Read Ebook: Monster by Samachson Joseph

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Ebook has 153 lines and 8755 words, and 4 pages

"Can we eat it?"

"No. It may look like a sheep, but it eats like a dog. What kind do you want?"

"He wants a big one," said Alice. "Great Dane or St. Bernard."

"How about an Irish Wolfhound?"

"Is that a big one, Daddy?"

"Tallest in the book."

"Maybe we should choose that," said Alice tentatively. "That is," she corrected herself, "if we choose any at all. And I rather doubt whether we should."

"It's up to you."

"Think of the cost of feeding a big dog!"

"But I told you before, it will probably feed on the animals it kills."

"Suppose it doesn't kill any?"

"It had better," said Anthony. "That's why I sent for the catalogue. We'll have to take a look at the qualities of the different breeds, and not depend entirely on Small's otherwise excellent criterion of size. We want a dog that's kind and affectionate with a child; tough, adaptable, a good hunter; and easy to care for. There are several that seem to fit the bill, but of course it's hard to be sure from a catalogue alone. And a lot depends on the individual dog, too. Why not tell the Dog Breeding Station what we want, and leave the final choice up to them?"

"But we're not sure--"

It was at that moment that for the first time there came a scratching not at the door, but at the shutter.

Alice looked at her husband and her child, and then hugged the latter closely. "Thank God you're home," she told Anthony.

The shutters were not as resistant as the doors, and they both knew it. But for the moment, the creature outside seemed to have trouble making up its mind. The scratching stopped, and then began again, at another shutter.

"As long as it isn't at the door, I have a chance to slip out before it can slip in--I hope," said Anthony. He picked up his gun. "Get Small behind the other door, and bar it."

"Don't be silly. I'll put Small there, but I'm staying here. I'll keep the explosive gun in readiness, just in case."

Anthony nodded, and said, "All right, then. Here I go."

He opened the door and stepped out. At the faint sound the door made, the scratching at the shutter stopped. A second later, something seemed to flash through the air and throw itself at Anthony's face. Anthony, startled, didn't pull the trigger. Instead, he swung the gun upward and caught the creature in the middle, throwing it above the roof. As it rose high, he aimed, giving it a wide beam. The creature split in two and the pieces fell to the ground, where they wriggled spasmodically.

The thing had possessed a long snake's head and neck on a small pseudo-mammalian body. Anthony's shot had cut it at the base of the neck, and as the eyes glared at him, he fired into the head. But even with the head shattered, the neck continued to twitch.

Alice shuddered. "How did it fly?"

"Get a little closer, and you'll see for yourself."

She managed to overcome her repulsion and approached close, still holding her own gun in readiness. And then, as Anthony had said, she saw for herself. All along the neck were small pairs of wings, and on the body two pairs of large ones. They were folded now, but their nature was clearly visible. As if to leave her in no doubt whatever, during one of the twitchings a pair on the body shuddered open, and revealed a five-foot wingspread before it closed again.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Let's get into the house before we talk," replied Anthony, and they withdrew quickly and were about to bolt the door once more.

At that moment, Alice looked around and screamed. "Small!"

Anthony opened the door again, to find that Small had slipped out and was poking with interest in his mind and a stick in his hand at the body-half of the shattered animal. Anthony grabbed him and carried him in. When they had bolted the door again, Alice fell into a chair. "That child gives me heart-failure a dozen times a day."

"That's what kids are for," said Anthony. "About that thing I killed--I've heard of them, but I've never seen one before. I hope they don't turn out to be common around here."

"If one finally found its way to us, others will, sooner or later."

"I'm afraid so," he sighed. "They're known as 'snaffles'--flying snakes. It may make you feel better to learn that they're not poisonous."

"It doesn't make me feel better in the least. They're horrible anyway."

"Well, how about getting a dog?"

"Send away for one--at once. Any kind, so long as it will kill these terrible things."

"Why, the guy's human," said Anthony in surprise.

"Maybe he had a dog himself once," suggested Alice.

"Whatever it is, it shouldn't be long now."

But Mr. Tapling, as an expediter, was not quite as efficient as when he played the role of obstructor. Another week passed, during which Anthony killed another octerocap and two snaffles, incurring a slight wound from one of the latter. The wound showed signs, at first, of festering badly, and special biostatic treatment was needed to keep it from getting worse. The week after that, Anthony shot a new animal which he had never even heard described before. It seemed a baggy formless mass, with a tiny, almost invisible head. He tossed it aside, and the other animals, enticed by the meal, came to eat it and then prowl, audibly drooling, around the house. He shot several more, and still no dog.

He spent part of his hard-earned salary for a special cable to Mr. Tapling, and that gentleman, in his hatred of red tape, referred the message to a subordinate, who passed it on for action to a subordinate of his own. Anthony never heard of the cable again.

During the next week he killed no less than five different animals. Alice herself killed a snaffle which tried to get into the house through an imperfectly barred window. The explosive gun was a great success, blowing head and most of the neck to bits with one shot, and knocking Alice to the floor at the same time by means of the recoil. She was bruised for days, and from that moment she lived in almost as great terror of the gun itself as of the animals outside.

In the month that followed, Anthony sent a cable each week, and received no reply to any of them. The number of animals that prowled around the house increased almost daily. There came the day when Alice called up the mine in panic.

"Okay," said Anthony, and rushed.

This time he was accompanied by one of his fellow engineers, who was carrying a surprise for Alice. The first surprise, however, was the one that Anthony himself received. Tunneling under the concrete foundation of the house was a badgerine whose presence Alice had not even suspected. But Anthony had no time to tackle it, for the other animals were quickly upon him. The first to arrive were the snaffles, and both Anthony and the engineer with him aimed and shot in a hurry. Anthony's target fell apart as scheduled. The engineer's kept on coming, but fortunately overshot its mark, for its intended victim had fallen to the ground.

Anthony swung his gun around, knocked the snaffle into the air, and fired right into the middle of an octerocap rushing at him. It fell to the ground, eight heads howling, and then managed to lift itself and spring. But by this time the engineer was on his feet again, and while he broke its back with a blow of his own gun, Anthony disposed of the remaining snaffle.

It was only then that they heard the shriek from inside. The badgerine was cutting through the concrete and getting into the house. Anthony rushed to the door. It was bolted; and Alice, terrified as she watched the floor give way, either didn't hear his yells or was unable to get to him. Anthony wasted no time in pounding at the closed door. He rushed to the hole the badgerine had dug and crawled down after it.

The hole was dark, but fortunately fairly wide, as the badgerine was a large animal. Anthony was able to pull himself along at a fair rate of speed. While he was still a dozen feet from the concrete, he heard the explosive gun go off. He almost felt the shock that must have hit Alice, and tried to crawl faster, but only scraped his face against the rock. Actually, it was only a few seconds before he reached the concrete and dragged himself through, but it seemed like hours.

Alice had turned on the brightest lights, and, thoroughly shaken by the recoil, was now trying to aim with an unsteady gun at the badgerine, which had pulled itself together as if gathering strength to spring at her. The explosion had torn a hole in its side, and blood was staining the floor--but it wasn't the wound that had saved Alice from its first attempt to pounce upon her. It was the bright light, which dazzled the eyes so well adjusted to the black of the tunnel. It had leaped by odor and missed, and Alice had been cool enough to hold her fire until she could aim. But this time the animal would not miss.

It sprang, in fact, just as Anthony dragged his own gun to aiming position, and its teeth were about to close on her throat when his blast drilled it through the primary heart. Even as it fell, it knocked her down.

Anthony kicked the animal aside and picked up his wife, who had fainted. Outside, the man who had accompanied him was pounding on the door. From behind the bolted door of the inner room, Small was wailing.

Anthony deposited his wife gently on a sofa, and let his friend in. The man said bitterly, "That Idiot Tapling."

"Never mind Tapling. Let me have your flask."

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