Thorn by Fred Saberhagen (reading like a writer TXT) 📕

apparently had no idea where this object had been taken. But Judy, who had a special kind of sensitivity of location, a sensitivity much heightened by her experiences, could see it a little when she tried. It was a painting, an old painting, and Judy thought its subject was a woman. The painting had been wrapped in rough cloth now, and it was leaning against a rough wall, somewhere in darkness … somewhere … she thought it was not far from Santa Fe.

      If she went to it herself, then the contact that he must still have with her would show him where the painting was. Words never came through the contact, nor did conscious thoughts, and try as she might she could think of no other way to help him, and to ease the pain that his need had inflicted upon her.

      Her image in the mirror looked perfectly solid. The pale surface of her sturdy throat was no longer marked by even the faintest remnant of the puncture-scars. Those scars had always been tiny and inconspicuous, and she was surprised to realize that she did not know herself on what day they had completely disappeared.

      There had been times, last winter, when Judy had felt sure that the affair must go on to the conclusion that he had once or twice spoken of in warning. Becoming a vampire was not as quick or as simple as the foolish motion picture stories had it; but let them exchange blood enough, and Judy would be changed, and permanently. But he had never gone into detail about the change, and Judy had been left free to fill in the particulars with her own imagination. Would her mirror-image give warning days in advance, as it slowly went transparent? Or flick out like a switched-off light? And afterwards, would her shadow still be visible in reflection, adding one more complication to the mockery of science? Judy was unable to remember ever seeing his shadow in a mirror … she did remember his saying once that there could be photographs, at least those made with cameras that did not employ interior reflective surfaces to position image upon film. There could be photographs of him, but he didn’t like the idea and so as a practical matter there were none.

      Judy’s eyes dropped to the note that she was leaving on her dresser, propped up against the mirror. If all went well she would be back here in a few hours, safely, before anyone else had come into the cabin and read it. But she had to admit to herself there was a pretty good chance that things were not going to go that well.

To Whom It May Concern:

      Something very important to me personally has come up, and I am going to have to be away from school for a short time. It may be for only a few hours, or for a couple of days. I am leaving this note here on Tuesday evening.

      I intend to call in to the school office within about 48 hours if I’m not back by then, and say that I’m all right. Please do not start any wide search for me before then, as I should be perfectly all right. If I should fail to call in within about two days, then you can search. But I don’t think there’ll be any problem.

      Sorry, but I don’t see any better way to do this. If it is felt absolutely necessary to call someone about my being gone, please call my sister, Ms. Kate Keogh and not my parents. Her number is on file in the office.

      This is nothing terrible but it’s necessary. 

Judy Southerland

      The salutation at the start, now that Judy read it over, looked somewhat grim to her, like the opening of a suicide note or something. But she wasn’t about to take the time now to do it over. The sense of urgency, of need, grew ever more pressing, and she couldn’t afford to let it go untended until she had to run around and scream or something.

      She thought the message looked okay otherwise. If she wasn’t back before the staff started looking for her they would come into her cabin and find it, and then it would probably be read over the phone almost immediately to Kate and/or Joe. That was all right; they would be able to guess something of what was going on, and when the police were called in, Joe could … well, it was too bad, but right now Judy had to leave.

      She had money, a couple of hundred bucks, in her pockets, and credit cards. What else did she need? It was hard to say, since she didn’t really know where she was going. But money in some form was all you really needed, as a rule.

      Judy slipped into her windbreaker, turned out the lights, and went out into the spring night. After a moment’s internal debate she left her cabin door unlocked; somehow that seemed to make her departure less serious, more temporary.

      The next step, of course, was to arrange a ride of some kind into town. Once she got there … well, she would just have to see then where she was called to go.

      Walking toward the cabin that served Bill Bird as combination studio and living quarters, Judy saw with a mixture of guilt and relief that the lights were on inside. Bill looked first pleased and then somewhat wary when he saw who was tapping so discreetly at his door.

      “Judy. What can I do for you?”

      “Something’s come up, Bill. I absolutely need to get into town right away, and I wonder if you could give me a lift.”

      A hesitation. “Oh. Did you check at the office?” There was a prescribed system of signing out, and also one of pooling rides.

      “Can I come in a minute?” And once inside the one-room cabin, much like her own, Judy pulled shut the door behind her. A crude female nude, about half life-size, stood