Lost in the Echo Read Free Page A

stairs without even a glance back. Griffin paused for a moment. He wished he could stay up here and see if anything happened to the bell during the shift, something that might clue them in to what was happening, but he also didn’t want to lose his hearing. Even if he clamped his hands over his ears, the loudness and pitch would be enough to burst his eardrums.
    He started down the stairs, holding the railing as he went, so he didn’t fall and break his neck. And wouldn’t that just be great? After everything he had managed to survive so far—after taking the responsibility Rule had given him—to have it all end with a clumsy tumble? No, he couldn’t let that happen, not while he was tasked with finding out what was going on and not while he had Avalon to care for. He went as quickly as he could, watching his footing, while behind him the bell began to toll for them all.
    Cash had dropped the stepladder at the bottom of the stairs. Griffin almost tripped over it coming down, but hopped over it, ducked through the door and sprinted toward the front of the church. Cash stood by the door, his hands to his ears as the bell’s chime became incessant. He pushed the front door open with his back and waited. Griffin didn’t realize he had also clamped his hands over his own ears until he nodded his thanks as he passed Cash and hurried down the steps outside.
    Helena Frost, Pastor Ken Dodge and Julie Barnes—who was supposed to be watching over his daughter, Radar and Lisa—were standing outside of the church, all of them covering their ears. Already the world around them was starting to change. The endless ocean, a sliver of blue at the edge of town, now that he was standing at street level, began wavering and flickering.
    Griffin turned and stared up at the church, convinced he would see something happening to it during the shift. But the bell kept ringing, becoming more and more hysterical, and by the time it began to slow, nothing about the church had changed.
    A finger tapped him on the shoulder.
    He looked down and found Frost standing beside him. He realized he still had his hands over his ears and lowered them.
    “It’s like we’ve shrunk,” she said.
    “What?”
    But when he looked away from the church, he understood the comment. He looked past her, out beyond Main Street, and saw what the world beyond Refuge had become. The first thing he noticed were the gigantic trees. How could he not? They were spaced out maybe a mile or so apart from each other, but each stood at least a half mile tall.
    Griffin pulled his phone from his pocket, held it up toward the view, and snapped a picture.
    “Did you find anything up top?” Frost asked.
    Griffin shook his head, pocketing the phone. “Well, it’s not ghosts moving the bell. It’s some kind of magnetic force.” He held up his bare wrist. “Stole my watch. Other than that, we’re still clueless. You?”
    Frost had searched the first floor of the church, on the off chance Dodge and Winslow had missed something.
    “Aside from expired grape juice on its way to becoming wine, not a thing.”
    Cash cleared his throat. “Helena—sorry— Sheriff , if it’s okay with you, I’d like to check on Sam’s kid. See how he’s holding up.”
    “Of course,” Frost said. “Thanks for the help.”
    Cash nodded, looking like he wanted to say something, his eyes momentarily flashing toward Julie. Griffin understood the hostility Cash held toward the woman, and he couldn’t say he blamed him, but he was thankful that Cash was trying to be as civil as he could, under the circumstances. The woman tried to fit in at first, wearing flannel and shit-kicker boots, but she might as well have been wearing a zebra Halloween costume on the savannah. Griffin knew a lot of people like her, from the occasional art show in Boston or New York, and had given her a chance. But her presence here, rather than with Avalon, spoke volumes about her reliability.
    “Where are the kids?” he