The Devil_s Garden

ELEVEN

Aleks watched. from his vantage, in the darkness behind the house, he could see through the dining-room window, into what he imagined was the living room. Shadows danced on the walls.

He turned, and once again scanned the yard. His eyes played over the shapes. A pair of three-wheel bicycles, a swing set.

The sight filled him with a longing he had long ago relegated to that part of his heart he reserved for weakness. He tried to imagine how Anna and Marya looked when they were infants, as toddlers, taking their first, tentative steps around this yard.

He slipped to the other side of the property, assessed the structure. It was a two-story colonial, well tended, but not landscaped beyond the prestige of the neighborhood. A single pin oak graced the side yard, a tree that would one day begin to finger its massive roots into the cellar, if it had not already.

When he and Kolya had arrived there had been three lights on in the back of the house – one on the first floor, two on the second. He waited, observed. He had learned stillness in his many years in the forest, observing birds of prey eyeing their quarry. He could remain in one position for hours if needed.

He climbed the tree next to the south side of the house, and slipped onto the upstairs porch. He stepped up to the window. At first he thought the room was dark, or that heavy drapes had been pulled, but as his eyes adjusted he saw there was a dim light coming from the room.

A light snapped on in the window to the right of the bedroom. It appeared to be a bathroom. Frosted glass prevented him from seeing in. He turned back to the bedroom window.

Nothing inside the room stirred.

Within seconds, Aleks had the window raised. He slipped silently into the house. Except for the sound of the television below, the house was quiet.

He stood at the foot of the beds. The two little girls slept in the darkened room, in the hands of angels. They had not awakened, were unaware of his presence. The room was filled with plush animals – ducks, rabbits, teddy bears, turtles. On one wall was a long low table, a pair of bright plastic chairs. Above it was a large corkboard, collaged with a menagerie of Sesame Street characters.

In the dim light Aleks could only see their small forms beneath the covers.

Suddenly – noise behind him. Metal brushing metal.

The door opened. In a blur Aleks had the Barhydt out of its sheath, open, at the ready.

In front of him, in silhouette, a small figure.

Aleks flipped on the overhead light, and saw it was a woman. She was waif-like, in her late forties, south-east Asian. Aleks looked at the beds. He backed across the small room, slipped the covers down. The twins were Asian, too.

The girls were not his tutred.

He looked into the woman’s eyes. There he saw pain, as well as fear and something that looked like understanding. She did not move. Aleks closed his knife, sheathed it. He put a finger to his lips. The woman nodded.

“This is not Anna and Marya,” Aleks said softly. “I have made a mistake. If I have frightened you, you have my deepest apologies. You are in no danger.”

Moments later he was out the window, down the tree, across the street, and into the waiting car.

Aleks now knew where he had to go. He knew where his daughters lived.

A town called Eden Falls.