Hey Sammy!"