House of Darkness House of Light Read Free Page A

the other side of the road, Bathsheba immediately obeyed a command. The elderly couple that hit her never even saw the dog. Her leash got wrapped around a wheel well and the damage to her skull was so extensive, there was no question…no saving her. A passerby drove to the police station about a block away and within minutes a police officer was on the scene. He yelled at the girls to return home and as they ran back toward the house they heard the gunshots, two of them, enough to mercifully finish the dreadful deed. Hysterical, all the girls ran to their mother who soon began sobbing with them; not only was she grief-stricken by the loss, she knew Bathsheba had suffered…and her girls had suffered the sight of it.
    The entire family caved in; succumbing to a deep despair which had, at its core, their unspoken pain. The silence on the subject was almost unbearable. Though it slowly passed for the others, Andrea withdrew into a kind of grief reserved only for a guilty conscience. Believing she alone was responsible for an unspeakable loss, no one, not even mom could convince her otherwise. Sadness consumed her. Andrea stopped playing outside, barely interacting with her siblings. Carolyn became very concerned; doing her best to distract her eldest daughter, giving time itself the time to do what it does best. Heal. Meanwhile, during the first few weeks of July, a series of events transpired which would cumulatively become the catalyst for an abrupt and a unilateral decision made by an anxious mother on behalf of her children.
     
    There were many adolescent boys in the neighborhood. That summer they formed a pack. Wild dogs had nothing on them! Evil does exist in the world. As individuals they all seemed to be acceptable but, as a group, they became the personification of what is ugly and mean-spirited in society. Classmates became hoodlums. A number of these boys were familiar to the Perron girls and some of them were considered friends, including the boys who lived next door. As incidents began occurring, no one ever suspected the problem child, the leader of the pack, was lurking so close to home; a wolf in the woods.
    A list of minor and major infractions included a number of petty thefts then the gangland assault on their schoolyard playground; from vicious pranks to more threatening encounters with rumors of weapons involved. For the most part bad boys were fighting amongst themselves resulting in a series of black eyes and fat lips. When they began aggressively targeting several girls in the neighborhood, Carolyn disdainfully announced they were toxic; testosterone poisoned. A vigilant mother forewarning her own away from all of them, on the day she was informed of an attempted sexual assault on a young girl who had been gagged, bound to playground equipment at their elementary school, they instantly lost their freedom. Once relegated to the back yard the children began wondering what was going on around them in a place where they once felt so safe. Not one considered they might be the next victims of the sinister souls doing the devil’s footwork.
     
    A family vacation had been planned well in advance. Everyone was excited by the prospects of a big field trip. It meant restaurants and swimming pools at motels. It meant shopping for bathing suits and ice cream cones at roadside stands. For all six gals, it meant quality time spent with the man of the house. Most importantly for Carolyn, it also represented a necessary distraction. She enlisted Andrea to assist her with their many preparations. As packing began, Carolyn made arrangements with her mother-in-law for the care of the house and what cherished pets remained. There were four kitties: two very loud but lovely Siamese and two strays which found their way into heart and home.
    It was late afternoon when the family returned from what was a thoroughly enjoyable, relaxing trip together. It had only been a few days away, yet the healing effects were remarkable. The