The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens Page A

go! You love me too much! I don’t blame you, of course. But it simply won’t do. So, difficult as it is, we must make you try to love me less.”
    She waved her hand, and suddenly, one of the black-garbed, decaying creatures was striding toward the children. It reached into the mass of small bodies, and a second later, little Annie was tucked under its arm, being carried toward the dam. A cry went up from the children and the mothers. The creature stepped up beside the Countess and, holding the girl by the scruff of her jacket, dangled her over the edge of the dam.
    Annie’s scream pierced Kate’s ears. Her legs kicked in the empty air. A woman on the other side of the gorge fell to her knees.
    “What’s he doing?!” Emma cried, gripping Kate’s arm so hard it hurt. “He can’t—he can’t—”
    The Countess put her hands to her ears and danced around in a circle, crying comically, “Too much noise! I can’t hear myself think!”
    Finally, the cries subsided till there was only the sound of Annie’s whimpering.
    The Countess smiled sympathetically. “I know! It’s terrible! But what am I to do? It’s been two years; that is right, isn’t it, Mr. Cavendish? It has been two years?”
    The Secretary nodded his oddly shaped head.
    “And believe me, mes anges , I do not enjoy playing the grump! But I must cure you of your excessive love of me!” The Countess picked up the doll that Annie had dropped and smoothed its patchy hair. “So, the word has already been sent to your men. They’ll find me what I’m looking for, or beginning this Sunday—I do hate Sundays, they’re so dull—beginning this Sunday, your town will lose a child each week I have to wait.”
    With a giggle, she tossed the doll off the dam. As it tumbled into the void, cries rose on both sides of the gorge. Kate could feel terror race through the children. Then something brushed past her shoulder. She looked up and, seeing a torn, faded uniform, at first thought it was one of the Screechers. But something was different. The figure moved smoothly, without any of the creatures’ jerkiness. And it was enormous. Taller than any of the Screechers and two or three times as wide. If he’d been a man, he’d have been the largest man Kate had ever seen. As he passed, he glanced down. His eyes were a deep granite gray. Then he was gone, moving through the crowd of children, making directly for the beautiful creature on the dam.
    “Who is that?” Emma asked. “He’s not a Screecher. You see his eyes?”
    Up on the dam, the Countess nodded her golden head, and the Screecher pulled Annie back from the edge and tossed her toward the stairs. Sobbing, the girl scrambled to her feet and ran to join the other children.
    “Well, this has been a delightful visit. You all look very well indeed! I like to see you taking care of yourselves. However, I must—”
    “She’s seen him!” Emma said.
    “Seen who?” As the man had passed, Michael had been busy cleaning his glasses, rubbing at the lenses as if he could somehow erase what he’d just witnessed. “What’re you talking about?”
    The Countess was staring at the large man who was just then emerging from the mass of children. Kate saw her whisper something to the Screecher beside her, and the thing opened its mouth, and once again they heard the scream.
    Michael and Emma put their hands over their ears, but it did no good. The other children reacted as if struck, many falling to their knees. Gasping, Kate watched as three of the creatures pulled their rusting, jagged swords and closed on the man. In an instant, the man was holding his own sword. The mob of children fell back. Emma was knocked over. Kate and Michael pulled her to her feet, stumbling backward so they weren’t trampled. Above the cries of the children, they could hear grunting and the clanging of swords, and then, one by one, the horrible screams were cut short.
    When they had pulled themselves free from the throng, Kate saw the