Procyon

     Sylvester turned and shoved open the creaking screen door till it slammed its wooden frame against the house. He jumped into the old Chevy and sped off. Sending an older lady out on a roof would be a recipe disaster under normal conditions. But these were not normal conditions nor was this a normal lady. After Alice walked around the house looking at the roof-line she went back in the house and climbed the stairs to Mikey’s room. Lifting herself through the open window she navigated the roof quite well. There was a lot more strength in those bones than one might think. She walked all the way around looking in places where someone might hide from view around dormers and behind the chimney.

    "See, nothing," she acquitted herself.

    Climbing back through the window she went downstairs to search for a flashlight, proof positive that it was not her house. Finally she found a large one inside one of the kitchen drawers and headed out for the back steps. Finding no way under the house there she walked toward the front porch swinging the lantern back and forth as if it were a weapon. Flicking on the beam she swept the light over the dry dirt that lay under the white painted deck. Nothing. She bent down and began to crawl under the porch almost on her belly. Shining the light through the gap in the foundation she searched all the corners. The light startled Star awake. She shook Michael, putting a light hand over his mouth. Once awake he noticed the beam dancing back and forth.

     Fortunately Procyon's hiding spot was far out of reach and behind a pillar. Never the less the light came frighteningly close. Michael began to sweat. The, not quite Alice, unsatisfied with her find advanced through the opening. This proved to be somewhat difficult. She may have been nimble but she was still a little thicker than the two young people were but with a little struggle she made it through in order to get a better look. She did not want Sylvester accusing her of not being thorough.

     Seeing the lady come through the hole the two began to panic. Michael thought of overpowering the thing that was not his mother. But he remembered his incident at the doc’s house, how the impostor Doc Jennings got right up after being knocked flat. Star motioned to the far corner. There on the other side of the house was a metal grate about 18 by 24 inches square. There was no way to get there with out being in plain sight. They would have to be quick and hope that the grate wasn’t fastened well. Finally the beam touched Michael’s leg.

     "Ha!" "The Alice gave her discovery away."

     Star led the way to the faint light that shown through the crawlspace vent. Together they raced across the stale dry dirt reaching the exit just before the impostor. Star pushed against the grate but it had been secured tightly. Alice's grasp was inches from Michael as he followed Star to their dead end. Scooping up some sand in one hand he hurled it into his would be mother’s eyes. Alice cried out cursing the boy in words that he had never before heard. Michael took advantage of his thirty second delay and flipped over on his back, legs drawn to his stomach and let loose slamming his feet against the grate, popping it out. Star smiled, scrambling through the hole, Michael following. But as Michael’s knees passed the threshold he felt a firm grasp on his ankle.