Page 5 of Amazing Grace
Grace came to the first split and took the left path, wondering if Molly had done what most people do — choose the right side of the fork. If she had, she was headed into a twisting series of dead ends.
She paused, wondering if she should go back and find Molly, then decided not to. If Molly wanted to be found, she’d call out. Molly was probably having a blast exploring the maze.
Suddenly, the quiet was shattered with an earsplitting scream. Grace’s feet took wing as she raced back the way she’d come, all the way to the fork without missing a turn and taking the right-hand path.
“Molly! Molly! Call out so I can find you.” Grace yelled.
“I’m here! Oh, God, I’m over here!”
Grace tried to follow the panicked voice. She made a few false starts, but soon enough found Molly standing at a corner of the maze, the one with the pumpkin-headed monster in it. Molly’s face was as white as paint, and her fingers were digginginto the straw of the bales behind her as if she was holding on for dear life.
“Molly? Are you okay? What happened?” Grace skidded to a stop, breathing hard and scared half out of her mind. She looked around but didn’t see any threat besides the fake pumpkin man statue. Then she gave Molly the once over to make sure there were no obvious wounds or blood she should be aware of. There was nothing. Molly looked fine — only clearly terrified. “What’s going on?”
Molly was shaking hard and took a faltering step toward Grace. Grace caught her, drawing her into an embrace, holding her tight. “It’s okay. I’m here now. I’ll get you out.”
“It…It’s n-not that. I wasn’t l-lost,” Molly whimpered. Her shaking hadn’t stopped, and she was sniffling, her face wet with tears. “I mean, I w-was, but that’s not what s-scared me.”
“Then what? Is it the pumpkin dude? He can’t hurt you.”
“N-no, not that. It’s around the c-corner.”
“What is?”
“G-go see. Maybe I imagined i-it. Or maybe it’s fake.” Molly wept through the words though, and Grace decided whatever Molly saw, she hadn’t imagined it. Something was around the corner that had frightened the hell out of her.
“Is it a person? Is somebody over there? Did they threaten you?” Grace looked over Molly’s shoulder, scouting for something she could use as a weapon. If somebody was around the corner she wanted to be prepared before charging there and finding herself outgunned.
The only possibility she saw was one of the big rocks they used to help brace the pumpkin man. The figure was tied to the bales of hay with zip ties, but they used large rocks piled around the feet to not only brace the figure against an errant gust of wind but to keep people from getting too close to the figure.
She gently pushed Molly away. “Stay here,” she whispered. “In fact, go back. Just follow this path and keep going left. That’ll bring you to the entrance. My cell phone is on the front seat of my truck. Call 911.”
Molly shook her head vehemently. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“It’s alright, Molly. Go. Hurry!”
Grace watched Molly reluctantly turn away and follow the path out. Then she bent and picked up one of the heavy rocks. She didn’t know if she had the strength to chuck the weighty stone at someone, but it was better than nothing.
She took a deep breath and yelled. “Hey! You! Whoever you are, the police are on the way. I’m armed, so you better hit the dirt. You’re on the wrong side of the maze; you’ll never find your way out, so there’s no use running. I’m coming over now, and I want to see you face down on the ground.”
She crept toward the corner, her heart pounding in her chest. What if the person over there had a gun? No, if they were going to shoot someone, Molly would be dead. It was probably some college kids trying to play a prank, or who had come to the maze before it opened and freaked at getting caught. And it certainly wouldn’t be the first time she’d caught high school kids coming out here to drink or make out.
Still, it was best to be cautious. She inched toward the turn, holding her breath now, trying to be as stealthy as she could. Maybe she should just wait for the cops to get here. That would be the smart thing to do, right? The sensible thing?
But it washermaze,herbaby, and it washerdate who’d been scared witless. It pissed her off and Pissed Off Grace was very different and far less cautious than Sensible Grace.
Taking it almost an inch at a time, Grace turned the corner and froze.
A body was sprawled out on the floor of the maze.
Chapter 3
Grace huffed out the air she’d been holding in her lungs in one long, steaming breath. Pete. That was it. Or maybe Dave or Johnny or Stew,oneof them, had thought it would be funny to play a prank on her by sprawling one of their dummies on the ground like a dead man.
It was a pretty good dummy, too. Very lifelike. She had to give kudos to whoever had made it.
She thought that even after she noticed the puddle of blood spread out from under the body, and red droplets spattered like rubies against the pale hay bales and saw the single puncture hole in his back. She believed it even after she realized she smelled the cloying scent of copper in the air.
Great effect, she thought.Is this what it looks like when someone’s shot? Or was he supposed to be stabbed? I can’t tell. I wonder how they did it?